With man, as with the engine, there is another item of exceedingly great importance in the generating of vital energy and the development of all that is highest and best in him - both temporal and spiritual. He must learn to draw into his lungs a sufficiency of the vitalizing air with the special unappreciated forces it contains. Man this way is like the racing engine. He and it can run on a modicum of air, but for the fullest efficiency and power both need large quantities of air to provide the optimum mixture with the other vital elements for complete combustion.

Man's need for proper breathing is in direct proportion to his efforts to free the Divine Spark from the debris that has accumulated about it from his past indiscretions in this or previous incarnations. Soul power is generated as the cleansing of the Divine spark proceeds, but as with the racing motor, as greater soul power is generated, more and more vitalizing air (and its special forces) are essential to enable the Soul (and therefore, man) to make full use of the energy and power at his disposal. If he does not utilize his breathing as he should, he will function like a race car with a clogged air filter.

Man has been able to invent, perfect and use machinery that is patterned in every fundamental point after the human mechanism. How much more than does it behoove him to use, in regard to generating power within his own organism, wisdom akin to that of a mechanic in temporal pursuits? A good mechanic learns to check with exacting care whether the valves are properly adjusted for admitting a sufficiency of air to the cylinder and whether the air filter is free and unimpeded. In a like manner, the student of the Great Work must open his understanding to the vast importance of breathing to body and Soul.

While in many circles one may still be considered a fanatic if he claims that correct breathing has a close connection with the Illumination (Salvation) of the Soul, this form of medieval thinking is gradually diminishing. Those who expect the work of Soul development to be done for them or those seeking an easy path to such attainment may regard this subject lightly, but the sincere student who willingly searches deeply into the modus operandi of conscious Soul Development becomes quickly convinced of the absolute necessity for cultivation beneficial habits in this respect. Deep, rhythmical, consciously directed breathing is essential to health, and such Breath-of-God-vitalized health is the basis of true soul growth.

Above the ancient temples of Spiritual Initiation were found these words: "Man, know thyself." Today we are just beginning to dimly comprehend that all the creations of human skill, all machinery, whether the racing engine, television or the computer, are truly a prototype of the structures in man himself. The energy that gives the engine its power is the same that is within himself; that is, it works in a like manner insofar as fundamental principles are concerned. Just as air, and a sufficiency of it, is essential to the engine, so is air, with its vivific content, vital to the human machine. In fact, no other requirement of man is more vital than this. Just a few minutes without it, and man is either dead or irreparably changed for the worse. More than this, air is just as essential to the welfare of the Divine Spark and the generation of true Soul power. It is impossible for the Divine Spark to manifest the white fire of vital energy and Soul force unless it obtains the AEthereal essences extracted from the gross air we all breathe.

Through the act of inhaling, the human machine obtains from the air a current of unheralded energy, which gives to the body and its nerves and muscles the principal force underlying action and reaction. Through this air with its vitalizing principle, the human organism receives "The Breath of Life." It receives even more than this; it receives as well a certain energy or force called by the philosophers the AEth. Without a small amount of this AEth inhaled and retained, man could not continue to live. However, with greater knowledge of the method of AEtheric inhalation and absorption, more of this vital substance can be inhaled, absorbed and retained, thereby giving man greater vitality, endurance and force to do good works.

This subtle quality termed AEth, derived only from the air, also gives energy and new life to the Divine Spark within. The Sacred Record states: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."___Genesis 2:7. This clearly indicates the importance of the breath, and that through the act of breathing, God accomplished two things: He gave life to the body, and out of "the little point of Divinity within" He made a living soul. If breath was essential in the creating of a Soul, of how much greater importance is it in the development thereof? Some have called the special breath that brings ever greater force of the AEth to the body and soul of man "The Breath of God" since without it the divine Spark cannot develop into the Illuminated Soul.

It is a fact, held by the Initiate Philosophers as an absolute principle, that if man lives naturally and breathes correctly, he inhales with every breath not merely more of life to the physical being, but also a subtle quality of living fire with is food to the Soul. This AEth, the life of fire, is indeed a part of the Godhood, and it is this that stimulates and feeds the element of Divinity in man. It is this force that raises man above the animal plane and has the power to lift his consciousness to the realms of the gods and angelic forces. It gives him the ability to become more than a man. Properly used, it gives him more vitality and vigor, more energy and force, more conservation of poser and greater skill and efficiency in guiding and using the power thus generated for the purpose of attaining health, happiness and finally Conscious Individuality (Soul Illumination).

