2. Breathing to the Rhythm of the Cosmic Breath
World Scripture
Pure spirit reaches in the four directions, flows now this way, now that—there is no place it does not extend to. Above, it brushes heaven; below, it coils on the earth. It transforms and nurses the ten thousand things, but no one can make out its form. Its name is called One-withHeaven. The way to purity and whiteness is to guard the spirit, this alone; guard it and never lose it, and you will become one with spirit, one with its pure essence, which communicates and mingles with the Heavenly Order.9
Chuang Tzu 15 (Taoism)
Undivided I am,
undivided my soul,
undivided my sight,
undivided my hearing;
undivided my in-breathing,
undivided my out-breathing,
undivided my diffusive breath;
undivided the whole of me.
Atharva Veda 19.51.1 (Hinduism)
Holding the body steady, with the three upper parts erect, And causing the senses with the mind to enter into the heart, A wise man with the Brahma-boat should cross over All the fear-bringing streams.
Having repressed his breathings here in the body, and having his movements checked, One should breathe through his nostrils with diminished breath. Like that chariot yoked with vicious horses, His mind the wise man should restrain undistractedly.
Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.8-9 (Hinduism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Get up early in the morning and pray. When praying, listen to the sound of your heart. Think of the origin of your heart, imagining that the harmony of heaven and earth is flowing through your arteries and veins. Then, your health will improve.
(27:85, November 26, 1969)
How can we experience the heart of God, when He rejoiced upon creating all things? Meditate on Him from morning till evening sunset while sitting in a garden or a mountain meadow. Be so immersed in your meditation that you lose track of time. Breathe in deeply, and the air of the universe will come to you with life force. Live along with the life force of the universe. Exhale, and all beings will come alive anew. If you enter a state of deep relaxation, all things will harmonize with you. You will attain the position of an absolute being that can have dominion over all creations…
Exhale, and all things receive; inhale, and all things give out. If you reciprocate with the creation centered on love, all things in the universe will interact with each other. Keep on relating with them and become their center of harmony. Thus you will become a being who resembles nature in all its beauty, like the universe itself. Once you dwell in that state, you will become a center of harmony for the whole universe.
(29:133, February 26, 1970)
What does the nose symbolize? With its two nostrils, it represents Adam and Eve, male and female. The right nostril symbolizes the male and the left nostril the female. God breathes through these holes. What does God breathe? He breathes the air of love. The atmosphere of the spirit world is love. Man and woman were created as partners of love, to be trained in love here on earth and then breathe love in the spirit world. When you have a cold and can only breathe through one nostril, it is like a divorce. When you can only breathe through your mouth, it is as if God can only breathe through the things of creation but not through man and woman, whom He needs to breathe properly.
(118:111, May 9, 1982)