The Elemental Breaths

“[Hazrat Inayat Khan] offered a practice he considered essential, a practice to be

done by all mureeds.  In fact, it is a practice we can teach outside the Sufi Order,

as widely as possible.  It is a practice for humanity at this time.  It would be

wonderful if it could be widely known and generally practiced by all people. 

It is the practice of the elemental breaths, a practice that connects us to the living

cosmos which surrounds us.” 

~ Pir Zia Inayat Khan

“Earth, Water, Fire, and Air are God’s servants.  To us they seem lifeless, but to

God, living.” 

~ Jalal al-Din Rumi

Practices With Breath

by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Purification is the innate tendency of every soul, but it purifies only that part of its being

of which it is conscious.  There is a Parsi saying, “Purity is the first piety.”  When striving

to purify the body and mind, people often fail to find the real source of their purification. 

The breath is the source which keeps body and mind alive, and body and mind connected. 

Impurity of breath turns body and mind impure, and purity of breath gives purity to body

and mind

    

The question of how we should purify the breath may be answered this way: that breath

is constituted of the five elements of which both the body and the mind are composed,

and it is the same elements that are used by the mystics to purify the breath.  After a

Sufi has made his breath rhythmic by the practice of Fikr, and has acquired strength in

the breath, then he may purify his breath with different elements.

By breathing on earth, he will give all his impurities to earth, and will attract purity from

earth.   By breathing before water, he will purify his breath and will give out impurities

to water.  By breathing before fire, the Sufi purifies his breath by that element.  Therefore,

incense is burnt in religious places, and the adepts in India keep fire before them when

practicing meditation.  One must purify one's breath by breathing in the open air, which

is the air of purification.  And life in the open space enables one to purify one's breath by

the ether, which pervades the whole of space.  Purification of the breath not only gives

sound health of mind and body, but it gives perpetual youth and long life, until one has

attained the life eternal.

The general practice consists of four sets of five exhalations and inhalations, followed

by the prayer Nayaz:

First 5:

In by noseOut by noseEarth

Second 5:

In by noseOut by mouth      Water

Third 5:

In by mouth      Out by noseFire

Fourth 5:

In by mouth      Out by mouth      Air

Nayaz:  Beloved Lord, Almighty God!

Through the rays of the sun,

Through the waves of the air,

Through the All-pervading Life in space,

Purify and revivify me, and I pray,

Heal my body, heart, and soul.  Amen.

These are done before breakfast, hands hanging down by the side, if possible before

an open window.  Inhalations and exhalations are done slowly, easily, and quietly.

While inhaling think that you receive; while exhaling think that you radiate.  What does

one exhale and spread?  The divine power which purifies and revivifies one’s life, which

inspires one and enables the soul to unfold.  This thought must constantly be kept in

mind during the exercise.  There are many other forms of this experience, but this is the

general prescription.

If a mureed is weak or not well, he or she sometimes may be allowed to do this exercise

sitting or sometimes even while lying in bed.  People who have to improve their health

may do this exercise twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.

an excerpt from "Embodied Spirituality"

by Pir Zia Inayat Khan

There’s a wonderful verse that you find in the Vamana Purana that can be taken as a

daily prayer in the morning: 

“Let the great elements bless this dawning day; earth with its smell, water with

its taste, fire with its radiance, air with its touch, and space with its sound.” 

As we invoke the elements outside of ourselves, simultaneously we experience the

body as a cosmic body.  This is the theme of the macrocosm, which you find in all great

esoteric traditions – to awaken our understanding of the body as the concentrated

essence of the whole universe.  You find this again and again in descriptions of the body

in Sufi literature and in other sacred traditions.

All of the signs of the Zodiac are located within the body.  The body is kindred to the stars,

to the sun and the moon, and the planets, all of the features of the landscape, the mountains,

the valleys, the abysses, the oceans, rivers, and streams, the trees of the forest, the animals;

all exist within the body.  The body can expand and merge with all of the features of the

landscape and become continuous with the cosmos.  This is precisely what we awaken

when we say the invocation and practice the elemental breaths.  This absolutely destroys

the illusion of false ordinariness that we so often carry with us, and re-awakens us to the

incredible grandeur of nature.  Aziz Miyan, a great Sufi who worked primarily with the

elements, said:

Who says we have far to go?

Where I stand is Sinai’s Mountain.

Every leaf reveals God’s splendor,

Every dustmote hides a fountain.

This patch of earth, which we occupy here, is the peak of revelation if we could only wake up

and be aware.  “Every dustmote hides a fountain.”

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