What if you are The Breath, and nothing else?

[ivankiss]

What would happen if you replaced 'God' or 'Consciousness' or 'Source' or whatever... with The Breath?

And I mean, the actual thing, obviously.

Not just the word.

Isn't everything a bit more clearer and simpler all of the sudden?

What if you never left your breath behind, ever again? Do you think you'd feel Godlike?

I'd bet on it.

Some of you may argue, that The Breath is but an appearance, yadayada... And to you, my question is... Ok, but are you actually breathing consciously as you're declaring that? Or are you lost in thought? 

The Breath is God. Period.

And it is your direct access to Heaven.

The Breath exists in realms known to the common masses, and also far, far beyond.

The Breath goes all the way. 

And even when there is no more Breath... It's still there. Just not as you might think.

Breathe in, breathe out. God.

[Tim R]

And when he (Jesus) had said this, he breathed on them (his disciples) and saith unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit".

-  John 20,22 -

[BlackMaze]

@ivankiss  That's cool. I can't really argue with that. I could say that what you said is a very high quality pointer to stop the bs but of course i'm not totally my breath as i write this down. In the end it doesn't matter if i could prove you wrong or argue with you. It will always be mental masturbation which sometimes can be useful but it won't be the Truth. What matters is to be still. 

[QandC]

And if there is no breath, there is death 

Edited July 13, 2021 by QandC

[ivankiss]

@Tim R Thank you ❤

@BlackMaze It has its place, for sure. Ideas are fun. However; Truth is not an idea.

'Something can be interesting, but not helpful.'

@QandC I thought there is no such thing as 'death' ? 

[Consilience]

What's interesting is as one develops high levels of mindfulness, particularly while on a meditation retreat, reality starts to break apart and "breath." When perception starts "breathing" on psychedelics, that spacious, fluid, effervescent type quality, this is what happens as a result of serious meditation practice. This perceptive fluidity is like a fractal to the felt body sensations in the body. The entirety of our direct experience is breathing in and out of existence moment by moment, this is anicca aka impermanence. This is even more profound because these breath sensations are expanding and contracting at multiple resolutions, even a micro second of an inhalation has even more minuscule "expansions" and "contractions." Reality is also breathing, expanding and contracting at different scales and resolutions of time. 

This is all to say, when one can feel the breathing of not just the breath, but of our entire unified field of perception, that's when things start getting interesting. 

[ivankiss]

@Consilience Very cool! Thanks!

[Kamo]

@ivankiss Yes its really quite interesting when all of reality ceases to be what it previously was (perceptually-literally) and your only direct experience is your breath. I've experienced this before. (on and off psychedelics)  "You" become the Breath. or Awareness is centered/focused on the breath. I know you know what I mean. Its quite profound and amazing. Here is a link I think you guys will find interesting. There's alot on that page. https://breathmeditation.org/the-buddhist-tradition-of-breath-meditation

[QandC]

@ivankiss No such thing as breath either

[RickyFitts]

4 hours ago, ivankiss said:

Some of you may argue, that The Breath is but an appearance, yadayada... 

I'm laughing because, yes, that was pretty much my first thought  'Our true nature is not an object in consciousness, it can't be perceived', something along those lines.

So I wouldn't go as far as to say that I am the breath, but I'm very much on board with breath-awareness, having practised it for four years for hours a day - I think the most beneficial thing for me, as you mentioned, is that it simply brings my awareness into my body, and thus helps me become aware of feelings and sensations that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Not that it's all fun and games, mind, it can start to make you aware of a lot of pain and discomfort - but you can only heal what you can feel, after all, as Teal Swan would say.

[SourceCodo]

It would mean that I will probably continue experiencing life in similar ways and realize that nothing has changed. Then I'd go back to my normal life and drop my attachment to defining experiential reality, realizing it as a moot point. 

[ivankiss]

@Kamo Yes, awesome! Thanks!

18 hours ago, QandC said:

No such thing as breath either 

You cannot transcend something before mastering it fully. 

@RickyFitts Cool. Thanks.

I'd add: there is a big difference between being the breath and being aware of breathing.

@SourceCodo Nice.

Imo; experience is only sweeter when connected to the breath. It stands in no one's way. 

Nothing is in anything's way, ever.

[RickyFitts]

5 hours ago, ivankiss said:

I'd add: there is a big difference between being the breath and being aware of breathing.

Excellent point, that's an important distinction to make. 

[ZzzleepingBear]

I'm inclined to agree with you OP, that breath is indeed life.

BUT.. Here's the kicker.

Breath is not just a breath. As in a single point. Breathing is a relationship between in breath.. pause ..Out breath.

All of a sudden you go from a singular conclution as in Breath=life, life=breath.

To a triangular realtionship of breath as a rythm of motion. One may want to make the argument that the singularity/inertia of the breath is in the pause itself. But the breathing is stil a selfcorrecting relationship between the three for there to be life.

So if the conclution is that you see yourself as breath, there might aswell be three of you, as you see yourself. And that can indeed be a puzzling thought.

[gettoefl]

@ivankissthis is beautiful, thanks for this x

in a given 24 hour period i would venture that experience with / quality of breath is proportional to

closeness to enlightenment to relationship with god to feeling of oneness to capacity for love

for me all five are inextricably mysteriously and palpably linked

Edited July 15, 2021 by gettoefl

[ivankiss]

@ZzzleepingBear Very interesting. Thank you.

I call it 'the breath' and not 'breathing' because it represents a singularity. Not a process.

There is, essentially, no one that's breathing. No inhale and no exhale. There is just Breath.

The 'pause' - which you speak of - is simply the breath being absolutely still, I'd say.

I can recall times when I 'blasted through the ceiling' - if you will - and lost sense of the inhale/exhale cycle. There was no in or out. It became one and the same.

But in the context you put it; I'd say there is both life and death within the breath. 

Breath in - birth, renewal

Breathe out: death, erosion 

Another cool thought; the father and the son share the same breath.

@gettoefl Beautiful. Thanks!

 

[ZzzleepingBear]

16 minutes ago, ivankiss said:

@ZzzleepingBear Very interesting. Thank you.

I call it 'the breath' and not 'breathing' because it represents a singularity. Not a process.

There is, essentially, no one that's breathing. No inhale and no exhale. There is just Breath.

The 'pause' - which you speak of - is simply the breath being absolutely still, I'd say.

I can recall times when I 'blasted through the ceiling' - if you will - and lost sense of the inhale/exhale cycle. There was no in or out. It became one and the same.

But in the context you put it; I'd say there is both life and death within the breath. 

Breath in - birth, renewal

Breathe out: death, erosion 

Another cool thought; the father and the son share the same breath.

@gettoefl Beautiful. Thanks!

 

Ah, I got you. Breath.

I see now how my take was an adding to your singular, by dragging it in to a new context of breathing as a process..

I was tempted to say A breath. But, The breath makes the singularity even more apparent the way you put it. Neat!

renewal-erosion I like that take. And it got me thinking. What if birth is the arriving into erosion. And death is the finalization into renewal. Since birth itself can't be a renewal of what it's already are.

Thank you for your clarification, I needed that. Interesting take!