The word prana – there is no equivalent word in English, but we can say it’s a ‘vital energy’. That which we call as the life energy, is Prana. Prana has ten different manifestations in the body. But for the sake of understanding we’ll bring it down to five. These five are referred to as five vayus, or panchavayus. This is pranavayu, samanavayu, udhanavayu, apana, and vyana. They’re in charge of different dimensions of what happens in this human mechanism.
Prana has ten different manifestations in the body
This is an endless subject, if I speak like this. I’m just trying to abridge it, in a sensible manner. Taking charge of this – yama means to control or to take charge. Pranayama means, a method with which you want to take charge [of] this bunch of vayus. Because how your body functions, how your mind functions, how the whole physiological framework – this human mechanism, how it functions is determined by this energy. This is an energy, it is an intelligent energy. In the sense, it carries a certain amount of memory. The karmic memory of the individual person is imprinted on this energy. So in each person, the prana functions in a different manner. It is unique to each individual.
The karmic memory of the individual person is imprinted on this energy [prana]
It is not like electricity. Electricity is not smart. It can light up the, you know, the light bulb, it can run the camera, it can, you know, run the air conditioning, it can do million things – but not because of its intelligence. It does the same thing, always. Because of a particular device, a certain thing happens. But now I am talking about – this will happen in future that you may have smart electricity. It is not far away. In the next 50 years you may have smart energy. That the energy behaves in a particular way, you can make it behave in a certain way, because you can imprint certain memory upon it.
So this is an intelligent energy where a certain amount of imprint is there, because of that it functions in a specific manner, in an individual person. That is, going into an extremely refined form of pranayama where we particularly design something for an individual person, because he’s in a certain way. For that to come to that level, it will need a general level of pranayam, where it takes care of these five vayus.
If one has a certain mastery over these five vayus, there is no such thing as physical ailment, or particularly psychological ailment is out of question. If somebody takes charge of their prana, whatever may be the external atmosphere, whatever influences in terms of reverberations, waves, emotions, other kinds of pressures, doesn’t matter what – psychological balance is 100% guaranteed for a person who takes charge of his prana. Always.
When I say balance – maybe most of you won’t be medically considered imbalanced. But, whole lot of people are psychologically imbalanced. Suppose, you have a hand – suppose this hand simply pops up right now. It pokes into your eyes, and it scratches you and beats you – if your hand starts doing this, there is a sickness, isn’t it? At least your hand is sick. Let me not blame the whole person. At least your hand is sick for sure, isn’t it? Well, this is what most people’s minds are doing. Every day it scratches you from inside, makes you cry, make you balk, make you worry – in so many varieties of suffering, it pokes your eyeballs out, many times. Is it not doing? It is sick. Maybe in a socially accepted manner, but it is sick.
Psychological balance is 100% guaranteed for a person who takes charge of his prana
One who takes charge of his prana can be 100% assured, his psychological balance is there. You can not shake it. Physiological balance also is there. But physiological ailments may happen due to various reasons. One thing is there are infections, and other organisms who want to live. Yes, they want to live. Another thing is – variety of chemicals and poisons and stuff, we may swallow, knowingly or unknowingly. And, it can cause things. So, physiological ailments is… I would say 90% guaranteed that it won’t happen. But psychological wellbeing is 100% guaranteed. If you are psychologically in an extremely good place, 10% of physical problems are not even a problem, you know. It’s not even a problem. Most of the time, what little things that may happen to the body – that’s not the thing. Reaction that happens in your mind is the big thing, isn’t it? Yes or no?
So, pranayam means – you want to take charge of the vital forces. As I said, they have an intelligence of their own, each one of them. Either during birth, after conception, how they enter – the newborn. And how they leave the dead, in this it clearly displays it has an intelligence of it’s own. One may not notice this unless they become very conscious about these things. It’s a world by itself, if you ask me. It takes a certain level of attention. The word ‘attention’ may not go deep enough. I’m using the word ‘attention’, because the other words are horribly corrupted. Awareness, and this and that are badly badly corrupted. So, I’m using the word ‘attention’. But ‘attention’ is not suggesting what is needed. Just mental alertness is not enough. It has to become really attentive. If you make yourself like that, you know how these five are functioning.
