Prana is raging eternal life force which is pervaded everywhere in our Universe which keeps manifested objects lively. A horse always indicates power in materialistic world where many wars were won. Prana’s symbol Horse is the symbol in dream or vision of a Power or Energy, white is pure. It is the pure Power, usually Life-Power, but also it may mean Mind-Power in Tapas if it is dynamic and mobile. The Horse is the symbol of Power in motion—often of the Power that makes for rapid progress in sadhana.
The horse is a force acting for progress and is always the symbol of Power; it must be then a Power which you were trying to catch and make your own while sometimes it was trying to come up with you, perhaps to use you. This is what happens in the vital where there are these uncertain and elusive movements. The high platform was evidently the level of a higher Consciousness which stilled this fluctuating movement and made control of the Power more possible, as it became still and near.
The ass is the symbol of the inertia and obstruction in the body. The horse is the symbol of force or power. The tunnel of water must be the vital physical and the arch is a passage out, by which, if the ass can cross it or rather be pulled across, then it becomes a horse. In other words, the inertia and obstruction in the physical will be changed into Power and Force of Progress.
“Prana”, also called universal energy, the energy of life or divine energy, is the substance behind all creation. It is the substance that allows objects to live in an inert state, as well as the essence of what makes living things live and move. It is the one cosmic principle, the fundamental of life. Without it, nothing exists. Scientists says even inanimate objects, have an aura that has nothing to do with lighting or a trick of the eyes. It is evidence that there is some ‘force’ within and behind things.
Prana existed in a state of non-activity and self-union. It was prana resting within itself, with no will or intention. Then, at some point, this consciousness decided to express a will. It said something in the order of ‘I am one. Why not be many? I exist without movement. Why not move? And so, there was an explosion of consciousness and the fabric of the universe expanded instantaneously to create creation. Prana started experiencing itself as myriad forms. By becoming many, it became self-cognizant, and fundamental meaning came into existence.
All forms of spirituality are an act of seeking. It is the seeking of prana to experience itself in a more deep and thorough way. Only through refining its self-consciousness can it give meaning to its own existence. That is the mystery of existence. Those practices that deal directly with prana, such as Yoga, seek to unite prana with itself in the most conscious way. They seek to first be aware of prana, then direct this awareness – which is nothing but prana in itself – towards prana more and more over time. This results in ultimate self-cognizance. Illumination. Or from the perspective of the universal consciousness, self-illumination.
“Chitta” is the self-conscious aspect of prana. It is consciousness. It is the evolution of prana to the state where it can cognize itself. Prana is the substance of chitta. Chitta is beingness, awareness, and knowledge – the memory, present, and future of prana as self-awareness. Both prana and consciousness must exist for life to exist. Prana on its own existed at some point. It was a state of existence where nobody lived. Then it became conscious of itself – and living beings were born. In between prana and chitta is “vasana” or desire. Without the desire to become self-aware, there would have been no direction in the evolution of prana that made it conscious. A living being is called a “prani”.
The quantum of prana of each individual is indicated by the power of their personality and depth of their souls – which is a direct reflection of their capacity to wield prana. Some people are more fascinating, commanding, and fascinating due to the level of their prana, the strength of their self-consciousness, and the length of the memory of their consciousness of themselves. This is not to be confused with ordinary memory, but the deeper memory of the soul wherein it remembers when it came to be and for how long it has been.
Positive thoughts, higher emotions and yogic practices generate higher levels of Prana and obliterate pockets of low Prana in our systems. On the other hand, negative or dull and repetitive thoughts, base emotions and heavy drinking or smoking or perverted sexual conduct greatly reduce our level of prana and create pockets of low prana that become blockages in our systems. When the sexual urge and its energy are transformed from base carnal desire to love, Prana is conserved within our system and becomes ‘Ojas’ – a subtler form of energy. This energy accumulates in the brain and becomes a force for creative and spiritual development.
In its essence, Yoga is a conscious attempt at connecting with spirit and transforming oneself into a more pranic being. Thus, there are many forms of Yoga – ‘bhakti’ or devotion, ‘karma yoga’ which has to do with performing acts in daily life that align oneself with prana and the higher principle of existence, ‘jnan’ yoga which involves meditating to directly illuminate the cosmic principle with one’s mind, and so on and so forth. A ‘yogi’ is one who practices some form of Yoga.A yogi stores an abundance of prana within himself, just as a battery stores electricity. The luminosity of his prana radiates strength, health and wellness to all around him.
At the material level one also receives prana from the environment – food, water, sun and the air. Ancient Indian scriptures categorize foods by the quality of their prana. There are three kinds of food: sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic. Sattvic food has a neutral, healthy prana that nourishes the body deeply and affects the mind and emotions in a gentle, positive way. Tamasic foods have a less desirable amount of prana and affect the body-mind by dulling and slowing it. Rajasic foods also have less prana, but due to the way it impacts the body-mind, they are classified as foods that cause restlessness and agitation. Pure air is essential not only for oxygen, but for the prana it provides. The quality of air that one breathes affects one’s energy level directly. The exhilaration and vitality one experiences near a waterfall or high in the mountains is because the quantum of prana in the air is significantly higher in these places. On the other hand, when one is exposed to pollution or recycled or ‘canned’ air, the energy level quickly begins to decline.
