Breathing Space

[nisarga]

Hi Folks,

On another thread I promised to share a more detailed comment on my understanding of breathing (this is what I have studied in my yoga practice for some 30 years or so).

It is my understanding that cosmic creation is sexual in the broadest sense of the term.

Breathing is a clear example of this as Breath IS Life.

Most folks understand breathing as the respiratory process of inhaling and exhaling, yet it is well known that the air you take into your lungs does not stay in your lungs.

The air you inhale is taken into your lungs;

- in your lungs there is an exchange whereby 'fresh' air is taken in and waste gases are released as you exhale;

- the air that is taken into the air sacks in your lungs goes to the chamber of your heart that deals with 'fresh' air;

- from your heart the 'fresh' air is circulated via the arteries of your circulatory system to every cell of your body;

- at the level of the cells there is another exchange where the life-sustaining energy is taken into the cells and waste products are released;

- the wastes are circulated to the chanber your heart that deals with wastes via the veins of your circulatory system;

- from this chamber of your heart the waste gases go to your lungs where there is another exchange; the wastes are released and exhaled; the next breath is inhaled.

- the activities of your respiratory system and circulatory system are happening concurrently... in other words while you are inhaling via your respiratory system you are simultaneously exhaling via you circulatory system; and, while you are exhaling via your respiratory system you are inhaling via your circulatory system.

In this way the intercourse of respiration~circulation is the current that IS Life, and the SPACES of your lungs and cells/body are both what supports breathing and what is created/sustained by it - currently (NOW).


And any medical professional will tell you that the ABC's of medical intervention are:

a - Airway (SPACE)
b - Breathing (respiration/flow)
c - Circulation (flow)

This simply means that first there has to be an a - Airway or SPACE and then there has to be the complimentary flows of Respiration and Circilation - If any one of these ABC' are absent then life ceases in a matter of minutes (note these appear as 3 in medical descriptions - more accurately speaking they are Space~Flow).


And... (what follows can be described 'spiritually' or 'materially' - for simplicity I have used mostly the material description; a more complete description would be spiritual~material; note how long life would continue if/when the FLOW of one of the element is absent and that it could not be at all without SPACE).

- Breathing Air: the element air is inhaled from outside your body, your body absorbs the life-giving, life-sustaining energies, and then expels the wastes;

- Breathing water: the element water as fluid is taken into your body from the surrounding environment, your body absorbs the life-sustaining energies, and expels the wastes;

- Breathing Earth: the element earth as solid food is taken into your body from the outside environment, your body absorbs the life-sustaining energies, and expels the wastes;

- Breathing Fire: the element fire as 'inspiration' (spiritually this is passion; materially it is the combustion process of your metabolism) is taken into your body from the outside environment, your body absorbs the life sustaining energies, and expells the wastes as 'heat' and 'light' (the fire element also plays a role in utilizing air-water-earth);

- Complex combinations of these elements interrelate to form/sustain your body~mind and the environment that supports it.

In light of the above Life IS Breathing. It is the intercourse of complimentary waves of breathing. This happen on different elemental levels yet the essence of each level/plane/dimension is THE SAME.

From WSM you know that the quintessential element is Space~WaveFlow. It is the same as all other elemental dimensions yet different as it is the ground of Being.

From my yoga practices it can be said, "Meditation is the SPACE in which life manifests; Concentration is the localization as what manifests; what manifests is the harmonious intercourse of waves; the manifestation and SPACE are forms of the same thing (Seeing; SPACE is a wave medium); the manifestation is an example of the quintessence Meditation~Concentration".

In WSM terms the quintessence is: "One thing existing, Space, with Properties of a Continuous Infinite Eternal Wave Medium"

Breathing~Space
James

[nisarga]

Hi again Folks,

I attempted to keep the post on Breathing short.

It is helpful to explore the 'spiritual' compliment of the 'material' I described.

Oddly one of the best ways to see the 'spiritual' is to explore the elements fire-earth-water-air as the forms of matter called Plasma-Solid-Liquid-Gas.... and you will discover that these are different forms of the SAME THING (it is easy to see them as forms that depend on the amount of heat or absence of it as different degrees of heat).

In other words the 'spiritual' is THE SAME as the 'material' - yet one is said to be invisible (SPACE or 'spiritual') the other is said to be visible (WaveFlow or 'material').

The NumberlessOne,
James

[Steve Anthony]

Hi James. Nicely put!

Previous 'particle' physics has concentrated on what it can measure, which in WSM terms would be the wave-centres only, and not the entire wave structure itself, This may account for the 'spiritual' aspect of Space, or the 'missing' part which scientists are calling 'dark matter', or at least some of it. Speculation, of course, on my part, but what do you think?

Life is breath = Existence is movement(?)

Can there ever be any moment when Space does not have motion? I am still (and probably incorrectly!) thinking that movement is a property of finite space, as Infinite Space would have to have somewhere 'else' to move to and from. Thus, movement and 'universes' would be the same thing, and Infinite Space would be like the 'free' memory of your computer, waiting to be used as more information (movement) is created. Still, these pockets of finiteness have always been and will always be, recycling perpetually.


