1. The Relationship between the Mind and Prāna
The existence of citta (mind stuff) depends on the existence of kriyā (activity) and
vāsanā (desires). If either one of the latter two disappears, the other also
disappears. They are like two ends of a line. If the line is erased, the two ends also
disappear automatically. In Yogavāsistha, Sage Vasistha says to Lord Rama,
“There are two causes of citta: prāna vibrations and vāsanā (desire). When one is
destroyed, so is the other.”
The mind is always full of thoughts and desires. Therefore, in order to render it
desireless, one has to take recourse to viveka (discrimination) and vairāgya
(nonattachment). In Hathayoga Pradīpikā it is said: “When the vital air becomes
active the mind also becomes active, and when the former becomes steady the
latter also is stabilized. When the yogī attains steadfastness of mind, the activity of
the vital air also ceases.’’1
A yogī enters the state of samādhi when both prāna and the mind attain
steadiness. In that state the body also becomes motionless and stable. Therefore,
it is essential for the seeker to practice the control of prāna or the vital air.
Elsewhere it is said: “When the mind becomes steady, the vital air also becomes
steady. This leads to the steadiness of the sexual fluid, which in turn generates
sattva (purity) establishing the steadiness of the body.”2 The stability or immobility
of the seminal fluid is essential in providing strength and stability to the body. It is
when the sexual fluid is solidified or becomes immobile that the seeker gains the
strength to keep the spine, neck and head straight and steady without effort. It is
also said: “The mind is the master of the senses and the vital air is the master of
the mind. The vital air in turn is controlled by laya (absorption), which is dependent
on nāda (subtle spontaneous sound).”3
It is the curtain or the wall of the mind which separates the being from the Almighty.
A seeker has to remove this wall using prāna as a tool. With the eradication of this
wall, the duality existing between the individual self and the universal self
disappears.