Manipulating Prana.

This text describes a method of meditation practice for forcing vital energies (prana, apana, udana, samana, vyana, here simply all referred to as prana) of the subtle-body (energy-body) into their central channel (Sushumna), through its lower entry point below the navel. The experience thus gained lays a practical foundation for subsequent Buddhist meditative practices of Knowledge and Nirvanic Paths. The text is intended for beginners of these Paths. The method described here is based on personal experiences of the author of this text.

The method has two main steps. The first step builds up excess supply of prana in the body over several days; and the second step then rapidly forces, within few minutes, the excess of the accumulated prana into the main left channel Ida and, as a result of its overflow, the prana then enters suddenly the central channel Sushumna through the lower entry point below the navel. The key to success is incessantness of practice, as explained later below, over a period of several days.

The excess of prana is generated in the body through incessant concentration practice by using a method called here "comparison-recolection" over a period of 3 to 6 days. Subsequently, sometimes during the next day of practice, the accumulated prana is forced quickly into the main left and central channels through manipulation of mind in forward focus, as explained also below later. At no time during the practice, is the meditator to concentrate directly on the channels or on the centres of vital energy (chakras). No visualization of the channels or chakras is required either, and no initiation by some Guru/Teacher is needed.

What is meant by vital energies (prana)? The description of prana, the structure of the energy channels or chakras, is outside the scope of this text. As a driver of his car does not need to know the precise structure of the car engine, or a user of some computer text editor does not need to know the details of millions of computer instructions which comprise the editor program and its supporting operating system, so the meditator does not need to know the details of the energy-body in order to make a successful use of it.

The excess of prana would naturally and gradually, but relatively quickly, dissipate from the body. It is thus critical that the practitioner is engaged in the practice as incessantly and diligently as possible !!!

The excess of prana is to be build up over a period of several days. On a full day, 10 hours a day, consisting of 20 half-hour periods, are to be devoted to the actual sitting in meditation. Each half-hour period is to be divided into 25 minutes of sitting in meditation and 5 minutes walking period. The walking period should consist of 1 minute of very slow walk, then 2 minutes of slow pace walk and at the end 1 minute of normal walk while moving arms about. The walk and then arms movement help to distribute the accumulated prana better throughout other channels of the body. Remaining 1 minute of the 5 minute walk period should be reserved for slowly getting up and then again sitting down.

One typical full meditation day should consist of: 5:30 getting up, 6:00-8:00 meditation (4 periods), 8:00-9:00 breakfast, 9:00-12:00 meditation (6 periods), 12:00-15:00 lunch and rest, 15:00-18:00 meditation (6 periods), 18:00-19:00 supper, 19:00-21:00 meditation (4 periods), 21:00-22:00 rest, 22:00 bedtime.

The sitting position should be ideally the standard full lotus pose, but other sitting positions may be adopted including so called kneeling-pose with a cushion or a specially designed bench placed under the buttocks. (Sitting in a chair is not recommended). The spine should be straight, neck bent slightly downwards with eyes naturally kept open and defocused. The eyes should look initially down at the floor about 1.5 meters ahead and then naturally defocus. The eyes must not be closed nor open wide while sitting in the meditation pose. The food, for up to a week ahead, should be ideally prepared mostly in advance. The food must be vegetarian. Eating meat dissipates prana faster than vegetarian food. No sexual activity of any kind is allowed as it would strongly dissipate the accumulated prana. No alcohol or mind altering drugs are allowed either. Drinking coffee or tea reasonably is OK. No TV or radio or newspapers or internet or mobile phone or similar disturbances are allowed. The environment should be quiet and in general suitable for undisturbed meditation. You, the meditator, should be healthy and relatively young, ideally 15 to 55 years of age.

Since long periods of sitting in the meditation pose are required, the complete beginner must train sitting for some time in advance, in order to get used to it. The meditator must be able to sit 6 half-hour periods in one sequence without discomfort.

