130 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath 



hundreds and other hundreds till 10,100 branch- 

 Nadis are reckoned; and through the ramification 

 of these into thousands of " twigs," the Nadis of 

 the third degree become so minute as to be visible 

 only under the microscope; and the total number 

 is reckoned as 727,210,201 Nadis. Wherever 

 this vast net work of nerves spreads throughout 

 the body there are blood vessels running side by 

 side proceeding from the Nadis of the heart. 



Thus, you see, the real force of life dwells in 

 the nervous system, which receives the positive 

 solar current of Prana; while the blood vessels re- 

 ceive through the nerves the negative lunar current. 

 The one, therefore, represents the sun, and the 

 other the moon; but these two phases of life-sus- 

 taining matter are merely different conditions or 

 states of the same substance, Prana, the solar 

 matter; and its manifestations in the body are an 

 exact expression of the terrestrial Prana as is that 

 of its solar source. 



I shall also use the Tantrik term Chakra sig- 

 nifying a disc or circle in describing the pairs of 

 sensory and motor nerves branching from the 

 spinal cord. These thirty-one Chakras of the 

 spine are brought into existence by the thirty-one 

 sunrises in a zodiacal sign, and the Tantrists rec- 

 ognize a like number of Chakras in the heart 

 which correspond with the sunsets. Animating 

 and inspiring the " thousand-petalled lotus " of 



