Preksha Dhyana Perception of Breathing

SR No.: 006558
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 1994
Total Pages: 50
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Yoga
File Size: 2 MB

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speed; but it can be done,. Thus, it is a simple and positive technique for awakening the mind and keeping it alert.
Our purpose is to keep the mind fully awake and alert. The practice of śvāsa prekṣā is a powerful means of achieving this purpose. Once the mind has been fully awakened, its restlessness and wanderings vanish and it becomes vigilant and disciplined.
Equanimity
When we are fully aware of the present moment alone, emotional like and dislike disappear. In the absence of memory or imagination, there is neither attachment nor aversion. Freedom from the memory and imagination is also freedom from attachment and aversion.
Awareness of the present moment is thus realization of pure consciousness and perception which is pure and unadulterated, that is uncontaminated by the emotional impurity of like and dislike. That is the moment of present, pure and uncorrupted.
We can see from the above that conscious breathing leads to equanimity. Perception of breath is perception of the present moment which means resting and relaxing the mind by removing mental tension. Regular practice of śvāsa prekṣā is a sure remedy for tension.
Purity of Perception
Śvāsa-prekṣā is also an efficient tool for purifying the perception. Pure consciousness is characterised by the faculties of intuition and perception, or rather pure knowledge and pure perception. Our sensory outposts send thousands of messages to our conscious mind every moment. Some of these are perceived, while many others are ignored. The process by which the mind converts raw sensation into perception is complicated. Perception varies by an infinity of factors, and the state of emotions, in particular, has a profound and, at time, decisive effect. Thus when the intensity of emotions is low (or nil), perception will be pure.
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