that the moving breath is like the waves of the sea-constant but
moving-therefore not a thorough challenge for dharana. You are
right. But what of retention of the breath? Breathing stops. Is not the
cessation of the movement of breath, the life-giving force, the greatest
point of stillness imaginable? Breath moves; retention does not.
Yogic meditation is performed alone, not in groups. It is not a
lonely activity but aloneness like the illuminating moon that can lead
to the Ultimate and Transcendent Aloneness. Do not confuse Alone
ness with loneliness. Loneliness is separation from the cosmos. Alone
ness is to become the common denominator of the Cosmic All. The
arrested breath, perceived with the unwavering eye of dharana, bears
consciousness to its core. It halts the movement of thought. As Patan
jali wrote, Yoga citta vrtti nirodah. Yoga is the cessation of the fluctu
ations of consciousness. I said that dharana purifies intelligence. The
still mind is, by definition, pure.
Is this the end? Are we there yet? No. There remains the ego, the
self, the known self, the impersonator of the Soul. He is the last actor
to leave the stage. He lingers even for the very final hand clap of ap
plause. What forces him off the stage? Silence and retention of the
breath.
As we saw in chapter 3, there are essentially two types of retention
and of realization. At the full, after inhalation and, on empty, after ex
halation. In the process of inhalation it is the Self that comes up as the
breath goes in. In retention it is the Self that enfolds the frontier of the
body in union with the Self. In this state there is a full experience of
Self that is egoless but where the ego remains dormant and ready to re
express itself. After exhalation the sheaths of the self move toward the
Self. As the air moves out, these sheaths move in. Here there is a full
experience of uniting with the Self in which the ego is absent and its
potential for selfish action is expunged. Inhalation is a realization of
the totality of Being swelling out from the core toward the periphery.
It is the fullest realization of what is implied by being incarnate, spirit
II K S IYI'.NI;AR