"The energy of the subtle body is called prana meaning "life" or "life force". This is a very old Sanskrit term found already in the Vedas.
In the Rig-Veda it stands for the "breath" of the 'Cosmic Person, and also is used for the breath of life in general. According to the Atharva-Veda the life force clothes a person as a father would clothe his hear son. This scripture also refers to seven pranas (in-breaths), seven apanas (out-breaths), and seven vyanas (through-breaths), thus anticipating the pneumatological speculations of the later Upanishads and Tantras. We can see from this that the sages of India from the beginning have correlated the breath with the vital energy itself, which is thought to spread throughout the universe, enlivening everything.
In its deeper meaning, then, the Sanskrit word prana expresses the same reality that is also captured in the Latin term spiritus, which is contained in breath-related words like inspiration and expiration. The connection between spirit and breath is simiarly preserved in the Greek word pneuma and the Hebrew word ruah. This connection is of great significance and suggests an early understanding of the function of the breath in spiritual experience."
(from 'TANTRA - The Path of Ecstasy' by Georg Feuerstein)
In the Rig-Veda it stands for the "breath" of the 'Cosmic Person, and also is used for the breath of life in general. According to the Atharva-Veda the life force clothes a person as a father would clothe his hear son. This scripture also refers to seven pranas (in-breaths), seven apanas (out-breaths), and seven vyanas (through-breaths), thus anticipating the pneumatological speculations of the later Upanishads and Tantras. We can see from this that the sages of India from the beginning have correlated the breath with the vital energy itself, which is thought to spread throughout the universe, enlivening everything.
In its deeper meaning, then, the Sanskrit word prana expresses the same reality that is also captured in the Latin term spiritus, which is contained in breath-related words like inspiration and expiration. The connection between spirit and breath is simiarly preserved in the Greek word pneuma and the Hebrew word ruah. This connection is of great significance and suggests an early understanding of the function of the breath in spiritual experience."
(from 'TANTRA - The Path of Ecstasy' by Georg Feuerstein)
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