Tantra - 9 Techniques - 4
Be aware when breathing stops (4/112)
You
are driving a car and suddenly you feel there is going to be an accident.
Breathing will stop. If it is out, it will remain out. If it is in, it will
remain in. You cannot breathe in such an emergency; you cannot afford it.
Everything stops, departs. O48
Your
small self is only a daily utility. In emergencies you cannot remember it. Who
you are – the name, the bank balance, the prestige, everything just evaporates.
Your car is just heading toward another car; another moment and there will be
death. In this moment there will be a pause. Even for the impure there will be a
pause. Suddenly breathing stops. If you can be aware in that moment, you can
reach the goal.
Zen
monks have tried this method very much in Japan. That is why their methods seem
very weird, absurd, strange. They have done many inconceivable things. A master
will throw someone out of the house. Suddenly the master will begin slapping the
disciple without any rhyme or reason, without any cause.
You
were sitting with your master and everything was okay. You were just
chitchatting, and he will begin to beat you in order to create the pause. If
there is any cause the pause cannot be created. If you had abused the master and
he starts beating you there is a causality, your mind understands: “I abused
him, and he is beating me.”
Really,
your mind was expecting it already, so there is no gap. But remember, a Zen
master will not beat you if you abuse him, he will laugh, because then laughter
can create a pause. O 49
There
are many stories that someone attained buddhahood because the teacher suddenly
started beating him. You cannot understand it – what nonsense! How can one
attain buddhahood by being beaten by someone, or by being thrown out of the
window by someone? O 49
The
whole Zen technique is based on the fourth technique of Shiva. O 49
Any
sudden, unexpected, unbelievable thing can create the pause for the impure. But
for the pure there is no need of such things. For the pure the pause is always
there. Many times, for pure minds, breathing stops. If your mind is pure – pure
means you are not desiring, hankering, seeking anything – silently pure,
innocently pure, you can be sitting and suddenly your breath will stop.
Remember
this: mind movement needs breath movement. Mind moving fast needs fast movement
in breath. That is why when you are in anger, breath will move fast. CONT’D … In
the sex act, the breath will move very fast. That is why in Ayurveda – a system
of herbal medicine in India – it is said that your life will be shortened if too
much sex is allowed. Your life will be shortened according to Ayurveda, because
Ayurveda measures your life in breaths. If your breathing is too fast, your life
will be shortened.