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.
