what is prana in the NEW system?

[alwayson4]

What is the equivalent of prana in the NEW system, if there is one?

If not, what the heck is prana?

[CFTraveler]

prana=life energy. Also energy, chi, ki, qi.... etc.
prana is sanskrit, chi, ki and qi are different ways of spelling the same thing, probably in variants of chinese. I'm not sure if Japanese uses the same term, though.
I think Robert simply calls it energy, sometimes 'etheric energy' but I'm not sure if I remember correctly.

[ButterflyWoman]

prana=life energy. Also energy, chi, ki, qi.... etc.

The Hebrew is chava, generally translated as Eve (the literal meaning is usually given as "life"). Greek is zoe, also frequently translated as "life", but it very specifically refers to "life energy" or the energy/force/whatever that is present in all living things.

Just FYI.

[alwayson4]

then what is apana?

[ButterflyWoman]

then what is apana?

The Australian Public Access Network Association.

Somehow I think you were actually referring to this, though:

Practitioners of yoga, especially within Hinduism, believe that vital currents are generated by the human body, and that these currents control all biological processes. The generic term for these currents is Prana, and they are categorised under the following five (functional) divisions :

1. Prana : Responsible for the beating of the heart and breathing. Prana enters the body through the breath and is sent to every cell through the circulatory system.
2. Apana : Responsible for the elimination of waste products from the body through the lungs and excretory systems.
3. Udana : Responsible for producing sounds through the vocal apparatus, as in speaking, singing, laughing, and crying. Also it represents the conscious energy required to produce the vocal sounds corresponding to the intent of the being. Hence Samyama on udana gives the higher centers total control over the body.
4. Samana : Responsible for the digestion of food and cell metabolism (ie. the repair and manufacture of new cells and growth). Samana also includes the heat regulating processes of the body. Auras are projections of this current. By meditational practices one can see auras of light around every being. Yogis who do special practise on samana can produce a blazing aura at will.
5. Vyana : Responsible for the expansion and contraction processes of the body, eg. the voluntary muscular system.

Source : Adapted from Rammurti S. Mishra Yoga Sutras : The Textbook of Yoga Psychology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vital_currents

[Korpo]

The Chinese call of these Qi. Ki, BTW, is the Japanese term, as for example in Aikido (a martial arts with energetic aspects) or Reiki.

Though to my knowledge the Chinese would not necessarily agree of the associations between the energies as given above. For example, Post-Birth Qi is associated with food and water, stuff we take in every day and convert into usable energy, associated with the Middle Tantien, fire and heat. Pre-Birth Qi is associated with what we are born with, which is possibly our hormonal configuration and metabolism and its energies, associated with the Lower Tantien, water and cool.

All these things are energies, and whether you look at them from the perspective of what organs they influence, which qualities they have, what emotions they can produce (for example through Five Element Theory), they are just an expression of the same energy.

Oliver