5 SHEATHS OR COVERING --PANCHKOSH

   In the concept of Hindu religion , we have 5 sheaths or coverings that are described . The five are very easy to understand. They are 

1. ANNAMAYA KOSH,

2PRANAMAY KOSH,

3 MANOMAY KOSH

4DNYANAMAY KOSH 

5 ANANDMAY KOSH

The names are self explanatory as to what theses coverings are . Each is inner than the previous or subtler to be more accurate in stating. Translating it in English theses are

   1 FOOD SHEATH

   2. ENERGY SHEATH

   3MAIND SHEATH

   4INTECT SHEATH 

   5BLOSS SHEATH

The food sheath or Annamay Kosh is gross  and seen be seen by everyone, but the other 4 are not seen and are subtle sheaths. The Food sheath or ANNAMAYA Kosh is given that name as the physical body need or is build by food that we eat. It depends upon the  food and so it is called Food sheath or Annamay KOSH. 

   The energy that every living being has is called PRANA in Hindu religion. The life is other way to look at. In Indian languages when we say PRANA has left , we are talking about life has left or someone is dead .(But please do not misunderstand this PRANA for the Consciousness) So it is easy to understand that we call this PRANMAY KOSH or energy sheath .It has 5 different functions and names - so called PRANA, APAN,VYAN,UDAN AND SAMAN. Each has different bodily function and there can be defects in them . The location of theses PRANA is also different. When someone dies, each Prana leaves the body at different times - not all of them leave at the same time . One may have observed that the facial hair and nails grow for few days even after the so called physical body and that is due to the VYAN leaving at 14 days. Just a note - PRANA leaves in 48 to 64 minutes- less than an hour, APAN leaves in 8 to 18 hours , UDAN leaves in 6-12 hours , SAMAN leaves body in 20 minutes. 

     The MANOMAYA KOSH or the MIND sheath is the next one and is more subtle and one cannot see it but knows about it. We all now the mind  and that is is part of the PRAKRUTI or the Nature. It is to some extent controlled by Intellect or BUDHHI .

    The DNYANAMAY KOSH or Intellect is inner to Mind  and it is not affected by emotions . The emotions affect Mind but the Intellect being superior to that is not affected  and in a way it is due to the experience that we have had. Learning is  a form of experience. My old example is when we go t a supermarket and see cookies, we do not grab and eat as we are told by our previous experience - The Intellect, that we must pay first and then eat it . The child who has not had that experience , will grab and eat . So the mind wants to eat and Intellect tells the Mind to wait till we have paid for it. 

   The inner to that or subtle to that is the BLOSS or ANANDMAY KOSH. This is the bliss beyond the Mind -Intellect and so it is called ANANDMAY KOSH.

3 GUNAS

   The Vaidic religion, we have a concept of 3 Gunas or to call them in English QUALITIES. But that word does not justify or clarify exact meaning of what is meant by GUNA. When we talk about sugar being sweet, we say that it is the quality of sugar. Same with salt being salty. Ice is cold and so on. That quality is not what we refer to when we call GUNA in Vaidic religion. When we do any action, that is motivated by one of the 2 Gunas. So, we have 3 Gunas namely SATWIC , RAJASIC and TAMASIC .To explain the 3 Gunas, we can say that the Satwic Guna is PURE or Goodness of heart or selfless action. Satwic Guna when predominant, we do GOOD actions mostly without expecting any reward , but not always. The Rajasic is ACTIVATING , we do action with some expectation and we have Rajasic Guna guiding our action. And the last one Tamasic Gina is laziness or inactivity or even bad activity.

   How did this come in existence? In our religion there is no beginning or end of the Universe and there are more than one universe. So at the end of the universe everything goes in to Singularity. All the living things go dormant - but in one singularity. The 3 Gunas and everything else -5 Mahabhutas are all in dormant status and 3 Gunas are in balance. Then when a new universe is to start or the universe starts when there is a DISTURBANCE or what we call GUNASHOBINI . The imbalance leads to origin of the universe. The imbalance leads to rise of self awareness or AHANKAR and then the 5 great elements or Panchamahabhutas. 

