THE PRANAYAMA
Talking about Yoga, generally, this word refers
to the exercises which aim is the breathing training. Anyway,
this Sanskrit term, in the Hindu culture, has a deeper and
larger meaning. It hides the hint both for an evolutionary
divine and human way. The necessity to communicate, as we know,
gave birth to an agreement: the language, and the different
cultures to the different languages.
Anyway, there are expressions that comes from little community
experiences, for example the language of fishermen, of doctors,
the computer language, and so on… The same is for religions:
each one of them uses different names to indicate the same
principles, and even in the same one there are differences and
words used in different ways. Also the various paths (Marga) of
Yoga present some particular expressions. The followers of
Pranayama, for example, use special terms that I consider
interesting to examine.
For 5 years I attended a Hindu ashram (hermitage) and, in my
memories, positive and negative ones, I remember I audited a
lesson of the Master during which he gave an interesting
interpretation (maybe a free one) of the word Pranayama. He
stated that this term results from the union of 4 words or
words’ roots: pra-na-ya-ma and, depending on the direction
(uprightly or back-to-front) you examine them, they could give
indications for a human (nirvritti) or divine (pravritti) path.
A reading, according to the divine way pravritti, would suggest
the following interpretation: the pure and not-evident aspect of
the Energy would find expression in the term Pra, while the
evident in the Na component. According to this interpretation,
prana would be the evident energy. The constituent ya would
stand for the different levels (physical, mental, spiritual) of
expression of that energy, while the term ma (reflexive) would
mean for me or in me.
Resuming, the word pranayama would mean: evident energy on
different levels in me. The syllables of this term, red in this
order, well represent the natural way of God in expressing the
manifestation. He, starting from his form of
perfection-immobility (Pra), would change himself by expressing
the manifestation (na) diversified (ya) to arrive to us (ma).
This would be the pravritti way or the divine expression’s way
of the manifestation through the changing (vritti).
Man, instead, would have the opportunity to evolve and to have
the experience of God through the opposite way, the only one
that he can follow: the progressive emergence from the field of
changes (vritti) going first through the self-knowledge, then
through the knowledge of the different levels that compose it,
to finally get to the consciousness raising that he belongs to
the cosmos or even to the universe.
“This” would be the human way nivritti of denial (nir) of
changes (vritti). From there, the different yoga that allow
students to test the four levels suggested from the syllables
pra-na-ya-ma; Hatha yoga to know the physical level (ma) and to
get awareness of the consistency of the different levels (ya),
Raja yoga that, through the improvement of the mental level,
brings to the cosmic experience (na) and finally Laya yoga that
could bring to the universal or even transcendental knowledge (Pra).
A less hardy interpretation, often used in yoga schools, divides
the word pranayama into only two parts: prana and yama that are
the control (yama) of the vital energy (prana). That translation
goes well with the breathing exercises that it refers to.
In conclusion, I heard from another Master a still different
meaning: the word was divided in two parts, but a negation “a”
came before the second part: prana-ayama. The meaning of yama=restriction
is changed in non-restriction (ayama) that consequently becomes
extension: the extension of the vital energy or development of
the vital energy. Also in that case the interpretation would go
well with the aim of some pranayama exercise.
by Amadio Bianchi