If you are a complete beginner in meditation, then start the practice of sitting in your chosen meditation pose by counting your breath. Count the exhalations only, from one to ten, and then start from one again. Pay careful attention to the mental words (the count) as you say them. Do not simply follow with your attention the sensation of breathing. It would be wrong training practice. The sensation of breathing is an external phenomenon and to watch the breath is like watching a road ahead while driving a car. Your attention and your thinking would habitually divide and this is undesirable. Declare the mental words your friendly enemy. Pay attention to them while counting. Only when you are completely comfortable sitting in the meditation position and counting your breath for the minimum of the 6 half-hour periods in one stretch, then the meditation over several days using the technique described below should be attempted.

Each 25 minutes of the sitting period is divided into five 5 minute intervals. Each interval consists of 3 minutes of concentration, followed by one minute of relaxation and one minute of counting of breath. On the second, and certainly on the third day of meditation, the interval of concentration, as you get used to it, should be increased to 4 minutes and the period of subsequent relaxation and breath counting reduced accordingly to half a minute each. During the relaxation period, after the few minutes of concentration, you simply let go of your attention and stop watching and in any way controlling the mental motions. Just sit, relax, and allow the mind to do what it likes. The relaxation period is to be followed by the breath counting period during which you gather up your mental control and attention ready for the new concentration interval. While times given here do not have to be strictly followed, it is advisable to follow them reasonably well without relying on any timing device.

The 3, and later the 4, minute concentration interval involves the "comparison-recolection" method. During the concentration interval your attention should not be too strong or too loose. The ability to maintain the middle-strength dynamic attention will increase naturally with practice.

The "comparison-recolection" method should be done according to the following analogy: Touch alternatively some different objects with your hand. On each object dwell with the touch from 3 to 5 seconds. During the contact with an object very carefully notice its texture. Carefully compare it with the texture of the next object, moving back and forth between two objects several times, so you notice carefully and precisely the difference. Your attention should be like your hand and any mental construct is the object. For example, form mentally word "two" and then form mentally word "three" in your mind. Move the attention between these two states of mind carefully comparing the two states while dwelling on each state 3 to 5 seconds. Try to recollect the previous mental state very precisely. Then as you move from one mental word to the next notice the mental in-between state during transition from one state on to the next state. Try to compare this in-between state with the next mental word similarly. Compare carefully any mental state to any other mental state you can generate or notice. Always try to recall the previous state as precisely as you can. Pay real attention. You thus rub your attention against even the most subtle mental states so you can become mindful of them.

The momentary act of concentration, of about 3 to 5 seconds, when recalling very precisely the previous mental state, acts as a spray-push-button (spray-nozzle) on a perfume bottle when pressed. A small amount of extra prana is injected from Sushumna into Ida. As the "comparison-recollection" effort is repeated several times during the few minutes of the concentration interval, the extra prana is slowly but surely being pumped into the left channel and then spreads into the rests of the channels of the body. The precision of recollection, and the incessantness of practice are the critical factors for success of the gradual prana build-up.

The mental concentration practice should be performed as incessantly as possible over the period of several days. The attempt to force the accumulated prana back into the central channel should be made at the earliest after full 3 days of sitting meditation. To sit just a couple of days over the weekend may not accumulate sufficient amount of prana. To sit couple of hours a day even for a month is useless as the accumulated prana would dissipate during the rest of the day.

After the accumulation of prana, it is then the cognizing faculty which is to be subsequently dynamically manipulated using the "comparison-recolection" method, while trying to maintain the forward eye focus. Since the main left channel (Ida) goes through the forehead, as a result of the dynamic manipulation of the cognizing faculty while maintaining the forward eye focus, the accumulated prana will gather in the left channel and eventually overflow suddenly into the central channel through the lower entry point below the navel.