Each inhalation of air gives to the blood in the lungs more bioelectrical power and also oxidizes the iron constituents, resulting in greater vitality. Under normal conditions, when breathing is as it should be, man inhales to every four beats of the heart and exhales at the same speed. The mechanic is aware that the racing engine in perfect order makes about four revolutions to each explosion - that is to each ignition. If the human machine is not in normal condition, if there is disease and if the Divine Spark is unawakened and covered with mountains of debris, the inhalation may be twice as rapid, resulting in continual loss of power.

Another important item in connection with breathing, frequently overlooked, is the value of exhalation. With every outward respiration (expiration) a certain amount of dead or waste material is eliminated from the system. If this were allowed to remain, its accumulation would interfere with the normal and regular creation of the spark of soul power, as well as with the spark of the physical life. Unfortunately, this is exactly what occurs in far too many instances. Not only should the wise student attempt always to assure himself of a good supply of pure, fresh air (especially in the sleeping room) but he must learn to consciously exhale deeply at times to help the body eliminate the adverse substances that accumulate in the retained lung air. This is especially important if one has been exposed to substandard air for a while ( air with cigarette smoke, toxic fumes, paints, mastic, perfumes, etc.). At the first opportunity to avail himself of pure air, the student should breathe deeply and then forcibly exhale. This should be done until all the pockets of adverse air in the lungs have been replaced with good air.

Correct exhalation also has much to do with cleansing the thought life. The system may become thoroughly poisoned with the taint of destructive thoughts and emotions. Through full deep, steady, slow exhalations, the accumulations of dead and poisonous material are thrown out. Of course this process is much more effective if the individual understands this principle and consciously and voluntarily "breathes out" and "lets go of" the tainted atmosphere of destructive thoughts. It should be obvious that there is both a physical and a spiritual effect here, but then, that is true of everything in life. It is only the unknowing who would separate them. Through full, deep breathing, the pure AEtheric quality of the air cleanses and vivifies the system and stimulates noble aspiration and pure, wholesome desires and emotions. While this may sound simplistic to the more skeptical, it is nevertheless true and is essential if true health, happiness and Soul Illumination are to be achieved.

When man fully comprehends the principle of cleansing his thought world of its unworthy and destructive concepts and then stimulating it to help him accomplish great good through the power of the breath, he has truly begin his journey on the Path of the Great Work. As he continues to practice this art of thought transmutation with naught but constructive purpose in mind, he will, in due time, free his Divine Spark of the poisonous accumulations that have surrounded it, enabling him to manifest his full Divine power and energy. This effort is the only road to permanent health and happiness.

In the race car engine we simply unscrew the spark plugs, clean them and then return them to their places. In the human machine, the process of cleansing and enlivening the Divine spark is a different proposition. The purifying agents are love, forgiveness, compassion and the other graces of heart, administered in connection with an abundance of vitalizing air and proper food preserved as created by God.

In the racing engine we have simply a material structure, a diversity in unity, that with the proper mixture of fuel and air and with a strong spark will run until worn out; in case some particular part of the machinery is broken, it may be replaced. While it is not possible to replace most human parts as in the machine, the human machine does have an advantage over the man-made article in that there is an inherent power to recreate new cells or new parts as fast as they are worn out. The process is simultaneous with or immediately succeeding that of disintegration. Indeed, so remarkable is this continual cell replacement that the highest authorities recognize in it boundless possibilities. Even scientists of materialistic inclinations admit that it is difficult to discover the reason why man should not recreate or renew the physical organism indefinitely. Through the infusion of the breath with holy thoughts and passions, man may so energize both body and Soul as to make them continually thriving. This constant renewal constitutes Immortality.

The ancient Initiate Philosophers assured us that man dies only because of a lack of will to live. Fear is also a major factor that enshrouds us in mortality. As the Initiate author Maurice Maeterlink asked, "What is man but a god afraid?" We die today because our forebears have programmed our cells to die. We expect to die, and so we do. Can this inherited weakness, for such it is, be overcome? For the individual, yes. For all mankind, not for a few more hundred thousand years. Man must first remove all taint of mortality from each and every cell before this physical immortality can become a reality.

On the personal plane, we are told by those who know that Elijah had so purified every cell in his body who know that Elijah had so purified every cell in his body that he was able to physically change his body from mortality to Immortality. That which one man has done, others can do, because the Divine Law is the same for all. So it is possible for man to never die if he is willing to put forth the needed effort for his objective. In practice, however, this feat is extremely rare.

