eyebrows; why then should we fear death?"
Even a man who−−like the yogi−−has to fear no punishment at the last judgment approaches his last
moments with at least some apprehension, for the process of dying is beyond our sphere of control.
Here, for better or worse, we are delivered over to the play of natural forces, and this is for man the
most terrifying experience: to be a helpless victim.
For the master of pranayama, things are different. He controls the powers that represent life. He dies
consciously. In life as in death he adapts himself with deep insight to the natural processes of which
he is always aware. It is not only the life stream of prana upon which preservation and end depend,
for if such were the case the yogi would be immortal. Rather, he recognizes the rhythm to which he,
like all other living things, is subject, and it is his task to gain the highest possible harmony with this
rhythm. Once he has accomplished this and his cycle of existence is completed, he will not try to
influence the law of his sunset. This death for him is only the evening which is followed by a new
and purer morning, a new cycle. It is said to be one of the characteristics of the gods that they have
no fear of death to which they are subject like all living things, because they consciously enter the
eternally new cycle of life and consciously pass through the transitory, purifying state of death.
Again and again Vishnu passes through existence: as animal, man, hero, lover, dwarf, or giant. He is
born, accomplishes his divine work, dies, and is reborn. His consciousness is the all−preserving
Unconscious.
To render this Unconscious conscious is the goal of the yoga master, for this is the only way to
become equal to the gods. So let us too pay attention to the physical and spiritual purity of the nadis,
whether or not we are yogis. Let us inhale the life stream without weighing it down with impure
thoughts. Let us also live more consciously, with our inner vision concentrated on that which
elevates us above all other creatures: our spirit. Then every breath is pranayama which makes us
more divine.
