Hello Breathers,
Well, I am back in Amarillo, Texas, in the good old US of A: “Bush
country.” I’m sitting here where “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness” are said to be our most important values. Yet, I am reminded of
something that Nietzsche said: “Man’s most enduring stupidity is
forgetting what he is trying to do.”
I have been receiving some powerful promptings from some of the Immortal
Yogis since my trip to India in January. I read The Da Vinci Code on the
flight from Paris to Houston. And I was reminded of how much my Catholic
upbringing served to suppress my inborn “goddess worshipping” tendencies.
This deep unconscious conflict erupted in the form of two root canals in
two months! One more thing: I just watched a documentary film called Loose
Change. It’s about 9/11, my government, and all the unanswered questions
around the downing of the World Trade Center. So please bear with me! And,
let’s begin.
The exercise of the month is an ancient breathing meditation called:
“Soh-Hum.” On the in-breath, we think/feel/say/hear “soh.” On the
out-breath, we think/feel/say/hear “hum.” It’s actually a natural
breathing sound. Very basic, very simple: but very calming and very
energizing. Oh, and since this is a free country, you can also reverse it
if you like. That is, you can breathe “Hum” on the inhale. And breathe
“Sah” on the exhale.
Advice for practitioners: Remember to check the forehead, jaw, neck, and
shoulders when doing a breathing session. Encourage and support people in
relaxing these places during breathwork. These muscles have nothing to do
with breathing, and everything to do with unconscious, unhealthy, or
unnecessary reactions. And so these places should remain soft and loose
when doing the connected rhythm, or when taking a big cleansing breath.
Focus on relaxing these places when a breather is experiencing
uncomfortable emotions, processing intense energy, or when the body is
trying to release pain and fear.
During the past 9 weeks of travel, I have been following the advice of
Pantanjali and the Buddha: meditating on the “momentary nature of
experience.” This is a very familiar phrase to many; but actually
awakening to the reality of it, produces a quantum leap in healing and
growth. And it causes a psycho-spiritual shift of cosmic proportions! All
phenomena, including fear and pain for example, are momentary experiences.
But they become prolonged states of anxiety and suffering because we
resist and react to them!
At all the seminars, we’ve been digging deeper into the question of
“what’s important.” And it has become so obvious that “divine light” or
“universal love” is seeking to flow through us; it is aching to express
itself in our lives, our work, our relationships, and in all our actions.
But dysfunctional habits of thought and feeling, unconscious reactions,
and “mis-identity” keep us from experiencing this pure awareness and its
resulting ecstasy.
One lesson definitely stands out: fixed positions can be fatal. Clinging
to old rigid beliefs means never moving beyond the past. Old dogmatic
certainties, traditional ideologies, and personal biases, block genuine
vision and stifle creative energy. We must continually abandon our old
points of view if we want to grow and progress in this life.
I think of Socrates and Jesus, both gentle humanists and rugged
individualists, who taught us that becoming free of political and
religious deceptions and psychological traps and illusions, is required
for awakening. But notice that they didn’t lock their teachings into
authoritative writings or formal documents; and so they avoided
solidifying—and thus stagnating—their evolving knowledge and living
wisdom. (Notice also, that this is exactly what their so-called followers
and others have done, and continue to do today!)
Socrates and Jesus were not political or religious leaders. They were
sublime teachers. They championed the individual over the establishment.
They shunned group-think and mob mentality. And so the Establishment—the
mob—killed them both. They taught that every conscious person carries a
divine spark within his or her nature. They opened us to the idea that we
are what God once was, and that God is what we will someday become.
In any case, we don’t need more worshippers and followers, more true
believers or more conformists. Especially in the breathwork movement, we
need more free thinkers, more emotionally and psychologically courageous
individuals—more spiritual breathers!
Un-awakened people are unable to tolerate emotional, psychological, or
sexual freedom. The responsibility of living without limits, without
rulers, gurus, or gods, or even without sickness, aging, and death, is
just too much for unconscious people to allow or accept.
