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A Treatise on White Magic - Rule Fourteen - The Centers and Prana
We could study this Rule from the standpoint of the aspirant, as he learns to work with energy and with the forces of nature, as he learns the significance and the purpose of the vital body, and gains power in the control of the vital fires or the pranas of his own little system. It seems to me that for our particular purpose, this line of approach would be of the most use. These Instructions are intended for those who are definitely interested in the way of liberation from form, and who are seeking to prepare themselves to work in cooperation with the Great White Lodge. They are learning the first steps in the magical work and for them, therefore, an understanding of the fires and of the energies with which they must work, is of prime importance. We will, therefore, confine our attention to this phase of the great work and consider neither the work of the soul as it takes incarnation and manifests objectively through a form, nor with the work of the initiates, as they act as creative magicians under group impulse and through an intelligent understanding of the evolutionary plan. These Instructions are intended to be practical and to convey the teaching needed to those students who can read between the lines and who are developing the capacity to see the esoteric meaning behind the outer blinds and exoteric forms. We are now going to consider the pranas, and I would here quote some paragraphs from The Light of the Soul which give a description of these pranas. We find in Book III, Sutra 39 that there are five aspects of prana, functioning through and, therefore, constituting the total etheric or vital body. "Prana is fivefold in its manifestations, thus corresponding to the five states of mind, the fifth principle, and to the five modifications of the thinking principle. Prana in the solar system works out as the five great states of energy which we call planes, the medium of consciousness... The five differentiations of prana in the human body are: Prana, extending from the nose to the heart and having special relation to the mouth and speech, the heart and lungs. Samana extends from the heart to the solar plexus; it concerns food and the nourishing of the body through the medium of food and drink and has special relation to the stomach. Apana controls from the solar plexus to the soles of the feet; it concerns the organs of elimination, of rejection and of birth, thus having special relation to the organs of generation and of elimination. Upana is found between the nose and the top of the head; it has a special relation to the brain, the nose and the eyes, and when properly controlled produces the coordination of the vital airs and their correct handling. Vyana is the term applied to the sum total of pranic energy as it is distributed evenly throughout the entire body. Its instruments are the thousands of nadis or nerves found in the body, and it has a peculiar definite connection with the blood channels, the veins and arteries." (Pp. 329-330.) "The etheric body is the force or vital body and it permeates every part of the dense vehicle. It is the background, the true substance of the physical body. According to the nature of the force animating the etheric body, according to the activity of that force in the etheric body, according to the aliveness or the sluggishness of the most important parts of the etheric body (the centers up the spine) so will be the corresponding activity of the physical body. Similarly and symbolically, according to the wholeness of the breathing apparatus, and according to the ability of that apparatus to oxygenate and render pure the blood, so will be the health or wholeness of the dense physical body." (Pp. 218-219.) [570]
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