– Review
Article Bi Monthly 2009
Morarji Desai National
Institute of Yoga, New Delhi.
by Mahamandalersar Swami Ved Bharati
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| Image source- http://www.lajollayogacenter.com/events-1010swamivedabharati.html |
Alphabet of meditation is breathing in one of the Sufi
traditions. Naqshbakdiandi order places the most prominence on breath
awareness. One of the beautiful names of God is used as one may do mental
recitation of ILLILLAH (but one God). With inhalation in the Gospel according
to St. John some time after the crucifixion Christ appeared and breathed and
breathed into them and said, “Receive Ye the Holy spirit” (John 2022). In Mount
Athos at the Autonomous Monastic of holy Mountains boy the Greek and the
Russian versions teach the system of remembering God a prayer with breath
awareness. The texts advice that breathing practices with prayer be undertaken
under the guidance of a master. In China the practice of breath awareness is as
ancient as it is in India.
Mahamandaleswar Swami Ved Bharati’s conversation with
Taoist guides in China had confirmed that in China they continue to teach the
breath awareness practices that parallel ones in Indogenic systems.
The practice of breath awareness is familiar to the
Tamil Siddhas. The major saints of medieval India placed a great deal of
emphasis of understanding breath and using it as a vehicle for higher
realization. Guru Granth Sahib reportedly admonishes the devotees to pay
attention to breath and let the name of God be remembered at each breath. The
Buddhist follow this. Both the Chinese Ch’an and the Japanese Zen also teach
concentration on breath from below the navel. There are debates among Jainas as
to the efficacy of breathing exercises.
Published in the November 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine
