Speaker 1: The nervous system. It will be noticed that the Western
scientific theories regarding the breath confine themselves to the effects
of the absorption of oxygen and its use through the
circulatory system, while the Yogi theory also takes into consideration
the absorption of proma and its manifestation through the channels
of the nervous system. The nervous system of man is
divided into two great systems, namely the cerebrospinal system and
the sympathetic system. The cerebrospinal system consists of all that
part of the nervous system contained within the cranial cavity
and the spinal canal, namely the brain and the spinal cord,
together with the nerves which branch off from the same.
This system presides over the functions of animal life known
as volition, sensation, et cetera. The sympathetic system includes all
that part of the nervous system located principally in the thoracic, abdominal,
and pelvic cavities and which is distributed to the organs.
It has control over the involuntary processes such as growth, nutrition,
et cetera. The cerebro spinal system attends to all the scene, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling,
et cetera. It sets things in motion. It is used
by the ego to think, to manifest consciousness. It is
the instrument with which the ego communicates with the outside world.
This system may be likened to a telephone system, with
the brain as a central office and the spinal column
in nerves is cable and wires, respectively. The brain is
a great mass of nerve tissue and consists of three parts,
namely the cerebrum or brain proper, which occupies the upper, front, middle,
and back portion of the skull, the cerebellum or little brain,
which fills the lower and back portion of the skull,
and the medulla am gotta, which is the broadened commencement
of the spinal cord lying before and in front of
the cerebellum. The cerebrum is the organ of that part
of the mind which manifests itself in intellectual action. The
cerebellum regulates the movements of the voluntary muscles. The medulla
obligata is the upper and large end of the spinal cord,
and from it in the cerebrum branch forth the cranial
nerves which reach to various parts of the head, to
the organs of special sense, and to some of the
thoracic and abdominal organs, and to the organs of respiration.
The spinal cord or spinal marrow feels the spinal canal
in the vertebral column or backbone. It is a long
mass of nerve tissue branching off at the several vertebrae
to nerves communicating with all parts of the body. The
spinal cord is like a large telephone cable, and the
emerging nerves are like the private wires connecting therewith The
sympathetic nervous system consists of a double chain of ganglia
on the side of the spinal column and scattered ganglia
in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen. A ganglion is
a mass of nervous matter, including nerve cells. These ganglia
are connected with each other by filaments and are also
connected with the cerebos spinal system by motor and sensory nerves.
From these ganglia, numerous fibers branch out to the organs
of the body, blood vessels, et cetera. At various points,
nerves meet together and form what are known as plexuses.
The sympathetic system practically controls the involuntary processes such as circulation, respiration,
and digestion. The power or force transmitted from the brain
to all parts of the body by means of the
nerves is known to Western science as nerve force, although
the Yogi knows it to be a manifestation of prana.
In character in rapidity, it resembles the electric current. It
will be seen that without this nerve force, the heart
cannot beat, the blood cannot circulate, the lungs cannot breathe,
the various organs cannot function. In fact, the machinery of
the body comes to a stop without it. Nay more,
even the brain cannot think without prana be present. When
these facts are considered, the importance of the absorption of
prana must be evident to all, and the science of
breath assumes an importance even greater than that accorded it
by Western science. The Yogi teachings go further than does
Western science, and one important feature of the nervous system
we allude to what Western science terms the solar plexus,
and which it considers as merely one of a series
of certain matted nuts of sympathetic nerves with their gangli
are found in various parts of the body. Yogi science
teaches that this solar plexus is really a most important
part of the nervous system, and that it is a
form of brain playing one of the principal parts in
the human economy. Western science seems to be moving gradually
towards a recognition of this fact, which has been known
to the Yogis of the East for centuries, and some
recent Western writers have termed the solo plexus the abdominal brain.
The solo plexus is situated in the epigastric region, just
back of the pit of the stomach, on either side
of the spinal column. It is composed of white and
gray brain matter similar to that composing the other brains
of man. It has control of the main internal organs
of man and plays a much more important part than
is generally recognized. We will not go into the Yogi
theory regarding the solo plexus further than to say that
they know it as the great central storehouse of prana.
Men have been known to be instantly killed by a
severe blow over the solo plexus, and prize fighters recognize
its phone mobility, infrequently temporarily paralyze their opponents by a
blow over this region. The name solar is well bestowed
on this brain, as it radiates strength and energy to
all parts of the body, even the upper brains, depending
largely upon it as a storehouse of prana. Sooner or later,
Western science will fully recognize the real function of the
solar plexus and will accord to it a far more
important place than it now occupies in their textbooks and teachings.