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full flight. The tangible strength that enables the movement of one's hand is prana and the intangible force invoked through a complex fire ritual is also prana. The wind blows and rivers flow because of prana. Aircrafts, trains and cars move because of prana; laser beams and radio waves travel because of prana. Every object in creation is floating in the vast, all-encompassing sea of prana, and receiving everything they need to exist from it. It is said in the Kathopanishad (2:3:2):
यदिदं किं च जगत्सर्वं प्राण एजति नि:सृतम् । This whole world - whatever there is - vibrates having originated from prana.
This cosmic prana, also called mahaprana, came into being at the time of creation. Thus, in order to fully understand prana, one must go back to the beginning of creation.
Universal prana At the very beginning, there was nothing, not even creation. What existed was an all-pervasive, unmanifest consciousness, known in the scriptures as Para Brahman. It contained within it all the qualities and components necessary for creation. The whole universe lay infinitely contracted in it as mere potency; prana remained completely absorbed in it as if in a union of deep embrace. It was a state of perfect equilibrium and harmony.
In this utter stillness, there is a movement. The tantric and vedic literatures state that a desire arose in that absolute principle: Ekoham bahusyam - "I am one, let me become many." The desire is the first creative impulse, which results in 'willing'. The willing of the unmanifest consciousness causes the first spandan, vibration, and energy issues forth. It is the first movement: the first moment of becoming from being, the first manifestation of prana.
This primal energy, called mahaprana, is variously known as mahashakti, mahamaya, the cosmic creatrix or the Cosmic Mother. Prana was never separate from consciousness; it
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