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Vayu. |
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An article taken from a Satsangha given by Swami Shankaratilakananda in the “The Trika of learning contemplation” Azcona, 21 & 22 de October 1995. In all traditions there is the idea of the breath, so let’s highlight the Semites for being the foundation of the tradition of all who are here. When the creator wanted to create the earth, he blew life through his breath, so then the earth was born and water, karmas, beings were formed and everything came from his divine breath. In the Arian religions this also happened, at the same time as Agni, fire, Vayu also entered the universe and took the form of everything there was and converted everything in the messenger and the herald of the consciousness and the Being.In Spanish the word Breath has connotations of lifting up hope and comes from the word spirit. When someone has spirit, it means they are alive and they move, however when someone doesn’t have spirit, they are considered dead. That’s why the word Vayu in Sanskrit means what moves. Its root is “go” and means something that moves in all places; it moves outside, inside, above, below, to the left, to the right, in front of us and behind us. This is Vayu, he who knows himself, he who knows about the artery that gives life to my brain. When the soul enters into the body, then there is life but he also says goodbye to the body when it leaves. He knows the secret of my mind, because wherever Vayu is, the consciousness is. He knows my inner strength, where it is, where my libido is, my semen, my orgasm, my thoughts and ideas. Vayu is the power, we can stop eating and drinking but we can’t stop breathing. We have a continuous appointment with Vayu and a farewell with him when we exhale. The ancient wise men knew that power and strength, the energy that is transmitted to heal, or the energy that stops life comes from Vayu, for this reason there is less strength in the muscles than the breath, the strength that comes from Vayu. The lungs are a triangle, like a forge. In the lower part of the diaphragm the main strength of Vayu is present. In the medium part there is a little less Vayu strength and in the upper part even less is administered. They say that the mind breathes through the thought, that’s why when we have wonderful thoughts we feel like air enters into the lungs giving us life. And when we have negative thoughts, it seems as if not enough air can fill our lungs. There are two types of deep breathing, the deep breath in which the diaphragm descends and pushes the abdominal packet outward and the whole area is relaxed, and the other type of deep breathing in which the belly doesn’t inflate outward like a balloon, instead it goes down and refills from below as if it were a bowl, and a lateral dilation takes place. In the first type of breath, the belly forms a type of kunta, and has to be relaxed downward, and to go to this downward position it has to expand a little laterally. This breath is not produced by the nose, in a sense it is, but what is really breathing is the tan, because it gives us a sense of wellness and gives us energy, as if we wanted to let out the belly and project it downward. The Tan has to appear as if it has two orifices and can breathe. To do this, we are going to put the hands in the form of a bowl underneath the belly as if we were holding it. Observe it and look at your stomach. With this type of breathing, the mind descends easily down toward the tan and enters into a state called Sama, serenity, calmness and it is this breathing that we use in the techniques of contemplation. We can use this mental vision to give the idea of how water falls to the depths of an old amphora. We note that even the muscles of the belly seem to vibrate and men can feel a slight ticklish sensation in the prostate and in women a small swelling of the clitoris can be noticed. This breathing provokes pleasure in men and women and is the breath which is applied in tantric practices, so without moving a woman can have an orgasm and the man can ejaculate with out needing to move, just by lowering the belly and taking the breath there. This breathing makes heat enter into the tan immediately and the more you practice it the stronger it becomes. This type of breathing helps maintain balance. If it is done well, the sensation of balance, of being grounded is extreme, and when we are in a meditation posture it seems as if the body is nailed down, from the Tan below the belly button, down to the floor, so much so that the shoulders can seem like a flag. But from the hips to the legs it’s like a strong mast, you have to project this in the stomach downwards, but not with the muscles. This is the secret breathing of the warriors in martial arts to establish strength in the legs, and it is also called the secret breathing of the siddhas. Siddha in Sanskrit means “he who has siddhi”, perfect power. Siddha means “he who is perfect”. It is a synonym of Buddha. It’s the secret breathing used to remain for long periods of time in meditation without moving. There are two types of breathing in Vyayam, Sometimes we have to use the Sanskrit words because they are full of