Category: Swami Sivananda

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Purusha

(Sanskrit पुरुष) A term with many potential meanings, depending upon context. Ultimately, “supreme self or being.” It can also mean “soul, spirit, person, people.”

“Behind this world show, behind this physical phenomena, behind these names and forms, behind the feelings, thoughts, emotions, sentiments, there dwells the silent witness, thy immortal Friend and real Well-wisher, the Purusha or the World-teacher, the invisible Power or Consciousness.” – Swami Sivananda, God Exists

“That secondless Supreme Being, who resides in the chambers of your heart as the Inner Ruler or Controller, who has no beginning, middle or end, is God or Atman, or Brahman or Purusha or Chaitanya or Bhagavan or Purushottama.” – Swami Sivananda

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Prakriti and the Three Gunas

“Prakriti does all action. It is the Gunas that operate. Owing to ignorance the body is mistaken for the Self. Egoism of man asserts at every step, nay, at every second. Just as the motion of the clouds is falsely attributed to the sun, so also the movements of the body and the Indriyas are falsely attributed to the Self. The Self is always silent and is the witness of all actions. He is Nishkriya or Akarta. You will find in the Gita: “All actions are wrought by the qualities born of nature only. The self, deluded by egoism, thinketh: ‘I am the doer.’ But he, O mighty-armed, who knoweth the essence of the divisions of the qualities and functions, holding that the qualities move amid the qualities, is not attached.” Ch. III-27, 28.” — Swami Sivananda

“Prakriti or Nature is that state in which the three Gunas exist in a state of equilibrium. When this equilibrium is disturbed, creation begins and the body, senses and mind are formed. The man who is deluded by egoism identifies the Self with the body, mind, the life-force and the senses, and ascribes to the Self all the attributes of the body and the senses. In reality the Gunas of nature perform all actions.” — Swami Sivananda

“Whosoever wants to be born again, whosoever wants to achieve Final Liberation, must eliminate the three Gunas of the Prakriti from their nature.” – Samael Aun Weor, The Esoteric Treatise of Hermetic Astrology

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Prakriti or Pradhana

“‘Prakriti’ means that which is primary, that which precedes what is made. It comes from ‘Pra’ (before) and ‘Kri’ (to make). It resembles the Vedantic Maya. It is the one root of the universe. It is called Pradhana or the chief, because all effects are founded on it and it is the root of the universe and of all objects. Pradhana or Prakriti is eternal, all-pervading, immovable. It is one. It has no cause, but is the cause of all effects. Prakriti is independent and uncaused, while the products are caused and dependent. Prakriti depends only on the activity of its own constituent Gunas (metaphysical properties). […] Prakriti is the basis of all objective existence. Prakriti does not create for itself. All objects are for the enjoyment of the spirit or soul. Prakriti creates only when it comes into union with Purusha, like a crystal vase with a flower. This work is done for the emancipation of each soul. As it is the function of milk to nourish the calf, so it is the function of Prakriti to liberate the soul.” — Swami Sivananda

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Prana

Prana is energy. Prana is Christ. That energy is the energy that palpitates in the heart of every existing thing. Everything: every rock, plant, fish, horse, planet, sun, universe, sun, is sustained by the fire of Christic Prana. That is why Christ is “the life, the light, and the way.” It is the energy of existence. It is the Ain Soph Aur. That prana, that energy vibrates in many different modalities, many different levels of existence, and it is what sustains everything. It is the great breath. Everything that is in you is prana, in different modifications. We live, we breathe, we exist, we are sustained by that force.

“Prana is the sum total of all energy that is manifest in the universe. It is the sum total of all the forces in nature. It is the sum total of all latent forces and powers which are hidden in men [and women] and which lie everywhere around us. Heat, light, electricity, magnetism are the manifestations of prana. […] Whatever moves or works or has life is but an expression of manifestation of prana. The prana is related to mind [Hod / Netzach] and through mind to will [Tiphereth], and through will to the individual soul [Tiphereth / Geburah], and through this to the Supreme Being [Chesed / Atman]. If you know how to control the little waves of prana working thorough your mind, then the secret of subjugating universal prana will be known to you.” – Swami Sivananda

Prana is not separate from us. It is not a concept. Prana is not a theory. Everything that exists is prana, but modified by cause and effect (karma).