You may say, "Why are we not all conscious by the breath?" There are two things that make a person less sensitive. One is the impurity of the breath, the physical impurity, and the impurity of mind. For this purification is needed, not merely the outward purification, but the purification of the veins and tubes, of the lungs and all the passages. The body becomes impure because of the artificial life that we lead. The animals lead a much more natural life than we, and they are much more sensitive. If we go near a horse or a cow, an ox, before we put our hand on it, it shivers all over. Such a thick skin as the horse's is so sensitive. For this reason the brahmans had in their houses the bare boards, no carpet. They did not fill up their houses with furniture. They ate on the floor, from leaves, and wore only one dhoti, one cloth. If we were to examine the carpet, perhaps the microbes of every disease in the world would be found in it. There are the mystical ways of purification, the purification of the earth, water, fire, air, and other.