Karmic Yoga and the Breath

During ancient times, even before Abraham, there were a set of priests who worshipped the God Yahweh. It was said that Abraham was baptized and initiated in the order by one of the priests who already resided in the land of Canaan. When we begin to look deeply at the idea of God that this priesthood put forward, it is easy to see that this priesthood was a group of people steeped in the mystic tradition.

The name Yahweh is very interesting and powerful. Many Jewish people would not mention the name, because it was too sacred. It was said to be unmentionable. One reason, however, that others think it is unmentionable is because one is incapable of hollering the name or even saying it loudly. If you will do a little experiment with me you will see why. Here is the experiment.

Curve your tongue just a bit and move it close to the pallet of your mouth so that you can hear a soft hiss each time you exhale. With each exhalation listen to the sound of the breath as it leaves the body. You will find that it is constant and strong going out and then, just before you are ready to inhale again and the diaphragm is resetting itself, it changes. The breath sounds like the name of the God. Is it any wonder that the name of the God couldn?t be spoken? Is it any wonder that the name is translated in two ways?

One translation is the verb of being?that which is, which was, and which will be. Another is that which creates. It is also interesting that the word spirit in almost every religion, can be translated as wind, or breath. When we look at this and think about the idea in Genesis where it says that God breathed his breath into the man made of the earth and he became a living soul, it can take us to an even deeper realization: The breath that exists in every person, or the spirit that exists in every person, is that little creative part of God in all of us.

As we inhale and exhale we are saying the name of God over and over again in our daily lives. When we cease to call the name of God life in the body ceases. Thus comes the importance of breathing and seeking the divine.

One of the first thing a meditation teacher will tell you, usually, is to concentrate on the breath when you are first beginning. The amount of breath taken in or pushed out is what makes the meditation work. The amount of the spirit taken in makes the meditation work, in other words.

As we breath we breath in oxygen. We breath in sub atomic particles and molecules that repair, or recreate, the damaged parts of the body. As we exhale carbon dioxide and the parts of the body that have been discarded along with toxins and poisons are carried out of the body. We are being recreated using the parts of other people, plants, animals and the other. This is done by the creative power of what many of us call God, or spirit.

Next time you meditate, or breath deeply, or chant, be sure to pay attention, realizing just how important every breath is, because it is the name and essence, in action, of God. And when you meditate you may just be able to try to find the secret name of God. Perhaps the secret name of God can be found in the silence of inhalation.

John Gilmore is a writer, martial artists, healer and Four Minute Chi-Kung Seminary leader. For more information on this topic read On Being Love?s Warrior: A Warrior?s Manual on Becoming the Compassionate Warrior Within, by Kendall Ronin (Free ebook copies are available for a limited time), visit http://www.dswellness.com, or explore some of the writings of Matthew Fox or Brian Swimme.