Maha is “great.” Pra means “in progress,” and laya means “dissolution.” So pralaya refers to “a progress of dissolution” within which the universe little by little dissolves and enters into repose. As an example in order for us to understand this word “Laya” or dissolution, if we put an ice cube within hot water, we will see how this solid cube of ice will dissolve completely within the water, becoming one with the water. So in this way we have to understand that what we call dissolution, does not mean disappearance or annihilation. It means just a “rest” in which all the elements which were active in the Cosmic Day become in repose, in their homogeneous state.
Another word that comes from this same root laya is “Alaya,” which means “without dissolution.” Alaya is a synonym of the Ain Soph, which is an element which is always there within the Abstract Space.
The Ray of Okidanokh, the omnipenetrating Ray of Creation, works through different Laya centers within the universe. A Laya center is a border between cosmoses or dimensions in which the energy of Okidanokh passes from one dimension into another, like a hole or tube by which the energy ceases to exist in this dimension and passes to another. The dimension “below” always depends on the one “above.” This is how we have to understand and comprehend the Ray of Creation.