Swami Kamalanda
Speaks on "As God Breathes"
Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 11:00am
The harmonious relationship of body, mind and soul is maintained by the consciousness-bearing life breath. The profound meanings born of this simple truth extend into every realm and level of cosmic existence and to all animate beings. Our own breathing links us in the vast and vital cosmic process, but at the same time it intimately affects our individual well-being, both objectively and subjectively.
What is this "mindful breathing" and how can we utilize it for our greatest divine potential? Our subject is at the heart of all yoga practices and meditation.
—Srimati Kamala
From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM
"I shall no longer call Thee unseen, for during my worship I shall look straight through Thy infinite, starry Eyes into Thy Mystic Heart. With Thy Breath of the heaving wind I shall mix my borrowed breath. My wordless chants of yearning for Thee will sing in cadence with my heart-throbs. I shall feel Thy Heart throb in all hearts. I shall watch Thy Working Hands in the laws of gravitation and all other forces. In the feet of all living creatures I shall hear Thy Footsteps.....
"The pores of the sky sweat with Thy life, and Thy blood runs through Thy veins of rivers, streams, streamlets and the blood-cells of men. No more as unseen shall I worship Thee, but as the seen, Cosmic-bodied Idol of my soul."
—Swami Yogananda Paramahansa, "Whispers from Eternity"
"When one realizes God within himself, he perceives his all-abiding presence everywhere.
"There is a mystic path of God-realization within every human. It is called by the initiate the "Susumna." It is concealed within the spinal system.
"When the mind becomes completely established within the Susumna, then the Prana flows therein in rhythmic radiance. This is known to the Yogi as the divine breathing.
"The practice of the divine breathing brings about a complete spiritual transformation from within."
—from "Sayings of Shyamacharan Lahiri" by Swami Premananda
Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)
"I know not how thou singest, my master! I ever listen in silent amazement.
"The light of thy music illumines the world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky to sky. The holy stream of thy music breaks through all stony obstacles and rushes on.
"My heart longs to join in thy song, but vainly struggles for a voice. I would speak, but speech breaks not into song, and I cry out baffled. Ah, thou hast made my heart captive in the endless meshes of thy music, my master!"
—Rabindranath Tagore, "Gitanjali"
"Soul, the individual self, is the beginning of man. It is the hidden source of the life-force of his creative power. When this life-force is withdrawn from all sense organs, it is transformed into the radiant power of subjective illumination."
—translated by Swami Premananda, "Eight Upanishads, Aitareya Upanishad"