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Energy and Self
Contemplation on the distinction between Energy/PrANa and the Self/Atma
PRANA
Energy and the breath of life
Living earth body
Life on earth requires energy, which is provided by the Sun.
The Sun is the local provider of seasonality, variability in the experience of warmth, growth on earth and learning.
Inwardly at a cellular level, the complexity of physiology is an expression of the energy exchange within a living being.
Energy Healing loosens the perception of life as solid material blocks.
The energy of a living being also creates a magnetic field around the body.
The field around the heart is the strongest with it also being described as the ‘bridge’ between the material understanding of life and the astral dimension.
Astral by definition is ‘relating to or resembling the stars’. In other words, at the heart level, we can start experiencing the ‘bridge’ between the ordinary physicality of human existence and the cosmic power principle, the microcosm which can be experienced by each of us. We are all ‘potentially’ divine.
Prana in the scriptures is described as the ‘eldest‘ and the most important.
Prana however has two meanings, depending on the spelling in Sanskrit:
Life breath
Ancient
Prana as life breath starts our journey of life on earth at birth.
Our first breath in a way also determines the last breath on earth.
In the Bible as well in India’s Jyotish/Vedic Astrology system (Vimshottari Udu Dasha), the maximum lifespan of a human being is said to be 120 years (Genesis 6:3).
Prana hence delineates a limitation of longevity of earth life
Prana in the meaning of Ancient and as an adjective to the syllable VA is also known as OM.
This Prana refers to the ‘eldest‘ and a specific stellar constellation.
Prana-VA or OM is also connected to Sahasrara (and bindu), the thousand petal lotus, the pinnacle of spiritual development. It’s the domain of Kundalini Shakti, the active power principle of the Divine within, not of energy healers for example.
ATMA
Individual Spiritual Power
Conscious cosmic being
As conscious beings, our individual spiritual power originates from the Cosmos, beyond the limitations of the Solar System.
Our cosmic connection hence connects us to a much larger Reality beyond the local Solar Bubble.
The Sun is considered to be a ‘dwarf’ star, whereas some of the older stars are described as ‘giants’.
The atomic dimension of the elements of the Universe connects us closer to the origin of creation and divine primordial power.
Conditioned early in life, learning to identify with our immediate environment, many would not consider themselves to be citizens of the Universe in the first instance.
Rather, our bodily condition and the natural, outward focus of the desires of the mind keeps us firmly attached to and preoccupied with our earthly life.
It is this primordial universal power, the active principle of the divine also called Kundalini Shakti, responsible for our spiritual evolution, when our Soul reaches the maturity for this journey. It is divinely timed.
In Indian philosophy it is said that the microcosm, the cosmic force in the body to be an expression of the macrocosm, cosmic force expanded in this universe.
This spiritual power behind all things in the world is described as a central principle, mediating the opposites of duality and holding duality in balance.
Spiritual power is at the core of every thing in life as well as every change.
This power principle, constantly present in all of life on Earth; in the maintenance of the opposites of duality; in our human experiencing of life on earth remains concealed within the ‘prison of the human body’.
The structure of the subtle body is described in detail in the Yogic system chakras and nadis. However, the intricacies of the yogic system are more accurate and based on phenomenological experience and descriptions of spiritual masters rather than ‘channeled’ as the books by Barbara Brennan are for example. The level of spiritual knowledge and expertise is different in that the knowledge within the yogic system is connected to scriptural knowledge.
In the Taittiriya Upanishad or sacred text from India, the different koshas or ‘sheaths’ are described.
Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.
Albert Einstein
Spiritual Development
The difference between energy healing and spiritual development.
Energy Healing
Energy healing focusses on PRANA or that which underlies our perceived material reality. If PRANA or the breath leaves the body, the person’s body ceases to be enlivened by that force.
Energy healing allows for a felt shift in the subtle body as a result of the interaction – be it in person or remote – between the client and the healer.
If our experience of our living and breathing reality is considered, the influences felt at a cosmic level are very much ‘local’l. The main concerns are identifications related to earth matters such as parents, location where one grew up, cultural background in which our subconscious became moulded, religious and educational background and so forth.
The ‘loca’l cosmic influences as a reference are connected with the Moon and the larger tidal influences when the sun, moon and earth are lined up during full moon and new moon.
As our bodies are consisting largely of water, not only the oceans are experiencing tidal influences but the subtle influences can also influence our ’emotional’ subtle body and our sleep. One of the names of the moon in Sanskrit is ‘shasha’ or ‘hare’. As earth-dwelling beings, the tidal influences on the oceans are not as strongly felt physically but are observable.
Spiritual Development
When considering spirituality and spiritual development, we could compare that with a gradual shift from a strong earthbound focus and identification towards awareness of our cosmic origins, even beyond the solar system. We are cosmic beings first before we manifest in life as physical entities.
As a reference point at a cosmic level, we could say that we shift from a ‘physical’ Earth/Moon duo through a ‘subtle’ Solar System to a ‘causal’ 28 star constellations ‘spiritual’ body (astral). The causal body is also the domain of Kundalini Shakti, the divine feminine.
Spiritual development requires a process of ‘withdrawing’ from the senses, which connect us with our material surroundings, in order to start feeling the deeper aspects of our inner experiences. At the outset, this can be helped by not only reading about for example energy healing but experiencing it. Knowledge and intellect alone are not helpful in development, experiencing that which one reads helps in a greater understanding of the material after the experience.
In spiritual development within the yogic system, the breath (prana) is used in order to reach altered states. Some aspects of breath work were also taught during my shamanism training.
The process in spiritual development is that one makes a conscious choice to commune with that part of ourselves which is our individual connection to the divine. In focussing on the breath, a self-directed activity not involving another person, there is a direct experience of our conscious effort. Even if there is no ‘expected experience’ of this communion, dedication, commitment, patience and grit are required in order to continue the process. The Soul in India is said to be related to the Sun.
In continuing the cosmic references, the New Testament in the Bible makes a zodiacal reference (solar) to the cosmic element of spirituality. Star constellations (lunar) are mentioned in the Old Testament, especially the Pleiades and Orion. In the Vedas, hymns to various deities connect to specific constellations to which the deities are said to be connected. The sutras for the constellations can be found back in the Taittiriya Upanishad.
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