Control of Life Force according to Swami Yogananda

The yogi in meditation withdraws his life force from the body and from the nerves and intentionally brings it into the spinal cord. All the currents thus withdrawn into the spine then pass , successively into and through the three luminous nadis (subtle tubes or channels of life force) of the astral spine (the sushumna, the vajra and the chittra) and become one current as it passes through the innermost channel, the brahmanadi, the spine of the causal body.*

The brahmanadi is so called because it is the primary channel through which Brahma – the spirit as soul, life and consciousness descend.

In dissension, the spirit or Brahma present in the soul of man come down through the brahmanadi and later enter the three astral tubes, and finally passing through their openings into the grosser channels of nerves and cells of the entire physical body.

An advanced yogi who experiences the retirement, or ascension, into the brahmanadi of all the activities of the life force and of the processes of consciousness is spoken of as one who has surrendered his actions to the Infinite.

The Spirit or Cosmic Consciousness present in the brahmanadi.

When the yogi retires his life force and processes of consciousness through the brahmanadi, he sees from that point of Divine origin, wondrous astral phenomena. He is however warned, not to become attached to them as any form of attachment forces the yogi to come down again to the sensory surface of the body. He should bypass the miraculous phenomena until he reaches the Universal Essence.

The advanced yogi takes his ego, life force and processes of consciousness up through the brahmanadi, the causal spine, to its opening Brahmarandhra at the top of the head, in order to enable his transformed ego, the soul, life energy and mind to pass beyond bodily confinement and attachment and be united with the Omnipresent God.

When the yogi is thus able to unite his soul with the infinite, this union destroys all past karma, and he is known as one who has ascended from the flesh. Burning all his past karma in the fire of ecstasy, savikalpa samadhi, he perceives God without creation. He then learns by the highest ecstasy, nirvikalpa samadhi, to manifest his God consciousness in the flesh and to perform all actions without being entangled by their good or evil effects. In this highest state, the yogi perceives God, creation and his body perceptions, existing and working together in harmony. The yogi performs all activities of body and mind without attachment, beholding then equally as waves of Cosmic Consciousness.

*The astral tubes are composed of the finest or most subtle forms of life energy, prana. The causal brahmanadi is a still finer channel of vibratory consciousness, the pattern on which the universe and man’s being are imprinted.