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Q. Breathing is natural to every living being, with each being inhaling and exhaling in a particular way. If mere perception of breath constitutes meditation, then anybody can become a practitioner. On the other hand, the process of meditation has been described as being very complex. Is there not an incongruity here?
Ans. There are many aspects of dhyana-some are simple, others complex. The process of deep breathing is very simple. Still many people fail to achieve it in the beginning of their sadhana, because they are used to taking short breaths. They have no practice of deep breathing. Even if it is suggested to them that they should breathe deeply, they cannot do it in an orderly way. It is because their method of breathing is faulty. Normally, when a man breathes in, his abdomen expands and when he breathes out, his abdomen contracts. But those who feel their abdomen contracting while breathing in, should deliberately change their order of breathing. The sadhaks, whose breath-movement is right, make good progress. Because of its complexity in advanced stages, dhyana may be said to be a complex phenomenon. So, dhyana is both simple as well as complex, depending on the aspect under consideration. Looked at from the point of view of relativity, no incongruity is involved here.
Q. What is the nature of breath-perception and what are its results?
Ans. The number of breaths taken provides a standard for measuring our inner affections. There are three possible states-natural breath, slow breath and short breath. All men breathe naturally. Whether one is conscious of it or not, one is always breathing. Breath is
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