________________
30
.
REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE:
Now we come to the vibrations of "brim.” It is important that we learn to pronounce this word accurately because if we do not, later it will gradually change more and more and we will be saying a different word with an entirely different meaning.
The “h” in “hrim” is not like an English “h," which is very soft and often hardly pronounced at all. In Sanskrit "h" is a much heavier sound, like “hub.” When you speak it, you contract your stomach muscles and feel a throb in the area of your navel. The sudden contraction in the navel and the exhalation helps to lift your energy upward.
The energy we speak of is called "kundalini" energy or coiled” energy. According to the Eastern teaching and tradition, at the base of the spine near our sexual organs we have coiled energy. When this energy is used for generation, it gives momentary joy and pleasure. The teaching is that it should be lifted upward instead of always letting it go downward and out through the sex organs. The “hub” sound at the beginning of "hrim” gives this energy an upward thrust and helps to lift it. The “hub” is like a propellant for this energy.
As we inhale to begin this technique, we feel our breath touching five spots of energy centers in our body. First we feel it at the throat, and then we feel it move to the heart, the navel, the pelvis, and the very base of the spine. In each spot we feel it for only one or two passing seconds and then we move on. The inhalation is one smooth flow, our awareness stops briefly at each spot. We may do the inhalation to a mental count of ten. When the breath reaches the bottom of our vertebrae, we hold the breath for a few seconds. Then we begin “Hrim.” As we make this
