Friends! the union of Prana and Apana is mentioned a lot in the scriptures. Prana is the life force of the upper part of the body, while Apana is the life force of the lower part of the body. It is said that by holding the breath, Prana and Apana meet each other. What happens is that when we inhale, the life force rises up through the back. When we inhale and hold it, the prana life force remains active. At that time, by meditating on the parts of the Muladhara region, Apana also becomes active. The rising Prana and the falling Apana keep mixing with each other. This is just like the union of the Yin-Yang. Similarly, while exhaling, the life force becomes Apana while going down. When the breath is held there, Apana becomes active. If any thought comes to the mind at that time, then Prana also becomes active. Due to this also, the going down Apana and the rising Prana keep mixing with each other. It is a simple thing that while doing pranayam, keep your focus on the breath. This will automatically keep the prana and apana colliding with each other. When you concentrate on the breath going down while inhaling, then apana goes down with it. But due to the movement of the back caused by the breath, the prana itself goes up. The apana going down and the prana going up will definitely collide with each other in the middle. Similarly, when the breath is going down after exhaling, apana also goes down with the focus on it and also goes down with the movement of the back. But at that time, to balance it, thoughts arise in the mind itself so that the prana can go up. Along with this, one can also deliberately observe one’s current physical condition with a witness attitude. This further increases the upward flow of prana. In such a situation also, the prana and apana will definitely collide with each other. It has been written in many interesting ways in the Upanishads. For example, the lower wood is the lower Arani and the upper wood is the upper Arani and the spark of fire produced between them due to the friction of their union is the best fruit. The Sun is the upper Arani, the Earth is the lower Arani and the moon in the middle is the fruit, etc., in this way. I don’t remember the exact details. But the union of the upper part and the lower part has been given great importance. And the thing produced between them has been called the best and the most desirable. Due to the friction of Prana and Apan, the Kundalini picture starts shining like a spark of fire. It is possible that fire was discovered through Kundalini Yoga. Anyway, meditation is strengthened only by the union of Prana and Apan on the Chakra. Energy is awakened by it. Then mental peace is obtained from it.
Om has been given great importance in the scriptures. It has been called the basic sound and all sounds are believed to originate from it. I think that the sound of Om must have felt closest to Brahma to the brahmlin sage. Probably, other sounds like the sounds of birds, rumbling of clouds, human voices or any other natural and artificial sounds would have made his mind restless and distracted his concentration on Brahma. Just as the mind gets distracted by contemplating other worldly things other than contemplating on Brahma. He used to chant Om, which made the experience of Brahma more strong and stable. Just as the whole world is made from Brahma, in the same way the whole worldly sounds can be considered to be made from Om.
I don’t know why Yoga is wrapped up in so much mythology or puranik way? Whereas Yoga is completely scientific. In Autobiography of a Yogi, such a web has been woven with good and complex English words that the reader’s concentration on the main subject of Yoga seems minor and mythological miracles as major. He gets lost in a kind of mysticism. However it seems a writing tactics to inspire lot of people to do yoga. It seems being successful in this. The book that sounds even better than that is Purana Purush. This book is based on the biography of Yogi Shri Lahiri Mahasaya and his diary notes. His description comes up at many places in the book Autobiography of a Yogi. Probably he was the guru of the book’s author as well. He was an employee in the Indian Railways and was a pensioner after retirement. It is believed that he achieved the ultimate siddhi through yoga along with the normal household and worldly activities. This book has probably been compiled by his grandson after his death. But it is a matter of regret that it is not available in the form of an ebook. However it has free scanned PDF version available on archive.org. Better to read on tablet than phone on ereader app. ReadEra is a good app. How many print books will a man buy? There is a pile of books in the house. Similarly, there is a shortage of space in houses these days. Read once and throw it in the trash, this also does not seem right. Along with this, there is also a fear of environmental damage. When I was looking at the online PDF on the Internet Archive, I found its sentences also full of mysterious words. I don’t know why people do not present facts in a simple and layman’s way. Maybe the earlier people felt that giving very simple explanations would be a misuse of knowledge. I feel that such informative books should be available for free download. If the author is well-off then they should be available for free. A writer’s books are like assets accumulated for bad times. If he ever faces such a financial crisis that it becomes difficult to live, then he can certainly decide their price. He will get some financial support. Books are investments for bad times just like gold jewellery. A man never sells jewellery in good times, but displays them everywhere for free all the time. In bad times, he sells them only when he is helpless. Books should also be presented everywhere for free. May God ensure that bad times do not come. Anyway, in most cases, such bad times do not come due to the good wishes and prayers of the readers.
Demystifying Kundalini 