Prana

Prana is a Sanskrit word meaning life-breath, life-force, life-energy. Prana is a cosmic Force or a cosmic Energy which operates in the physical body. Human life has a short span 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 connecting link between the cosmic Energy, which is infinite, and the prana, as this energy is called when it enters into our physical body. This link is the soul. The soul and the prana work together. It is the soul which calls the prana into the physical body for a short span of years. Then when it is God's Will, the connection breaks between the cosmic Energy and the prana enclosed in the physical frame. At that time we lose the body and die.

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.

Now how can we make the best use of this life-breath, this prana? 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. When prana, the life-force, is used in the service of the Supreme, we become the greatest pride of the Supreme.