We do have a choice, however. We can choose to use the inherent forces we were born with as we will. It is up to us to decide whether we will abuse our physical machine without taking care of its long-term needs until it breaks down and finally ceases to function altogether, or whether we are willing to constantly infuse into our organism the Breath of God that has been vitalized and charged with a force that enables the Divine Spark to manifest itself as an Immortal Individuality (Illumination).

All this is based on the principle that simultaneously with the process of normal physical respiration, we may, if we will, breathe in, or extract from the air, a subtle force or essence (AEth, imbued with the Thought with which we charge it. This essence enables the Divine Spark within to attain the Conscious Individuality referred to above(1)
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(1) It is of interest to note that the word spirit comes from the Latin word spirare, to breathe. Thus, we see that to the ancients breathing and things of the spirit were one and the same.
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Another principle taught by Initiate Philosophers to their students is that the contraction and expansion of the brain, which is the creator of mental forces, operates harmoniously with the inhaling of air. Thus, brain and lungs, or thought- and power-creating organs, work in unison, and as the depth of respiration, so is the ennobling force of the thought. At the instant the cortical glands of the brain are vivifying the nerves with vital force and energy, the lungs are imparting to the same fiber their motion. This rhythmical cooperation between brain and lungs, between thought and breath, is of vast significance to the seeker for health, happiness and final Soul Consciousness. Harmony of constructive, wholesome thought in unison with the inhalation of vitalizing are gives to the whole being the maximum of power and energy; but if the thoughts are destructive or agitated and the mental state gloomy while the lungs are being inflated with air, inharmony results, and vitality is thereby depleted. Even worse, as this unholy combination continues, the mind may become filled with all forms of destructive thoughts allowed to breed by the combined stagnation.

This principle of the interworking of the brain, lungs and the Divine Spark is not yet accepted by most material scientists; but then, there is no other satisfactory explanation for the results obtained either by the constructive use of this concept or by its destructive application.

The thought, the entire mental state, may be changed or modified by the type and the quality of the student's respiration. To every mental state there is a corresponding characteristic respiration. Watch the short, quick breath that accompanies an excited state of mind, the suspended breath of fright, and the steady, even inhalation and exhalation of the mind that is calm, peaceful a happy. By exercising voluntary control over one's respiration, it is possible to make practical use of the Law of Correspondence existing between states of mind and types of breathing. Effort to induce the habit of calm, even, regular breathing tends to create the habit of deep rhythmically is he who gradually develops and manifests the greatest power and truest life. He who becomes proficient in thought and breath control is on the road to Mastership. He who can accompany inhalation and exhalation by an appropriate thought manifests true power that will eventually bring him health and happiness.

In many instances (excluding certain disease conditions), the artificial breather (one who regularly breathes shallowly) is one who consumed an excess amount of food. In this we have an exact parallel with what occurs in the racing engine. Through the inexperience of the operator, the engine may be given too much fuel and insufficient air with the result that while at every ignition a certain amount combination, much smoke, which quickly carbonizes the cylinder and encumbers the spark plug points. If this is allowed to continue, it will eventually cause the engine to malfunction severely of even to stop running. Food is to the body what gasoline is to the engine. He who does not breathe sufficiently, but ingest an unnecessary amount of food, gradually congests the entire system, inducing disease, weakness and inefficiency on the one hand, while on the other, further encasing the Divine Spark in rubbish, preventing the manifestation of Conscious Individuality.

From these comparisons, let us review the most important points:

First, to reach the highest degree of development, it is essential to practice deep, full breathing. This type of breathing, consciously enforced, is the very foundation of all power, both spiritual and physical.

Second, the student must free his mind from evil, destructive, degrading thoughts, desires and passions. He must substitute sacred mantras (such as taught in the Great Work), constructive thoughts, holy desires and emotions.

Third, as any automotive engineer knows, it is wise to use only the best grade of fuel if he wants optimum performance from his engine. So should the aspirant give strict attention to his food in respect to quality, freshness and freedom form man-made processing and contaminants. Moreover, the student should not ingest more food that is required for perfect combustion of this internal machine, thus yielding the greatest amount of energy with the least amount of waste. Would we not consider a man foolish who, having bought a new Rolls Royce, fueled it with cheap gas mixed with water or other energy reducing ingredients? Yet, this is exactly what the majority of mankind is guilty of doing in dealing with their own far more valuable and delicately constructed human machine.

The wise student will not only learn what is to be done but, also, do it, knowing that only by such action can he achieve true Health and Happiness.
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