Fwd: japa and breath

[Guest guest]

, "M. S. Ravisankar"

<miinalochanii> wrote:

, akka_108 <akka_108> wrote:

 

 

> How can I bring japa in accordance with my breath?

>

 

1) First few minutes of your japa you can do that. But after that you

should not focus on breathing anymore, but on the mantra or the

phrase you are meditating on.

 

2) I say it is ok for first few minutes because, that help to build

concentration. This is based on my very little practice. You can

always do that again when you find your concentration lapsing. This

typically happens when you do a long meditation such as 1008 gaayatri-

s and so on.

 

 

3) One simple way to do it is

 

a) say the mantra as you breath in. You can keep the timing based on

your ability to maintain the rhythm without getting agitated or

panting

 

b) say the mantra as you hold the breadth

 

c) do it while you exhale

 

d) If you are comfortable, you can say the mantra for 4th time after

that without breathing. If you can do this, it is the best part.

 

4) You can repeat this cycle for few minutes. Typically, you will be

interiorized to some extent by then. After that you should not focus

on the breathing anymore. If your meditation gets deep, your

breathing will slow down quite significantly on its own. It will

almost take you stage like #3d often.

 

 

5) You can do this initial cycle using a kriya technique also. Swami

Yogananda's school teaches this technique. If you read his

Autobiography, he will explain a lot about it (without giving the

actual technique).

 

He is a great teacher and if you go close to him, he will inflame you

with devotion. He is a forest fire of devotion. However wet one is

with wordly thoughts, he will light them up heavenwards in devotion.

I have not found a match for the power of his inspirational words.

 

I have taken 3 years of their correspondence class and also their

notes on Kriya. The best aspect of Swami Yogananda is, he always

presents himself as humble devotee of divine mother. The best aspect,

I can say (I should be shameful about that) is, when I used to read

his teachings and do the meditation techniques regularly, not only my

devotion multiplied and my spirit of renunciation was so high. When I

moved away from that, I found that I become like a pig which wallows

in the mud of sinful thoughts. That difference is so crisp like light

and darkness. Needless to say, what ever little devotion I have it is

his grace (or as they say in tamil, pichchai or alms).

 

(sorry for this digression, I could not help it)

 

6) To summarize

 

a) you can use technique 3. It is called puurakam-kumbakam-rechakam-

baahya kumbakam. But only to get you concentrated. After that you

should forget breathing and let the body take care of its autonomous

function. That is why God has made so many of our body functions

quite autonomous ( you can also say She did trust our conscious mind

so much).

 

b) you can do the initial meditation Kriya style. I used an simpler

(hence, less effective) but adpoted form. And unfortunately, I can

not disclose it.

 

 

c) You can also do it like hong-sau ( hamsa or soham) like

meditation. This approach cuts across religion tradition for many

centuries. For instance, in the book "way of the pilgrim" the author

meditates (all the time!!) by chanting "Lord Jesus Christ" while

breathing in and "Have mercy on me" while breathing out. You can

adopt and adapt that and say 'O jaganmAta" and "have mercy on me" or

something even better.

 

 

My 2c.

 

[Disclaimer: My method and presentation could have errors. I

guarantee you nothing and the approach may be totally wrong. Use at

your own risk or discard it. These things you should learn from a

qualified teacher. Typically, kriya techniques (even though they are

often safe) can activate your kundalini]

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