THE FOURTH STEP OF MEDITATION

The purpose of meditation is to obtain information that is inaccessible to the senses of the intellect. The goal is tranquility. To enter a state of meditation, we must free our consciousness from its conditioned state. Therefore, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali begin with: Instructions on union: Union is the calming of the modifications of consciousness. At that moment, consciousness exists in its own nature. Otherwise, it identifies with the modifications. To enter a state of meditation, we must silence everything that alters our perception and understanding—in other words, our consciousness. When everything that changes consciousness calms down, consciousness frees itself from this conditioning and experiences only itself. This is yoga, union. The experience of our true nature. In this experience, there is no sense of self as we imagine it. Instead, there exists a consciousness that is bliss, happiness, joy, wisdom, intelligence, tranquility, and union with the divine. If we do not achieve the removal of these conditions, we remain identified with them and suffer in ignorance. This is our current state. Currently, we are conditioned.

We identify ourselves with modifications. The most obvious is the physical body. We believe that this body is our identity. We are completely identified with it. We do not realize that the body is merely a shell—unstable, temporary, illusory. Perhaps we have heard of this idea, but we do not understand it. Many people believe they practice yoga, even though they are actually just identifying with their bodies and trying to make them beautiful and slim. Another modification with which we strongly identify is our personality. Our heritage, name, appearance, politics, taste in music and food, religion, etc. Our personality is just a mask we wear to survive in society. We mistakenly believe that this is our identity. In reality, personality is an illusion that modifies our consciousness. We identify with the modifications we experience as emotions, thoughts, beliefs, memories, and we believe that these define our identity. There are thousands of modifications that filter our perception and understanding. We think that all of them are real, but they are not. The fundamental reality is what is captured deep within all these modifications.

Awareness itself. True spirituality lies in recognizing these modifications for what they are and freeing our consciousness from them. Meditation is a way to experience this unconditional state. Meditation is also a state of consciousness that allows us to understand these modifications as they truly are. To achieve a state of meditation, we must follow a precise method. 

So far, in previous lessons, we have addressed three initial steps. The first two steps of meditation discuss the ethics that eliminate the modifications affecting our consciousness. Every behavior, whether physical or psychological, has consequences. Anger always leads to suffering. Even when we are not aware of it within ourselves, anger causes us suffering. It is hidden in our minds and manipulates our perceptions. Desire always causes suffering. It alters our perceptions and influences our minds. As a result, we act incorrectly. Fear, pride, and envy also lead to suffering. Sacred texts and religions have been explaining this to us for thousands of years, yet we still do not understand. We still try to avoid this part of the teaching because we are afraid.

We do not want to change ourselves; we do not want to see the truth. The initial steps of meditation begin with learning to limit behaviors that harm ourselves or others and learning behaviors that benefit us and others. Ethics and proper conduct transform behaviors that cause suffering and tension. When we have good ethics, we reduce anxiety, fear, and desires. When we perform good deeds, we experience peace and tranquility. We are no longer as influenced by anger, desire, pride, and envy. When our desires and addictions no longer dominate us, we begin to take control of them with the intention of completely removing them. Consciousness becomes stronger. It starts to become stable, calm, free from guilt and regret. In this way, when we begin to meditate, we are already calm. We are already limiting harmful behaviors that disturb our mind, body, and heart. When we do what is right, we feel it, and it brings us peace and serenity. And then it becomes easy to relax. In the third step, we assume the posture for meditation. Our posture must be completely relaxed, and our body must become completely...

calm, completely still. Essentially, we want to completely forget about the body, which will remain comfortable in its position. If we are obsessed with desires, it disturbs our mind and heart, and our body becomes tense. This means we cannot relax on any level. In this state, we will never be able to meditate. Let’s not forget, union (yoga) is the calming of the modifications of consciousness. These modifications reside in our mind and resonate in our body as tension and agitation. In the third step, we relax the body so that it can become calm. The fourth step of yoga (union) builds on this foundation. Pranayama: Control of energy. All eight steps discuss establishing the right conditions for meditation. The first two steps are aimed at removing behaviors that cause disturbances in the mind, heart, and body, and instead cultivating behaviors that promote the necessary conditions for meditation. The third step calms the body and allows it to relax so that we can forget about it. The fourth step calms our breathing and our energy. After ensuring this stability of posture, we follow with the regulation of breathing, the control of prana,

