Preksha Dhyana Perception of Breathing

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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understand the special importance of breathing on the basis of scientifically established facts-Various functions of our internal organs and systems' are controlled and regulated in two ways:
(1) voluntarily
(2) autonomically
Contraction and extension of skeletal muscles and movement of limbs are not automatic but are voluntarily controlled. On the other hand, digestion, blood-circulation, heart-beat etc. are autonomically regulated and are not amenable to voluntary control Respiration is the only function which can be controlled voluntarily as well as autonomically. In other words, it continues whether we are aware of it or not.
Breath: a Pure, Natural and Inherent Medium
When we speak of voluntary control of breath, it means firm association of conscious mind with process of breathing. One becomes aware of each and every breath, when one breathes consciously. This, then, is a technique of steadying the wandering mind and concentrating it. Trained by this process, mind sheds its bluntness and becomes sharp enough to be aware of even more subtle object and phenomenon.
Mind is ever restless. Meditation aims at restraining 'the mind's wandering and ultimately steadying it. Conventionally this is sought to be achieved by total stoppage of thought. But to stop the flow of thoughts for any length of time is extremely difficult, if not impossible. In fact, any attempt to suppress the mental activity makes the mind more restless than ever. In Prekṣā meditation, however, the mind is engaged in concentrated perception of an object or a phenomenon. Here mental functioning is not stopped or suppressed, but regulated and canalised. In other words, the streams of thought flowing in different directions are canalised and mode to flow in one direction. Thus regulated and disciplined, 1. See Human Body, part I for detailed discussion of various body systems.
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