    We all have 3 Gunas and the preponderance of one of them makes us what we are and what action we take. We have 4 classes or VARNA. The idea behind was that whatever Guna is prominent, that determines out life our likes and dislikes and our occupation. But then it the society made it on which family we are born and not on our own ATRIBUTES. The dominance of Satwic Guna and some Rajasic and very little Tamasic would lead to actions like teaching , priest, doctors etc or so called Brahmin. The dominance of Rajasic and some Satwic and little Tamasic would lead to Warriors or Kshatriya . The dominance of Rajasic and Tamasic and little of Satwic would lead to is called Vaishya or businessman. Lastly dominance of Tamasic and very little of Satwic and Rajasic leads to Shudra. 

  We all do actions and we cannot stop doing action and that leads to impression and or SAUNSKAR  and that leads to desire and then again action . This cycle leads to rebirth. We all have actions that we do motivated by one of the 3 Gunas and we all are Satiwic or Rajasic or Tamasic at one or different times . When we party  and indulge, we are Tamasic . When we  help others or donate money we are Satwic and some Rajasic  and so on. The same action may be due to different Gunas. Suppose one does Prayer to get something - it could be due to any of the 3 Gunas . If the reason for the prayer is to be one with God and have His love , then that is Satwic prayer , If the aim of the prayer is to Get something - new Job -money - house or car etc. -then then the Prayer is Rajasic and if the aim of the prayer is to have ill fate come to someone - disease - loss of life or money etc. then the prayer is Tamasic So now you know that we can be Brahman- Kshatriya - Vaishya or Shudra at different times. More on Guna next time.

THREE SHAKTIS OR 3 POWERS

    In many places there is mention of 3 SHAKITIS or 3 Powers or energies .In Ganapati Atharbshirsh, there s statement that HE is the 3 SHATIS. So what are these 3 powers or Shakts ? The answer is kind of mix . There many things which are in threes - there are 3 things together. So some of the three things are mentioned here..

 The universe  has beginning and is maintained and then is dissolved . So what starts from Singularity is vast and continues to expand  and is sustained and then dissolved or becomes singularity All these 3 things need ENERGY . The Big Bang did not happen without energy  and same holds true for sustaining the universe which continues to expand - needs energy and that expanded universe biomes again singularity also needs energy. The GOD is that 3 ENERGIES. 

  As human being or any live thing in this universe has 3 POWERS. We have Physical Energy or power and we have Mental power and we also have Intellectual power . So at the Macro level we have powers for the Universe  and at Microcosm or at individual level again we have 3 Powers Everyone has these 3 powers and one may have more of less of these but we all have it. Again he is the cause of theses powers. 

  To do anything we need DESIRE. Just desire is not enough as we may have desire to make million dollars, But then we need KNOWLEDGE - how to make money  and that is second power which is the power of the Knowledge . Lastly we need to have LIFE or in Hindu it is called CHETANA -Awareness ,which is also a Power . So we have again 3 powers 

    There are many things which are in 3 - PAST - PRESENT AND FUTURE as the part of Time. 3 Universes CAUSAL -(KARAN),ASTRAL OR SUBTLE(SUKKSHM ) AND PHYSICAL (STHULA). 

   

THE CHAKRAS

     In Hindu religion there are these CHAKRAS and they are know even in western societies too. The comcept is that these may be the origin of nerve pleuzes . Thesre are not necessarily seen on disection of physical body , but they are  mentioned and there is significance of them for the mediatation . 

   One concept is that there is coiled up energy - called KUNDALINI and when one does the mediatation the Kundalini rises and then it goes up the Astral sine and then when it comes to the top CHAKRA then one has achieved the success in getting the SAMADHI. 

  They are also considered to represent 5 PANDAVAS and DRAUPADI . The Draupadi is the energy or the Kundallini and it meets each of the Pandeva , each one is related to 5 Chakras and also 5 Mahabhuta. So this is important concept to understand  So let me state them with their names and characters etc.

  The lowest of them is called MULADHAR CHAKRA . It is located at the coccyx area. The controller of the Chakra is is Lord Ganesh. And may be for that reason we worship Lord Ganesh every time we start any Pooja or worship. It has 4 petals. When it is successfully stimulated one remembers impressions from previous life. 

   The next one is called SWADHISTAN CHAKRA . It is located between genitals and anus. It has 6 petals It has relation with Rajasic Guna and the the controller of this Chakra is BRAHMADEO. When one gets control over this one he has prefect celibacy.

  The next one is MANIPOOR CHAKRA. It is near belly button or umbilicus. Lord Vishnu is the controller and it has 10 petals. When one gets mastery over this Chakra, Satvic Guna is promoted . 

