Pranahuti or transmission is the most unique feature of the system of Rajayoga of Sri Ram Chandra. This is supposed to sufficiently make the task of the aspirant easier. The Master says that without the help of pranahuti it will be difficult, if not impossible, to reach higher stages of sadhana. Stated very simply, it is an act of will on the part of a person to improve the spiritual condition of another. Everyone in his sadhana tries to improve his condition from the grosser level to the subtle level. Pranahuti is an act of will of another person to improve the condition of another.

This leads us to the question whether this is not similar to hypnotism or mesmerism. Rev. Babuji puts this question himself while explaining the system. He stated that after transmission one feels calm and collected while after hypnotism people feel heavy and dull. He also has stated that hypnotism is materialistic in nature compared to the spiritual nature of Pranahuti. It may be clarified that the purpose of the process of hypnotism is essentially trying to help in ascertaining causes hidden in the deep core of consciousness and assist in the curative processes. It is definitely not oriented towards the Realisation of self as such. It has its goal in the materialistic sphere. Pranahuti is essentially a spiritual tool for spiritual purposes.

In the traditional yoga processes the most important thing is control of prana. The chitta vrittis or thought process is sought to be controlled by Pranayama. As a matter of fact anything to be achieved is to be achieved only through pranayama. Without regulation of thought nothing is possible and that is sought to be achieved through pranayama. Though it is clearly understood in traditional yoga that prana is not equivalent to breath, no other way was it sought to be manipulated than exercises of breath control. Breath control has become synonymous with pranayama. Puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka i.e. inhalation, retention and exhalation done in a particular proportion of time (usually 4-8-4) is all that pranayama was about. Once kumbhaka is achieved with certain amount of perfection the sadhaka has to apply the force at the 'muladhara' to rouse kundalini so as to enable it move upwards to sahasrara which is the goal. The difficulties in this path are represented better in many books and most of the sadhakas fail to move further in the path for various reasons.

Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj does not advocate the control of breath. He strikes at the root and says prana is not breath but is the life energy which is essentially of the nature of consciousness. The kingly thing in man is thought and that is the prana in human context and this shall be used to reach the goal. The nature of the ultimate is consciousness and is essentially thought substance. Hence he advocates control of mind through the assistance taken from the ultimate psychic energy. It is thought that is common between Man and the Ultimate. This characteristic of man is what distinguishes him from all other forms of divine expression. Rev. Babuji states that the real meaning of the expression that "man is made in the image of God" is this commonality between the two. However, this was meant to mean that God is of the nature of Man and therefore we have granted Him limbs and form and tried to visualize Him in our own form and granted Him name. Not content with one type of form and structure we have granted Him all possible forms and structure. We have projected ourselves with our own ideas, so many images have come, so many idols were made and we are worshiping them, but the truth is 'thought' is the onething that is common between Him and us.

If that is so why is it that we are pestered with so many thoughts, which distract and disturb us whenever we try to remain in a contemplative mood or sit for meditation? Prana is always in a state of balance and equanimity whenever it is dwelling on the thoughts of the Origin or Base or Ultimate. When it by peculiar circumstances gets attached to anything other than the Origin it tries to wriggle itself of the clutches of such grosser matter. This is the beginning of awareness of thoughts or consciousness. This is the most profound theory of Sri Ram Chandraji. The awareness of thoughts is due to their rejection by mind, is a singular contribution of the Master to the field of psychology.

This has enormous influence in the method suggested by him for meditation. Meditation can be done on anything and one can obtain such results as may come. But if one wants the best results the nature of the thought for meditation should be such that it is in consonance with the nature of mind itself. Based on this logic the Master has suggested that we should meditate on the Divine light in the heart not bothering about the nature of light or luminosity. Once this thought is accepted as fit for meditation, getting into a state of absorption becomes easy. It may be noted that any other thought is likely to be thrown out or rejected by the mind including the thoughts of Masters and their actions etc. The thought of Divine light gets absorbed in the mind because that is approximately near to the original thought. In this context it is necessary to distinguish between meditation and concentration.