I have previously toyed with the idea that the ultimate in movement can be only 'instantaneous', which is also 'non-movement', when ultimately Space is in its Infinite aspect (This is also a good reason why we cannot travel 'backwards' in time, as you would have to go faster than instantly ~now~ to do so, and would need finite points of reference also!). An alternative to this idea is that a little of the 'instantaneous' is inherent in all of Space, and is thus part of our make-up also. This would also provide another plausible explanation for the 'E.P.R.' (That the 'electron' would have properties of possible instantaneousness, being of One single Infinite wave-structure). However, this also contradicts the 'speed of light' postulate, which puts me at odds with some WSM thinking. I see so much truth in the rest of it, it must be my 'logic' that needs updating, yet I can't seem to shake the idea off...I breathe slowly!


~S~

[nisarga]

Hey Steve,

It is said that Einstein imagined what it would be like to ride a light beam.

I feel that there is a slight yet highly significant flaw in this statement as that this is not what Einstein did (even if Einstein himself said this).

Instead I feel that Einstein imagined that he WAS the light beam - lighting.

The highly significant difference is the separation of Einstein and the light beam when 'he' is riding it (like a horse and rider).

I feel that this form of mistaken separation is very deep in the consciousness of humans as it is very much a consequence of language that in turn has an impact on our thinking.

We have learned to speak-think-feel of things 'in Space' rather than seeing them 'as Space'.

My understanding is that Space IS the Wave as compared to wave 'in' Space (I get this from Breath IS Life - there is no such thing as 'breath' yet there is 'Breathing'; there is no such thing as 'life' yet there is 'Living').

~ ~ ~

I take a lot of direction from Atmananda Krishna Menon's statement 'Form is Seeing and Seeing is Being'.

And see that when we name anything we are objectifying it. In Menon's statemnt this is 'Form is Seeing' where 'form' is the noun created to represent the experience of the verb 'Seeing'.

Then Menon goes further and equates two verbs 'Seeing is Being' (the word 'being' can be either a noun or a verb - this is another example of objectifying as the underlying reality is the verb: 'being' objectified as the noun: 'being').

Here is why my understanding makes such a difference: Menon's statement means THERE ARE NO OBJECTS - yet there are VERBS.

In other words you and I are verbs and Aristotle was right by saying, Metaphysics is universal and is exclusively concerned with primary substance. And here we will have the science to study that which is just as that which is, both in its essence and in the properties which, just as a thing that is, it has. ... it is impossible that the primary existent, being eternal, should be destroyed. ... that among entities there must be some cause which moves and combines things. ... about its coming into being and its doings and about all its alterations we think that we have knowledge when we know the source of its movement. ... There must then be a principle of such a kind that its substance is activity." (bold emphasis is mine)

In this light Einstein did not imagine riding a beam of light - he imagined he was the verb 'lighting'.

From my yoga studies I understand Meditation and Concentration as forms of Seeing. These are both verbs as there are no objects (there is no meditator or concentrator). Yet it is convenient to allow 'symbols' to represent 'facts' - this is what we do in thinking and it is very effective.

And extraordinary languages like mathematics and especially the language of Sanskrit very presicely and elegantly symbolize/objectify/quantify that which is a quality: 'being'.

Thus objectifying is Concentration (concentrating) and a consequence of this concentrating of Seeing is that it generates a false sense of separation. Yet functionally it is clear that using symbols to represent facts is tremendously valuable (for example: I can use the concept 'time' to describe 'motion' and arrange to meet you at a particular location 27 days from now at noon - and this will happen provided that you and I cause ourselves to be at the place at the appointed 'time').

In this way I see it as self-evident that just as there are no 'particles' there are no 'objects' other than how things are veiwed via Concentration/concentrating and the convenience of using symbols to represent facts.

Seeing 'me' ~ Seeing 'you'
James

[Steve Anthony]

Hey James,

Yes, I now see it in a similar way also, but this is a very recent thing for me. I was coming to similar conclusions, but lagging behind a bit, when I stumbled on to these forums. Not particularly physics minded, so am balancing myself slowly in this department!

It seems to be necessary for things to evolve in the ways they have. We need to use other parts of Space to survive in it and as an equal part of it, so it is logical that we should first develop a means of doing this, which appears to us to be 'mechanical'. In a finite environment, this means many finite 'parts' having to exist together somehow. Only now (last 5000 years or so) are we painfully adjusting to the realisation that all is One, and it goes against our well-worn patterns of previous existence.

It would seem that the 'rest' of Nature, and our previously natural selves, simply live 'as' Space, but when we become inquisitive enough to try to explain this to ourselves, we also form 'doubt', and thus need to physically prove our previous natural intuition. I also believe that this is still quite naturally happening in all of us, and that we need to challenge this 'doubt' in ourselves to reach the 'enlightenment' of understanding real-ity - 'meditation' being one of the chief methods.

This is a great topic to discuss, and very relevant to understanding the WSM, I feel. For me, anyway!

~S~

[nisarga]

Hey Steve,

Yes.

The sages describe the unfolding of understanding as:

First there is a Mountain (you are inspired to explore);

Then there isn't a Mountain (you're too close to it and experience many ups and downs in your journeying);

Then there is a Mountain (you see things in an entirely different way from the top of the mountain - you can't see the mountain from the top - You ARE it - and all other 'things' appear 'in' you).

Namaste'
James