The Science of Prana
Dr Swami Dharmavratananda Saraswati
A blind man and a lame man were very good friends. One day
they decided to visit a nearby town to attend a festival. So the blind man said
to the lame man, “Please lead me.” The lame man said, “I can lead you but I
can't walk. You can walk, but you can't see.” Finally a wise man passed by and
he advised the lame man to sit on the shoulders of the blind man. They did so
and eventually managed to reach the show.
This story indicates that there are two forces in our lives.
One is the force of consciousness which can see but cannot move, and the other
is the force of energy which can move but cannot see. I would like to explain
the same concept in the modern scientific context. Atomic energy is an energy
without consciousness. Consciousness can guide that energy in a positive or a
negative direction. It can create a bomb blast and destroy a whole city, or it
can illuminate and provide power to an entire city and transform life. Energy
is the crude power and consciousness is the guiding factor.
Consciousness is a state of continual awareness. The gross
mind, consisting of manas, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara, is the aspect of
consciousness which interacts with the manifest world. We know that the
physical body is made up of matter. If we dissect it, ultimately we reach
sub-atomic particles which lead on to nothing but energy. So this gross,
physical body is nothing but a condensation of energy in the form of matter.
The force of mind (consciousness) is guiding the whole body (energy).
Therefore, the combination of energy and consciousness is very evident. One
becomes the realm of energy in the form of the gross body and gross brain, and
the other remains the field of consciousness.
As to the disparity between mind and brain, it becomes clear
that the brain is like the hardware of a computer; it provides all the circuits
but it is consciousness, the software, which runs the circuits. If a portion of
the hardware is cut then a portion of the software cannot work. In the same
way, consciousness and matter, the brain, work together. The brain has a
neurological function and the mind has a conscious function. Both are
interrelated parts in which the brain does the physical processing and the mind
does the processing in the realm of consciousness.
Pranic energy
In yoga a state is described which is a subtler
manifestation of energy and consciousness fused into one. That phenomenon is
called pranic energy. Pranic energy is very different from the normal concept
of energy. In a study of the yogic scriptures and modern research, in search of
this unique phenomenon, we have come across many unique correlations. The most
impressive one was by a Russian, named Kirlian, who devised a method to
photograph these mysterious energy fields. His work indicated that there is an
energy in the body which is more subtle than the gross movements of molecules.
Great saints are often depicted with haloes around their heads. The Kirlian
instruments produce similar pictures around any living organism or its parts.
In one experiment Kirlian accidentally put his finger in a very high magnetic
field. The resulting photograph showed an 'aura' around the finger. In one
experiment into this phenomenon, he cut a leaf in half and photographed one
half. The photograph showed the 'aura' of the entire leaf, which indicates that
there is a subtle body which persists in the gross body.
Kirlian photographed his finger over a period of time.
Usually it showed a bright 'aura', but one day the light emanation was very
dim. He did not know the reason. Nothing was wrong with the machine. The next
day he fell sick and during the illness the dim 'aura' persisted. When he
recovered, his 'aura' was restored to normal. He concluded that changes in the
pranic field precede the onset of physical disease or problems. Research has
shown that diseases have different frequency patterns. Just as X-rays show
different holes and morbid phenomena, these different frequency patterns show
morbid phenomena which actually precede the onset of physiological defects.
It was also shown that pranic energy is greatly influenced
by one's state of mind. When we are fresh and alive we feel buoyant and
energetic. That is a subjective feeling but nobody knows where it comes from.
After a boring lecture or a hard day's work we feel drained. Why? If the blood
glucose and blood pressure are measured all the parameters will be normal, but
still we feel depleted. What is missing from the system? When Swamiji was in
the USA he participated in research using Kirlian photography. Four subjects
had their fingers photographed before and after work. In the morning the auras
were bright and wide. In the evening, when they returned tired and drained
after a hard day's work, the auras were sunken or dull in colour. But the
interesting thing was that just fifteen to twenty minutes of yogic practices
immediately restored the brightness and lustre of the aura and the
corresponding physiological and psychological feelings of health and buoyancy.
Asanas
The practices of yoga are relevant here. Asanas are
practices which are psychophysiological in nature, but which have a certain
relationship to these energy flow patterns. In the yogic tradition, these
energy flow patterns are called nadis. Nadi comes from the root word nad,
meaning 'to flow'. A nadi is a flow field. Just as there is a blood flow in the
arteries and veins, in the same way, a whole network of energy flow fields has
been described in the scriptures, with specific Sanskrit names. We are familiar
with only two or three popular ones, but there are 72,000 nadis, each having a
name and a flow which has a different direction and a different attribute.
Asanas work on particular nadis. For example, in tadasana
the whole nadi system is stretched from the tips of the toe to the tips of the
fingers. The stretching and aligning of these flow fields improves the flow of
energy within them. When a kink in a pipe is straightened the flow becomes
smoother. Asanas work in the same way. It is postulated that the joints, where
the body moves, are the most likely places where kinking and obstructions can
occur. The pawanmuktasana part 1 series improves the joint functions and
removes obstructions to the flow of energy in the joints. It is best for
improving the flow in the nadis. In Chinese medicine the same nadis are termed acupuncture
meridians. This is the basic principle on which acupuncture, acupressure and
reflexology is based, i.e. on the same physiological phenomena or energy fields
as the yoga practices.