Meditation done on the above lines will lead to steadiness over a period of time and practice. However, the Master has graciously brought in another feature i.e. Pranahuti. Now that is clear that Prana means thought force and psychic in nature, the Master makes it possible for the individual sadhaka to be assisted by the influx of this force into him by a devotee of the Divine. That is, the Prana is being offered (ahuti) by a person for the improvement of the condition of the aspirant. The questions that arise are: 1. Whether such a help is necessary? 2. Is such extraneous influence justified? 3. Whether it works at all?

It is the practical experience of those who tried to meditate that mind seems to be without control and it leads from one set of thoughts to another and the control of mind has always been felt as very difficult. Therefore, we may safely say such help is necessary. However, in the process we should not lose our freedom. Control of mind is essentially sought for as a means of liberation from the bondages one has. The process of medication should naturally not lead to another bondage. So the Pranahuti that we are to have should have no strings attached to it. That we should not be bound by that and the help we get should be such as to be a force of liberation and a force that leads us to fuller realisation of our potentials. If that is assured then the help is most welcome.

That each one of us is an expression of the Divine and have our own parts to play and destinies to realise is well known. Our relationship with the Divine is unique and is not shared by any other. This is a one to one relationship with the Divine that we have. We have our own past karmas that are being enjoyed and it is unalterable. How can any person infer here and change our destinies? Granting that some other person has such capacity, is it moral? These are all the questions one has to address himself to and arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

Usually a person thinks about himself, his problems etc. All his actions are generally motivated by some selfish considerations. It is only when his consciousness grows beyond his self, the questions and problems of others gains importance in his consciousness. Therefore, when the task of pranahuti is considered, it is essential that the person who offers pranahuti is above the normal level of consciousness and one who is capable of considering doing good to another without any consideration of self interest. The normal individual who lives in the level of Pinda is not capable of this ahuti. It is necessary that he is of higher level, atleast a person who has access to the Brahmanda consciousness. Then he is not confined himself to his body and the structure has no capacity to confine or limit him. His consciousness expands to cover a vaster sphere which includes others also. He is capable of percolating his consciousness through others for the benefit of others. When such a consciousness develops, ahuti is no more interference with others and is essentially to be considered as betterment of the state of consciousness prevailing. Therefore, the question of interference is not there. As a matter of fact this is the most desirable thing that should happen. If the number of persons who are capable of such ahuti increase the possibility of having a better world of harmonious human beings comes true.

The role of an extraneous person in sadhana then becomes one soul trying to uplift another as a fraternal obligation and duty towards the Divine. In as much as such a service cannot be selfish, the concept of extraneity does not fit into this scheme of things. For one who sees everything as his own, who is the self and who is the other? Further, it is to be understood clearly that the extraneous help received is like a fulcrum which is used as a support to perform a difficult task. The role of the supporter is to give sufficient base for the person to attend to an uphill task. Or we may treat the assistance as that of a catalyst.

Whether, in reality such a possibility exists or that really pranahuti happens is a matter to be experienced rather than debated upon.

Now that it is clear that the nature of thought in the human is of the same type as that existed at the time of origin of the Universe and that it is the Prana and that its offering is a must for the spiritual equanimity in life which is and should be the goal of any existence, how it is to be offered is taken up by the Great Master, Rev. Babuji Maharaj.

It is stated that the moment the Form of the Master becomes manifest in the mind, one's mind receives the power to transfer its thought to another's mind. When such a transfer of thought relates to the spiritual development of the aspirant it becomes the offering of Prana (essence of existence). In reality this capacity can be said to be really had only when the Form of the Lord manifests in the heart, such being a rare case Revered Lalaji Maharaj discovered alternative means for utilising this inherent capacity in humans. Rev. Babuji Maharaj asserts that the power or capacity to offer Pranahuti is a yogic attainment of a very high order through which a yogi can infuse by his own will force the yogic energy of Godly effulgence within anyone and remove anything unwanted in him or detrimental to spiritual sadhana.

