Kriya Yoga: The Breath of God Is Our Breath of Life

By Paramahamsa Hariharananda

Kriya Yoga: The Breath of God Is Our Breath of Life

"By loving your breath, you love the living God within you and attain the truth"

God is all-pervading, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. Where is He not? He is present in every human being, in animals, insects, plants, trees, crepers, grass - all life-forms are alive due to His breath.

In the Svetasvatara Upanishad, verse 6:11, it is written, "One heavenly Father is hiding in the head of every human being, all-pervading, the inner self of all beings." Residing here, in every human being, God is inhaling. God is inhaling from the day we are born. We are thus born for God realization, because our whole body is God, the whole universe is God. Without His inhalation, life ends.

Human beings have two bodies. One gross body - ham (meaning "I am") - which is full of delusion, illusion and error. But on the top of the head, he is hiding in the formless state, and He is stimulating our inhalation. That is our sa body. The Shiva Svarodaya scripture's verse 51 says, "The process of exhalation is said to contain the letter ham, and the inhalation contains the letter sa." Similarly, Gheranda Samhita 5:84 indicates, "Breath of every person, in entering, makes the sound of 'sa', and in coming out (bahiryati), that of 'ham.'" This is hamsa, or so'ham.

The supreme, almighty Father is hiding in the fontanel in the top of the head, pulling the inhalation, and that is why we are alive and able to do many types of work. Human beings generally do five types of work: earning money by the breath; sexual enjoyment by the breath; eating and digesting food by the breath; feeling anger, pride, cruelty in the heart-center by the breath; and getting established in a religious mood in the vacuum center, because He is inhaling. If He does not inhale, all human beings will cease.

There are 49 types of breath, of which 48 give us delusion, illusion and error. There is only one very short breath called udan, air which gives calmness, godliness and liberation. God is inhaling all of these types of breaths. This is why human beings are completely engrossed in the material world. They do not know how to take this short breath.

The many religions, cults, sects and monastic orders teach many different paths for God realization, but all rely on the five sense organs. Kena Upanishad verse 1:2-9 explains that our five sense organs are activated by the power of God, so we cannot know God by these sense organs. Observe the mind of all worldly people. They are religious, outwardly doing many good things, but their mind is constantly engrossed in the material world, becoming increasingly restless.

The Kriya Yoga technique that we teach does not rely on the five sense organs. It is not written in books; it can only be learned directly from a realized Kriya Yoga master or his empowered acharyas. Kri means "to do work." Ya is your indwelling self, sa, who is hiding in your fontanel. Kriya Yoga is the foundation of all religions. What is this foundation? Calmness, which is godliness. That calmness cannot be attained without the guidance of a realized master. The professor of medicine teaches the medical students how to dissect the body intelligently. They learn the practical composition of the whole human system. Similarly, the seeker of God must learn practical spirituality from the realized master. The moment you touch a bare electric wire, your whole body becomes immediately full of electricity. Similarly, if you come to the touch of a realized master and practice faithfully according to his or her instructions, you will get divine light, divine sound and divine vibration within a short period in your whole body, and be free from all worldly sense. 

This human body is made of a great quantity of nerves. According to the Prashna Upanishad, verse 3:6, it is precisely 727,210,201. Because of our breath, our blood remains liquid and circulates throughout the whole body. The breath is our own living power of God. Breath is dharma. Dharma means "that which holds life together," and that is religion.

Kriya Yoga gives extreme importance to the breath. It teaches that breath control is self control, breath mastery is self mastery, it is deathlessness. If you take a very short breath and seek God in the fontanel and the pituitary, you will attain calmness and God realization. The Bhagavad Gita, verse 5:27, mentions this short breath: "We are to fix our attention in the pituitary, take a very short breath and touch Him in the pituitary and in the fontanel." The breath must be so short that if you place your finger in front of your nose, the outgoing breath will not touch the finger.

People of all religions, cults and creeds should first learn how to control their breath. Breath control is the foundation of all religions and the quickest means of success. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, verse 4:34, it is written, "If the breath is not short and touching inside the brain; if one does not maintain pin-pointed attention in the fontanel; and if the technique is not simple, easy and quick, with no big words or complicated concepts, your practice will be in vain and empty."

If you give extreme love to the breath, you are a kriyavan. You will get divine joy. Your soul will be absorbed in the Supreme. As the young bride loves her husband, as the young groom gives love to his wife, as the miser loves his money, similarly everyone should love the breath. Love your breath, then you will experience the Reality, the Truth, the Joy. Calmness will come automatically and you will ultimately become a brahmavid, a knower of the Supreme.