Su: Gurudev's thought for the day:
A searching intellect may come to feel that he is the mind. But his mind is also regulated, controlled and guided, by his intellect. So then, can he be, in essence his intellect?
As we deeply ponder over, is it not a fact, that we are conscious of our own intellect and it's endless dance of ideas.........
Therefore, the knower-of-the-intellect must be the essential factor in me!!
This Consciousness that illumines the thought and the emotions must be the ultimate me in my bosom.
Source:
Book - Vakya Vritti
Chapter - introduction
Page - 6
SS: What is the logic or reason behind the fact that controlling the breath controls the mind?
RK: Slow breathing .. Less thoughts ..
Su: Iam not aware... have been wanting to know what could be the physiological explanation.
GP: There clearly is a correlation between our breathing and the state of our mind.
When we are agitated, our breathing becomes faster. And there are times we unconsciously take a long deep breath to slow down our breathing, to steel ourselves (mentally prepare ourselves) before we face some difficult challenge.
Another example is the deep, rhythmic breathing when we are asleep (and our minds are inactive).
Su: Could be that breathing rate controls the heart rate.. hence the cardiac system and the peripheral nervous system kind of settles to become calm which regulates mood ... and mood is known to control the frequency and content of thoughts generated by the brain.
GP: And maybe it also works vice-versa?
That if I control my thoughts through japa/ prayer/ meditation, my physiological functions also get calmer/ regulated?
Su: Yes it works both ways definitely
SS: Yes its true. There is a deeper spiritual reason too. Think!
VS: Agree to the heart and agitation reduction points. I have a feeling breath concentration also helps reducing the speed of breathing. It helps bring in good thoughts and flush out bad thoughts that cause agitation maybe because the inhaled air also reaches the Brain. It helps clear off any thoughts in the mind like a fan. Thus helps us concentrate on the silence.
Su: Is it that when Iam controlling my breathing, Iam paying attention to my breath. Hence Attn capacity increases and slowly I learn to witness my breath without distractions.... which gradually leads to single pointed focus.
VN: I think the same point as Sunita
VS: But why breath specifically
Su: Because I think it is seen that when focussing on breath the moment u get distracted the breath control stops and it is easy to detect the distraction... am I making sense... not sure if I conveyed it properly
NG: Breath may be significant because it represents the prana shakti - life force in us and observing the same / going to the source of it is going closer to understanding "who am I"?
NP: Swamiji breath belongs to which kosha?
Maybe the breath is subtler than the mind, so it controls the mind?
SS: Breath can't be subtler than the mind
NP: Was just shooting in the dark Swamiji
AV: We breathe all the time but not consciously. Just like thoughts running through our mind. So when we focus on one ....we also learn to focus on the other.
SS: Ramana Maharshi gives the spiritual reason in verse 12:
Mind can reflect consciousness and pranas have power of action. They are two branches of the same tree i.e Maya Shakti of the Lord. (Pulling one branch pulls the other also).
Verse 12:
chitta-vaayavah chit-kriyaa yutaah
Shaakhayordvayee shakti mulakaah.
RP: Swamiji is this referring to Kriya shakti and Icha shakti? Kriya of the pranas and Icha of the mind? Understand Icha in this case does not translate to desire.
SS: This is referring to maya shakti in general. If we speak about iccha kriya n jnana shakti then we can say mind has icha n jnana shakti. Prana has kriya shakti.
Su: Swamiji right now Iam lost... unable to understand. Will go home and read Guruji's commentary and get back.
SS: K
A searching intellect may come to feel that he is the mind. But his mind is also regulated, controlled and guided, by his intellect. So then, can he be, in essence his intellect?
As we deeply ponder over, is it not a fact, that we are conscious of our own intellect and it's endless dance of ideas.........
Therefore, the knower-of-the-intellect must be the essential factor in me!!
This Consciousness that illumines the thought and the emotions must be the ultimate me in my bosom.
Source:
Book - Vakya Vritti
Chapter - introduction
Page - 6
SS: What is the logic or reason behind the fact that controlling the breath controls the mind?
RK: Slow breathing .. Less thoughts ..
Su: Iam not aware... have been wanting to know what could be the physiological explanation.
GP: There clearly is a correlation between our breathing and the state of our mind.
When we are agitated, our breathing becomes faster. And there are times we unconsciously take a long deep breath to slow down our breathing, to steel ourselves (mentally prepare ourselves) before we face some difficult challenge.
Another example is the deep, rhythmic breathing when we are asleep (and our minds are inactive).
Su: Could be that breathing rate controls the heart rate.. hence the cardiac system and the peripheral nervous system kind of settles to become calm which regulates mood ... and mood is known to control the frequency and content of thoughts generated by the brain.
GP: And maybe it also works vice-versa?
That if I control my thoughts through japa/ prayer/ meditation, my physiological functions also get calmer/ regulated?
Su: Yes it works both ways definitely
SS: Yes its true. There is a deeper spiritual reason too. Think!
VS: Agree to the heart and agitation reduction points. I have a feeling breath concentration also helps reducing the speed of breathing. It helps bring in good thoughts and flush out bad thoughts that cause agitation maybe because the inhaled air also reaches the Brain. It helps clear off any thoughts in the mind like a fan. Thus helps us concentrate on the silence.
Su: Is it that when Iam controlling my breathing, Iam paying attention to my breath. Hence Attn capacity increases and slowly I learn to witness my breath without distractions.... which gradually leads to single pointed focus.
VN: I think the same point as Sunita
VS: But why breath specifically
Su: Because I think it is seen that when focussing on breath the moment u get distracted the breath control stops and it is easy to detect the distraction... am I making sense... not sure if I conveyed it properly
NG: Breath may be significant because it represents the prana shakti - life force in us and observing the same / going to the source of it is going closer to understanding "who am I"?
NP: Swamiji breath belongs to which kosha?
Maybe the breath is subtler than the mind, so it controls the mind?
SS: Breath can't be subtler than the mind
NP: Was just shooting in the dark Swamiji
AV: We breathe all the time but not consciously. Just like thoughts running through our mind. So when we focus on one ....we also learn to focus on the other.
SS: Ramana Maharshi gives the spiritual reason in verse 12:
Mind can reflect consciousness and pranas have power of action. They are two branches of the same tree i.e Maya Shakti of the Lord. (Pulling one branch pulls the other also).
Verse 12:
chitta-vaayavah chit-kriyaa yutaah
Shaakhayordvayee shakti mulakaah.
RP: Swamiji is this referring to Kriya shakti and Icha shakti? Kriya of the pranas and Icha of the mind? Understand Icha in this case does not translate to desire.
SS: This is referring to maya shakti in general. If we speak about iccha kriya n jnana shakti then we can say mind has icha n jnana shakti. Prana has kriya shakti.
Su: Swamiji right now Iam lost... unable to understand. Will go home and read Guruji's commentary and get back.
SS: K
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