Continuing Practice: Meditation on Hrim and Breathing 

            Last week we meditated on the light of a candle flame seen ij our third eye, directly at the center and slightly above the two brows.  Now we shall meditate on “him.”  A word first used by Jain sails in 850 B.C., the time of Parshvanath, one of the twenty-four Prophets of the Jain teaching.  Along with this word there is technique which is used to raise energy along the spine to the top of the head.  When we do this, we experience pleasant vibrations and good feelings in our nerves and in the cells of our brain.  With this experiencve of vibrations, our mind becomes in tune with the higher energy, the energy of universal consciousness, which is the meaning of the word “him.”  We begin to move into the realm of our Higher Self and expand our consciousness.  

            In our spine we have many blocks which have kept us from experiencing our full energy.  Our slumbering dor man energy.  Everybody has energy but it is slumbering.  The lion is asleep.  If it is awake, then no one can oppose it, but when the lion is sleeping, a mouse can play on its belly.  The people who did great things were just like us, but they awakened their energy.  When the energy is awakened, then you become a master in your field.  If you are an artist, then you paint beautifully.  If you are a composer, then you compose beautiful harmonies and melodies.  If you are a poet, beautifulverses will come.  If you are a person with awareness, then human insight increases.  All this energy lies dormant, waiting within us.  So now we want to stir that energy and bring it to our use. 

            To start, sit comfortably, either in the lotus pose, in a chair, or in the posture selected by you earlier.  The main beauty of the lotus posture is that the spine remains very straight, but it is not compulsory for meditation.  Begin to feel your breath.  As you inhale, go along with your breath For this work, you must yoke your ego consciousness and For this Work, you must yoke your ego consciousness and gradually limit the mind’s constant activity.  Yoga means to Yoke.  Here you yoke your mind to focus on the breath.  As you inhale, let the breath go very deep to the voicebox, to the heart, to the navel, to the pelvis, and to the very last point of the vertebrae.  Let the incoming breath go as far as you have spinal nerves.  As you exhale, watch your breath and go along with it.  Your ego consciousness will become very busy with you breath.  Go and come as the breath goes and comes.  Engage your ego for this task as you would use an employee in you work.

          Now begin to count the breaths.  As you inhale, mentally count one and as you exhale, count two.  Then inhale while counting three and exhale on four.  When you finish counting to four, begin again starting at one as you inhale. 

            Now practice this for four or five minutes: first just watching your breath cme and go, then counting your breaths. 

            In this way you become in tune with your life force and you begin seeing your inner world.  Your senses, which are always busy and racing, occupied with unwanted things, stop when you feel you breath and do this counting.  It keeps your mind busy because if it leaves the work, you miss the count. 

            Now we come to the vibrations of “him”.  It is important that we learn to pronounce this world accurately because if we do not, later it will gradually change more and more and we will be saying a different word with at entirely different meaning. 

The “h” in “hrim” is not like an English “h” which is very soft and often hardly pronounced at all.  In Sanskrit “h” is a much heavier sound, like “hub.”  When you speak it, you contract your stomach muscles and feel a throb in the area of your navel.  The sudden contraction in the navel and the exhalation helps to lift your energy up ward. 

            The energy we speak of is called “Kundalim” energy or “coiled” energy.  According to the Eastern teaching and tradition, at the base of the spine near our sexual organs we have coiled energy.  When this energy is used for generation, it gives momentary joy and pleasure.  The teaching is that it should be lifted upward instead of always letting it go downward and out through the sex organs.  The “hub” sound at the beginning of “him” gives this energy an upward thrust and helps to lift it.  The “hub” is like a propellant for this energy. 

            As we inhale to begin this technique, we feel our breath touching five spots of energy energy centers in our body First we feel it at the throat, and then we feel it move to the heart the navel, the pelvis, and the very base of the spine, In each spot we feel it for only one or two passing seconds and then we move on.  The inhalation is one smooth flow; our awareness stops briefly at each spot.  We may do the inhalation to a mental count of ten.  When the breath reaches the bottom of our vertebrae, we hold the breath for a few seconds.  Then we begin “Hrim.”  As we make this sound, we feel the energy coming up along the spine.  The “hub” sound gets the flow of energy started and we feel the vibrations of “r” and “I” briefly as the energy moves toward the top of the head.  Then as it rises toward the head and brain, we feel the humming vibrations of the “m-m-m” sound, especially at the top of the crown of the head.  The breath passes out through the nostrils, touching the third eye between our brows. 

