Breath and Life

Breath and Life

Breath is the air being inhaled and exhaled into the body to pump the blood. The whole process of air exit-entry sustains human life. Breath can also be interpreted as life or soul (nafs). In the method of breath dzikir, I use the internal breath dzikir, which is the inhaling and exhaling of the air for level 1 and 2, while for level 3 means the breath as being referred to life.

The word “breath” can also convey a meaning that God perfects human by blowing ruh, the spirit, into the body. The word “blow” is closely associated with the “will of God.” This illustrates that God uses “His Will” to bind or unite human body and spirit. This illustration then assures us that the breath is not just an ordinary gift from God, as His other gifts that we receive. Breath is a special gift, a special grace for us, human beings, as his servants. Breath plays a very vital role in human life.

Therefore, dzikir is not “to remember” because in our memory there never exists a memory about God. The true dzikir then according to  the cognitive psychology is a consciousness about God. If we still interpret dzikir as “to remember Allah”, then we will be stuck with the limitation of the mind in remembering Allah, God. This will make us unable to dzikir properly and may not dzikir at all. Therefore, in this Breath Dzikir, we do not activate the mind and heart. We instead activate our awareness about God, turning the awareness toward God.