You Take My Breath Away: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

Since we consider many possibilities about the future, we can consider the possibility, that thoughts and imagination can come to a complete halt in the presence of the supreme and true love. There is a saying in English that poets and lovers use, “You take my breath away.” It has deep meaning. Whoever or whatever takes your breath away is your Guru, Guide, and the Goddess.

When your breath is taken away by your beloved, symbolically, metaphorically, or literally in the yogic nirvikalpa samadhi, the notion of any and all possibilities can be undermined at least temporarily giving you a glimpse of your core which the ancients called Sat-Chit-Ananda, the eternal Self-love or God-love which makes all worldly and human love possible.

I only mention this as many people appear to have a passing interest in Advaita and evidently some desire to understand what Advaita is all about. Advaita can be understood at a practical level if we understand the nature of love and the feeling of completion it brings about. A child feels complete in embrace of the mother. Lovers after not having seen each other feel complete when they join. A hungry man feels complete after having eaten a good meal. Temporarily when our hunger and thirst and desire is satisfied, we feel complete. Advaita teaches us that being whole and complete is our true nature and all sense of completeness that we gain in the world is actually a reflection of our inner core which is Sat-Chit-Ananda as pure awareness, pure devotion, and pure love.

We are not separate from whatever possibilities exist in our imagination. If the construct of “I” is investigated carefully in silence and self-observation, holding on to the feeling of and awareness of “I Am”, your consciousness, the nature of your consciousness, will gradually become transparent to you. Then, all possibilities may still be possible and yet will have nothing to hold on to.

When breathing in and when breathing out are the same and when becoming and being are one, that is known as the embrace of love. Everyone knows it. Yogis, lovers, mystics, everyone knows this feeling and sense of completion. The Heart reveals It Self as One’s Own Being, The True Beloved. The Goddess may manifest in different forms but ultimately She reveals Herself to be the Heart, one’s own Being. You will know it and when you know it, the sheer and immense beauty of it, the simplicity of it will take your breath away.

This is why people sing when they are in love, “You take my breath away.” Whatever takes your breath away can bring you closer to self-recognition if you are paying attention.

Look at something or someone, it may be a person, a river, the ocean, trees, the sky, the night stars. See if it takes your breath away. Whatever takes your breath away shows you the path to love. There is completion to be found here only.

Love to all,

Harsha