Pranajama refers to the control of inhalation and exhalation. Most people believe that pranayama is a breathing exercise, but it is not about physical breath; it is about prana. Pranajama originates from prana, which is the life force. It can mean breath, but it primarily refers to energy, vitality, and power. Ayama means limitation or control. Therefore, pranayama is about harnessing and calming energy. Hence, the sacred text states: The peace of the mind comes with exhalation and the retention of prana. What is prana? Simply put, nature is prana, and prana is nature. As part of nature, we exist in prana in various modifications. Everything around us is prana at different levels. Thus, our consciousness is conditioned by prana on various layers. To reach a state of meditation, we must free our consciousness from all layers of prana. Our body is condensed prana. It breathes with the help of prana and thinks with the help of prana. Prana is necessary for us to feel, see, hear, walk, and dream. Everything is prana, modified at different levels. Pranayama utilizes and calms all our prana. It harnesses our prana so that we can use it wisely.

Pranayama literally means utilization of life force. If you have studied yoga or pranayama, you have probably heard that when performing this type of exercise, the practitioner visualizes the intake of energy from nature. This is an exoteric, public, superficial explanation of pranayama. Pranayama utilizes the energy that is within us. Inside us is an incredible energy. Consider what happens if someone takes a single atom and splits it. There is an astonishing amount of energy in one atom. Our entire being is composed of atoms at various levels, and thus we are filled with incredible potential energy; we just do not know how to access it. However, if we think about it, it is quite obvious where in our lives we find the strongest expression of prana: sexual power. If we understand that prana is the foundation of life and existence, it follows that its deepest expression is in the ability to create life, our sexual power. Therefore, all religions teach the restriction and preservation of sexual power. Devout believers in every religion must maintain their sexual power.

the sexual energy begins to be dissipated. It is important to learn how to control and preserve this energy. This preservation allows us to channel our vitality into higher pursuits, such as spiritual growth and self-realization. In the practice of Raja Yoga, the first steps emphasize the importance of brahmacharya, or the conservation of sexual energy, and shaucha, or purity. Through these practices, we cultivate a strong foundation for deeper meditation and understanding. The transformation of sexual energy into a higher form, known as ojas, is essential for achieving clarity and enlightenment. Those who inhabit celestial realms radiate immense light, a reflection of their mastery over sexual energy. Thus, the scriptures remind us that by establishing sexual continence, we gain vitality. When we are young, we are often brimming with this vitality, but as we reach puberty, it becomes crucial to learn how to harness and direct this powerful force.

When we start to waste it. Over the years, people continuously waste their sexual energy and then weaken. Consequently, they seek more energy everywhere through food, exercise, energy drinks, drugs, caffeine, vitamins, or any other means to gain more energy. All the while, they continue to waste the greatest source of energy they have: their sexual energy. Over time, they exhaust their sexual energy to the point where they begin to take pills and chemicals to artificially stimulate it. On the other hand, if you observe someone practicing true spirituality—yoga—they have immense energy and are peaceful because they control their sexual energy. We can do the same; we just need to know how. In this lesson, we will introduce this topic, but it is too vast to cover in a single lesson. On glorian.org, you will find books, courses, and hundreds of lessons that explain this subject in detail. When we maintain our sexual energy and transmute it, we convert it into light, power, and vitality. This is why in the Bhagavad-gita, Christ, through Krishna, said: I am the seed of vitality within you.

