State of Happening

State of Happening

Meditation is being in a state of happening. To understand and appreciate this may we attempt the following experiment.

Please sit straight with your spine erect, neck vertical, eyes closed, eye level horizontal. Breathe in through your nose very slowly and breathe out gracefully through the center of your lips. Please repeat this three times and enjoy the progressive silencing of the mind and the gradual relaxation of the body. If you are yet to feel this, please repeat the breathing a few more times.

Enjoy the stomach rising as you breathe in and receding as you breathe out. Very carefully observe the lungs expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale. With every exhale experience more relaxation.

Now visualize your upper body to be an x-rayed body showing only the spine and rib cage. Enjoy the rib cage expanding as you breathe in and collapsing as you breathe out. How nice to witness this movement of expansion and collapse! Observe the dancing movement of the ribcage. It grows as you breathe in and shrinks as you breathe out. It enlarges as you breathe in and contracts as you breathe out.

Now observe the connection between the ribs and the spine. Observe how the ribs have been connected to the vertebrae. As the ribs move the vertebrae move. Some move forward, while others move backwards. Try to feel the movement of the disks and vertebrae. Feel the forward and backward movement of vertebrae. Such a subtle movement! Please do not let your mind wander. Treat your mind like a delicate baby. Observe the slowing down of the thoughts. Simply observe but DO NOT entertain any thought.

Now observe the movements of vertebrae as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Some of the vertebrae move forward while the other move backwards. These movements are very small, barely noticeable and very subtle. Simultaneously, observe the movement in the disks between the vertebrae. The Jello-type substance moves forward in some cases and backwards in others depending on their location in the three “C” curves of the spine.

Now feel the subtle movements in the spine. Upward movement as you inhale and downward movement as you breathe out. Fairly soon you observe an upward force along the spine as you inhale and a downward force as you exhale. Feel Pràna moving upwards along the spine as you breathe in and Apàna moving down as you breathe out. It is the Pràna and Apàna that gives rise to subtle movements in the spine, vertebrae and the disks.

The force of Pràna and Apàna translate into movements in the junctions of vertebrae and ribs. Those movements in turn are transmitted to the ribs and eventually to the lungs. As the ribs expand, the lungs expand, and as the ribs collapse, the lungs collapse. As the lungs expand, you inhale and as the lungs collapse, you exhale. As Pràna moves up the spine you breathe in and when Apàna travels down the spine, you breathe out. So looking at breathing from the other side we can say- breathing happens as Pràna and Apàna happen. That we don’t do the breathing. It happens.

As soon as we are born, breathing happens. Breathing is a spontaneous action. There is no effort required on our part. Cosmic intelligence and cosmic power make it happen. Countless things in cosmos happen. As a matter of fact everything is happening. It appears as if our efforts materialize breathing. But it is happening by itself. Even when we are sleeping, unconscious or in a coma, breathing continues.

Enjoy being in the state of happening. Enjoy the expansion of the state of happening.

To recognize and to be aware of the state of happening is meditation.

Hari AUM