Lesson 3 Summary: Prana, SoHam, and the Four Bodies
In this technical but essential teaching, Mark Griffin explores prana and SoHam in relation to the four bodies: physical, subtle-physical, causal, and supra-causal. He presents the breath not merely as a tool for meditation, but as a primary vehicle of energy, awareness, and consciousness.
Mark describes SoHam as the natural mantra of the breath—a continuous vibration of identity that arises from the Self and returns to it. Through careful attention to inhalation and exhalation, the practitioner begins to experience breath as more than a physical process. It becomes a current leading awareness into the subtler dimensions of the human form.
Prana moves throughout this multidimensional system by way of the nadis, chakras, bindus, and principal channels of the subtle body. Mark gives practical shape to this exploration through ajapa japa, bellows breathing, breath awareness, and one-pointed concentration.
Ajapa japa means “repetition without repetition.” Rather than imposing SoHam upon the breath through deliberate mental effort, the practitioner learns to recognize the mantra as a natural movement already occurring within respiration. Listening replaces repetition, and breath becomes a doorway into subtler levels of perception.
Mark connects this work with the gradual movement of identity away from personality and toward the inner witness—the still center from which experience is observed. Working with prana and SoHam begins to transform not only the mind, but also the energetic architecture of the practitioner.
Within this framework, breath, mantra, and concentration prepare the human system for deeper spiritual awakening. Mark explains that this work can open the inner gates through which Shaktipat and Kundalini transform the bodies, channels, and states of awareness.
Throughout Prana, SoHam, and the Four Bodies, Mark returns to the four bodies as fundamental dimensions of human experience. In 108 Discourses on Awakening, he explains:
“The human form has four bodies of increasing subtlety: the physical body, which is the organizational point of matter; the subtle physical body, which is the organizational point of energy; the causal body, which is the organizational point of the mind; and the supra-causal body, which is the organizational point of infinite consciousness. All four bodies are inside the frame of the physical body, subtle sheath within sheath within sheath.”
The four bodies can be organized as follows:
The Four Bodies
| Body: | Includes: | Also Known As: |
| Physical Body | Flesh, blood, nerves, muscles, bone, etc. Prana as physical life force (Libido). | The self, who & what we think we are. |
| Subtle-Physical Body | Chakras, Nadis (72,000 in number), The Three Major Channels: Sushumna (central channel), Ida (left channel, lunar), Pingala (right channel, solar), Bindus, Drops, Seats of the Five Pranas (Prana, Apana, Samana, Vyana, Udana), 5 Elements, Prana as electric life force | Subtle body, Pranic body, Astral body |
| Causal Body | Mind (manas), Ego (ahamkara), Intellect (buddhi), list-making capacity, memory… Prana as mental life-force | The Mind, Mental Body |
| Supra-Causal Body | The Blue Pearl, The Rupa, Prana as Infinite Consciousness | The Self, Atman, God |
The Four States of Awareness
Mark connects the four bodies with four states of awareness: waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, and the fourth state. He writes:
“The first three states of consciousness—waking, sleep with dreams, and dreamless sleep—are relative to the four bodies. The waking state relates primarily to the physical body wherein the operations of the senses, the mind, and the prana are present.
“However, as we enter the sleep-with-dreams state, the awareness of the body and the senses falls away. All we have left is the awareness of the mind and the prana. In this state, we operate inside a condition of pure thought that is culled from the memory of the mind.
“Then as we shift into deep sleep, the physical body and the senses shut down and only the life force, the prana, is present. The mind is gone. The senses are gone. The body is gone. Spiritually speaking, this state of consciousness is one membrane away from Atman.”
That leaves the fourth state. Mark continues:
“The sages tell us, ‘The mind, the body, and the senses make up the dynamics of the psychic apparatus. If the mind is gone, the senses are gone, and the body is gone, another center of consciousness must exist.’ And thus it is. The Atman—the fourth state.”
The relationship among these states can be summarized as follows:
| States of Awareness: | The Experience of… | Also Known As… |
| Waking | Conventional Reality, the Appearance, the shared dream | the world, the universe |
| Sleep-with-Dreams | the individual dream | dreaming |
| Dreamless Sleep | the mind thinking of “no thing” | deep sleep, delta/theta states |
| Fourth State | Infinite Pure Consciousness, Reality | Turiya |
The fourth state is not simply another temporary condition alongside the other three. It is the underlying consciousness present throughout waking, dreaming, and deep sleep—the witnessing reality that is not limited by any single state.
🌀 Questions for Contemplation
Contemplation allows us to feel our way into the deeper questions of spiritual life. It differs from discursive thinking—the step-by-step process through which we gather and organize information. While intellectual understanding has an important role, contemplation activates the intuitive faculties that lead toward insight, understanding, wisdom, and realization.
Allow Mark’s teachings on prana and SoHam to create space for your own deeper knowing. You may wish to journal as you consider the relationship among breath, mantra, the subtle body, and the witnessing awareness within.
Contemplate
- What does it mean to me that the breath is not just a bodily function, but a carrier of consciousness and spiritual identity?
Reflect on the possibility that every inhalation and exhalation carries a message from the Self. - Can I observe the movement of prana—not just in the lungs, but in the subtle body?
Explore the inner texture of breath. Where do you feel it? What does it reveal? - What is the mantra SoHam revealing to me when I follow it with awareness?
Notice how the mantra resonates within meditation. Does listening to SoHam change your experience of identity or the one who is breathing? - Where am I still identified with the outer world of thought and emotion, and how might breath and mantra bring me closer to the witness within?
Consider how breath and mantra might draw attention toward the witness within. What does the movement from personality toward Presence feel like?