The Early Tantrik Subtle Body and the Internal Flow of ‘Breath-Time’

-The following is drawn from Chapters 10 and 11 of the K!lottara Tantra (the Tantra of ‘Transcending Time,’ in 350 verses), ca. 7th century c.e. -Teacher: !iva. Student: Skanda, the eldest son of !iva. -pre-dates the earliest ‘Ha"ha Yoga’ manuals by 600+ years.****

The N!"# Cakra (‘Circle of Channels’)

*”I will teach you, in order, the circle of channels, which is extremely subtle. 72,000 channels derive from it, in the center of the navel, and traverse (out of it) upwardly and downwardly, pervading in all directions.” --10.2 (also called the ‘kanda,’ meaning ‘bulb’)

The Primary Channels (N#$%s)

*”Among them are 10 principal n#$%s. The three [most important of the 10] are the lunar [i$#], solar [pi&gal#], and gracious [su'umn#] (channels).”

The Petals of the Heart Lotus

“In the center of the heart space is an eight-petaled lotus. Within that is the pericarp (or ‘fruit’ of the lotus, i.e. the inner chamber).” -10.18.

Comment—The ‘eight petals’ of the heart lotus, represent the cardinal (north, south, east, west) and intermediate (northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest) directions. 2 more petals go straight up and down.

!akti and the Soul

“The primal source !akti of !iva operates everywhere. The soul, as if a bee, is contained in the middle of the heart lotus.” “!akti appears as as fire (su'umn#), the moon (i$#), and the sun (pi&gal#) in the center of that heart [lotus].” “Indeed, the Source !hakti is the one who ‘rises upward’. The soul, as if a bee, is concealed in the middle of the lotus petals, where this Sacred !akti (Power) is placed.” 10.18-19.

1 Comment: To raise the soul up through the su'humn#, in order to effect the liberated state, is the goal of daily Tantrik yoga. But first mastery of the flow of breath must occur—

Pr#(#y#ma (‘breath extension and retention’)

-‘I will now each you the complete [sequence of] pr"#"y"ma. This consists of the divisions p$raka (extended inhalation), recaka (extended exhalation), and kumbhaka (breath retention). Those wise in Yoga, by [focusing] on a single syllable [during kumbhaka], experience the power of the Primordial Sound [AUM].’ --K!llotara Tantra (in 350 verses), ch. 11.

–“Pr#(#y#ma is performed according to the divisions of the ‘24-hour day’ (ahor!tra).”

Meaning: The breath is taught to align with the movements of the sun throughout the 24 hour period— “They [these passages] are analogized to the coming and going of the sun.”

Natural Breathing as the flow of the ‘HA)SA’ syllable

The natural in-breath (pr!$a-v!yu) is aligned in the Tantras to the syllable ‘SA’. The natural out-breath (ap!na-v!yu) is aligned to the syllable ‘HA.’ But when these two winds are fused (ha%ha) together, through pr#(#y#*a practice, when the full breath is retained (kumbhaka) they form HA!SA.

Comment—The formation of ‘HA%SA’ simply denotes that the power of the two primary winds becomes fused and combined through breath retention. That point of fusion is the ‘)’ vowel, or the bindu (seed point) that links them together.

“The out (breath) moves (out) with the syllable ‘ha’ and the in (breath) returns with the syllable ‘sa.’). The j%va (living being) always recites this mantra: ‘Ha*sa ha*sa.’” –The Hundred Teachings of Gorak&a (Gorak&ha 'ataka), verse 42 (13th century).

The Internal time Cycles of the Universe (Adhy!tmika K!la)

K!lottara Tantra (7th century)-- “The pr"#a wind (exhalation) is the day; [it moves] upward from the heart lotus. The ‘sun’ is ‘said’ = said to be rising through the passage to the [right] nostril (pi&gal# n#$%). The ap"na wind (inhalation) is the night, following the setting of

2 the sun (in-breath) as the downward circulation of air through the passage (%$#) at left nostril. Retention (kumbhaka)—“Retention, established at the middle channel, is to be strived for by the holding of the moon (in-breath) in the heart lotus. A Wise Person is also to experience this bodily transcendence [inactivity] through holding the sun at the crown of the head.”

Interpretation (by C.T.)-- The flow of external time is analogized, in all of the Tantric lineages, to the flow of one round of breath (inhalation>exhalation) in the body, so that the human being represents a microcosm of the universe. This is crucial to understand, because the Vijñ!$a Bhairava’s assumes that its readers know these analogies when it uses ‘time’ language in its poetry. One round of breath (2-4 seconds) consists of the in-breath, moving downward through the %$# n#$%, and the out-breath, moving upward through the pi&gal# n#$%. This round is analogized throughout the Tantric scriptures to three phases of external (real) time—the DAY, the MONTH, or the YEAR.

One round of breath = the (internal) DAY— daytime = (warm) exhalation (recaka) = pr"#a –v"yu (‘outgoing wind’), moves upward through the solar channel (pi&gal#). So the outbreath = the ‘Sun.’ nightime = (cool) inhalation (p+raka)= ap"na –v"yu (‘downward wind’) moves downward through the lunar channel (%$#). So the in-breath = the ‘Moon.’ sa(kr!nti (‘transition’ points of the breath) = this is where breath retention (Kumbhaka) is performed-- a). ‘Dawn’—is the point between inhalation (night) and exhalation (day), where the in-breath, which has descending into the heart/navel area through the %$# channel, transitions (sa(kr!nti) to the out-breath, which then flows up through the pi&gal# n#$%. **here, the yog& briefly has access to the liberating range of the su'$mn" n"(&, the central channel.** b). ‘Dusk’-- is the point of transition (sa(kr!nti) between exhalation (day) and inhalation (night), when the out-breath ends its flow upward through the pi&gal# n#$% to reverse back down into the %$# n#$%, as in-breath. **here, the yog& briefly has access to the liberating range of the su'$mn" n"(&, the central channel.**

One round of breath when analogized to an internal ‘MONTH’—

3 a). the in-breath = the ‘15 days’ of the waxing moon, from the ‘new moon’ at the crown of the head (dv!da)!nta), to the ‘full moon’ in the heart center (when the inhalation has completely ‘filled’ the chest). b). the out-breath = the ‘15 days’ of the waning moon, from the ‘full moon’ at the heart, or when there is a full chest of air, the moon, or the breath itself, ‘wanes,’ or empties out, upwardly, through the crown of the head (dv!da)!nta).

One round of breath when analogized to an (internal) ‘YEAR’— a). the in-breath = the ‘6 months’ from the ‘summer solstice,’ (ca. June, i.e. Gemini) the transition point of the out-breath into the in-breath, at the crown of the head (dv!da)!nta), to the ‘winter solstice,’ (ca. December, i.e. Sagittarius) in the heart. b). the out-breath = the ‘6 months’ from the ‘winter solstice,’ at the heart (full inhaled breath, i.e. December), where the in-breath transitions to the out-breath, back up to the ‘summer solstice,’ at the crown of the head (dv!da)!nta; i.e. June).

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