Prana is not received solely from external sources; it is also self-generated and its quality can be refined and directed. One can work with one’s own prana to enhance vitality and strength, cure diseases, boost capability and efficiency, and evolve to a higher consciousness. The breath is the external manifestation of prana. A slower, longer exhalation indicates that prana is being more efficiently utilized by the body – more prana is being consumed from each atom of oxygen. This is why yogic practices attach importance to different breathing practices, called ‘pranayama’.
As one works with prana through pranayama, its quality and quantum increases. The average human utilizes only one-tenth of his brain. Pranayama activates the dormant brain because huge amounts of prana are required to activate the whole brain and this practice is an enabler. Thus it awakens the genius in any individual.
All that exists in the three worlds rests in the control of prana. As a mother protects her children, O prana, protect us and give us splendor and wisdom.
—Prashna Upanishad 2.13
On a cosmic level there are two aspects of prana. The first is unmanifest, the energy of pure consciousness, which transcends all creation. The second, or manifest prana, is the force of creation itself. The purusha, or higher Self, can be said to be unmanifest prana, the energy of consciousness itself, called devatma shakti or chiti shakti. From the unmanifest prana of pure awareness comes the manifest prana of creation, through which the entire universe comes into being.
Nature itself is composed of three gunas, or qualities: sattva, or harmony, which gives rise to the mind; rajas, or movement, which gives rise to prana; and tamas, or inertia, which gives rise to the physical body. Nature is an active, or rajasic, energy. Responding to the pull of the higher Self, or pure consciousness, this energy becomes sattvic. By the inertia of ignorance this same energy becomes tamasic.
Prana, Body, Mind and Spirituality
Please watch the video of 5 different pranas. Prana, Apana, Udana, Samana and Vyana. Prana vayu governs the movement of energy from the head down to the navel, which is the pranic center of the physical body. Apana vayu governs the movement of energy from the navel down to the root chakra at the base of the spine. Samana vayu governs the movement of energy from the entire body back to the navel. Vyana vayu governs the movement of energy out from the navel throughout the entire body. Udana vayu governs the movement of energy from the navel up to the head.
Prana vayu creates the openings and channels in the head and brain down to the heart. There are seven openings in the head: the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and mouth. Udana vayu assists prana in creating the openings in the upper part of the body, particularly the mouth and vocal organs, because the mouth is the main opening not only for the head but for the entire body. In fact, the physical body is, in a sense, an extension of the mouth, which is the main organ of eating and self-expression.
Apana vayu creates the openings in the lower part of the body, those of the urino-genital and excretory systems. Samana vayu creates the openings in the middle part of the body, those of the digestive system, centered in the navel. It opens the channels of the intestines and organs such as the liver and pancreas. Vyana vayu shapes the channels going to the periphery of the body, the arms and legs. It forms the veins and arteries and also the muscles, sinews, joints, and bones.
Mind or Mental energy is derived from food, breath, and the impressions we take in from the external world. Prana governs the intake of sensory impressions, samana governs their mental digestion, and vyana governs mental circulation. Apana rules the elimination of toxic ideas and negative emotions. Udana provides positive mental energy, strength, and enthusiasm.
The pranas have many special functions in yogic practices. On a spiritual level, samana governs the space within the heart in which the true Self dwells as a fire with seven flames. Samana regulates our inner fire, which must burn evenly. Without the peace and balance samana creates, we cannot return to the core of our being or concentrate our mind.
Vyana governs the movement of prana through the nadis, keeping them open, clear, clean, and even in their functioning. Apana protects us from negative astral influences and illusory experiences. Prana vayu gives us the proper aspiration necessary for spiritual development.
Udana governs our growth in consciousness and carries the mind into the states of dreaming and deep sleep, and into the after-death realms. Udana also governs movement up the sushumna. Because the mind moves with udana vayu, it is generally the most important prana for spiritual growth.
As we practice yoga, the subtle aspects of these pranas begin to awaken, which may cause various unusual movements of energy in body and mind, including various spontaneous movements called kriyas. We may feel new expanses of energy (subtle vyana); great peace (subtle samana); a sense of lightness, as if we are levitating (subtle udana); deep groundedness and stability (subtle apana); or just heightened vitality and sensitivity (subtle prana).
The Vedas say that mortals eat food with Prana, while the gods eat Prana as food. The main way to work with prana is through pranayama, particularly in the form of yogic breathing exercises. Yoga emphasizes purification of both body and mind as a means to Self-realization, and for this reason it emphasizes a vegetarian diet rich in prana—that is, foods full of the life-force—and a mind rooted in ethical values such as truthfulness and nonviolence, and in spiritual disciplines. An impure, toxic, or disturbed body and mind cannot realize the higher Self. The key to purifying body and mind is prana, which links the two. The main method is purification of the nadis through which prana flows.
OM, which create vibrations that can help direct positive energy into the subconscious. Meditation itself, creating space in the mind, serves to create more prana, and when the mind is brought into a silent and receptive condition, like an expanse of sky, a new energy comes into being which can bring about great transformation.
All the paths of yoga are based on controlling prana. Bhakti yoga, or the yoga of devotion, brings about pranic transformation by uniting us with the divine prana. Karma yoga, or service, is based on alignment with the divine will, which also gives us more prana, not only to act outwardly, but also for inner development.
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