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48
THE SCIENCE OF BREATHING
of breathing should be taken. The position should first of all be comfortable and easy; among the Hindus the most comfortable position is sitting on the floor with the legs crossed, but as that would be irksome to those who are not accustomed to it some other position may be taken. When the breathing has been regulated in the way which I have pointed out, that is, by breathing in for a certain length of tiine, keeping the breath for a certain time, and breathing out for a stated time, tais practice should be taken for ten minutes or mure every day, and there are still other rules which are to be observed for the purpose of rising spiritually; and connected with these rules are the rules of diet, because when a person omits the tules of diet, it will be of no use for him to observe the rules of breathing. A person eating meat is not in a condition favourable to spiritual progress. The rules of diet therefore must be important. There are finer elements which are contained in the air, and which should be allowed to have their influences freely in all parts of the body, and therefore these parts should not be stiffened, as it were, by the use of injurious food. The best time for breathing in this way that I have described is the tiine just before breakfast, because then the physical work is not going on, and all the organs are quiet and ready to receive the life principle, and even forces subtler than that. Therefore all exercise of a religious nature should take place before brea kfast. No one ought to practise these exercises
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