connotations, and both of these breathing techniques complement each other. One is fundamental, Ujjayi, the breath that sounds always like a whistle as if it were the tongue of a snake. It seems as if the air is taken in and goes around and around in the orifices that connect to the palate and makes a whirlwind effect. The other type of breath is called bhastra, which has a pump like effect. Ujjay is like a whistle and this is the breath that is used as the foundation of all movements, according to the emphasis that is made on the movement, according to the emphasis that is made on the most unperceivable breath, as if I were moving my wings, as if I was a bird and I was moving to extend my wings. The other breath is bhastra, pumping. What happens when we blow air onto a fire? More fire ignites. So, I concentrate on this strength, which is circumstantial, the foundation is Ujjayi, and both are brahmari breathing techniques. Ujjayi, the snake. Bhastra, the pump. Both are brahmari-breathing techniques which means the buzz of a bumblebee, the bees in Egypt and India were considered the messengers of the Gods. So it is “he who announces the coming of the god vayu”, the god of the wind, and the sound of pure Brahmachari and in fact the pranayama sound is uuuhhhhmmmmmmrrrrr. The head vibrates, it is a pranayama, which is therapeutically implicated, to clear the mind and activate the cells and it is good to do after meditating and before studying. The first rule in Vyayam is that the body follows the flow of the breath. We have the tendency to do the opposite, as we move, then we breathe, but according to the technique of Vyayam, it is said that where the breath is, is where you will find the mind and the body. It is really a dance, as if we were dancing with music. Therefore, it is the breath that knows what the mind wants. The movement begins in the mind, I know I am going to move the left hand and I am going to project it forward, and specifically I am going to project the index finger. I know this first in the mind and then I actually do it, and it is the breath that knows what the mind wants, that’s why where the breath is, is where the mind is. I want my scattered mind to be here in the present moment, so then I have to bring it here with the breath. Wherever I put the breath the mind will go to this place. I want the mind to concentrate on my hand for example, however I shouldn’t put the mind there, but the breath. So move your hand and just look at it, it takes effort to concentrate the attention. So the first rule is that the body follows the breathing and the mind observes the body and the breathing. This is the second rule: the mind observes the body and the breath. The third rule, if we had to think that a movement has a beginning, this movement is connected with all the movements I did since yesterday and goes back even to the day I was born, which is a chain of causes and effects and consequences which takes me to where I am today. But this movement did not arise here; it arose in a subtle world and even before it was born in the knowledge that allows me to know how I should move. Therefore, if a movement had a beginning, it is not its end, but the beginning of the next movement, the end is the beginning of another movement. Why? Because here the base is established of how this movement should start, if the movement comes out awkward then the movement takes a lot of effort. As you incorporate Vyaym in your life, you will see that you can be practising at any moment without even realizing, in the most basic movements, they enter into your speech and into your most normal habits. This is when the movements become elegant. When Vayu governs the body and not the flesh, when it is breath and air, then people walk in a different way. There are 3 ways of walking that reveal what is dominant in a person. If the person is a solid person, serene and with the earth element, then from their tan as their point of balance, they move with strength, but not abruptly, the movements are calm and relaxed. A Vayu person, with a prevalence of air, is someone who seems as if they are sustained by a thread. They are joyful and animated, the mind is in the air, and sometimes when the thread is cut they become sad and the air flows downward. When the element that dominates is fire and the fire is uncontrolled, it leaps about in flames, the person walks around and it seems as if they are destroying everything in their wake. If the fire isn’t uncontrolled then it’s like combustion, something that is still alive, then the lighter and the pot seem as one, and this combination is established in the union of them both in the Tan. People have to do the same, be confident, vibrant, and full of strength. We should try and practise Vyayam in the street and observe ourselves when we walk. The masters say that yogis should walk as if they carried a crown on top of their heads. The shoulders should be well positioned, leaning slightly forward with the back straight. First he tries to achieve a good flow of energy in the spinal column, and at the same time demonstrate that he is secure, has self-esteem and doesn’t depend on anyone or anything, only himself.
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