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mental peace. So the first step in your training is to have connection with your body and form a new habit — to allow the body to let go. In this way, all the cells are rejuvenated and revitalized. Watch the stomach and chest enlarge as you inhale, watch them collapse as you exhale. This helps open the veins and instead of a contracting feeling, you will feel the flow of energy throughout your body."
Throughout the first years, Munishree followed his own prog-ram of meditation. He studied Achārya Hemchandra's Yogashāstra, until he found a system which worked well for him. From various sources, he drew the most sound and healthy elements. Always before sitting in meditation, he took three or four preparatory steps. The first was to relax the body, either in a sitting position or in a reclining position. As his awareness became more and more keen, he became capable of isolating different parts of the body and dropping the tension in each one. Later he turned this practice into a means for self-healing. He focused light, energy or breath like a laser beam on any ailing part.
The second step was to see himself in a pleasant mood. He realized the importance of this step.
If I carry irritation or grudge into my meditation, I am consuming my inside energy. Anger, hatred, depression, and irritation are forest fires; they bum my own house and my hour of peace and joy is lost. I can step back from these things and see my image calm and serene. In this way, he filled his body inside and out with equipoise, with a spacious feeling of wellbeing and balance.
The third preparatory step was to watch the breaths. At times it was useful to count them. At other times, it was beneficial to feel the connection with the universal breath.
Tam breathing in oxygen, prāņa, universal energy from the plants and trees and vegetable kingdom. I am inhaling the breaths of all the Perfect Souls in the universe who breathed the same air as I am breathing. 1 am bringing into my body all the nutrients I need to sustain my body, rest my mind, and nourish my soul. When I exhale, any toxins, tensions, negative
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