   The next one is ANAHAT CHAKRA. It is located at the heart and has 12 petals. The  controller is RUDRA which destroys the universe when needed and Tamasic Guna is the main Guna. Having control on this Chakra leads to improved heart function, circulation and also body stays fresh and young . 

    The next one is VISHUDHA CHAKRA . It is located at top of the skull -and it has 16 petals  and controller is JIVATMA -Life force. When one has mastery over this Chakra, he realizes that we are not limited by Physical Body.

    The next one is ADNYA CHAKRA. This is located on fore head or may be the spiritual eye .It has 2 petals. The Supreme Consciousness - PARAMATMA is the controller. Control on this one leads to feeling that Paramatma is in charge and not Jivatma. 

   The next one is SAHASTRAR CHAKRA This is located in the brain It has 1000 petals or may be thousands of petals. As one knows we have several neuronal connections - literally thousands of them  and that is also why the Guru or the enlightened spiritual teacher when touches the head , we get blessed and achieve success in the SAMADHI. 

  MULADHAR CHAKRA -COCCYX-4 PETALS -GANAPATI 

SWADHISTAN CHAKRA-BETWEEN ANUS AND GENITAL -6 PETALS -BRAHMA 

(COULD BE CONSIDERED AT SACRAL AREAAND RELATED TO RAJASIC GUNA)

MANIPOOR CHAKRA- UMBILICAL AREA-10 PETALS- VISHNU)

(COULD BE CONSIDERED AT LUMBAR AREA -RELATED TO SATVIK GUNA)

ANAHAT CHAKRA -HEART-12 PETALS-RUDRA 

(COULD BE CONSIDERED AT THORACIC SPINE AND RELATED TO TAMASIC GUNA)

VISHUDHHA CHAKRA - TOP OF HEAD -SKULL- 12 PETALS -JIVATMA.-LIFE FORCE.

( MAY BE CONSIDERED AT CERVICAL SPINE AREA )

ADNYA CHAKRA -FORE HEAD - SPIRITUAL EYE - 2 PETALS - PARATMA 

SAHASRHAR CHAKRA -BRAIN-1000 PETALS -RELATED TO SAMADHI .

3 STAGE OF LIFE -AVASTHA

      In Hindu religion we have detail description of many things . In Gnapati ATHARVASHIRSH,it is stated that the Lord Ganesh is beyond 3 AVASTHA .So I want to state whar are these states of mind - body etc or what are theses AVASTHA.We all know them , but I was surprised that Hindu religion knew about them when sleep studies as we know were not done .We all know the JAGRUT state or AWAKE state. We are awake 16 to 18 hours a day . We are aware of the surroundings. This is the JAGRUT state . The second is SLEEP . But the sleep in modern day medicine is divided in to REM sleep and NON REM sleep. So In REM sleep  we have dreams  and tat state is considered as active state as we have fluctuation in heart rate and blood pressure  and some time irregular respirations. The Non REM sleep is divided in to 3 stages. Stage 1 sleep is very light sleep - we are falling asleep  and then stage 2 is little deeper  and in stage 3 or also called Slow Wave sleep we HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF OUR SURROUNDINGS  and it is deepest sleep . The arousal threshold is very high in slow wave sleep .So in Hindu concept we have taken this in account thousands of years ago . They must have know the stages of sleep . So the second stage or Avastha is sleep and third is DREAM state . So the 3 stages of existence are Being AWAKE - called JAGRUT , in deep sleep called SUSHUPTI  and the dream state is called SVAPNA . 

   In the Awake state the Mind , Intellect and Physical body all are active and aware of the surrounding. But in the sleep we are in bed and the physical body is not active. The stages of the sleep as described above , we have mind and intellect ACTIVE in state of dream The dreams are related to what our Mind and Intellect decide . We dream from our memories and our experiences  and we do see ourselves physically but our PHYSICAL BODY is NOT ACTIVE . That is the difference between the Awake  and Active sleep is concerned. In the DEEP sleep -the SLOW WAVE SLEEP of modern day medicine we have no dreams and out Mind Nd Intellect are NOT ACTIVE  and certainly the Physical body is not active . So we are not aware of ANYTHING . But we do know that we had SOUND SLEEP . This is the CONSCIOUSNESS which is the Witness or SAKHSHI for everything -even when mind is not active.

