Tavayogi told me that the fiber statue that stood at the old Kallar ashram was the closest portraiture of Agathiyar. Even Agathiyar has said he was never short nor stout as depicted in sculptures and paintings of him at his temples. When I questioned Tavayogi how Agathiyar comes to him, he told me in the form of light. After returning from the Nattradreeswarar temple, Tavayogi turned to me to say, "Siva is Agathiyar and Agathiyar is Siva." Then after a private initiation at his old ashram, he tells me that breath was God.
Take away the breath you become lifeless. Press a pillow over someone's face and he dies in suffocation. Although giving oxygen can revived a person who is losing consciousness or gasping for air or short of breath, it is of no value to someone who has died. A good meal or water too is of no use to him then. What is this thing that sustains a person then? What is this that when it resides in us keeps us alive?
If Swami Rama in his "Meditation and its Practice", says that the breath is the bridge or link between the body and the mind, BKS Iyengar in his book "Light on Pranayama", HarperCollins Publisher India, 1993, says the breath links the infinite with the finite.
Swami Rama advises the beginners to start by simply becoming aware of the breath, which is the simplest and most natural step. He says, "When the mind begins to follow the flow of the breath one becomes aware of the reality that there is a link between oneself and the center of the cosmos which supplies breath to all living creatures. As long as the body receives the vital force, or prana, through the breath, the body/mind relationship is sustained. When this connection is disrupted the conscious mind fails and the body is separated from the inner unit of life. This separation is called death."
Iyengar surprises us by mentioning that dhyana is of three kinds too just as we have the three gunas or characteristics seen in foods and other areas, namely sattvic, rajasic and tamasic. He goes on to give examples. The brothers Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhisana, having spent years in acquiring sacred knowledge saw different results and took on different characteristics. Ravana became "engulfed in amorous pursuit and ambitious" as a result of his dhyana being rajasic. Kumbhakarna's efforts in dhyana "made him fall into deathlike torpor because his dhyana been tamasic. Only Vibhisana remained righteousness for his dhyana had been sattvic. I never imagined that for a moment.
Swami Satprakashananda in "Meditation", Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, 1976, prepares us for meditation. He reminds us of the importance of prayers and that prayers are preparatory to meditation. Individual prayers in the comfort of one's home bring us into the mood and mode to wind down and settle. Similarly, he says, "You can also convert your secular deeds into a mode of worship by doing your duty with complete self resignation. Such performance of duty also becomes a spiritual practice turning the mind Godward and prepares the mind gradually for the practice of meditation."
He continues.
"Prayer is a verbal approach to God. In the beginning, a seeker may use many words in his prayer. But as his understanding becomes clearer as his spiritual feeling deepens and his faith becomes intense, he realizes that all he needs is devotion to God." The prayers then become shorter. The devotee does not use too many words.
Unlike previously going in search and seeking outside, the "something", that would bring ultimate peace and fullness within finally, "in meditation there is no seeking or searching as the soul and goal have become one", adds Iyengar. We at ATM have arrived at this stage.
Swami Rama says, "Breath awareness enables us to experience deeper levels of consciousness that cannot normally be experienced. Thus the first step in this process is the development of breath awareness."
He adds that the breath can warn us of impending illness. In all the treatise on Yoga, we are taught to check the flow of the breath from the nostrils at dawn and correct the flow. This practice helps keep illness away.
The reason the mind is restless is because of impurities we are told. Learn to observe the breath. Inhale the breath gently with awareness thinking that it shall remove these impurities. It helps a lot to be aware of the breath, inhaling as if we are sipping a cup of coffee, taking in its wonderful aroma, savoring its flavor and taste, and the satisfying sensation we derive from a cup of good homemade coffee.
He adds that the breath can warn us of impending illness. In all the treatise on Yoga, we are taught to check the flow of the breath from the nostrils at dawn and correct the flow. This practice helps keep illness away.
The reason the mind is restless is because of impurities we are told. Learn to observe the breath. Inhale the breath gently with awareness thinking that it shall remove these impurities. It helps a lot to be aware of the breath, inhaling as if we are sipping a cup of coffee, taking in its wonderful aroma, savoring its flavor and taste, and the satisfying sensation we derive from a cup of good homemade coffee.
As the breath is related to the mind, Swami Vishnu-Devananda in his "Meditation and Mantras", translates a sutra of Patanjali that says, "Liberation (or mukti) takes place when the mind has the same purity as Purusha itself."