For this, make your meditation position in front of a wall at a distance of about 4 meters. Place at the wall a chair or a small table, and on it a couple of items (a vase, a bottle, etc.) so they reach at least your eye level. Sit in the meditation position looking straight towards the chair and the items on in. Lift your gaze a bit up about 20 degrees from the horizontal level. Then perform the following mental and visual exercises. Refocus your eyes as if looking through the wall into a distance. Look at the wall directly. Look at the two items on a chair while estimating their distance apart. Focus your eyes on the space in front of the chair (table). Every time you change your focus you generate a new subtle mental state. Try to recognise it. The exercises are really about recognizing internal mental states while looking forward and not about investigating external objects. In addition, generate the following two mental states: imagine a large vertical transparent thin sheet of glass in front of a chair (table); say mentally any word (for example "two"). Apply to thus mentally generated states the "comparison-recolection" method trained previously during the last several days. That is dwell on each mental state with your attention for 3 to 5 seconds and compare each state to the other recalling the previous state as carefully and precisely as possible. Pay real attention and try to maintain your gaze with your eyes slightly up. Pay especially good attention when recalling the transparent sheet of glass. Do not concentrate on your forehead. Do not concentrate below the navel. Do not concentrate on any of the chakras or channels, or any place inside your body.

If you do not have any previous experience with meditation then the above mentioned practices may appear rather silly. But if you have some experience with more intensive meditation already, then you know from your personal experience that after some time spent in meditation your mind becomes rapidly lucidly clear by merely looking forward into a distance or at the sky. That happens as a result of quick build-up of prana in the left channel, alas insufficient and remaining rather static. The above mentioned intensive practice over several days is intended to build sufficient excess of prana in the body and then quickly force it and keep forcing it dynamically into the left channel Ida. Consequently, as the result of its overflow, the prana will enter suddenly into the central channel Sushumna. The prana will not enter by this method into Sushumna through its upper entrance in the head but will enter trough the lower entrance below the navel.

Sometimes rather unusual initial experiences associated with the build-up of prana in the channel Ida can be experienced. A feeling akin to heat may be felt in the region below the navel and/or at the forehead. Bliss may be experienced just below the top of the head (Aperture of Brahma). The top of the left channel may straighten up. Normally thoughts are felt as if appearing somewhere in the head. If the top of the left channel straightens up, then they are felt as appearing few centimetres above the Aperture of Brahma just outside the head. Various visions may be experienced. The flow of prana may be experienced on the left side of the body. During this experience the flow is felt in two sections, as two thin tubes each of thickness of a little finger. The bottom section starts below the navel and slightly to the left and goes up to the left side of the chest ending up at the centre of the chest about four fingers to the left. Then there is a vertical gap of about 5 cm and then the top section starts and continues up to the left side of the neck. The flow of prana is experienced in both sections. At the same time with the flow deep "hmmmm…" sound is heard. All the above experiences are usually short lasting, of about half a minute duration. If you were to experience some of them, just relax and let them pass. Then resume your meditation practice starting with counting breath for a while.

Forcing of the prana into the left channel and then the central channel can be rapid if the sufficient excess of prana was build-up in the body in the first place, as it may take only 1 to 5 minutes to succeed using the above mentioned procedure of manipulating the mind in forward focus. As a result, the previously mentioned preliminary experiences may not be felt at all but the main experience of prana overflowing suddenly into the Sushumna may be directly entered into.

There are two types of these main experiences. The first type are called the external signs and result from prana entering into Sushumna from the upper entry point. There are four external signs appearing in sequence. The first of these is called here "white mind". The second type are called the internal signs and result from prana entering into Sushumna from the lower entry point. There are four internal signs appearing in sequence. The first of these internal signs is called here "smoke-like shapes". The above mentioned meditation practice should result only in the experience of "smoke-like shapes" and is here described. Although the experience of "white mind" is not expected, it is described here also, in case you rather accidentally experience it. Description of the other signs, internal and external, is not given, as other more elaborate yogic methods are normally required to achieve them.

If prana enters into Sushumna from the upper entry point then all external things you see begin to dissolve into whiteness. To describe it in a funny way, it is like slowly lowering a very large completely white bucket with uneven edges over your head. The whiteness is completely opaque and is white as snow or as cow's milk. All things above you, around you, and in front of you will gradually be obscured by the opaque curtain of whiteness, although the floor and bottom of your sitting body in meditation position should remain normally visible. The experience is short lived and should last only about half a minute. No special bliss is experienced.