Krišna-Kristus je spolna moč sama. Kristus je po Jezusu rekel: Jaz sem luč sveta. Jaz sem ojas (svetloba) prane (življenja, sveta). Torej, to je zelo sveta tematika. Vaša spolna moč je prisotnost Kristusa. Jasno to pomeni, da je vaša spolna moč sveta in jo je treba tako tudi obravnavati. Joga šastre pravijo: Izgon spolne moči prinese smrt, ohranjanje spolne moči prinese življenje. V Shivi Samhiti je zapisano: Ko je dragoceni dragulj spolne moči obvladan, je karkoli na zemlji mogoče obvladati. Preko milosti njenega ohranjanja postaneš tako mogočen kot jaz [Shiva]. Vedoč to, mora jogi vedno ohranjati spolno moč. To je najvišja joga. Spolna moč je temelj vseh religij, duhovnosti, meditacije in joge. Ohranjanje spolne moči je osnova za učenje resnične meditacije. Um, prana in spolna moč Združitev (joga) je umiritev modifikacij zavesti. Ni večje moči od spolne moči, prav tako ni večjega vzroka za naše trplen

The multiplication of humanity is rooted in desire, which is why true spiritual development depends on how we handle our sexual power and how it transforms our consciousness. As we are now, our sexual power is trapped in lust, and this is the reason we suffer. Swami Sivananda said, The mind, prana, and sexual power are one. With the control of the mind, you can control prana and sexual power. With the control of prana, you can control the mind and sexual power. With the control of sexual power, you can control the mind and prana. If sexual power is controlled and flows upward to the brain through pure thoughts and pranayama, the mind and prana are automatically controlled. If we want to learn meditation and experience union, we must understand this dynamic: the mind, prana, and sexual power are one. They are not separate. If you are interested in experiencing true meditation, then you must preserve your sexual power. When you retain sexual power, you must also work with prana and your mind. In other words, preserving sexual power is not only physical but also psychological.

If you allow your mind to remain dependent on desire, pornography, masturbation, and the lustful observation of others, then you cannot control prana or sexual energy. All three will be disrupted, as they cannot be separated from one another. You cannot separate psychological work from sexual work, as they are completely 100% connected. Even Freud knew this. Shivananda stated that when a person is aroused by sexual desire, prana begins to move. If sexual power is lost due to orgasm, prana becomes unstable. Prana is agitated, the person becomes nervous, and the mind cannot function properly. The person becomes fickle-minded, and there is mental weakness. If prana is calm, the mind also becomes calm. If sexual power is calm, the mind is also calm. Sexual power is the essence of life, thoughts, intelligence, and consciousness. Therefore, take great care to preserve this vital force. If our mind is weak, fickle, and unstable, it is because our sexual power is misdirected. Thus, we must master the fourth step to harness sexual power and...

let's create stability. Harnessing power. Just as water can transform into steam and steam can drive a motor, our sexual energy can be transformed into light, spiritual energy. Pranayama is the method by which this transformation takes place. Pranayama is an act of attention. In the previous lesson, you used your attention to relax every part of your body and experienced how effective that is. Pranayama works in a similar way, on the same basis. You direct your attention to guiding sexual energy upward along the spine. This is usually combined with the flow of breath; however, people often emphasize breathing and neglect focusing on attention. In reality, pranayama is primarily about attention and has little to do with physical breathing. In fact, your breath should be very quiet, subtle, even imperceptible. There are countless types of pranayama that have been devised by hatha yogis, which do not exist in sacred texts or in authentic meditation schools. In meditation schools, only a few pranayama techniques are taught, and these are very simple and quiet. Pranayama is based on the preceding steps of union (yoga). It involves maintaining sexual energy.

the body is relaxed and the spine is aligned. When sexual energy is preserved, it is stored fuel waiting to be used. A relaxed body allows energy to flow. A straight spine facilitates an easy flow of energy. Pranayama draws this energy up the spine to the brain, nourishing the brain, the endocrine system, and then the heart. You already know how your sexual energy energizes your sexual organs. With pranayama, you move this energy to stimulate your brain, endocrine system, and heart. Through pranayama, we harness sexual energy and train the body so that our energy flows in a healthy way, restoring our psychological balance. Restoring our spiritual abilities, our physical body has an energetic aspect. Our sexual energy is the same; it is both physical and energetic. The abuse of sexual energy has harmed our bodies physically and energetically. When we preserve and transform sexual energy, it can heal and restore what has been damaged. In the physical body, there are countless energy channels. Where these channels intersect,

