Is prana a FOOD and OXYGEN?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#10

I say prana is oxygen/food, and that’s all.
I know this is not orthodox Yogic thought and they will say I have misunderstood but I beg to differ.

Just think back to a time before it was understood that corporeal life was sustained by chemical processes at the cellular level and that these processes were dependent on oxygen/food and that the body could not produce this oxygen/food in sufficient quantities and therefore it had to be constantly brought in to the body.

What did they see then? They saw that people who did not breath/eat, died! That made the connection. They saw that life left the body when a person was unable to breath. They saw the “life force” go out of the body. Naturally they assumed that there was some form of “energy” or “life force” in the world that sustained life and that breathing was the means by which this life force entered the body. This was why breathing was vital.

They didn’t know about chemistry, they didn’t know WHY air and food were so vital so they invented the idea of prana.

Like oxygen prana is finite and must be constantly renewed, like oxygen it is essential for life and like oxygen life will cease in its’ absence. And if there were some non-physical “energy” or “life force” out there (outside of us) why would it need a physical medium such as air, to carry it. Why couldn’t it just pass through our skin, why wouldn’t it just flow through us like radio waves?!

I have been doing yoga for a long time and I understand the benefits of breathing deeply on a physical and psychological level. The oxygen nourishes the body while the depth of the breathing is an affirmation of the willingness to live, which strengthens the mind. I see no need to believe in “prana”.

It is disingenuous of anyone (yogis and followers alike) in this day and age for anyone to insist that there is something intangible in the air we breath or food we eat that sustains life, other than chemicals.

Yoga asanas do not need to be backed by mystical energies to give them validity.The benefits of yoga are not magical, they are based on sound knowledge (yoga successfully vitalises the body and does not injure you because it was perfected by trial and error over such a long time).

#11

Hello diapolical,

You are entitled to your view, and there is indeed much to be said for a materialistic interpretation of breathing and nutrition.

However, as you progress in your yoga practices, you may one day awaken energy currents in your body for which western science has no explanation, let alone a way of measurement. That will be the day that you will find the concept of prana useful.

And, progressing even further, you may contact spirit or purusha or whatever you may wish to call it. Then you may find that masterialistic science and philosophy leave much to be desired and the language of Patanjali most helpful. Do we live in a material world? Or is there just energy and consciousness?

#12

As for my own personal spiritual life… I don’t need concepts!

#13

extra post - technical hiccup

#14

Of course not. But once you return to the relative world, how will you talk about your experience? Words are not reality, but they may convey it.

#15

Well, the discussion touches interesting questions. I can tell that I agree with diapolical, that most of thing we can explain from scientific point of view. I’m a great proponent of brining science and yoga together, since back those days yoga was almost a science about body and psychic. Just have a look at chakras, nadis, etc, it is anatomy of vessels and glands. So far I have seen and experienced a lot of magical things, and they all have explanation from scientific point of view… .BUT sometimes it is easier to believe in prana, because, some scientific concepts are not that easy to grasp for people with poor education.

#16

In my opinion, we should not “believe” in anything on the spiritual path. And here I use belief in the context of “blind faith”. Prana is just a word, a word like samadhi, purusha, chakra etc. The important thing is to do our practices and to live life fully. If prana then turns out to be a useful word, fine. Then one can use the word prana without resorting to faith, because the concept has passed the critical test of experience.

Prior to that, prana is just an idea from ancient India that describes energy in the body, mind and universe. Prana is important in traditional hatha yoga (= kundalini yoga), a system geared at enlightenment in and through the body. Prana is less important in the other branches of yoga.

Thousands of years have passed since the idea of prana surfaced. Modern science has come up with incredibly accurate theories about energy in the universe and in the biochemistry of the human body. In describing the physical word, modern science is far superior to the ancients.

However, in its quest for objectivity, science has not (yet) come to terms with our inner subjective experiences on the spiritual path. That is where yoga philosophy - which is condensed experience - can be useful. We can use it freely, whenever we find it useful, never resorting to “blind faith”.

