Prana-II
Reading Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
When the ignorant see these powers of the Yogi, they call them miracles. One peculiarity of the Hindu mind is that it always inquires for the last possible generalization, leaving the details to be worked out afterward. The question is raised in the Vedas, “What is that, knowing which, we shall know everything?” Thus, all books, and all philosophies that have been written, have been only to prove that by knowing everything is known. If a man wants to know this universe bit by bit he must know every individual grain of sand, which means infinite time; he cannot know all of them. Then how can knowledge be How is it possible for a man to be all-knowing through particulars? The Yogis say that behind this particular manifestation, there is a generalization. Behind all particular ideas stands a generalized, abstract principle; grasp it, and you have grasped everything. Just as this whole universe has been generalized, in the Vedas, into that One Absolute Existence, and he who has grasped that Existence has grasped the whole universe, so all forces have been generalized into this Prana, and he who has grasped the Prana has grasped all the forces of the universe, mental or physical. He who has controlled the Prana has controlled his own mind and all the minds that exist. He who has controlled the Prana has controlled his body and all the bodies that exist because the Prana is the generalized manifestation of force.
How to control the Prana is the one idea of Pranayama. All the training and exercises in this regard are for that one end. Each man must this regard are for that one end. Each man must control the things that are nearest to him. This body is near us, nearer than anything in the external universe, and this mind is the nearest of all.
The Prana which is working this mind and body is the nearest to us of all the Prana in the universe. This little wave of the Prana which represents our own energies, mental and physical, is the nearest to us of all the waves of the infinite ocean of Prana. If we can succeed in controlling that little wave, then alone we can hope to control the whole of Prana. The Yogi who has done this gains perfection; no longer is he under any power. He becomes almost almighty, almost all-knowing. We see sects in every country who have attempted this control of Prana. In this country, there are Mind-healers, Faith-healers, Spiritualists, Christian Scientists, Hypnotists, etc., and if we examine these different bodies, we shall find at the back of each this control of the Prana, whether they know it or not. If you boil all their theories down, the residuum will be that. It is the one and the same force they are manipulating, only unknowingly. They have stumbled on the discovery of a force and are using it unconsciously without knowing its nature, but it is the same as the Yogi uses, and which comes from Prana.
Thank you for reading.
