Throughout the universe there is a great force which is known as life force. In yoga we call this force prana. If we analyse this great force, prana, then we come to a point of particles of energy. Even as you have particles of light and particles of atom, in the same way you have particles of prana. Prana, therefore, is manifest as well as unmanifest.
When there is no creation, then the pranas are in an unmanifest state, or when the whole creation is dissolved, the pranas go back to their own source. At that time, the pranas remain in the form of particles. Somehow, when these pranas in the universe begin to explode and manifest, they change into the form of waves. This happens with all forms of energy, including pranic energy. This prana which I’m talking about is the universal prana or the universal life force. But there are many objects, many living beings, many other things in the universe which comprise of the same life force. Therefore, prana has two dimensions: microcosmic prana and macrocosmic prana.
In the macrocosmos, prana is permeated throughout what we call a field, a unified field. This energy field can be called a universal life field or pranic field. ‘Field’ in modern science refers to a section or a dimension through which the energy flows. You have radioactive fields, electromagnetic fields and in the same way, there is a pranic field. Thus, prana is not just the air you breathe in; what you breathe in every day is oxygen. This oxygen has positive and negative ions, and it can stimulate your pranic system.
In microcosmic bodies, that is, us, prana is present throughout the body. It is present in this physical body in the form of waves, and it is created, comes into being or is in you from the time the mother conceives you in her womb. Thus, everybody is born with prana. It also means that we are born with a definite quality of prana, according to the quality of the nature of father and mother. It is the inherent quality of every matter in this universe, including the semen and ova, to be pregnant with that life force. So, what is the structure of prana and what are its laws? They have not been properly defined by us, the yoga teachers, because most of us talk about prana in relation with the oxygen we breathe in, in the form of inhalation and exhalation.
If you study the ancient yogic and the tantric literature, you come across two terminologies, prana and mahaprana, that is, life force and the great life force. In this physical body there are two centres for these two types of forces. The seed of prana is in manipura chakra and the seed of mahaprana is in mooladhara chakra. Some people are born with excess of pranic energy. Due to this they manifest some healing power, or healing capacity. They always radiate a quantity of magnetism and transmission from a particular part of their body. This fact has been endorsed and verified by many scientific observations made by Kirlian photography. Some people have a shrunken pranic field and some people have a very wide, very large pranic field. Therefore, you must also understand that prana is not only a life force, but it is a force whose quality is radiance.
Many years ago, a man called Mesmer used to attract people through his look; therefore, his practice came to be known as mesmerism. This gentleman must have been born with an excess of pranic energy, or he must have practised some yoga techniques, or he must have been touched by some of the pre-Christian tantric rituals through which he must have improved his pranic energy. Throughout the world we find thousands of people who have the capacity of healing others. In India, we have such helpers practically in every community. They can transfer their pranic energy through any part of the body. For thousands of years, such pranic healing has been continuing in every part of the world. However, there was a time when people of the western countries misunderstood it. They thought it was a kind of black magic and these healers were penalized, persecuted and sometimes even executed. In fact, many times the pranic healers themselves could not explain what was happening. They themselves believed that it was a magical power.
They could not explain that prana is a force which can remove the disease elements in the physical body. Just as when the body is freezing, you bring it in contact with fire and you get comfort, in the same way when the body is sick and you bring it in contact with the pranic force, it is healed. However, I’m not going to talk about how to heal others in this lecture.
This was just an introduction about the importance of the pranic force. At the same time, it is very important for us to know that we are not individual or separate entities, but we are a part of the universal life force.
Now, let us analyse what yoga tells about prana. In order to understand this, let us revert to kundalini yoga. Kundalini yoga is a faculty or part of tantric technology. It tells that there are three nadis in the spine, which emanate from mooladhara chakra and terminate in ajna chakra. The word nadi needs a little explanation. Nadi means channel, but more correctly it means flow. Therefore, the meaning of the word nadi is flow of energy. These three nadis are responsible for conducting three types of energy or forces in the physical body.
