Observations On Prāṇa and Chi

Excerpt from Basic Yoga Sutras: The Inner Practice

極 is Ji Grand Absolute, Pinnacle
氣 is chi, prana

I had learned and practiced tai chi in Phoenix, Arizona in 1978 and had a little familiarity with the idea of balancing this energy. Later I had an unforgettable experience that I will share with my reader.

In 1994 I took a holiday trip to southern China with a friend. Among the various activities we pursued we visited a qigong (chi gung) master. Through an interpreter he told us that he could move the energy at will and asked if we would like a demonstration. I said yes. He began with movements and controlled breathing for a few minutes to get his energy going, and when he was successful he held his hand vertically upright like a Buddhist blessing and indicated to me to feel the energy he was emitting. As I placed my hand a couple of inches in front of his I was stunned by my perception. It felt as if sunlight were emanating from his hand! I then realized that the sun emits more than light; sunlight is prāṇa — the energy of life, also known as chi.

Every energy, however, requires a generating source. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we find this statement that prāṇa energy is not autonomous.

prāṇādīnāṁ viśva-sṛjāṁ
śaktayo yāḥ parasya tāḥ
pāratantryād vaisādṛṣyād
dvayoś ceṣṭaiva ceṣṭatām

“Whatever potencies the life air and other elements of universal creation exhibit are actually all personal energies of the Supreme Lord, for both life and matter are subordinate to Him and dependent on Him, and also different from one another. Thus everything active in the material world is set into motion by the Supreme Lord.”
—Vasudeva, father of Lord Krishna, SB 10.85.6