Soham - The Right Sadhana (Swami speaks about pranaayama sadhana)

[Guest guest]

SaiRam Sister Gita

Swami's discourse on 12 Oct 2002 : SOHAM - THE RIGHT SADHANA Swami speaks about

pranaayama sadhana.

The whole discourse you can find on Kingdom of Sai - discourses -

http://www.kingdomofsai.org/DISCOURSES/Disc20021012.html

 

--order to know the true meanings of the words in these manthras, one

must enter into the process of spiritual enquiry in an environment of deep

silence. For, it is only in the depth of silence, the voice of God can be

heard. Yesterday, I was mentioning to you in My discourse about the inherent

nature (sahaja) of an object. How did sweetness come into the sugarcane? How

did hot taste come into the chillies? How did bitterness come into the Neem.

leaves? How did fragrance come into the jasmine flower? We call it nature. No,

no. The Divine Nature is expressing itself through these forms.In order to

understand the nature of Divinity (Paramatma), we must engage our mind in the

contemplation of the Transcendental Principle (Parathathwa). Where does the

mind come from? It comes from the sankalpa (resolve). and vikalpa (negation or

dissolution). They in turn come from the nature of sabda (sound). Sound is the

real Brahma Thathwa (the Principle of Brahma). The soham principle in the

Brahmathathwa is Atmathathwa, in essence. Therefore, in order to understand

Atmathathwa one has to recognise the nature of the swaasa (Divine breath).

Soham is also called as Hamsa Gayathri. "So"(sah) means that, and "ham"'(aham),

means I. Thus, soham means "I am that". What is this "that"? What is it that

proclaims "I am that"? Is it mind? If so, the mind, becomes an obstacle to

realise the soham principle, since it is like a mad monkey. How can you march

forward in your spiritual journey by relying on such an unsteady mind? This

kind of approach is not correct. Manas (mind) is verily the embodiment of

Vishnu, who is all?pervading. Without such a mind there cannot be the swaasa

(breath). It is only on account of the life breath the mind functions. In order

to understand such subtle meanings, one has to depend upon the method of

enquiry. When you sit for meditation on the soham principle, you will observe

that the "so" comes in and "ham" goes out while inhaling and exhaling. This

process has to be watched carefully. Here "'so" relates to the Divine Principle

and "ham" to ahamkara (ego). Thus, while Divinity enters into our body, ego

leaves us. And that Divine Principle which has entered into our body must be

held firmly in our system by the process of Kumbhakam (holding on). People

doing pranaayama sadhana call these processes puraka (inhaling), kumbhaka

(holding) and rechaka (exhaling) of the breath. Soham, the Hamsa Gayathri

consists of inhaling the breath through one nostril while chanting "so" and

exhaling the breath through the other nostril while chanting "ham"and in

between holding the breath for sometime.

The most effective method lies in observing strict timings for all the three

processes involved in the soham. Disregarding timings, if one does pranaayama,

it will endanger one's life itself. The time spent for the three processes of

Puraka, Kumbhaka and rechaka must be exactly the same. Time is the essence of

this pranaayama sadhana, since God is Kalaswarupa (the embodiment of time). Our

sankalpa (resolutions) must always be sathwic in nature. In order that we have

sathwic sankalpas, our swaasa (breath) must be pure in nature. Thus, the

principle of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara are inseparable and interdependent.

They are one and the same. We must try to understand the essential nature of

their unity.

 

SaiRam Aad de Waard

Original Message -----

 

xxhibiskusxx (AT) aol (DOT) com

Saturday, October 01, 2005 12:45 PM

Pranayama

Dear Sai Family,

 

I am looking for the discourse in which Swami talked about the technique of breath control.....