"Pranayama"

A LENTEN PILGRIMAGE    Rev. Fr. K M George  The Breath

"Let everything that breathes praise the Lord."

(Psalm 150:6)

Of all ancient civilizations of the world, India alone seems to have gone deep into the mystery of human breathing in order to connect it with spirituality. 

The Yogic understanding and practice of "Pranayama" begins with simple breathing exercises, enters the field of vital energy and finally leads on to higher states of consciousness. Here our usual breathing is controlled in such a way as to create new levels of spiritual awareness.

Breathing is life, and it comes to us naturally from the moment of our birth to the moment when we breathe our last. 

The Jewish-Christian Scripture, in fact, begins the story of creation with the Spirit (=breath, wind) of God breathing over the dark and the deep, sweeping over the face of the waters of nothingness (Genesis 1:1-2).

"Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."

(Genesis 2:7)

It is in continuation of this that in the New Testament, with the coming of Christ, the Holy Spirit or the Holy Breath of God, is associated with the new creation, the renewal of all created reality. The Church is the icon of the new humanity formed by the Holy Spirit beginning with the Pentecost experience as promised by Christ.

The breath of life in us is of divine origin. It is one of the most profound mysteries that we daily live with without being aware of it. But we can explore it as much as we are able as it has been done in this country.

We have a common problem of bad breath when food particles degenerate between our teeth, or when we have certain diseases. Even simple abstaining from all food and drink can create bad breath. We are daily bombarded with all kinds of pharmaceutical remedies for bad breath! When we eat food gluttonously without gratitude to any one, when we breathe out abusive words against others, when we harbour evil thoughts and jealousy, when we pollute the atmosphere with all kinds of chemical and industrial waste, our breath is poisoned. It degenerates, and it is the end of life. It smells of death -the ultimate bad breath.

It is interesting to know that the Christian tradition speaks of the "sweet breath" of saintly persons who have transformed their human breath as a continuation of the breath of God through their holy lives. This is not only metaphorical but also experiential. One of the Sedra prayers in the liturgy make us pray:

"May our breath be filled with Your fragrance, our mouths be opened to sing Your praise and our tongues made ready to sing Your hymns."

(Mor Osthathios of Antioch)

Lent is the time to learn to sweeten our breath by the practice of virtues. Those of us who are specially gifted and called by God in monasteries or elsewhere may also try to develop a practical 

Lenten Pranayama with the goal of attuning our breathing to the rhythm of the Holy Spirit and of producing ever higher states of awareness of love, compassion and the presence of God.