The Yogis attain to Nirvana by suspending or holding
the breath. The Vedantists obtain moksha, or emancipation of the soul,
by holding the mind (mental abstraction). Thus Om is the process of
separating the soul from the body. It is the product of the gasping
breath which precedes the dissolution of our body. The ancient Hindus
utilized the gasping breath of the dying man by discovering the syllable
Om.
The syllable Om protects man from premature decay and death, preserves
him from worldly temptations, and saves him from re-birth. It causes
the union of the human soul to the supreme soul. Om has the property of
shortening the length of respiration.
Siva is made to say in a work on "Sharodaya" (an excellent treatise on
respiration) that the normal length of the expiration is 9 inches.
During meals and speaking the length of the expiration becomes 13.5
inches. In ordinary walking the expiration is lengthened to 18 inches.
Running lengthens the expiration to 25.5 inches.
In sexual intercourse the extent of respiration becomes 48.
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