Kapalbhati is forced expiration and it is also considered one of the six kriyas or shatkarmas of hatha yoga. When Ramananda practised kapalbhati and he was exposed to modern scientific instruments, it was found that the reactions or processes within the physical body were taking place in exactly the same way as they do in a natural acupuncture operation.
I will tell you another very short incident from Dr Motoyama’s experiments. A girl was put into a soundproof and magnet-proof chamber and she meditated. She meditated on mooladhara chakra and the pathway of pingala nadi. The room was totally dark. A video camera was focused on her abdomen and pelvis. In the next room, a modern computer was registering the condition of her body and bodily processes.
She meditated for half an hour, after which she was brought out and the video film was played. Please remember that the room was totally dark. Even the girl could not see her own hand. After fifteen minutes of that film, suddenly a small light flashes. I’m trying to explain what pranic explosion is. There was a small light, it was not round shaped. It was the colour of a fluorescent lamp and as small as the light of a glow-worm.
The rest of the film is completely dark, but at one particular point that light is seen to come up and come down, vanishing, again reappearing, going to the right, then going to the left, going to the centre, coming down, disappearing, like some kind of a dance. For about twelve to fifteen minutes this little fluorescent spark of light kept trying to rise in some direction but it could not, it would go into another direction, then disappear, again reappear and try to go up, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, and finally it disappeared. This video film was there in Dr Motoyama’s institute and I have seen it. The little spark of light was the concentrated pranic force.
This is the force which you have to create in prana vidya.
But how to do it? There is a practice, I don’t know if I’ll be able to tell you about that, I’ve wasted so much time talking about science. Anyway, I will tell you something about it. When you rotate prana a number of times, it gains momentum. You rub your palm fifty times, heat will be produced. In the same way, you raise the prana consciously up and down, up and down, up and down, forty times, and this light will be generated.
That girl made a mistake; or rather, she did not really do the proper practice. She concentrated on mooladhara chakra. Mooladhara chakra does not have enough prana; it is the seat of kundalini. Manipura chakra is the seat of prana. If she had concentrated on manipura chakra, there would have been a wave of light, not a particle of light. From manipura chakra, you trace the path of the pingala nadi to ajna chakra. You practise psychic breathing in the form of ujjayi, and from manipura chakra onward up and down, up and down. Do it forty times and every time you do it, you will get a better experience. You will have a better conscious control over the pranic force. After doing it forty times, stop the breath by concentrating on ajna chakra. From ajna chakra now distribute the prana to the particular part of the body which is suffering. The distribution can be done once or twice in one retention because you can’t retain the breath for a long time. For as long as you can retain, maybe half a minute or one minute, take the prana from ajna chakra to the part of the body which is sick. Do it in the posture of shavasana. You can even do it in padmasana or siddhasana, but not on any easy chair.
Finally, before I close my incomplete speech on prana vidya, I must say a few more things. I’m not an orthodox man; I don’t hold any views on vegetarian or non-vegetarian diets. I teach according to the necessity of the person. Therefore, I must tell you that those people who want to practise prana vidya for healing their own sickness should be totally vegetarian, because food is a very important factor in connection with prana. Of course, you will not misunderstand me or think that I’m telling you something religious. When I’m talking about a vegetarian diet, I’m also excluding milk and dairy products because that is animal protein. I know that it is necessary for the body, but here I’m talking about a sick person who is trying to heal himself. I have several documents from Tasmania; one of my disciples teaches prana vidya in Tasmania in her Yoga Healing Clinic. She has made tumours disappear. She has treated cancer.
Thus, you should raise the quality, you should raise the standard of your prana. It’s easy to understand. If you run your tape recorder on an old battery, what does it sound like? So, what do you do? You either recharge the battery or fix a new battery. You don’t want to fix a new battery for your body as yet! So, you need to recharge it. Prana vidya is a system of recharging your flat battery.
May 1984, Il Ciocco