The divine Spirit is known by the mystics of all ages as the sun; and therefore in all ancient mystical symbols the sun has been pictured as the sign of God. This conception gives one a help in the further knowledge of metaphysics. This sun is that aspect of Absolute God in which God begins to manifest, and His first step towards manifestation is His contraction, that contraction which is seen in all living beings and in all objects. It is first contraction that takes place, and next expansion, which comes as a matter of course, as a reaction. The former tendency is the desire of inhalation, and the latter exhalation. The contraction and expansion which are seen in all aspects of life come from God Himself.

The Omnipotent Light by this tendency becomes concentrated; and it is this concentrated Light of Intelligence which is the sun recognized by the mystics.

As Shams-i-Tabriz has said, "When the Sun of His countenance became manifest, the atoms of both worlds began to appear; as its light fell every atom donned a name and a form.

The Hindus have called it in the Vedanta Chaitanya, the Spirit or the Light of God.

In the Qur'an it is mentioned, "We have made thy light out of Our Light, and of that Light We have made the universe.

In plain words this means that when there was nothing -- no form, no name, no person, no object -- except Intelligence; and it is the contraction of that intelligence which brought its essence into a form of light which is called the divine Spirit; and the expression of the same light has been the cause of the whole of manifestation. Creation is the exhalation of God; and what is called destruction is absorption, which is the inhalation of God.

The divine Spirit spreads itself; this we call creation and it consists of various names and forms. There arises a conflicting condition or entanglement of the Breath of God, disorder in its rhythm, which manifests in destruction, and culminates in what is called by Hindus Pralaya, the end of the world. For this many blame God, many judge Him, and many think it is unfair on the part of God to create, and to destroy; but for God, who is the only Being, this is the natural condition, by which He eternally lives. The beginning and the end of the world is only His one Breath, the duration of which is numberless years. During this one Breath myriads of beings have been born, have lived and died, and experienced both this world and the next.

Souls therefore are the rays of this Sun, which is called in Sanskrit Brahma, and the nature of the ray is to extend and withdraw, to appear and disappear, and the duration of its existence is incomparably short when compared with the duration of the eternal God, the divine Spirit. There are living creatures, small germs, worms and insects who live no longer than a moment; and there are other beings whose life is a hundred years; and some live longer still; and yet even if it were a thousand years it is a moment compared with eternity. Time, as man knows it, is in the first place discerned by the knowledge of his own physical constitution.

From the Sanskrit word Pala, which means moment, has come the word "pulse"; that which is pulsation. This knowledge has been completed to some extent by the study of nature, the changes of the seasons, and the journeys the world makes round the sun. Many wish to limit divine law to this man-made conception of time, and they make speculations about it; but the tendency of the mystic is to bend his head low in worship, as the thought of the eternal life of God, the only Being, comes to his mind. Instead of questioning why and what, he contemplates the being of God, and so raises his consciousness above the limitations of time and space, thus liberating his soul by lifting it to the divine spheres.

Question: What relation has the destruction of form during the manifestation to the Great Breath? Does it affect it at all?
Answer: No, it does not affect the great breath. As the ebb and flow of the sea is not at all affected by the waves; whether the wave goes this way or that way. But the manifestation is the same, all through the manifestation, from the beginning to the end and from God to the smallest atom. For instance, as God breathes so we breathe, and so the animals and birds. Now the scientist has brought the proof that the trees breathe, the same breath in the ebb and flow of the sea.

When one sees that contraction and expansion, which goes on in the whole universe in the same manner as it has begun, then one sees that the whole creation with its various aspects and all the difference there is of the nature and character of things and beings, there is one law and one manner in which the whole creation takes place and goes on to its finish.

Question: Can you explain us more why God inhales and exhales?
Answer: Yes, if not we could not exist, if we would not inhale and exhale. The condition of existing is inhaling and exhaling. So God exists also, only His inhaling is the end of the whole creation. But we say that it is a harm done to us. But is it unfair if we breathe? It may be unfair to many little germs. Such lives are destroyed while we are breathing. Also there are lives that by our breathing are created. There will come a time when science will find out that the breath of man is creative, not only of atmosphere, but also of life. It is a living being. At the root of this secret one will find out the reason of all disease. It is creative as a living being. The science now finds out that behind every disease there is a germ of disease. There will come a time when one will find out that it all comes from inhaling and exhaling. As God creates, so man creates by his breath.

Question: What is the difference between what God inhales and by what He exhales?
Answer: The difference is of the character, of the nature. His exhaling is creative, His inhaling is destroying. His inhaling is Shiva, the exhaling Brahma.

Question: Is the destruction which takes place at the end of the inhaling sudden or gradual?
Answer: It is gradual, as we inhale and exhale. At the finishing of the breath the destruction is finished. But a little picture of this is the life of very large cobras. There are stories of some people having seen very large cobras, cobras in whose mouth even a cow or a buffalo could enter. In six months or a year's time, when they are hungry, only they have to open their mouth, and to take breath, and as there is a cow, it is attracted and goes into the mouth of the cobra. Then the cobra eats it and then sleeps for six months or a year.

This is a legend or a story. I myself have noted a large cobra eating the chicken, not in part, all at once. One would never have thought that the cobra could eat the whole chicken. Then the cobra's power is great because it is meditative. In all mystical symbols the cobra has been made a mystical sign, because there is so much that one can learn from the life of a cobra. It fasts for a long time because it takes time to assimilate, not so greedy as a dog; does not run after its food, it attracts food. Then the patience of the cobra is wonderful. It is the same picture. Therefore mystics have given in the ancient mysticism the cobra in all their symbols. The whole manifestation is attracted to that divine spirit.

In the Qur'an it is said that "All has come from God and to Him all will return.'"

Answer: When the serpent has the tail in its mouth, it means perfection. Man and God are the two ends of the line.

Question: The real significance of the word nirvana?
Answer: The word nirvana means no vana, which means difference, distinction. When there is no difference, no distinction, that is nirvana. When one has risen above.

Question: You named contraction and inhalation together, but physically spoken, is ...?
Answer: The effect of inhaling has an effect upon the heart to expand, and when one exhales the effect is to contract. But really speaking, the effect is the outcome, not the action. It is the action of the contraction which produces that exhalation of the breath, and it is the expansion which produces the inhalation; it is on the contrary.

We see this tendency in all beings, in the octopus, in the insects. When the sheep fight, they also contract themselves first, then manifestation comes. The same tendency in the elephants, they first contract, then all strength is concentrated. We exhale what we inhale. If we inhale and keep ourselves in a better state, our exhaling would also become a healing. For instance, a person who wants to take revenge, who wants to harm another, when he inhales the breath becomes poison; in his breath he has already created numberless germs of illness, which will disturb his own life and those who come into his atmosphere. Also think of those who are inclined to kindness and love, of who have aspiration for goodness and and have good thoughts. Their inhaling and exhaling will be uplifting and healing; wherever the vibrations are moving it will be his healing atmosphere.

Breath is not only physical; it touches the deepest of our being. What we know is only inhaling and exhaling, what we feel through the nostrils. That is not breath. Breath is that power which makes our Iives, which connects body with soul, mind. Breath in point of fact is a rosary.