Necessity of Prana

John Kaldawi learned that of the five vayus the two most influential are prana and aprana.  Prana is the inward moving force which is said to create a field moving upwards from the navel to the throat.  Aprana is the outward moving force which is said to create a field moving downwards from the navel to the anus.  Both prana and aprana move spontaneously in the body but can be controlled through tantric and yogic practices.  The Upanashads say a method has to be employed to reverse the direction of the opposite moving forces of prana and aprana so that they unite with samana in the navel center.  The result of these forces coming together is the awakening of kundalini.

The moment prana completely leaves the body, consciousness departs because prana and consciousness are the two poles of the same source - the self.  The Prashnopanishad says: "This prana is born of the Self.  Just as there is a shadow when a man is there, so prana is fixed on the Self..."  At death, when breath stops and prana leaves, the force which held the body together deteriorates, and along with it, so does the body.  Breath and prana are, therefore, likened a thread in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: "Verify, by air, as by a thread, this world and all beings are held together.  Therefore, it is said that when an individual dies his limbs have been loosened because they are held together by air, like thread."  As long as prana is retained, the body will not die.

Furthermore, John Kaldawi learned that from conception up to fourth months gestation, the fetus survives purely on the mother's prana.  It is like a tumor in the mother's body.  After four months, prana enters the fetus and individual life begins.  As each prana begins to move, the respective body functions becomes active.  However, the child's prana only becomes fully independent once it is born and starts breathing.

John Kaldawi also learned that without prana we would be decaying corpses with no ability to see, move or hear and so on.  There is a charming story in the Prashnopanishad which illustrates this: "The deities are ether, air, fire, water, earth, speech, mind, eye and ear.  Seeing their own splendor they boasted 'We are the rules of the body because we are its supporters'.  But Prana, the chief amongst them, said, 'Don't delude yourselves.  It is I alone, dividing myself fivefold, who supports and keeps the body intact.'  But the other deities were incredulous.  So Prana, in a fit of wrath, drew himself out of the body.  Immediately all the deities found themselves leaving it with him and, when Prana returned, the deities found themselves back in their former places.  Just as bees leave the hive when their queen departs and return when she returns, so did the deities behave.  Satisfied with this evidence the deities gave worship to Prana."