Question and answer 35

Can you practise the yoga kind of breath-control and the knowledge kind of breath-control both at once?

For as long as the mind hasn't settled into the Heart — whether through kevala-kumbhaka or through enquiry — breathing out, in, and holding are still needed. So practise the first during your set practice time, and keep up the second all the while, doing both together. It's enough to keep up prāṇāyāma only until kevala-kumbhaka is won.

Can one practise, at the same time, both the prāṇāyāma of the yoga limb and the prāṇāyāma of the knowledge limb?

For as long as the mind has not become absorbed in the Heart, whether through kevala-kumbhaka or through enquiry, for that long, exhalation, inhalation and the rest remain necessary; so one may carry out the former during the time set aside for practice, and the latter at all times, doing both together. It is enough to practise prāṇāyāma until kevala-kumbhaka is attained.