THE NATURE OF MAN

 

            

                                 THE MULTI LEVELED

                                     NATURE OF MAN

                                       THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN SCIENCE HAS FORCED US, SLOWLY BUT SURELY, CLOSER TO THIS POINT OF VIEW. WE HAVE FOUND IT INCREASINGLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SYUDY THE PHYSICAL WITHOUT BECOMING AWARE OF PHENOMENA THAT ARE NON-PHYSICAL, WHICH WE MIGHT EVEN CALL "ENERGY". WE END OUR STUDY OF ANATOMY BY BEGINING TO STUDY THE  ACTIVE INTEGRATION OF AN ORGANISM AS A WHOLE. AND THIS LEVEL OF BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING ALWAYS INVOLVES ENERGY.

                              NEWTONIAN PHYSICTISTS WE INTERESTED ONLY IN MECHANICS. THEY WERE CONCERNED PRIMARILY WITH UNDERSTANDING HOW ONE PHYSICAL BODY MOVED IN RELATION TO, AND WAS AFFECTED BY, ANOTHER. IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, HOWEVER, ELECTROMAGNETISM HAS BECOME EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, AS HAS THE STUDY OF NUCLEAR FORCES. MORE AND MORE WE HAVE COME TO GRAPPLE WITH THE QUESTIONS, "WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATTER AND ENERGY, BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL REALM AND THE REALM OF ENERGY? 

                                WHAT, IN FACT, IS ENERGY? IF WE CAN'T SEE IT, IT'S NOT MATERIAL, IS IT SCIENTIFIC TO TALK ABOUT IT? OBVIOUSLY, ENERGY IS CRUCIAL . IT MAKES US MOVE, IT MAKES OUR LIGHTBULBS GLOW. WHEREAS OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART MACHINERY OF A CENTURY AGO BURNED COAL TO MAKE STEAM AND PUSH PISTONS, OUR MACHINERY OF TODAY HAS BECOME MORE SUBTLE, CHANNELING ENERGY THROUGH THE TINIEST OF CIRCUITS TO PERFORM ELECTRONIC MIRACLES. HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THIS PHENOMENON?

                          EINSTEIN SEIZED THIS QUESTION AND FORMULATED AN ANSWER. E=MC2 SPECIFIES A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENERGY AND MATTER. IT ALSO STATES THAT THEY ARE INTERCONVERTIBLE. MATTER CAN BE CHANGED INTO ENERGY. THE MOST DRAMATIC APPLICATIONS OF THIS JAPAN. YET EINSTEIN'S FORMULATION ALSO STATES THAT ENERGY CAN BE CONVERTED INTO MATTER. THE PROCESS DOESN'T ONLY MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION.

             IN SANSKRIT, THE LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING INVOLVING ENERGY IS CALLED PRANA. ADVANCED MEDITATORS OF PREVIOUS AGES FOUND THAT THERE IS NOT ONLY A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GROSS PHYSICAL BODY AND PRANA, BUT THERE IS ALSO A RELATIONSHIP BETWEE PRANA AND THE NEXT HIGHER LEVEL, THE MIND.

                  INTUITIVELY, AND IN OUR EVERYDAY EXPRESSIONS, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MIND AND ENERGY. AT TIMES WE EXPERIENCE A GREAT DEAL OF VITALITY AND CLARITY  OF MIND, WHILE AT OTHER TIMES WE EXPERIENCE A LACK OF "MENTAL ENERGY". VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY HAVE FORMULATED THIS IN MORE PRECISE TERMS. FOR EXAMPLE, FREUD CALLED THIS ENERGY LIBIDO.

                 ACCORDING TO ANCIENT YOGIC TEXTS CALLED THE UPANISHADS, THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF EXISTENCE FORM A CONTINUM - THE PHYSICAL, THE PRANIC, THE MENTAL, AND THE HIGHER LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THESE LEVELS ARE LAYERED, ONE UPON THE OTHER. IF THE MIND WANTS TO AFFECT THE BODY. IT ALTERS THE FLOW OF ENERGY OR PRANA. IF THE BODY AFFECTS THE MIND, THIS TOO IS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH AN EFFECT ON THE FLOW OF ENERGY, WHICH IN TURN HAS AN IMPACT ON THE MIND.

