Friday, February 26, 2016

CONSTITUENTS OF MATTER IN SUKSHMA SHARIR OR JIVA

CONSTITUENTS OF MATTER IN SUKSHMA SHARIR OR JIVA


Matter consists of four (individual and) cumulative stages 1: Matter (Anna) 2: Life (Prāna) 3: Mind (Manas) and 4: Intelligence (Jnāna). Bliss (Ānanda) is the spirit. These are Kosas – sheaths: The four sheaths, layer upon layer veil the self. Self stands alone when the kosas fall; Self is King and likes his nakedness without all these sticky layers or Kosas. Self is self-supporting and self is Bliss. Self is the light of Purusa's consciousness by which we become aware of the insentient Prakrti (nature) and its gunas (modes).

The AnandaMaya kosa or the Bliss-Body or Pure Consciousness or the Absolute is Self itself, and is a chronicler and a repository of karma of this and past lives. This is the sheath of Consciousness and Bliss (Chinmaya) and made of Nada and Bindu.

Self is the companion of jivatma – the individual self and the Greater Self in the spiritual heart are like the two birds on a tree. The Self by itself is bliss, but man needs realization to find the light that is bliss. Man has four cumulative features but does not reach his inherent potential that is bliss, illumined Consciousness, if he does not strive for it. As you see, matter becomes finer from one stage to the next. Here is an illustration of evolution from the gross to subtle via Food sheath, Vital breath sheath, Mind sheath, Knowledge sheath and eventually to the Bliss sheath. When man strives for and gains perfection, he receives Ananda (Bliss); God according to the Vedas is Sat-Chit-Ananda– Satchidananda– Being, Consciousness, and Bliss. Bliss comes to man in Deep Sleep, when there are no mental Vrittis, modifications or thoughts. It is as if the individual self plugs into the Power Grid of the Universal Self (the origin of the individual self) every night in deep sleep. Without this infusion of nightly bliss, we are zombies.

This temporary life-sustaining nightly Bliss should not be mistaken for the Eternal Bliss that comes with liberation. The first four outer sheaths are matter; Matter and Mind have to come to a standstill for the individual self wrapped in Anandamaya Kosa to enjoy the Bliss of the Universal Self.


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