The point to note here would be that it is the Godly effulgence that has to be utilised as yogic energy. This implies that the person should be in the realm of God. Such a person is a rarity. Therefore, atleast a person who has transcended the realm of physical existence was considered by him as fit for this type of work provided that such a person is trained. Therefore, the insistence that a person should be atleast having access to Brahmanda for being an arhat for Pranahuti is spelt by him. Anything less than this standard is not workable in usual course of events. (However, the fact remains that during the life time of the Great Master, Rev. Babuji Maharaj, he did permit even less developed souls for work but it was something of an exception and directly under His supervision). Access to Brahmanda can be considered to be adequate because the realm of God starts from Ajna. Further the Great Master enabled the proposed trainers to have access upto His level in an indirect way and prepared them to work their way through to the actual condition of reality. The system of Rajayoga of Rev. Babuji while stressing the need for the sadhaka doing his sadhana, enables speedier progress by serving the sadhaka in a very positive and meaningful manner. Through Pranahuti, i.e. offering of thought (through suggestions etc), the trainer completes the spiritual journey of the sadhaka to the required extent in an indirect manner. (What Rev. Babuji calls Aksi way). It shall be the responsibility of the sadhakas to own up the progress given by the Master, through necessary sadhana. So, Pranahuti does not mean that the yogic sadhana of the Abhyasi is replaced by it but only that the sadhaka is assisted. The assistance that is being rendered by the trainer is of course directly proportional to his approach. Rev. Babuji states categorically that "This (Pranahuti) can be best introduced by those who have imbibed the real characteristic within their own centres; who know how to draw in power and piety from the higher centres to the lower ones, and can transmit the effect into the abhyasi so that they may adopt the same character". Yet Rev. Babuji says that if the layavastha with the Master is total, one can help even beyond his level of approach, in as much as the suggestion has access upto the highest level in such cases. This should not be confused to be an easy matter in as much layavastha with the Master is not all that easy and is not something that is accomplished by just wishing for it. It may not be out of place here to mention the difference between wish and will. Wishes, however, pious, do not generally yield good results. Will is a concrete idea that is acted upon within a certain spatiotemporal frame. It is the will that is executed into an action through suggestions in a subtle or subtler or subtlest way.

The main difference between pranahuti and hypnotism is the aspirant is never put into a morbid passive condition before giving suggestions. The suggestions are not at verbal level at all and are given from the original thought level itself. While it is a prerequisite to put a person in passive receptive condition to hypnotize him and then give suggestions for his alleged improvement; in pranahuti the trainer does not make any such effort and works with the full confidence that there is no barrier between him and the aspirant and the existence is one only and works out his suggestions for the inner development of the sadhaka. This is no extraneous interference with the will of the aspirant but it is one aimed at improving the quality of mental life of the sadhaka and increasing his will power. It is not subjecting one to another's will but is aimed at improving the will of another through one's own.

That prana is of the nature of pure thought and that is what makes human beings important in the scheme of Divinity in as much as he shares the nature of original stir in a way that no other being, animal or devas etc., is capable of is now fairly established. That human life has been regarded as most fortunate is no new concept for any religion but the main reason why it is so, is what is established by Rev. Babuji.

The main point that strikes us is that while the ancient system of Yoga laid much stress on the pranayama as an effective tool to bring the mind under control, Raja Yoga of Sri Ram Chandra stresses the need for Pranahuti for diversion of the mental tendencies from the state of preoccupiedness with the base and animal needs and wants and desires, to the divine levels of consciousness that humanity is capable of. That such a thing is possible, is what the practicants of this system have to say. Evidence so far available seems to justify this claim and the Great Master assures that this is the method that will be followed by all soon.