                   PRANA IS CALLED THE VITAL LINK BETWEEN PSYCHE AND SOMA- "VITAL" BECAUSE ENERGY IS THE VERY BASIS OF LIFE AND VITALITY. WHEN A PERSON DIES, THE ENERGY LEAVES. THE BODY IS STILL THERE, BUT THE PRANA DEPARTS. HERE WE RETURN TO THE MATTER OF BREATH BECAUSE BREATH IS THE VEHICLE FOR PRANA. WHEN SOMEONE DIES AND THE VITAL ENERGY DEPARTS, WE SAY THAT PERSON HAS "EXPIRED". ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN SOMEONE EXPERIENCES INCREASED MENTAL ENERGY AND CREATIVITY, WE SAY THAT PERSON IS "INSPIRED". WE INDICATE THROUGH OUR LANGUAGE AN INTUITIVE RECOGNITION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INSPIRATION, EXPIRATION, AND THE VITAL ENERGY NECESSARY FOR LIFE AND CREATIVITY.

                 YET THIS VITAL AREA OF OUR EXISTENCE IS NEGLECTED IN THE WESTERN STUDY OF MAN. THIS IS AN INTRIGUING SITUATION WHEN WE STOP TO THINK ABOUT IT, FOR IF IT IS TRUE THAT BREATH INFLUENCES BOTH BODY AND MIND, THEN THE RHYTHM AND THE RATE OF THE BREATH WOULD REFLECT NOT ONLY ONE'S PHYSICAL CONDITION, BUT WOULD ALSO HELP TO CREATE IT. IT WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT INDICATION OF ONE'S EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL STAE. THEREFORE, WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE A PERSON COULD BE JUDGED FROM HIS BREATHING. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS. YOGIS SOMETIMES APPEAR TO "READ MINDS" SIMPLY BY OBSERVING THE QUALITY OF A PERSON'S BREATH.

                   CONSTANTLY CONFRONTED WITH THIS RATHER OBVIOUS INFORMATION, IT IS BIZARRE THAT WE CONTINUE TO IGNORE IT. HERE IS SOMETHING THAT TAKES PLACE CONTINUALLY IN THE PLAIN VIEW OF EVERYONE, GIVING AWAY THE ESSENCE OF OUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL STATES, GIVING AWAY OUR SECRETS, SO TO SPEAK, YET NO ONE PAYS ATTENTION. THE MOST FASCINATING AND REVEALING KIND OF INFORMATION IS BEING BROADCAST, BUT NO ONE IS RECEIVING.

                    WE ARE ALWAYS BUSY WITH OUR THOUGHTS, WHICH WE SHOVE AROUND LIKE BRIC-A-BRAC IN OUR HEAD. WE REGARD THEM AS OUR MOST INTIMATE TREASURES, NO DOUBT BECAUSE OUR OVERWHELMING PREOCCUPATION IS WITH THE MATERIAL WORLD, AND THOUGHTS ARE THE MEANS BY WHICH WE CONSCIOUSLY PROCESS OUR EXPERIENCES AND INTERACTIONS WITH THE UNIVERSE OUTSIDE OURSELVES.

                    YET IF WE WERE TO BECOME AWARE FOR PRANA AND STUDY IT, WE WOULD FIND IT IS JUST AS COMPLICATED AS THE BODY AND ALMOST AS COMPLICATED AS THE MIND. THERE ARE, FOR EXAMPLE, DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF ENERGY, DIFFERENT PATTERNS THROUGH WHICH ENERGY CAN FLOW. THESE VARY TREMENDOUSLY, BOTH QUALITATIVELY AND QUANTITATIVELY.

                    IN THE UPANISHADS, THE PRANIC LEVEL IS DESCRIBED AS SECOND BODY WITHIN THE PHYSICAL BODY CALLED THE "VITAL SHEATH". THE UPANISHADS SAY THAT IT TAKES ON THE SHAPE OF THE PHYSICAL BODY. IF WE WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT ONE ANOTHER, SEEING PAST EACH OTHER'S PHYSICAL BODY, WE WOULD PERCEIVE A SUBTLE BODY INSTEAD, A BODY OF ENERGY.

                     NOT ONLY IS MATTER BEING PUSHED AROUND THROUGH THE VEINS AND ARTERIES AND RESPIRATORY PASSAGES OF OUR BODY, BUT CHANGES IN ENERGY STATES ARE ALSO TAKING PLACE. ENERGY IS BEING CONSUMED IN ONE PLACE AND PRODUCED OR STORED IN ANOTHER. IT IS BEING SHIFTED FROM THIS POINT TO THAT, SO WE MIGHT, SAY THERE IS AN "ENERGY FLOW". IF WE COULD STAND BACK AND LOOL AT THIS CONTINUALLY SHIFTING PICTURE, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO MAP OUT AN OVERALL PATTERN OF FLUX. EVEN THOUGH MOST OF US ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THIS, WE CAN STILL UNDERSTAND THAT SOMETHING OF THIS SORT IS ACTUALLY CONSTANTLY HAPPENING.