So transformers, transmitters. People call them chakras. Channels are the way energy flows from one place to another. Chakras are the way energy flows from one dimension to another. There are three important channels. At the center of our spine, we have a very thin, semi-physical channel. On both sides of it, there are two more channels. These channels are polarized in men and women. Energy moves through these channels according to our psychological state and the state of our sexual power. Our psychological state is very poor, and our sexual power is misdirected, so these channels function very poorly, if at all. With daily practice of pranayama, transformed sexual power cleanses and revitalizes these channels. Once they are cleansed and restored, sexual power also rejuvenates the chakras. Chakras are transformers that enable the movement of energy between dimensions. Your eyes do something similar. Your physical eyes convert visible light into energy that enters your brain, where this energy is translated into images. Chakras do the same thing, but in different ways.

They enable us to perceive non-physical images, non-physical sounds, and to recall memories from ancient times. They do not function properly within us because we have abused our sexual power and harmed our chakras. This is why we are so confused and perceive many things incorrectly. Pranayama restores these abilities, which we can then use in meditation. Everyone wants to enter meditation and have visions, to see spiritual worlds, to converse with divine beings. In our current state, we cannot do this because our spiritual senses are atrophied and their lenses, the chakras, are inert or blocked. If you desire spiritual sight, hearing, and memory, maintain your sexual power and utilize it through pranayama. Therefore, the fourth step of meditation is pranayama. Pranayama uses this preserved sexual power to calm the body, heart, and mind, and energizes our non-physical senses. You will notice that when you maintain your sexual power and practice pranayama, your mind, heart, and body become very calm and peaceful. Pranayama prepares us for the fifth step of meditation.

Every time you prepare for meditation, first practice pranayama. The conditions for practicing pranayama include ethics, the retention of sexual energy, and sexual purity. If you do not maintain your sexual energy, there is nothing that can be utilized through pranayama. Many people waste their sexual energy daily and attempt to practice pranayama. They are like those who want to draw water from an empty well, or light a lamp that has no fuel, or drive a car without gasoline. No matter how hard they try to start the engine, it will never ignite because there is no fuel in it. Your sexual energy is the fuel for your consciousness. Brahmacharya is the retention of sexual energy. It is the abstention from orgasm. If you experience orgasms, you are wasting that energy. Swami Shivananda said that once this energy is lost, it cannot be restored in any other way. It is the most powerful energy in the world. One orgasm completely shocks the brain and the nervous system. The energy lost during one orgasm is equivalent to the energy consumed over ten days.

Physical work, or the energy expended for three days of mental labor, is precious. Remember how valuable it is. Do not waste this energy. Preserve it with great care, and you will have wonderful vitality. 

2. Relaxed and attentive posture. Pranayama works best when you are in a relaxed, motionless position with a straight back. If you want water to flow through a straw or tube, and if the straw is bent or twisted, the water will move slowly, if at all. Your spine is the straw, and your sexual energy is the water. Straighten your back and neck, and the sexual energy will flow easily. Additionally, if you squeeze the straw tightly, the water will not flow. This creates tension in the body. Tension tightens the muscles and restricts the flow of energy. Therefore, your body must also be completely relaxed. We have observed people practicing pranayama with a lot of tension in their physical bodies. They tense their bodies with clenched fists and tight faces, with very active and tense muscles and strong, loud breathing. As you prepare for meditation, pranayama should lead to stillness and silence.

Your body should be completely still and motionless due to deep relaxation. Pranayama should not involve any movement of your body. 

Silence. Inhale and exhale should be quiet. This is emphasized in all sacred texts and by Swami Sivananda, who said: Breathe in slowly through both nostrils without noise. Hold your breath as long as you can comfortably. Then slowly exhale through both nostrils. Do not use your nose as a vacuum pump. It should serve as a passive passage for inhaled and exhaled air. Do not make any sound when you inhale and exhale. Remember that proper breathing is silent. Exhale very slowly and without noise.

