We are because and how we breathe

We are living organisms because we breathe. Breath is the basic difference between a living and non-living organism, where the word 'living' is a present-continuous verb (which originates from the nonmoving/stable form, be). Breath is the animator. It is because of the inhalation and exhalation movements that we call breath that there is movement in a structure. For that matter, the rhythmic movement of a piston in an internal combustion engine is what makes a vehicle move. Our bodies are the vehicles by which we journey through the life we have. We are amongst the living because we breathe. We are because we breathe.

​Did you know that the Upanishads list 5 types of breaths that the body has with each breath being interrelated with the others and each having a space and function of its own? Sounds like a co-operative society of people, doesn't it?

Texted here are a few thoughts from initial contemplation of content written in the Upanishads. Practice and observations deepen understanding, and also presences details unable to be captured maybe in the limited edition of the version of the Upanishads I had the fortune to read.

​There is the breath that is yoked with the eyes, there is the diffuse breath that is yoked with the ears, there is the lower breath that is yoked with speech, there is the central breath that is yoked with the mind, and there is the upper breath that is yoked with the skin. Thus, the eyes, ears, speech, mind, and skin are our 5 channels of awareness that connects us with what-there-is-to-be-aware-of and it is through these 5 channels that we send and receive information and subsist/survive/create the life we have. (For some reason, there is no mention of the nose and tongue as organs of smell and taste in connection with the breaths). It is actually 6 (5 channels + breath = 6) and 6 is said to be the most stablest form for anything created to exist stably in terms of Sacred Geometry!

The 5 breaths are like the spokes of a wheel that connects the self as the hub of the wheel with what-all-there-is as the rim of the wheel.

The 5 breaths are nourished by food. Food is anything that nourishes us; it could be what we generally term as food, as something that is edible, or it could be a sound that is nourishing for the ear, a thought that nourishes the mind, a feeling that nourishes the skin, a sight/vision that nourishes the eyes, an utterance that nourishes speech. When we consume 'food,' the breaths are taken care of. Edible food and water are substratum upon which the breaths bounce. What we eat becomes the essence of the 5 breaths in the process of the true sense of digestion - from gross to subtle in the order that has been mentioned here of the 5 breaths - from the breath yoked with the eyes to that yoked with the skin.

When we pay attention to what we see, the breath is addressed with. When we pay attention to what we hear, the diffuse breath is addressed with. When we pay attention to what we speak, the lower breath is addressed with. When we pay attention to what we think, the central breath is addressed with. When we pay attention to what we feel, the upper breath is addressed with. What the breath is, awareness is.

When the 5 breaths are taken care of, that which the breaths support are taken care of since the breaths are like the spokes of a wheel that connects its hub with its rim, and basically who we are as a unit of organization get  better connected from the core of our being to All That There Is through the 5 channels/breaths. When the breaths are well taken care of, we as a living vehicle get to function as 'well oiled' vehicles and are more likely than not to be in sync with the Universe like the hub is to the rim of the wheel.

​Question to ponder on(hereon referred to as Food For Thought or FFT!): How do you know that you are breathing versus not-breathing? To paraphrase, how ALL do you know that you are breathing. Maybe you could explore the answer to this question via your eyes, ears, words (for words are the tools of the mind), sounds you utter, sensation. You would likely be better for even attempting to answer this question than not. Happy discoveries!