Prana and the "Force"

Yoda using the force in Star Wars

After randomly linking the qi/prana concept with the Force in Star Wars in my previous post, it got me thinking about the parallels between the two, so I decided to explore it a little more. It turns out I wasn’t the first one to find similarities between the two concepts; there are many folks who have explored the parallels, particularly those who practice yoga.

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker explains the Force as “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” In Indian culture, specifically in yoga, prana (literal definition: breath or life force) is defined as exactly that! Prana is an energy that surrounds all living things and binds us together.

Yoga is a means to channel the prana or life force. The literal meaning of the word “yoga” is union. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs: “The word ‘Yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’, meaning ‘to join’ or ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite’. As per Yogic scriptures the practice of Yoga leads to the union of individual consciousness with that of the Universal Consciousness, indicating a perfect harmony between the mind and body, Man & Nature.”

Just as the aim of yoga is to channel the internal energy to connect the body, mind and the soul to form a single powerful energy through extreme practice (called asanas) and meditation, the path of the Jedi is to control the force through extreme training and self-mastery.

Who knew Star Wars was so deep?

Sources:

https://jamescadyyoga.com/2017/12/19/prana-is-the-force/

https://www.mea.gov.in/search-result.htm?25096/Yoga:_su_origen,_historia_y_desarrollo

Comments

Rx Symbol

Have you ever wondered why medicines are denoted with an ℞ or Rx symbol? There are actually many theories about its origin but the most common one is that the symbol for prescriptions originated from the "Eye of Horus", which was an ancient Egyptian symbol associated with healing powers. According to Egyptian mythology, Horus lost his eye in battle but his mom used her powers to restore his eye, hence it became a symbol of healing. Eye of Horus In the 2 nd century, Greek physician Galen adapted this symbol to impress his patients. Galen’s influence on medicine was so strong that even the symbol was borrowed through the centuries and it eventually evolved into the modern symbol Rx (the eye of Horus kinda looks like an Rx). Other theories place its origin in Latin and Roman times. One theory is that Rx was used as an abbreviation of the Latin word recipere , meaning “to prepare,” which physicians wrote on medical prescriptions. Yet another theory points to the similarity of...

Hippocrates: Father of Medicine

Another important person in Greek medicine is Hippocrates. Hippocrates is considered the father of modern medicine who continues to influence medicine more than 2000 years later. Although he is as revered as Asclepius, they have very different origins. While Asclepius is a mythological character, considered to be descended from God, Hippocrates is very much a historical figure, whose origin and life is recorded in history. Hippocrates lived from 460 to 375 BCE during the Classical Greece period and practiced medicine in Greece. His contribution to western medicine is rivaled by none other, and his collection of works covers almost every aspect of disease and medicine including infection, hygiene, epidemiology and the human immune system. Bust of Hippocrates Also, unlike Asclepius, Hippocrates practiced medicine as a science, not as divine magic. He was one of the first to separate religion from medicine, and sought to match treatment with symptoms. His observations in the ...

Doctors in Ancient Rome

In my previous post, I wrote about the appreciation shown towards healthcare workers during the current pandemic. Not just during this crisis, but people, in general, have a lot of respect for the medical profession. Unfortunately, it seems it wasn’t so in the Ancient Roman civilization. Medicine wasn’t a very highly regarded profession in Ancient Rome. One of the main reasons for this was because many doctors were actually freed Greek slaves, so they were not respected very much. Also, becoming a doctor required no formal training -- it was mostly from apprenticeship. As a result, there was a lot of trial and error in treating patients, which resulted in a low success rate and therefore, skepticism and even scorn towards doctors. The first Greek doctor who came to Rome was Archagathus of Sparta in 219 BC. He specialized in healing battle wounds, but Romans were skeptical of his methods of cutting and burning the flesh, which earned him the nickname, carnifex or 'butcher'....

History of Medicine

Search This Blog