Breath is good. Exhaling, inhaling and holding your breath are all good. Living for a few moments in a vacuum - letting your mind concentrate on a single point - is also good.

But the very best is for each of us to achieve unity with body, mind, spirit and the cosmic consciousness.

Yes, we are talking about meditation, the Hindu kind, and it is not something a person can do without discipline. If you are accustomed to spending an hour a week replenishing your soul and find that cumbersome and a burden, then Hindu meditation may not be your destiny.

But if you are determined to discover some new spiritual energy, take a look at the book "The Holistic Way to Health, Happiness and Harmony," written by V.K. Subramanian of Plymouth, Minn. A native of India and a Hindu, he is dedicated to bringing spiritual health to America. (His book is available for $10 from Abhinav Publications, 2545 Weston Lane, Plymouth, Minn., 55447.)

Subramanian's text gives the reader the basic Hindu beliefs in simple terms, and he dots the explanations with stories and quotes from American celebrities and wise people.

In the beginning of a disciplined meditation, Subramanian tells us, the mind must be vacuumed. This is not akin to mind wandering, which most of us do several times a day with no discipline whatsoever.

Mind vacuuming, however, requires concentration on some point within one's self - a bright light, perhaps, deep within each soul.

And if you vacuum your mind often and with some degree of serious intent, all the enjoyments of life will become more intense. You will become a cauldron of mixed pleasures, a disciple of the finest in food and drink, fine arts, music and, yes, physical love.

Being spiritual, Subramanian says, is the path to true enjoyment. And enjoyment is the path to that unity of our being with the cosmic consciousness.

Well, this fits right into the American sense of well-being, the desire to experience every physical and material enjoyment. We want the best of everything, and when another finds pleasure without our presence, we are filled with jealousy and anger. But, the author warns, constant and consuming physical pleasure is fantasy.

The body can give us only so much enjoyment. Eventually, the body's ability to create enjoyment wears thin - and out. Then, if a person has no path to spiritual enjoyment, the result will be boredom, depression and anger.

The real secret in all of this is self-knowledge. And Hindus believe, rightly, that you can't know yourself without taking time to think about the inner self, that small kernel of energy that makes you unique among all creatures. And that is best done in silence, either alone or with like-minded people who also are disciplined and determined to find peace.

So let's say you return from your office stressed to the breaking point by traffic and a day filled with complaints, questions, problems and bumbling colleagues. Subramanian says you should take a walk, do a little gardening and then sit down for a few minutes to vacuum your mind.

You position your body in a comfortable place, back straight and eyes closed. You let your mind flit about, landing on this concern, that unsolvable problem, this troublesome colleague. And then you begin to focus in on a word. It can be any positive word - Jesus, Allah, Lord - and you repeat it over and over very softly for 15 minutes.

The Hindus call the word a mantra, but that is simply a label. You can call it a focus that allows the mind to be opened and vacuumed of negative thoughts. Then you practice breathing, inhaling and then exhaling until your breathing cavity is empty and flat. Then you eat a nutritious dinner and enjoy entertainment and refreshing sleep. It's like a tiny resurrection twice a day - your time alone to discover who you are.

Clark D. Morphew
September 13, 1997