Stength of the Breath.

How breath-control or watching the breath was an essential means for controlling the mind. The conversation between Master and disciple In the year 1945, Ramana Maharshi was requested to expand on was:

     “In continuation of an old question of his with reference to a certain passage in Maha Yoga, the disciple asked Ramana Maharshi whether it was necessary and a condition precedent for a man to watch his breathing before beginning the mental quest of ‘Who am I?’ ”

Ramana: “All depends on a man’s maturity and fitness. Those who do not have the mental strength or preparedness gained through repeated practice to concentrate or control their mind and direct it on the quest are advised to watch the breathing, since such watching will naturally and as a matter of course lead to cessation of thought and bring the mind under control.

Breath and mind arise from the same place and when one of them is controlled, the other is also controlled. As a matter of fact, in the quest method, it is more correctly to ask: ‘From whence am I?’ and not merely ‘Who am I?’ We are not simply trying to eliminate saying ‘we are not the body, not the senses and so on,’ to reach what remains as the ultimate reality, but we are trying to find whence the ‘I’ thought for the ego within us arises.

The method contains within it, though implicitly and not expressly, the watching of the breath. When we watch where from the ‘I’ thought, the root of all thoughts, springs, we are necessarily watching the source of the breath also, as the ‘I’ thought and the breath arise from the same source.”

The disciple again asked whether, for controlling the breath, the regular pranayama (of regulated inhalation, retention and exhalation i.e. inhaling while counting to 6, pausing while counting to 2 exhaling while counting to 8, and pausing while counting to 2 again and repeating this cycle 10 times, is not better?

Ramana replied: “All those practices are aids for controlling the mind. That is all. Watching the breath is also one form of pranayama. Retaining breath, etc., is more violent and may be harmful in some cases, but merely watching the breath is easy and involves no risk.”

Watch and Pray

This method is indeed easy, and can be joined to any form of sadhana (spiritual practice) that one is engaged in. The breath is not controlled but merely watched with acute attention. Its movement should at all times remain natural and comfortable. It is helpful at first to center one’s attention without stress on any area where the movement of the breath is physically noticeable.

The attention of the mind with alert awareness on the movement of the breath satisfies the mind’s life-sustaining urge to circulate through movement.

Thus we watch and pray with calm but steady concentration the place of our origin; while that forgotten abode of the Self, is Self-revealing. Becoming truly still, and calling on God with patient perseverance, we will enter and experience:

     “The Way, the Truth and the Life.”