Pioneering research in this field has been carried out by Dr
Hiroshima Motoyama. He designed a machine called AMI, which measures energy
emitted from the acupuncture meridians. He measured and compared the flow of ki
or energy in various meridians and came to the conclusion that a particular
disease phenomena correlates with a defect in a particular flow field of a
particular nadi. It has been focused and pinpointed. Any practice which will
open the flow of pranic energy in that nadi correlates with clinical recovery.
This research is as scientific as that of any other science. Therefore, the
choice of yogic practices for a particular disease has to be on the basis of
these flow field meridian patterns. We know that the yogic practices work and
we know what the diseases are, but we do not know how to correlate which asana
with which disease, or how many times, or for how long. There must be some
objective criteria. I think that further research will find out more about
these flow patterns and, in the future, provide guidelines as to the choice of
a yoga practice for a particular disease state.
Pranayama
In the same way, we can compare the practices of pranayama
with channel cleansing practices which increase the voltage. Before upgrading
the voltage in a wire, first you clean the wire. If you upgrade the voltage in
a dirty wire, it is likely to short circuit. Similarly, with the advanced yogic
practices it is always advisable to clean the system first. Don't jump in. If I
hear that the kundalini yoga practices are the best ones to awaken my
kundalini, and immediately start with these practices, I may end up in a
psychosis. That has happened to many seekers who have insisted on doing
advanced sadhana and have landed in mental hospitals. Why? There was a short
circuit because there was not enough preparation for this energy field pattern.
Therefore, yoga practitioners advocate cleansing practices first and then
upgrading the voltage with the practices of pranayama.
Two points become important here. Firstly, somehow the
breath is closely linked with the degree of voltage, with increasing the amount
of pranic flow. It has been seen that shallow, rapid breathing is correlated
with low levels of prana, and deep relaxed breathing is correlated with high
levels of prana. If the breathing can be slowed down and prolonged, and certain
pranayama techniques followed, then these energy fields can be influenced in a
very positive way.
Secondly, any energy has two poles; electrical energy has
two poles, pranic energy also has two poles. One pole is called ida, the other
pingala. One is positive, the other is negative. Whichever pole is flowing will
influence this pranic field We have a preliminary working knowledge from a
scientific point of view. However, in the future, yogis and scientists need to
work in closer coordination on this mysterious phenomena which is happening to
us all the time.
Another observation is that in a group we also interact at
the level of vibration, not just at the level of speech and hearing. For
example, you meet an unknown person, you like that person and you talk to him.
Then you meet a very nice person, but you just don't feel like talking to him,
even though you have not even been introduced. With a person like Swamiji the
simplest word he says becomes a source of inspiration. Then there are people
who say very good things but they don't make any impression on the mind. Why?
Because there is an interaction like vibrational matching, like resonance, like
tuning forks. If two people are vibrating at relative frequencies they tune
together very well. So this pranic field also has a group dynamic. Therefore,
during the practice of yoga, the building up of a group dynamic, of a
teacher-disciple relationship, are all important phenomena.
Relaxation and meditation
The science of mantra is also relevant here. Mantras are
vibrations of a particular frequency, arranged in a particular pattern, having
a particular effect on the whole structure pattern. There can be a mantra to
open a particular nadi for a particular disease, there can be a mantra to
derive a particular change in this pranic field. The science of mantras is
almost lost, but once it was a known practice and many still exist.
I talked about the relationship of stress and pranic energy.
In group interactions, teachers often report feeling drained after just one
hour of lecturing, as if they had run fifteen kilometres. What is the reason?
They feel drained because during the process of interaction they lose their
energy and feel diminished. Therefore, whenever we are interacting we have to
be careful of these phenomena. Stress markedly reduces the voltage of the
pranic field. A small amount of stress can drastically shrink the aura to a
dark colour. Buoyancy and happiness can click it back into a bright shape.
Therefore, the practice of relaxation is very important and complementary to
asana and pranayama.
In meditation practices where you direct the force of your
consciousness, your awareness, to a particular energy flow field, such as navel
to throat or the nostrils, you can open that channel. Dr Dean Ornish has used a
lot of different visualization techniques to help open up the coronary
arteries. What is the principle? When you visualize and take your awareness
into that particular energy field, the nadis related to that particular area
begin to open and clear up. When the pranic field clears up, the energy flow
becomes smooth, the tissues become rejuvenated and the healing process begins.
Even though the coronary arteries may remain choked, the tissues become
rejuvenated.
In this way, many meditation techniques, visualization
techniques and breathing techniques, even alternative methods of therapy such
as homeopathy, are based on the same principle. You just have to know what the
vibrational defect is, complement it with a molecule which has the same effect,
and it works. Acupuncture, acupressure, reiki, pranic healing and psychic
healing all share this knowledge of the vibratory body, the pranic body, the
energy body, the pranayama kosha, and, therefore, they are all branches of the
same science related to this level of our existence.
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