If prana enters into Sushumna from the lower entry point below the navel then you will first start to experience suddenly extreme bliss. The bliss feeling is so strong that you can almost faint. The bliss experience lasts about half a minute. As the bliss gradually dies down you will see the "smoke-like shapes". If an insufficient amount of prana enters Sushumna, then the "smoke-like shapes" will not be seen and you will experience only strong bliss. The "smoke-like shapes" resemble streaks of smoke that rise from a lit cigarette or from a candle when its flame has been extinguished but its knot still smoulders. The shapes are seen as if originating below the navel and are seen to continue gently meandering upwards right in front of your eyes up towards your head. This is internal (mental) experience only, as the outside environment and your body continue to be seen normally. As the "smoke-like shapes" continue, your mind assumes a state of tranquillity and your thoughts die down. If you were to think at that time for example "What is going on?", then immediately and automatically, without you making any effort whatsoever, your alert attention (your focused consciousness) would rise, as if out of nowhere, and would face your thought and hold it steady for a second or two in your mind, before it is dropped and the tranquil no-thought state is resumed again. With respect to the example given, the "What" mental word would be held in your mind by the automatically functioning current of attention which would thus prevent further unwinding of the thought-trail and further thinking. The attempt to resume the habitual thinking may be repeated unsuccessfully two or three times before eventually the normal flow of your thoughts is resumed and all the experiences return to normal. The entire experience from the start of the extreme bliss to feeling and thinking normally again may last only few minutes. While this state may not last long it is quite remarkable because you will experience perfect co-emergence of the thing to be prevented (thought) and the preventer (attention) functioning automatically by itself. Thus one experiences automatic mindfulness of the thinking process when the thought and your attention arise as one, effortlessly, as if joined together.

If you were to find that you can achieve the entry of prana into the central channel relatively easy and repeatedly then you should consider finding a good teacher experienced in various practices of the Path of Knowledge. Such practices are not described fully in the literature and cannot thus be practised correctly without further oral explanation by a teacher. Since such practices strongly manipulate prana, your mental and physical health may be adversely affected, if you were to practice them incorrectly.

The Nirvanic Path may be practised completely on your own, although guidance of some experienced teacher is always preferred. The experience gained by achieving the "smoke-like shapes" sign, will enable you to understand through your own actual experience the following short quote from the text on Mahamudra as found in the book Tibetan Yoga And Secret Doctrines edited by W.Y. Ewans-Wentz:

"YOGA OF ONE-POINTEDNESS [THE ART OF ATTAINING THE NATURAL STATE OF THE MIND]

(64) The third part is called 'Keeping the mind like that of a little child looking [with intensest mental alertness] at [the frescoes on] a temple'.

(65) By tying the elephant of the mind to the pillar of the cognizing faculty and the cognizer, each of the vital-airs is kept in its own channel.

(66) Through the effects produced by this practice there come smoke-like or ethereal shapes, and ecstatic bliss whereby one almost swooneth.

(67) In experiencing the non-cognizing state of body and mind and having a feeling as if floating in the air, whatever visions or apparitional appearances may arise, are neither to be held on to through showing liking for them nor inhibited through dislike. Hence this non-holding on to and non-inhibiting of any vision hath been called 'Keeping the mind like that of a little child looking [with intensest mental alert-ness] at [the frescoes on] a temple '.

The fourth part concerneth keeping the mind in the state which hath been likened to that of an elephant when pricked with thorns.

(69) When cognitions arise while the mind is quiescent, consciousness of them is concomitant with their arising. The 'Preventer' [i.e. the consciousness yogically trained to that intense alertness above described, which controlleth thoughts] and the thing to be prevented [i.e. the process of thought-formation], having been brought face to face, one thought is prevented from giving way to another thought.

(70) Because the 'Preventer' hath come of itself without one's needing laboriously to seek it, this condition is called 'Being in the state wherein the unbroken current of consciousness functioneth automatically'.

(71) The art of keeping the mind in that state wherein there is neither inhibition of nor reaction to thoughts, when thoughts are perceived, hath been compared to the state of indifference which an elephant showeth when pricked with thorns, and it hath been named accordingly."

Of course, great patience and incessant and diligent practice will be required to make further progress. Habitual tendencies of the mind are difficult to overcome.