Meditation without Pranayama

Meditationtime Forum Post

Date:  Posted 3 years before Jul 12, 2016

MiBeloved 3 years ago

I had the opportunity this morning to do meditation without first doing pranayama breath infusion practice. I followed the same procedure I usually do when I sit to meditate. I notice that the mediation was not as deep and lacked as much supernatural insight.

Due to having a headache last night and early this morning, I cancelled the breath infusion practice. During the meditation I immediately heard the naad sound in the back right and in the back left side of the subtle head. However naad did not have the richness it has after breath infusion.

The meditation was pretty flat. There were no humbug thoughts but the mind space was flat and void. There was no perception of supernatural dimensions, no clarity about the layout of the adjuncts in the subtle body, nothing.

I was like a blind man in dark cave with nothing but darkness and voided space. This confirms the ashtanga yoga system of doing asana postures, pranayama breath infusion and sensual energy withdrawal before doing meditation (samyama).

Asana postures target the physical body to bring it to a level of using the least possible amount of subtle energy for its maintenance.

Pranayama breath infusion targets the subtle body, to bring that to the highest possible astral level.

Pratyahar sensual energy withdrawal is achieved as a by-product if one does a thorough breath infusion practice because then the subtle body shifts up to a higher plane and leaves the level in which extroversion is the impulsive tendency.

The main aspect is to have the subtle body be charged and shifted to a higher plane before meditation.

Yesterday’s session does not feed over in full to today’s session. Hence there is a necessity to do a session of breath infusion before each meditation.

Pratyahar sensual energy withdrawal is more than withdrawing interest from the physical world. For its proficiency, one should have withdrawn interest in the subtle aspects of the physical world as well. This has to be something which the subtle body has abandoned in fact, all by itself because of its having a different energy-fill within it.

Think of being in a very cold place and using a well-designed winter jacket to protect your body from the cold. In that case you are insulated from the cold but it is still present in the environment. You must give some attention to it. You must defend yourself from the danger of freezing.

Now think of moving to a tropical location where there is no cold air in the atmosphere. You do not need to design a jacket. You have no idea about cold and its hazard because it is completely absent and never poses a threat.

Pratyahar in the advanced stage really means having the subtle body on a level where there is no need for introspection because there are no conflicting sensual attractions. The impulse for sensual security is completely absent.

Pranayama breath infusion shifts the subtle body to a plane in which there are no thoughts, images or ideas which promote sensual disturbance.

It permits you to begin meditation with the core-self in a completely different environment in which transcendental experience come with clarity on a much higher plane.