#17

To gain greater understanding of the concept and qualities of [I]prana[/I], it is best studied along side the concepts of[I] tejas[/I] and [I]ojas[/I], it’s ayurvedic counterparts. For greater context and deeper understanding of the full potentiality of health and wellness, the three concepts studied together will offer a global view that is in accord with Ayurveda, the sister science to Yoga.

One book that I can recommend for the study of the three concepts of [I]prana, tejas[/I] and [I]ojas[/I] is Dr. David Frawley’s, [I]Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self Realization[/I]. CityMonk, you are curious and obviously dedicated in your studies of Yoga – I think you may enjoy this book for very much. It speaks to the many and varied questions that you have posted here on the forum.

Yours in Yoga,
Nichole

#18

Thanks Nicole, for the book, I’ll check it out.

#19

My friend who is a psychologist was with me at the Sivananda ashram in Kerala. We attended a lecture on Ayurveda. She was very open minded and listened attentively believing she could augment her orthodox western training with this ancient healing art. In the Q&A at the end she asked if Ayurveda had any treatments for mental illness. “Oh yes” the lecturer replied “Ayurveda has several different ways for treating epilepsy!”. She was not amused.

#20

prasad,
Great blog! Thanks so much for sharing.

#21

Dear diapolical,

Yoga is not a system of beliefs. It is a process of self-realization. However, unlike science that confines to the observation and the observed, Yoga concerns itself with the experience and the experiencer.

It is not surprising that we find different individuals holding different views of the same world and its phenomena. We are naturally endowed with sensory perception that is central to our experiencing. Senses have a limited bandwidth. The resultant experience brings in limited data that we color and condition while cognizing. Yoga practices sharpen the senses and later enable sensing beyond senses.

One of our survival instincts is to take the personal view as the ‘whole truth’ without which we cannot live amidst objects. So, to opine that ‘food and oxygen IS prana’ is a perfect truth for the beholder. One would move from this position if and only if a realization occurs that there is always more to a thing if one tries to see. So, holding a limited view is not a problem in itself; however, not knowing its limitedness is. Yoga begins with a realization of the limits of human perception. Yoga encourages looking at other people’s views as possible hypotheses one could test and own up only if convinced .

Some data may help in the context of this thread:

Oxygen is not prana in yogic terminology, but prana-vayu. Pure prana abiding in the whole universe is so fine that it is inside and outside of every thing. But once inside, a part of it starts degenerating into grosser forms and becomes various things like, vayus and mind. Like proof of air is in the wind, proof of vayus and mind is in their manifest functions. Oxygen, much grosser than pure prana, is carried in and out by the breathed air. It clears impurities from the bodies. When we learn to control prana (pranayama) oxygen, the cleaning agent, is needed less and less; eventually not at all.

Similarly, food metabolism results in generating physical energy for sustaining the body functions. Movement of the vayus supports varios body functions. Samana vayu helps food churning. But, food metabolism is much cruder and wasteful energy source when compared with prana. So, pranayama rekindles the atomic plants at muladhara and swadhisthana chakras to obtain prana energy that makes food-based system redundant.

So, is food and oxygen, prana? in a very philosophic sense ? yes. Every object is a manifestation of prana. But, no; as deeper reality shows them in a different light. Is this important to know? yes, if you are doing pranayama or are a seeker of truth . ?No?, otherwise.

#22

Good reading. Thanks everyone.

Question though. If Prana is not oxygen why we use breathing(taking oxygen) in pranayama to control prana ?

#23

Good question. Until we learn to access and directly control such powerful energy, it is easier to use grosser air (in breathing) to tag prana along. You may be doing rechaka and kumbhaka, respectively keeping air out or in, and that is a deliberate act. This is why pranayama breathing has to be rhythmic to sync with prana respiration.

In advanced pranayama, when prana is under control, you can suspend breathing temporarily as it becomes redundant. It need not piggyback prana. Then, rechaka and kumbhaka happen automatically requiring no effort and prana makes rounds up and down sushumna nadi, to rejuvenate different chakras.

#24

[QUOTE=Willem;29422]You might say that food and oxygen are manifestations of prana. A more encompassing explanation would go as follows:

In yoga philosophy, the whole universe consists of consciousness and energy. Prana is the cosmic energy and includes every form of energy known to you. It cannot be objectified. You can only know prana by its effects. A metaphor: you cannot see the wind, but you can see the moving branches of a tree.

