No matter what you do, never lose awareness of your breath. Focus on your breath, it will keep you connected to Brahmn and give you joy every moment, says Yog Guru Surakshit Goswami
Body text: Have you ever observed an artist when she is creating a painting? Her breath does not move like ours. Watch a Dhrupad singer performing an alaap. You will notice how her breath is synchronized with the music notes. A sprinter runs, and her breath is in sync with her movements. The breath of a farmer toiling in the fields is connected to ploughing.
Everyone's breath has its own rhythm. Everyone's breath is attuned to their actions. And what happens if this rhythm is disrupted? The artist's colours will splatter, the musician's tune will falter, the runner's pace will waver, and the farmer will get tired and plonk herself in the middle of the field.
You inhale and then exhale. Again, inhale and exhale. Focussing on the breath, sensing it come and go -- that is dhyan. But should this awareness only come at some designated time? Many of us focus on our breath when we sit to meditate, or during yog. Later, we become engrossed in our daily tasks, entangled in all sorts of desires and aversions, forgetting the rhythm of our breath. And what is the result? Our work starts to suffer. We are not centred. We are irritable, easily provoked to anger. But if, while engaged in work, we were to keep ourselves connected to the rhythm of our breath, then the awareness continues. Our mind does not wander, we are not distracted, because this practice takes us to dhyan. Even while relating to the world, we remain in a state of meditation.
Meditation is a unique method that connects us with our inner world, where everything becomes crystal clear. When Parvati asked Shiv about the way to attain him, Shiv described 112 methods of meditation, the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. The first method is to experience the incoming and outgoing breath. This is the simplest form of meditation. Whatever the task may be, connecting it with the breath in this way makes us proficient in everything. This makes every action spiritual. Behaviour and meditation are no longer separate; they become one.
Nanak says, ‘Swasa di mala naal simraan mein tera naam’, which in essence means, ‘I remember your Name along with each incoming and outgoing breath’.
We are, after all, souls, part of the Infinite Brahmn, the Divine. We connect with Brahmn through our breath. By not paying attention to our breath, we get disconnected from the Infinite, and our Brahmn Bhav, our Divine Essence, our vastness.
In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishn advises Arjun, “While getting up, sitting down, eating, drinking, and opening and closing your eyes, remember only me, and you will attain me." The Buddha tells his followers, "If you do every task in life with full attention and dhyan, then no task can bind you." On similar lines, Mahavir says, "Focus and be attentive, because work done carelessly, without paying attention alone is a sin." Work that is not done mindfully, bind us.
Kabir Das would weave cloth all day long, but with each warp and weft, he chanted the name of Ram. There was never a moment when he was not connected with the Divine. Similarly, Sant Ravi Dass, a cobbler, would make shoes through the day but was always immersed in Ram bhakti.
If, while doing all our daily chores, we keep our minds focused on our breath, we too stay connected with Brahmn. Life then is filled with joy, and we experience a sense of liberation in the present moment.
Also read:
https://www.speakingtree.in/article/rhythmic-breath
https://www.speakingtree.in/article/first-control-your-thoughts-then-the-breath
https://www.speakingtree.in/article/don-t-just-do-something-sit-there
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