            The humming of the “m” is a sound like the gentle buzzing of a bee.  For this reason, this technique is sometimes given the name “Buzzing of the Bee.”  In your mind’s eye you can visualize your brain and the top of your head as a beautiful white lotus flower with innumerable petals.  As the energy is raised along the spine to the head the flower opens and the sound becomes that of a gentle bee hovering in the air above the nectar of this sweet flower.  In this wayyou can feel and see your own energy as it is lifted.  Feel the vibrations as if giving a massage to the brain nerves.  It feels very nice.  Now practice is doing "hrim” aloud several times. 

            You can begin to feel calmness and peace.  Eventually, as your practice continues over days or weeks, there comes a calm moment when you lose track of your ego-self.  You don’t know where you are.  In that moment the inner door opens and you are universal.  Ego consciousness drops away and that higher intelligence which has been hidden in revealed.  Meditation is the means to see this and go higher.  You realize the oneness of yourself and the universe, of your energy and universal energy.  The desire for happiness and repulsion to unhappiness is the same in all people as it is in you.  Experiencing this oneness, this unit of universal consciousness through meditation, we can change our life and make it more positive and thoughtful, Now, burdened by the ego, we only think in ego terms.  We see everything in relation to our benefit and our need.  Lifting our energy and going higher, we see differently.  We see the good in others, not just what they can do for us.  It is this clearer vision which can bring peace to us and through us to mankind.

            With this universal sight, creativity surges out.  When the ego and the small self leave, the power of creativity comes forth.  Any creative act or performance is only appealing when the actor or musician forgets his or her ego and becomes “lost” in the performance, intoxicated in the Higher Self.  Otherwise, it may please our ears but it can never touch our soul.  All great scientists and artists were in touch with the flow of this creative energy when they made their finest discoveries and designed their masterpieces.  In the same way, you must “lose” yourself in order to find your true Higher Self.

            This week, sit in a good posture in a place where it is comfortable and quiet and where there is some fresh air.  Watch your breath and then count your breaths—one, two, three, four.  Then do the “hrim” exercise three times.  Afterward you  any sit quietly in meditation or you may focus on the light of the candle flame at your third eye… You will see that your meditation will become very pleasant because the energy has been lifted upward.  Your energy is going the crown center at the top of your head and you become very peaceful. 

Questions.

 

1.                  You say “hrim” out loud when you are meditating, right?

Yes. 

2.                  May my wife and I meditate together?

You can do it together.  That is beautiful. 

3.                  How do we knowwhen to start?

It is a good question.  Take about two seconds to touch “inhale” and then both of you can inhale while mentally counting to ten and then holding the breath for a four count together.  At first you may have different timing but soon you will synchronize your pace. 

4.                  Is it beneficial to try to inhale as long as possible and exhale as long as possible?

Yes, but one thing should be remembered: tension should not be created.  Increase the depth of your breathing slowly and the lungs will become strong gradually and naturally.

 

5.                  I am curious about something, When you meditate yourself, do you use many different techniques or is there one you do all the time?

I use the techniques we teach in meditating with you, but the aim is to make your entire life a continuing meditation.  So whether I sit for meditation or not, I am always in a meditative mood.  I am always in tune with meditation.  At first, for two or three years, we must practice, but ultimately we become aware even when we eat and drink and talk.  We are always there in our center.  This is the ultimate goal, to feel and be one with all.  And we learn the lessons of life, that in whatever we do we should be positive and nothing we do should become negative or harmful to ourselves or anyone else. 

6.                  How many times a day should we practice?

Two times if it is possible.  If it is not possible, once everyday

7.                  Now, first we are to feel the breath and then count it.  And then we do “Hrim” three times.  Does that take most of the twenty-four minutes?

No.  You do a little breathing and counting and then pause and do “hrim.”  Then you sit for meditation.  This practice is conducive to meditation. 

8.                  Then meditate on the flame?

Yes, the flame or you may choose the point of light at the third eye.

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