The Nine Purification Breaths

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· Sit with legs crossed, spine straight, chest open, chin slightly drawn in to lengthen the back of your neck.
· Visualize the three channels of light in your body: the white right channel, the blue central channel, and the left red channel

. Clearing the White Right Channel:
i. Press your right ring finger to your right nostril and inhale slowly and deeply. Imagine the breath follows the path of the red channel all the way to the junction.
ii. Hold the breath slightly as you switch the finger to press the left nostril.
iii. Following the pathway of the white right channel, exhale slowly and gently at first and more forcefully at the end of the exhalation. Feel your anger release with the exhalation and instantly dissolve into space.
· Repeat the exercise three times, feeling the increasing openness in the white right channel.

Clearing the Red Left Channel:
i. Press your left ring finger to your left nostril and inhale slowly and deeply. Imagine the breath follows the path of the white channel all the way to the junction.
ii. Hold the breath slightly as you switch the finger to press the right nostril.
iii. Following the pathway of the left red channel, exhale slowly and gently at first and more forcefully at the end of the exhalation. Feel the energy of attachment release with the exhalation and instantly dissolve into space.
· Repeat the exercise three times, feeling the increasing openness in the red left channel.

Clearing the Blue Central Channel:
i. Breathe in slowly and deeply through both nostrils. Imagine the breath follows the path of both side channels.
ii. Bring the breath to the junction and hold the breath slightly.
iii. Following the pathway of the blue central channel, exhale slowly and gently at first. At the end of the exhalation pull slightly in with your diaphragm and breathe out more forcefully. Imagine that you expel the energies of self-doubt and lack of confidence through the crown of your head, where they instantly dissolve into space.
· Repeat the exercise three times, feeling the increasing openness in the blue central channel.
· Resting: Feel all three channels as being more open and clear.

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A simple breathing practice by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche….in that moment, rather than criticizing and judging the second thought that lacks confidence, simply be aware of it. Host that thought in the stillness, silence, and spaciousness. Then, take a deep breath, and as you breathe out, release that thought. It’s like seeing junk mail in your inbox and pressing the delete button; breathing out is like pressing "delete." Right after the exhalation, you will discover a new space within you. That new space is a source of confidence that you can then cultivate….prana, in the practice of the Nine Breathings of Purification

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Okar Research is an informal online review of published materials exploring the history, myths, legends, languages, geography, terms, practices, teachers and teachings of the ancient Central Asian 'Kingdom of Shambhala'.

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Click Here to view the Okar Research Index

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Okar Research was begun in 1979 in order to annotate and deepen my understanding of the Shambhala Terma Texts received by Chogyam Trungpa:
Golden Sun of the Great East....Received as terma in October, 1976.
Letter of the Black Ashe....Received as terma in January, 1978.
Letter of the Golden Key that Fulfills Desire....Received as terma in October, 1978.
Scorpion Seal of the Golden Sun....Received in 1980...A long and a short version exist.

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

November 2018

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