Book Title: Pran and Pranayam
Author(s): Niranjananand Saraswati Swami
Publisher: Yoga Publication Trust

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Page 24
________________ energy is required for the whole brain to function simultaneously. The yogic practices are able to supply such a quantum of energy and awaken the genius in an average individual. However, just a few rounds of pranayama performed hurriedly will not achieve this. Sustained practice with deep concentration, acute awareness and unshakeable faith are the requisites of a yogi. Experience of cosmic prana The individual prana within each being is a part of the cosmic sea of mahaprana, but until this truth is realized experientially, one sees oneself as separate from the rest of the universe. Pranayama practices activate the individual prana and raise it to a higher frequency. They generate a certain amount of heat or creative force throughout the body. This influences the existing quantum of prana, which makes its way up to ajna chakra, the psychic centre in the midbrain, and can then be directed to different areas of the body. This process is the basis of prana vidya. When prana sadhana assumes an even higher level, the amount of heat generated within the system becomes more intense. This leads ajna chakra to monitor a message back to mooladhara chakra, the psychic centre located at the perineum. Mooladhara is the abode of kundalini, where the cosmic prana lies dormant. The entire experience from creation to dissolution is embedded within the folds of kundalini, hence it is also known as atma shakti or soul force. The message from ajna stirs this force and an awakening of the great prana takes place. When the full potential of this energy is released, it travels up through the sushumna nadi, bringing about a complete metamorphosis of the individual. Cosmic prana and kundalini are synonymous terms. In awakening the kundalini, one unites with the cosmic prana. At the time of the awakening, the two forces of prana and chitta assume perfect balance within the individual and become one. The mind undergoes a state of fission and energy issues forth. There is an explosion of satya, a moment 18

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