Quote of the Week 382 - Prana: The Source
of Life
Know that you are a breathing being. You exist because
you breathe. Your mind thinks because you breathe. Your organs function because
you breathe. Your senses and limbs function because you breathe. Breath is the
source of life—it is life.
Breath is not your creation; you are breath’s creation.
The breath that is moving in and out of your body is a physical manifestation
of the non-physical life force. This life force is prana shakti, or
simply prana.
Every living being is a child of prana. As pulsation,
prana is mother and father of all. The presence of prana makes the sun shine,
allows the earth to metabolize sunlight, and enables nature to flourish. Prana
is the provider, protector, and guide of all. We are whatever prana has made
us. This is knowledge. Anything more is simply an elaboration of this truth.
The further a piece of information is from this truth, the more burdensome and
binding it is.
[The source of prana is] the almighty, omniscient divine
being. Prana is infallible sankalpa, the power of intention of the
divine. It is as mighty and omniscient as the absolute being. It is propelled
by the intrinsic compassion of the divine. Prana is imbued with inexhaustible
compassion. It does not judge those it serves. It is all pervading. It was
there before we were born; it is there when we are alive; it will be there when
we are dead. It is the foundation of existence. It is the manifest form of the
unmanifest transcendental being. Wise is he who thinks, speaks, and interacts
with himself and others in the light of this knowledge. To be and to behave
like prana is the way to expand one’s consciousness and one day achieve the
same degree of purity and capacity as prana.
Everything in the universe is the product of benevolent,
compassionate prana shakti. Nonjudgmental, compassionate benevolence is our
essential nature. Experiencing our essential nature is the highest spiritual
experience. Thinking, speaking, and acting in the light of our essential nature
is the best way to reinforce our self-understanding. This continuous
reinforcement strengthens our conviction that the absolute divinity is within
us. She is breathing, thinking, speaking, and acting while using our bodies and
minds. We are her instruments. All of us are here at her behest. We act as she
wishes. In the ultimate scheme of her creation, all of us are engaged in
serving the purpose of the one who pulsates in us as breath. Some know it;
others don’t. Yet she dispenses her love, compassion, guidance, and nourishment
equally to all.
A person immersed in this knowledge loves all and judges
none, for he sees the whole world and everyone and everything in it as her
manifestation. This experience is the highest experience. This knowledge is the
highest knowledge. It is the foundation of freedom from all fear.
--Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Spiritual Head of the
Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, conveying the teachings of
one of the Masters of the Himalayan Tradition
