Prana

Prana is a Sanskrit word. It means life-breath, life-force, life-energy. Prana is a cosmic force or a cosmic energy which operates in the physical body. The human has a short span of life in which the prana lasts for forty, sixty or eighty years. But the cosmic energy in its own sphere lasts for Eternity. There is a connection, a connecting link between the cosmic energy which is infinite and the prana, as it is called when it enters into our physical body. It is the soul which calls the prana into the physical body for a short span of years. The soul and the prana work together. Then when it is God’s Will, the connection breaks between the cosmic energy and the prana enclosed in the physical frame. Then we lose the body; we die.

Now how can we make the best use of prana, this life-breath, this life-force? It is through purity. The purer we can be in our inner and outer life, the easier it will be for the life-force to act in accordance with the Will of God.

When prana becomes one with the cosmic will, immediately we see a great achievement, a grand achievement in our inner life. That achievement may come to us in the form of peace, in the form of joy or in the form of fulfilment. So when we meditate, if we can become conscious of our breathing, it will help us to become conscious of the great Divine Breath of which we are the instruments. When we start to meditate, if the flow of prana is spontaneous, steady and unobstructed, then the inner being is in a position to bring forward the inner wealth and make the outer personality feel, fulfil and realise the Highest. So, to come back, in order to get the best out of prana, one has to be fully, unreservedly and totally pure in one’s outer life and inner life. Then when prana, the life-force, is used in the service of the Supreme, he becomes the greatest pride of the Supreme.