                     THIS INNER ENERGY FLOW IS SUCH A DELICATE AND INTRICATE THING THAT SOME EXPERTS HAVE SPENT THEIR ENTIRE LIFETIME IN ITS EXPLORATION. IN THE ANCIENT LITERATURE OF THE YOGA TRADITION, ENTIRE BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ON THE SUBJECT. THESE TEXTS DESCRIBE FIVE MAJOR FORMS OF PRANA, EACH HAVING ITS OWN FUNCTION. THE PRANIC SHEATH HAS AN EXTREMELY COMPLEX ANATOMY, COMPOSED OF PATHWAYS CALLED NADIS THROUGH WHICH THE SUBTLE ENERGY FLOWS.

BREATHING MECHANISM

 

                         RESPIRATION AND THE CHEST: 

                      THE MECHANICS OF BREATHING

                           FEW BASIC PHYSIOLOGICAL FUCTIONS HAVE ESCAPED THE ATTENTION OF MODERN MAN TO THE DEGREE THAT BREATHIG HAS. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEART, FOR INSTANCE, IS KNOWN TO EVERYONE, LARGELY BECAUSE OF THE PREVALENCE OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE. SIMILARLY, PREOCCUPATION WITH THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS IS OBVIOUS FROM THE BEWILDERING ARRAY OF COMMERCIAL PREPARATIONS AVAILABLE TO TREAT THEM. IN CONTRAST, EXCEPT FOR DISEASE ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING, THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS HAVE BEEN LARGELY IGNORED. CONSIDERING THAT ANYONE CAN READILY MODIFY THE FLOW OF BREATH, WHEREAS CONTROL OF OTHER INTERNAL ORGANS IS LARGELY INACCESSIBLE TO THE AVERAGE PERSON, THIS IS ALL THE MORE SURPRISING.

                     KNOWLEDGE OF THE DYNAMICS OF BREATHING, HOWEVER, NEED NOT REMAIN SHROUDED IN IGNORANCE. BY UNDERSTANDING A FEW BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HOW THE RESPIRATORY PROCESS OPERATES AND INTERACTS WITH THE BODY AND MIND, ONE CAN READILY GAIN CLEAR AND INTENSELY PRACTICAL INSIGHT INTO PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN LEVELS OF PHOSIOLOGICAL  AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING, FOR THE MOVEMENT OF MUSCLES TO TRANSPORT AIR IN AND OUT OF THE BODY IS ONLY THE GROSSESST MANIFESTATION OF THE BREATHING PROCESS. THE EFFECTS OF BREATHING EXTEND TO THE WORKINGS OF THE HEART AND LUNGS AS WELL AS TO SUBTLE PHYSIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS SUCH AS THE MOLECULAR PROCESSESS THROUGH WHICH THE BODY'S ENERGY PRODUCTION IS MAINTAINED.

                               CELLULAR RESPIRATION

                    ALL ORGANISMS - HUMAN, PLANT, OR ANIMAL- ARE COMPOSED OF A MULTITUDE OF TINY INDIVIDUALS LIVING UNITS CALLED CELLS, AND IT IS THESE CELLS AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE ORGANISED INTO SPECIFIC TISSUES AND ORGANS THAT FORM THE PHYSICAL BODY. THE VERY LIFE OF THESE INDIVIDUALS CELLS AND THEREFORE THE BODY AS A WHOLE ARE DEPENDENT UPON A CONTINUOUS SOURCE OF ENERGY.

                    WE USUALLY THINK OF THE FOOD WE EAT AS SUPPLYING OUR ENERGY NEEDS IN TERMS OF A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CARBOHYDRATE, PROTEIN, AND FAT, BUT THESE NUTRIENTS ARE ACTUALLY USELESS THEY CAN BE CONVERTED INTO A FORM WHICH CAN BE USED BY ITS CELLS.IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS OFTEN SAID THAT WE BURN CARBOHYDRATES IN THE BODY, BUT WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? IF CARBOHYDRATES IS BEING BURNED IN MY TISSUES, WHY DOESN'T MY FAT SIZZLE? WHERE DOES THE SMOKE GO? IF I EXERCISE VIGOROUSLY IN A DARK ROOM, SHOULDN'T I BE ABLE TO SEE MY BODY GLOW FROM THE FLAMES PRODUCED BY THE BURNING CARBOHYDRATES? WE OFTEN HEAR THAT THE BODY IS 88 PERCENT WATER. HOW CAN I BURN CARBOHYDRATES IN THAT MUCH WATER WHEN I CAN'T EVEN GET A CAMPFIRE STARTED WHEN THE WOODIS A LITTLE DAMP?