It is prana that gives rise to the world appearance. In sentient beings, prana govers all the life processes, for which reason prana is often translated as “life force”. It is closely linked to the breath, since you might die if you stop breathing. It is prana that makes you breathe, sense, think, digest, excrete, etc.

In human beings, prana is most easily sensed in breathing. But prana is more subtle than the breath or the oxygen contained in the air. Yogis do pranayama (“extension of the life force”) to master this subtle energy. You can also increase prana with sleep and meditation, breath, water, and food. Prana is the subtle energy beneath inhalation that lives in the chest. Apana is the subtle energy beneath exhalation that lives in the abdomen. If you would merge prana and apana, you would awaken kundalini shakti, the strongest manifestation of prana in the human bodymind.

You don’t need to use the word prana in your yoga classes. Teach only what lives within you and what you feel comfortable with. In fact, I hardly ever use the word prana in my own classes, where I teach asana and simple pranayama. However, I’m sure that my students would not return every week if the class did not increase their prana![/QUOTE]

I tottaly agree with you. However, I would like to add an adjective: prana is the Intelligent Cosmic Energy (Intelligent Life Force). Eg the protoplasm is
similar in all beings. However, prana creates different beings (humans, birds,
animals…) from the same substance, Proptoplasm is the clay and prana is the potter.

#25

City monk,

There is nothing in existence which is not a manifestation of prana because there is nothing in existence which is not an expression of one and the same essential energy. What we are calling prana, you have to understand that every form in existence is supported by certain forces which are far more essential and fundamental. When we are talking about prana, we are referring to levels of energy in existence which are happening on a much more subtle level. Heat, electricity, light, magnetism, oxygen, gravity, and the whole spectrum of measurable energy in existence, these are all expressions of prana, but one thing which is important to understand is that these all all just side-effects of something else. So the word prana refers to the vital energies which are working on a very subtle level. When we are referring to these vital energies at the level of the body, then that is what has been called the subtle body.

#26

Layman,

“If Prana is not oxygen why we use breathing(taking oxygen) in pranayama to control prana ?”

Oxygen is an expression of prana. There is nothing in existence which is not an expression of prana. The reason why we are using the breath as a tool in yoga is because it is not the actual breath which one is interested in, but the vital energies beneath the breath, the stuff which the breath is made of. It is only because there are certain vital energies which are much more essential, that the breath is even possible. So one way to absorb prana is through pranayam, control of the breath. That is not the only thing which carries prana. The food that you eat also carries prana, what you drink also carries prana, the temperature of the room you are in also carries prana, the light of the sun also carries prana, everything you hear, smell, taste, and touch, carries prana - because there is nothing which is happening which is not being supported by these life energies. That is why tremendous attention to detail has happened in yoga - where just about every aspect of your life is taken into consideration - from what kind of food you are eating, to the quantity of food that you are eating, what time you are waking up and going to sleep, what times of the day you are to practice, which methods to practice, remaining celibate, avoiding intoxicants like alcohol and drugs, all of these skillful means were created to help bring about a purification and transformation of the pranas of the subtle body. Once there is a purification of the subtle body, there comes a purification of the mind. Once there comes a purification of the mind, then once you start sitting in meditation - you will find it to be a far more flexible, fluid, and natural process.

#27

Hello Folks,

Food and oxygen are both pranic, the later being more subtle than the former. See the three gunas, or qualities: tamas, rajas, sattwa.

peace,
siva

#28

Why is it when you offer a “scientific” explanation people assume you are rigidly attached to the principle, that you have no spiritual dimension, that you are “materialistic”?
To forsake romanticism and sentimentality, to come out from under the cloak of mysticism is a sign of sincerity on the way to self-knowledge. Only what remains after all fallacies have been debunked, is the truth.

#29

I am asking myself the same question. I used to think that prana relates to food, water and air only, but seems like it has a deeper meaning. As a permanent client of Amazon Fresh and amazonfresh phone number , I can claim that I really feel better as soon as I switched to pranic food completely.