There are universal themes of expanding and contracting across every facet of human existence. Even the very essence of our human form can be condensed into the simple act of breathing. Prana, the universal life force, the energy that accompanies breath is one that we cannot exist for mere minutes without. As our lungs expand, we absorb the vitality in the air around us, we fill until we are comfortable, until we can sit with the moment in front of us without restlessness. And as we empty, we release the stale memories of the moment that has now passed and cleanse ourselves as we prepare for the next.
There is a word in tantric philosophy, “spanda” which touches on a very specific energy that we can tap into if we open ourselves up. The definition may take a few reads to fully absorb:
Spanda: The original, primordial subtle vibration that arises from the dynamic interplay of the passive and the creative polarizations of the Absolute, and that by unfolding itself into the energetic process of differentiation bringing forth the whole of creation.
If anything, it can sometimes be too easy to dissolve into this interplay. I don’t believe that we are divine beings, or that when we die, there will be a God or a god that looks just like us waiting at Heaven’s gates to welcome us into eternity. I don’t believe in fate or angels or ghosts or most anything that has only been passed down through stories. But to deny this energy, spanda, almost seems silly. When you look past the jargon and mysticism, spanda is what turns ideas and imagination into reality. It is the energy that wove itself into our dna when we became the species that could not only look at the moon, but create machines to take us there.
It can be easy to allow nihilism to dispel our appreciation for the wondrous universe around us. Once we think “this is it,” ‘it’ can feel full of disappointments. But regardless of if a god put this all in motion, we are individual creatures that can change the world around us, that alone should feel like pure magic. For better or worse, we have risen from the primordial soup that we once evolved from and we have built a world to match our favor. We wake every morning with the opportunity to put spanda into action in our personal lives. We can allow feelings of meaninglessness to sink us down until our feet are stuck in the mud, unable to enjoy the life force that is running currents through our veins, or we can let it energize us. We are conscious beings, whether we like it or not. We are gods without the immortality. And that divine energy, that enveloping strength and power, that expansion and contraction, the cosmic heaving that has lifted us to this point, it sure would be a shame to waste.
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