[This meditation and the accompanying illustration come from Kali Rising: Foundational Principles of Tantra for a Transforming Planet, by Rudy Ballentine. Our thanks to Rudy for permission to use this material.]

Foundational Meditation IIIB

The Breath of Union - Part Two

Establish a comfortable upright position. If sitting on the floor doesn't work for you, then sit in a chair, preferably forward, toward the edge, so that you can maintain a normally erect spine (with gentle curves forward at the lower back and neck.)

[When comfortably seated, play the recorded meditation.]

[There is a pause at the end of the spoken part of the meditation. Continue meditating as long as you wish, then bring you awareness back into your room.]

Steadying your focus is a valuable skill to develop. After some days of this, the breath will begin to settle more readily into a flow that is equal on the two sides

This equal flow, the sushumna of the yogis, reflects a bilateral activation of the two hemispheres of the brain. It is the sort of state that one enters during hypnotic trance. This is a perfect mode of function for meditation: it is not a good foundation for action in the world. Engagement with your surroundings is best undertaken when you are in the right nostril - for ative engagement (shat we have termed the Masculine). Or the left - for more receptive engagement (the Feminine).

Ideally, this exercise will provide you some opportunity to become more consciously acquainted with your capacity to function in these two modes, as well as the difference that marks the Union of trhe Two (the foundation of the Inner Marriage).

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If you like this meditation, check out Rudy's March 23-26 retreat, Tantric Awakening.