2
Yogis Without Borders
By what power is this Akasha manufactured into this universe?
By the power of Prana. Just as Akasha is the infinite, omnipres-
ent material of this universe, so is this Prana the infinite, omni-
present manifesting power of this universe. At the beginning
and at the end of a cycle everything becomes Akasha, and all
the forces that are in the universe resolve back into the Prana;
in the next cycle, out of this Prana is evolved everything that
we call energ y, everything that we call force... . When the Yogi
becomes perfect, there will be nothing in nature not under his
control. If he orders the gods or the souls of the departed to come,
they will come at his bidding. All the forces of nature will obey
him as slaves. When the ignorant see these powers of the Yogi,
they call them the miracles.
— Vivekananda, Raja Yoga
What has the future in store for this strange being, born of a
breath, of perishable tissue, yet Immortal, with his powers fear-
ful and Divine? What magic will be wrought by him in the
end? What is to be his greatest deed, his crowning achievement?
Long ago he recognized that all perceptible matter comes from
a primary substance, or a tenuity beyond conception, filling all
space, the Akasha or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by
the life- giving Prana or Creative Force, calling into existence,
in never ending cycles, all things and phenomena. ... Can
man control this grandest, most awe- inspiring of all processes
in nature? Can he harness her inexhaustible energies to per-
form all their functions at his bidding, more still— cause them
to operate simply by the force of his will? If he could do this, he
would have powers almost unlimited and supernatural. At his
command, with but a slight effort on his part, old worlds would
disappear and new ones of his planning would spring into being.
— Nikola Tesla, “Man’s Greatest Achievement”