Chapter 10 Art of Breathing (3 pranayamas)

Before we delve into the art of breathing, a fundamental clarification is crucial. Patanjali refers to "breath control" in the classics, but this translation is dangerously misleading. The phrase "breath control" is inappropriate; it does not correctly convey the meaning of pranayam.

Pranayam absolutely does not refer to breath control. It directly means the expansion of life energy: Prana-ayam: prana represents the life force hidden within the breath, while ayam represents infinite expansion. It is definitely not breath control. The word "control" is rather ugly because it evokes a sense of control, a sense of will. Pranayam is entirely different: the expansion of life force. Breathing in this way, you become one with the whole; this way of breathing is not your personal breathing but breathing together with the whole.

Let me use a feeling to help you understand this "breathing together." People who love each other breathe together; it's impossible for those who hate each other to do so. I have a feeling that if you're hostile towards someone, even if they're thousands of miles away... This is just a feeling; science hasn't yet explored its existence, but one day it will. But I deeply feel that if you're unfriendly to someone, they might be in America, and you might be in India; your breaths will be separate, unable to share. And your loved one might be in Canada, and you're in India; you might not even know their address, yet you'll breathe together. It should be this way, and I know it will be, but no science has proven its existence. That's why I said it's just a feeling. One day, someone will scientifically prove my feeling.

So, Pranayam means: to breathe with the whole. Breathing with the whole, becoming the breath of eternal wholeness, is Pranayam. Then you expand, and the life energy continues to extend to the trees, mountains, sky, and stars. Then there will be a moment when you attain enlightenment, the day you completely disappear. At this moment, you no longer breathe alone, but the whole breathes within you. Your breath is no longer separate from the breath of the whole; they are inherently one. The breath is so full that there is no longer a need to say, "This is my breath."