According to the ancient oriental philosophy the pran shakti is universal. Every animate being receives it through breathing. Actually it is formed from air sunlight, earth, ether and others. The individual is attracted to this force. It is on the circulation of this energy that the individual health remains balanced and organised.
The 8 Chakras
According to the Indian Yoga studies there are eight centres or chakras in the human physique. The energy which is identified as kindalini flows through the psychic passages, known as nadi. It is this nadi which connects all these centres.
These chakras are: Mooladhar, Swadhisthan, Surya, Anhad, Vishudha, Agni, Sahasrar and Brahmarandhra. It is pran Shakti which influences and governs these eight centres. We have also covered these chakras from the yoga perspective elsewhere on our website.
Energy: Storage and Dissemination
As already explained earlier man imbibes energy every moments of his life to keep himself active. One expends and yet needs it. So if it is stored at one place given out to others by way of suggestions, one can have one’s desired wishes fulfilled in all certainty.
The energy having been concentrated at one place and used to give it out to others is called will power. The process is like receiving sunrays into a convex lens and exposing a piece of paper to the total volume of the solar heat.
Ancient literature is replete with such instances. The great sage Agestya, to take an instance, had drunk the entire sea at one go. Durwasa, to take another instance, had burnt the 60.000 sons of King Sagar at one time. These instances are not figments of imagination. It was also due to the high concentration of the pran shakti which these mediators used to store in their body. Will power can be controlled in the same manner as the pran shakti is controlled.
Pranayama: Way to Gain Pran Shakti
In order to gain control over the pran shakti it is essential that we achieve pranayama. For it is this which ensures in the mind a total concentration of thoughts. It is by virtue of this concentration are the past and the future revealed.
Although it is not possible to achieve this sort of concentration in the noise-polluted world today, one can nevertheless practise pranayama t a lonely place, say, the riverbank or the secluded mountain cave.
Ether in Creation
It was only from the ether that the creation was made possible. Whatever one from the ether that the creation was made possible. Whatever one comes to see when the earth is overtaken by the deluge recedes to the either. Man gets his form and pran that is life from the ether. The is all pervasive, so is the pran shakti.
It is not at all necessary that the hypnotist should be well versed in all the actions of the pranayama. However, he is expected to know all about its practical aspects if he wants to know the subtleties of hypnotism. A fresh and unpolluted air as also a solitary place is essential for pranayama. If practised with deep mental concentration, the pranayama will certainly develop out spiritual power, with the result we achieve a completion in all sadhaas and may be accepted as a complete man or Yogiraj.
Suggested Practices to Increase Pran Shakti
The sadhak must know the following actions for normal pranayama.
Suggested Action 1
Lie on your back on a plain surface. Stretch your legs straight and keep your hands parallel to your body. Close your eyes. Keep lying and do not move any part of the body.
Ensure that no part of your body gets activated. See that no thought whatsoever disturbs your mind. Allow the body loose so that each limb relaxes to the fullest extent.
Gradually ensure that all your that all your limbs, from head to foot, feel totally relaxed. First you make your head idea-free. Then the eyes, the neck, the hands and the toes and other fingers and even the mind be made relaxed and idea-free. Harbour no ideas, no thoughts, no feelings in your brain.
In the beginning you will find very difficult to free your brain from ideas. However, practise regularly. After some time you will able to make your brain free from ideas and thoughts. You will be able to gain full control over your brain.
Suggested Action 2
This practice should be resorted to only after one has gone through the earlier practice.
Lie on your back and stretch your legs and hands free and reduce your mind to total freedom from thoughts. Seal your lips. Inhale deeply through both the nostrils. Now round your lips and give out the air breathed in slowly. When you do so you will hear a whistling sound being made.
It must be ensured that one must inhale through one nostril only. At that time the mouth should remain closed. When one seeks to exhale the breath the nose should be blocked and the entire breath should be given out through the mouth.