Letting go. Pranayama is the fourth step in preparing for meditation. The next step is pratyahara, which is the withdrawal from physical senses. In our pranayama practice, we should let go of physical senses. Pranayama focuses on subtle energy rather than coarse energy. With pranayama, you are trying to harness the most subtle energy in the body, which is sexual energy. You cannot harness it if you are focused on physicality and external senses.

When practicing pranayama, it is necessary to focus inward. Your attention should be directed towards the energy and not the body. Leave your body behind and withdraw from your external senses. 

Concentration: Pranayama also requires a lot of concentration. You must stay focused on the pranayama you are practicing. If you are practicing pranayama but thinking about something else, you are wasting time. Learn to practice pranayama with complete attention; do not allow distractions. 

Mindfulness: Mindfulness means not forgetting what you are doing. One thing is to concentrate for a moment; another is to maintain concentration continuously. This means being mindful, staying attentive, and constantly aware of what you are doing. During the practice of pranayama, be aware of what you are doing and do not slip into thinking or daydreaming. 

Visualization: When practicing pranayama, visualize directing your sexual energy from point to point, and do this continuously. This visualization must be active and conscious, with your full attention.

The power of imagination is very important for the later stages of meditation. It is essential to use and develop it in the practice of pranayama. Respect is vital. Prana is a living element. It is not mechanical or automatic. Prana is the active energy of the divinity. It is the intelligence in nature. Prana is Shakti. It is not a force to be toyed with or taken lightly. It is the living intelligence in all things. Therefore, when you practice pranayama, you are calling upon the presence of the divine. Your relationship should reflect this. Prayer is a relationship in which we do something sacred, and pranayama should be treated as such, with great respect. Remember that the sacred texts say, I, Christ, am the seed of vitality within you. When you practice pranayama, be aware that you are in the presence of sacred power. Patience is necessary; you will not achieve results from pranayama after one practice or a few days. The fruit of pranayama is like the fruit of a tree. It takes time. It needs to be carefully nurtured and constantly cared for. Little by little, things change. One day, after prolonged practice, you will suddenly realize that something has grown within you.

something wonderful, blooming, and fragrant, and you will be amazed. To achieve this, you need perseverance and patience. How and when to practice pranayama? Our body continuously produces sexual energy, so we must regularly metabolize it. Transmutation must be practiced every day. If we adhere to ethical principles and practice according to the instructions of great masters, pranayama poses no danger or risk. There is only danger for those who disregard ethical rules or foolishly alter the practice. Thus, we can practice pranayama correctly and as much as necessary. Beginners can start with 10 minutes a day and can increase this time as needed. Whenever the mind, heart, or body is agitated or tense, or if sexual energy requires attention, you can practice pranayama to achieve silence and calmness. The only exception is for women who are on their menstrual cycle. During menstruation, pranayama should be interrupted so that the body can complete its natural cleansing function. Pranayama is a preparation for meditation, so it is always recommended to practice.

We practice pranayama before meditation. Here is the simplest form of pranayama, the one recommended by Patanjali and the Yoga Sutras. Take a relaxed and attentive posture, either seated or standing. Slowly exhale, then inhale and hold your breath. Your mind will calm down. Intensely imagine solar energy rising to your brain. Then hold your breath for as long as it is comfortable for you. When you exhale, focus your imagination and willpower on the energy coming into your heart. Remember, you must do this relaxed and with full attention, without losing awareness of what you are doing. Properly performed pranayama will deepen our relaxation and bring your body, heart, and mind into silence, paving the way for true meditation. Practice pranayama daily for at least 10 minutes and observe the changes that arise from it. The more consistent you are, the quicker you will be ready for the next step. Learn more about pranayama at glorian.org. This lesson is made possible by donations from viewers like you.

Step Four of Meditation: Make Energy into Light with Pranayama

Step Four of Meditation: Make Energy into Light with Pranayama