Acharya Mahaprajna
An important sutra or aphorism of Preksha Dhyan is:
Sampikkhaye appagamappyenam
See your soul through your soul.
The first step of meditation is: perceiving the breath. The question then is: is the soul the breath?
Yes indeed, the breath is the soul, the body is also the soul, the mind and speech are also the soul, and the subtle body and the karmic body are also the soul.
The reason for this is that they are all attached to the soul. The light rays of the soul reach the breath, the body and the subtle body, the mind and speech. The breath is operated with vital energy. Through vital energy, it becomes the sentient. The one who is not able to grasp the sentience of the breath, how will he reach the soul? The one who is not alert to his own breath, how will he be alert to his soul? The breath is a part of sentience. The one who awakens to it will progress ahead till he reaches the soul. The one who does not awaken to his breath does not gain the right to go inwards.
We have raised many walls. They should all break. If our vision could change then anything is possible. There were two brothers. The house was big. There was a lot of love between the brothers, but with time, the love waned. It is the nature of love that in the beginning it is very much and with time it grows less.
A couple fought everyday. One day the neighbours gathered around. One wise man asked, "Why do you fight so much? What is the reason? It is not good to fight everyday." The husband replied, "We did not always fight like this. This is our third year of marriage. In the first year, if the wife said anything I would listen quietly. In the second year if I said anything she would listen to it patiently. This is the third year. We both shout and the neighbours listen."
The question is how can we too reach that stage when we cannot hear the outside world and only hear from within us! This is possible through the practice of regulated breathing. As we progress in this exercise we can reach the soul.