    But the Hindu religion does not stop at these 3 states. We have one more stat - THE 4TH ONE called TURYA - Turya means 4th .This is the one where we are not aware of anything and we are one with ALL PERVADING CONSCIOUSNESS. There is no awareness of Physical Body, Mind , Intellect or Ego . We are one with the Lord .  

10 INDRIYAS OR ORGANS

     In Hinduism, there are 5 Organs of ACTION  and 5 Organs of  PERCEPTION and that brings to 10 INDRIYAS or organs. All of us know that but there are some interesting parts . Th DNYNEDRIYAS - organs of getting DNYAN or perception are call so as we have the Knowledge of the surroundings. DNYAN means knowledge. Indriy is organ. So we have 5 of them ,namely Eyes to see, Ears to hear sound ,Skin to perceive touch , Tongue to taste and Nose to smell. The mystery is how do we see forms and shape when we see. When light enters through the eyes and then hits retina  and then the impulse is carried through optic nerve  to the part of the brain called occipital lobe , we have some chemical changes and we see. But the question remains as to how do we see different things even when  the  same retina and optic nerve  and same brain cells in the same area of the brain are stimulated . Why do we see different things What transforms the stimulation of same cells to different images? The same thing can be said about the sound wave hitting the ear drum  and then carried to same center of the brain and still we differentiate between a melodious song and harsh words. So, we have these organs of perception but there is something beyond the physical elements that is perceiving. As mentioned before , these 5 organs are formed from 5 Panchmahabhutas - 5 Great elements with a process called Pnchikaran. Nothing is 100 %  and so we have one main Mahabhuta  and half of that plus 1/8 th of remaining 4 will lead to final product, As mentioned the Space or Akash or Space goes in forming Ear or sense of hearing , Vayu or Air / gas goes in forming Skin or sense of touch, Tej - or  fire / energy goes in formation of Eyes, AAP or water /liquids goes in formation of sense of taste and lastly Element of Earth / solids goes in formation of sense of smell.  There are five qualities and in succession each one acquires property of previous one and gets a new one , So the Element Earth has all five qualities. We cannot see space or Air  and the Fire is first one that can be seen and so may be that is why we have so much importance to Fire. 

    If one compares this to the concept of Big Bang theory, we find similarity. The when Big Bang occurred , in an fraction of time , expansion of the universe occurred - SPACE was created . Then the hydrogen and helium were formed and universe was in Gaseous state . Then the hydrogen helium furnace  or energy was formed - Fire . then the elements were formed and there was water or liquid state  and then when it cooled the solid state of Earth was formed. 

AKASH OR SPACE OR BRAHMAN

    In the last blog I talked about 5 great Elements or PANCHMAHABHUTE  and how each one has qualities of the previous one . AKASH-VAYU-TEJ-AAP-PRUTHVI meaning SPACE -GASES OR WIND --ENERGY OR FIRE -WATER OR LIQUID STATE-EARTH OR SOLID STATE. Each of these is having qualities that can be perceived by 5 sense organs as explained before . But today we are talking about the AKASH or space . Since Newton to Einstein we have had debate about this. Is space inert and things happen in it - the space being he stage or he back drop on which the things are happening. And the space is independent and is not affected by  things that are happening -this was the view of Newton  and then Einstein came and changed it to SPACE -TIME unit and one is affected by other and is not independent entity. I am  not talking about it. But I am trying to state that the BRAHMAN in Hindu religion  is represented by something like SPACE. The Brahmana is not affected by the activities or changing nature. The example is that of a movie screen and the movie. If i walk in a movie theater when the movie is already started , I will not see the screen and all that I will see is the movie characters  and things that are projected by the theater.  Yoganand and Sarvpriyanand and many others have taken this example to explain the Maya and The brahman . If person who has never seen a movie, walks in and he is seeing the pictures displayed on the screen and you tell him that there is a  screen and the pictures or the movie is played on it ,he may not understand .Only way you can see the screen , is by shutting off the movie  and then the screen is seen easily. This can be compared to our life . The Movie of our life is going on and the screen is the BRAHAMAN. But we cannot see it till we shut off our mind  and close all the senses and then we can see the Brahman or may be perceive it .This is what happens in Samadhi or meditation. Once we come out of the meditation or Samadhi, we do see the Movie or the pictures of the daily Life , but we now know that the REAL thing is not that but the Brahman 

   The AKASH is related to SOUND or SHABD , The first word or sound is OMM. From that everything originates And so that is related to sense organ of hearing Ear .