Akasa and Prana

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>From _Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism_ by Lama Anagarika Govinda

 

Part Four/ 'Hum': The Path of Integration

 

3

THE PRINCIPLES OF SPACE

AND OF MOVEMENT

 

According to ancient Indian tradition the universe reveals itself in

two fundamental properties: as _motion_, and as that in which motion takes

place, namely _space_. This space is called _akasa_ (Tib.: _nam-mkhah_) and

is that through which things step into visible appearance, i.e., through

which they possess extension or corporeality. As that which comprises all

things, akasa corresponds to the three-dimensional space of our

sense-perception, and in this capacity it is called mahakasa. The nature of

akasa, however, does not exhaust itself in this three-dimensionality ; it

comprises all possibilities of movement, not only the physical, but also

the spiritual ones: it comprises infinite dimensions.

On the plane of spiritual activity akasa is called the 'space of

consciousness', or the dimension of consciousness 'cittakasa', while on the

highest stage of spiritual experience, on which the duality of subject and

object is eliminated, it is called 'cidakasa'.

Akasa is derived from the root kas,'to radiate, to shine', and has

therefore also the meaning of 'ether', which is conceived as the medium of

movement. The principle of movement, however, is _prana_ (Tib.: _sugs_),

the breath of life, the all-powerful, all-pervading rhythm of the universe,

in which world-creations and world-destructions follow each other like

inhalation and exhalation in the human body, and in which the course of

suns and planets plays a similar role as the circulation of the blood and

the currents of psychic energy in the human organism. All forces of the

universe, like those of the human mind, from the highest consciousness to

the depths of the subconscious, are modifications of prana. The word

'prana' can therefore not be equated with the physical breath, though

breathing (prana in the narrower sense) is one of the many functions in

which this universal and primordial force manifests itself.

Though, in the highest sense, akasa and prana cannot be separated,

because they condition each other like 'above' and 'below', or 'right' and

'left', it is possible to observe and to distinguish the preponderance of

the one or the other principle in the realm of practical experience.

All that is formed and that has taken spatial appearance by possessing

extension, reveals the nature of akasa. Therefore the four great elements

(mahabhuta; Tib.: hbyun-ba) or states of aggregation, namely the solid

('earth'), the liquid ('water'), the incandescent or heating ('fire'), and

the gaseous ('air'), are conceived as modifications of akasa, the

space-ether.

All dynamic qualities, all that causes movement, change or

transformation, reveal the nature of prana. All bodily or psychic

processes, all physical or spiritual forces, from the functions of

breathing, of the circulation of blood and of the nervous system, to those

of consciousness, of mental activities and all higher spiritual functions

are modifications of prana.

In its grossest form akasa presents itself as matter; in its subtlest

forms it merges imperceptibly into the realm of dynamic forces. The state

of aggregation, for instance, which we call 'fire' or the state of

incandescence, is material as well as energetic. Prana, on the other hand,

appears in such bodily functions as breathing, digestion, etc., and is the

cause of physical and psychic heat (Tib.: gtum-mo).

If this were not so, the interaction of body and mind, of spiritual and

material forces, of matter and consciousness, sense-organs and

sense-objects, etc., would be impossible. It is precisely this interaction

of which the Yogin (irrespective whether he is Buddhist or Hindu) makes

use, and upon which the technique of meditation is built. 'If the Indian

saying is true that the body is the instrument provided for the fulfilment

of the right law of our nature, then any final recoil from the physical

life must be a turning away from the completeness of divine Wisdom and a

renunciation of its aim in earthly manifestation. It can be therefore no

integral Yoga which ignores the body or makes its annulment or its

rejection indispensable to a perfect spirituality.'' 1

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1 Sri Aurobindo: _The Synthesis of Yoga_, p. 10.

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The centres of psycho-cosmic force in the human body and their

respective organs correspond to the modifications of akasa, i.e., to the

great, primary elements; while the currents of force, which flow through

them (or are dammed up in them) and are transformed and distributed by

them, represent the modifications of prana.