Consider this: one of the fundamental ideas that created the Rebirthing
Movement in the 70’s, was the idea of “physical immortality.” The first
rebirthers were ‘immortalists’ who set out to live a life of unlimited
freedom, a life of unending love, peace, and joy. They were devoted to
supporting and encouraging others to abandon their deathist mentalities.
I embraced rebirthing in the early days, and still do, because it’s clear
to me that mortality is the nature and destiny of unconscious human life.
And immortality is the nature and destiny of conscious human life. As a
breathworker, it is my sacred duty to enlighten myself and to empower
others to include the human body into the eternal life of the spirit.
The greatest responsibility of conscious life—and the highest goal of
breathwork—is to achieve eternal happiness. But how many of us are ready
to awaken to our immortal nature? And how many of us are ready to accept
the awesome responsibility for living forever free, in love and peace and
joy? Maybe this should be the only criterion for certification. Maybe this
should lead the list of breathworker “standards and ethics.”
Consider this famous syllogism: “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man.
Therefore Socrates is mortal." Now consider this: “Most humans are
conscious. Consciousness is immortal. Therefore most humans are immortal!”
Nathanial Branden in his wonderful book: “The Art of Conscious Living”
reminds us that who we are in essence, by nature, is “the light of
consciousness.” And we can choose to dim or brighten this light with every
breath we take! I am passionate about conscious breathing—spiritual
breathing—because it is by far the most simple and powerful means or
method to self-realization on the planet today—if it is applied toward
that purpose.
A very beautiful form of spiritual breathwork is “de-reflexive breathing:”
also called “Krishna’s Kriya Yoga.” For ages, this meditation/exercise was
passed on directly from one teacher to the next in a sacred ritual or an
initiation ceremony. But now anyone can pick up this ancient thread and
follow it back to our eternal source—or forward to our divine destiny!
Find it on the web. Play with it. You’ll be glad you did. Sat Chit Ananda!
I want to thank everyone who organized and assisted in the seminars and
trainings since my trip to India: Rebecca, Alex, Terri, Dwight, Tom,
Rozana, Catherine, Stephane, Andrius, Tatiana, Slava, Sergei, Andrei,
Olga, Nina, Jenya, Zoya, Dinara, Julia, Natasha, Rosa, Talvi, Ajjar, Anna,
Thomas, and so many others in the USA, Mexico, France, Estonia, Lithuania,
Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Bashkortostan. Special
recognition goes out to Terri Wilcox who traveled with me to five
countries in four weeks. She’s the first breathworker in Tulsa, Oklahoma!
Thank you to Bil, Michael, Julia, Luba, and to all my assistants and
fellow practitioners, coaches, and facilitators in training. Thanks to
you, more than two thousand people in ten countries and fifteen cities
have tasted the profound benefits of Spiritual Breathing in the last four
months alone. And finally, thank you to all the loving and courageous
individuals who took part in the sessions and seminars. You gave me the
opportunity to practice what I preach, to walk my talk, to live my dream,
to do what I love. Thank you!
Love and blessings,
Om Namah Shivaya
Dan Brulé, Guchu Ram Singh
3630 Brennan Blvd., Apt 26-G, Amarillo, TX 79121
Email: danbrule1008@hotmail.com; Mobile Phone: 508-345-7574
Summer Schedule
June 7-15: Italy
June 16-23: Lithuania
June 24-26: Estonia
June 27-30: France
July 7-12…. Sedona, Arizona
July 14-18…. Santa Barbara, California
July 21-31…. Cancun, Mexico
August 4-8: Windham Retreat, NY
August 10-20 Boston/Providence/New York
Fall Schedule
Sept/October: Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Ukraine, Crimea, Russia,
Kazakhstan, France
Please visit www.breathmastery.com for detailed schedule and contact
information.
Click on the newsletter archives there. And post your comments on the
feedback page.