From ~~~ Day by Day with Bhagavan, 1-12-45.
Those who have not the mental strength
to concentrate or control their mind and direct it on the quest
are advised to watch their breathing, since such watching will
naturally and as a matter of course lead to cessation of thought
and bring the mind under control.
Breath and mind arise from the same place and when
one of them is controlled, the other is also controlled. As a
matter of fact, in the quest method — which is more correctly
‘Whence am I?’ and not merely ‘Who am I?’ — we are not
simply trying to eliminate saying ‘we are not the body, not
the senses and so on,’ to reach what remains as the ultimate
reality, but we are trying to find whence the ‘I’ thought for the
ego arises within us. The method contains within it, though
implicitly and not expressly, the watching of the breath. When
we watch wherefrom the ‘I’-thought, the root of all thoughts,
springs, we are necessarily watching the source of breath also,
as the ‘I’-thought and the breath arise from the same source.
Mr. Prasad again asked whether, for controlling breath,
the regular pranayama is not better in which 1:4:2 proportion
for breathing in, retaining, and breathing out is prescribed.
Bhagavan replied, “All those proportions, sometimes regulated
not by counting but by uttering mantras, etc., are aids for
controlling the mind. That is all. Watching the breath is also
one form of pranayama. Retaining breath, etc., is more violent
and may be harmful in some cases, e.g., when there is no
proper Guru to guide the sadhak at every step and stage. But
merely watching the breath is easy and involves no risk.”
Everyone is afflicted. The Chitta constantly identifies with body or thoughts. The goal is to eliminate those for a few minutes so you can realize yourself as pure consciousness which is God.
If you can’t stop thinking then do this !
Bhavin