It is very hard to point out something and say that this is Prāṇa. Because Prāṇa is neither the act of breathing nor even what we would call as physical energy. It is rather a concept, a large idea, to show us how the entire evolution occurs. The gross object and their subtler aspect are conceived as the two entities in creation. We think in terms of matter and of form. There is food and then there is one who eats the food.
The continuous activity that goes on in us is like a ball that is being bounced down and again rises up. We are supposed to be involved in this bouncing of the ball always, which means food and the eating of the food, or the act of expenditure of energy. But no sooner the energy is created, it is again lost. That is the mechanism, and we can never stop it. Now the effort is to see that the energy does not get lost in this fashion, but is rather directed into a neutral channel. This process of the creation of energy and then its utilization has to be controlled somewhere. So, one thing is considered as the food and the other thing as the eater of the food. That is what is creation.
Things are there, and we all enjoy them. But we do not understand their deeper significance unless this process is brought under check. Because it draws us totally into itself. Our mental work, the mind itself, has created this situation. First it creates various kinds of thinking and then it tries to correct itself, which is very hard. Therefore, we need to devise a procedure whereby the energy is so maneuvered that it does not get into the wrong channel of use. The way in which we function all the time is this: We use energy wrongly and then; to replenish the lost energy, we have to create fresh energy, which again is getting lost. This is very symbolically expressed in Indian literature. There it says that at the top of the mountain, the spinal column, there is the moon, which is full of nectar. The nectar is oozing out and the sun at the other side of the mountain, below, is eating up all this nectar. This is why we remain lost as far as reaching a higher level of consciousness is concerned. As soon as we have manufactured energy, we use it up again.
Therefore, the effort is to get the energy into the neutral channel. It is in the Suṣumnā Nāḍī, as they say, that all real Yoga begins. Until then we are caught in this cyclic process. We may be studying Yoga, but we just do not have enough energy left. Our various desires and feelings totally take charge of us. So, we all complain that there is really not enough energy left in us to do anything further. Right from getting up in the morning until returning from work at night we spend energy. That is the sort of situation we are in. The life that we have devised in the world around us is of such a nature. And it is not only the physical world. Our own desires, our curiosity, our interest continuously involve us in things never giving us a chance to really sit down and think of things as they are.
So, the effort in Yoga is to stop this vicious process by not allowing the energy either to arise or to get lost, but rather just to maintain oneself in a neutral zone. And this is very close to what is called as a total mastery over the mind, which means not allowing the mind to function. No sooner it starts its activity, it functions in this way. And this is its way of functioning because its grooves are there, its memories are there. That is why so much is said in the Haṭhayoga literature of entering the Suṣumnā. This is not really to be taken literally; there is nothing in our body like a Suṣumnā Nāḍī, it is rather a concept.
The state where the mind does not function can be translated as “no-mind”. Here the energy can be controlled. Otherwise, it creates the mental activity. That is why we say that no sooner the senses get activated, and as a result of this the sensation and perception begin, a lot of Prāṇa is created.
So, there are techniques to learn to prolong the pause between inhalation and exhalation. When there is breathing, there is agitation. But in the periods when there is neither inhalation nor exhalation, the mind is quiet. Again, it is symbolically said that in such a condition of holding the breath, the symbolic Kundalini is awakened in the Suṣumnā Nāḍī. This is to say that when one has gained a good mastery of the mind, the act of retention or suspension of air becomes the period when there is a real spiritual understanding. Understanding cannot occur when there is agitation, when there is unnecessary thinking, when there is a considerable loss of energy due to involvements. Spiritual insight needs a complete cut-off from the usual involvements and activities.
A story can illustrate the Yogic effort here: A king was once captured by his opponents and imprisoned at the top of a castle which none could enter. But the king's friend thought of a clever idea. He caught hold of a large ant and put some drops of honey on its legs. Then he tied a thin string to its leg. The ant, following the smell of the honey, started climbing upwards so that the king could catch the thin string. Then. his friend who was standing at the foot of the castle, tied thicker and thicker cords to the string and finally a rope, with the help of which the king could climb down easily. Prāṇāyāma is of this kind. It is something subtle through which you can enter into the very core of a personality. There are vital areas in our body that are otherwise unknown to us. Through Prāṇāyāma techniques, one can work on these areas, and sensitively and astutely enter them.