The four lower centres of energy represent in their ascending sequence

the various aspects of akasa (of which the following one is always more

subtle than the preceding one) in form of the 'elements' Earth, Water,

Fire, and Air.

The lowest of these centres, which represents the Element Earth, is

called Muladhara-Cakra ('Root-support'), and is situated at the base of the

spinal column. It corresponds to the plexus pelvis in Western physiology

and contains the still unqualified, primordial vital energy, which serves

either the functions of physical reproduction and rejuvenation or brings

about the sublimation of these forces into spiritual potentialities.

The latent energy of this centre is depicted as the dormant force of

the goddess Kundalini - who as the sakti of Brahma embodies the

potentiality of nature, whose effects may be either divine or demoniacal.

The wise, who control these forces, may reach through them the highest

spiritual power and perfection, while those who ignorantly release them,

will be destroyed by them.

Just as the primordial forces, locked up in the atom, can be utilized

for the benefit as well as for the destruction of humanity, so the forces,

which dwell in the human body, may lead to liberation as well as to

bondage, towards the light as well as into utter darkness. Only with

perfect self-control and clear knowledge of the nature of these forces, can

the Yogi dare to arouse them. The directions for their awakening are

therefore given in religious literature in such a way, that only those, who

have been initiated by a competent Guru, can practise them, in accordance

with the rules which have been formulated in the course of milleniums of

meditative experience.

The veil of secrecy with which certain esoteric teachings are

treated, by making use of a language which can only be understood by

initiates, has therefore its reason not in the intention of preventing

others from obtaining such powers or knowledge, but in that of protecting

the ignorant from the dangers which misuse of, or superficial

experimentation with, these practices would bring about.

The Buddhist system of Tantric meditation avoids these dangers, by

neither allowing the sadhaka to concentrate directly upon the sakti, nor

upon the lower centres but, as we shall see later on, upon those qualities

of consciousness and those psychic centres, which regulate and transform

the flow of these forces. In place of the sakti we find in Buddhism the

dakini, i.e., in place of the power-principle the knowledge-principle in

its intuitive-spontaneous form; in place of the force of nature, the

unifying force of inspiration. (We shall revert to this subJect in the

thirteenth chapter of this part.)

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- _Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism_ by Lama Anagarika Govinda, pp.

147, 152

 

What has been overlooked by most writers on the subject of pranayama

(the yoga of controlling the prana) is the fact that the same energy

(prana) is not only subject to constant transformation, but is able at the

same time to make use of various mediums of movement without interrupting

its course. Just as an electric current can flow through copper, iron,

water, silver, etc., and can even flash through space without any such

medium, if the tension is high enough, or move in form of radio-waves - in

the same way the current of psychic force can utilize the breath, the

blood, or the nerves as conductors, and at the same time move and act even

beyond and without these mediums into the infinity of space, if efficiently

concentrated and directed. For prana is more than breath, more than

nerve-energy or the vital forces of the blood-current. It is more than the

creative power of semen or the force of motor-nerves, more than the

faculties of thought and intellect or will-power. All these are only

modifications of prana, just as the cakras are modifications of the

akasa-principle.

>snip<

In Tibetan Buddhism, which never lost its connexion with the original

tradition of the Indian mother-soil, the technique of pranayama, the

control of pranic forces, remained alive until the present day. In order to

understand the whole depth and width of this term, we must however not

confuse prana with 'breath' in the ordinary, strictly physiological sense

of the word.

Though pranayama starts with the simple function of breathing and

makes it the basis of its practice, it is far more than a mere technique

for the control of breath. It is a means for the control of vital psychic

energies in all their phenomenal forms, of which the function of breathing

is the most obvious. Among all the physical activities and effects of

prana, breath is the most accessible, the easiest to influence, and

therefore the most suitable starting-point of meditation. Breath is the key

to the mystery of life, to that of the body as well as to that of the

spirit.