                      IN A FIRE, ENERGY IS RELEASED IN THE FORM OF HEAT AND LIGHT. THE REACTION INVOLVES THE BURNING OF CARBON-CONTAINING SUBSTANCE. IF THE PROCESS IS EFFICIENT , THE END OF RESULT IS THE FORMATION OF CARBON, DIOXIDE, WATER, AND ASH, ALONG WITH THE RELEASE OF ENERGY.

                      THE  HEAT ENERGY, IN A FIRE CAN BE USED TO DRIVE A MACHINE SUCH AS A STEAM ENGINE, BUT AN AUTOMOBOLE ENGINE IS DRIVEN BY A MORE RAPID BURNING PROCESS, GASOLINE EXPLODING IN A CHAMBER. A COORDINATED SERIES OF CONTROLLED EXPLOSIONS IN MULTIPLE CHAMBERS CALLED CYLINDERS TUNRS A SHAFT, WHICH IN TURN SPINS THE WHEELS OF THE  CAR.

                    HOW THEN DOES OUR BODY HARNESS ENERGY?

                            CELLS MUST HAVE ENERGY, BUT THEY DO NOT RUN ON EXPLOSIONS. INSTEAD, ALL LIVING ORGANISMS CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS MEETING THEIR ENERGY NEEDS FROM A CONSTANT SUPPLY OF FUEL BY SLOWLY COMBINING IT WITH OXYGEN. IN A RAPIDLY BURNING SYSTEM, OXYGEN PRESENT IN THE AIR COMBINES INSTANTLY WITH FUEL SO THAT A READILY VISIBLE FIRE RESULTS. THE PRODUCTS OF THIS BURNING ARE CARBON DIOXIDE VISIBLE FIRE RESULTS. THE PRODUCTS OF THIS BURNING OF THIS BURNING ARE CARBON DIOXIDE, WATER, HEAT, AND LIGHT, AND IN RAPIDLY BURNING SYSTEMS, THIS REACTION CAN BE QUITE DRAMATIC, SUCH AS A FIRECRACKER EXPLODING. HOWEVER, WHEN FUEL IS CONSUMED MORE SLOWLY, ENERGY IS PRODUCED AT A SLOWER RATE,YIELDING A STEADY FLAME. IF THE RATE OF BURN IS EXCEPTIONALLY SLOW, THERE MAY BE NO LIGHT VISIBLE AT ALL. BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS - ALL LIVING ORGANISMS - ARE ESSENTIALLY BURNING FUEL AT A VERY SLOW RATE.

                           THE FUEL THAT WE USE BIOLOGICAL COMES FROM THE CARBOHYDRATES AND FATS WE EAT. THIS ENERGY RELEASE MUST TAKE PLACE UNDER SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES TO KEEP IN A FORM THAT IS BOTH USEFUL AND SAFE. THAT IS WHY THE REACTION TAKES PLACE IN TINY SUBMITS WITHIN THE CELL CALLED MITOCHONDRIA. THESE CONTAIN A SERIES OF SPECIALIZED PROTEIN MOLECULES OR ENZYMES, CALLED THE CYTOCHROME OXIDASE SYSTEM, WHICH TRANSFER THE ENERGY RELEASED FROM THE OXIDATION OF OUR FOOD TO A STORAGE MOLECULE CALLED ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE, OR ATP. FOUND IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT NATURE, FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES ATP MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS THE BASIC UNIT OF ENERGY STORAGE FOR CELLS. IT HAS THE ABILITY TO DELIVER ENERGY WITHIN THE CELLS OF THE BODY, WHICH IN TURN MAINTAINS THE CHEMICAL REACTIONS NECESSARY FOR THE CELLS TO FUNCTIONS NORMALLY.

                    THE ACTUAL PROCESS OF RESPIRATION, THEN, OCCURS WITHIN THE CELL WHERE NUTRIENT FUEL IS BURNED WITH OXYGEN TO RELEASE ENERGY, THE NOSE, TRACHA (WINDPIPE), LUNGS, CIRCULATORY SYSTEM, AND THEIR ATTENDANT MUSCLES ALL ACT TO TRASPORT OR MODIFY OXYGEN FROM THE SURROUNDING AIR TO MAKE IT READILY AVAILABLE TO INDIVIDUAL CELLS. EACH OF THESE ORGANS PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN DETERMINING OXYGEN SUPPLY, AND THEREFORE ENERGY AVAILABILITY, TO CELLS AT VARIOUS LEVELS WITHIN  THE BODY. CONSEQUENTLY, A CHANGE IN FUNCTIONING IN ANY ONE OF THESE SYSTEMS COULD POTENTIALLY AFTER THE COURSE OF ENERGY PRODUCTION WITHIN THE ENTIRE BODY.