Sage Patanjali brought awareness of the five koshas – annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya and anandamaya.
Annamaya or physical body is basically matter and it is built with food that is ingested through the mouth. Pranamaya kosha is energy body and is comprised basically of life-force which is inhaled through the nose.
Manomaya kosha is the mental body or mind stuff which is built with impressions and desires, experiences, assessments, opinions and judgements that are created or taken in or created through the five senses.
The vijnanamaya kosha or knowledge (intellect) body comprises knowledge that is already somewhere inside and that which comes through insights and an inner knowing. I believe this is built by allowing the brain to act as receiver which then simply accesses it through subtle connections with the universe of which we are an integral part. This is made possible as one is able to free his being from the pulls, attractions and involvement with the mind-emotion-ego trio.
And, as the knowledge body begins to function well, it facilitates the heart and sahasrara to experience Ananda, joy, ecstasy or bliss which are also ‘layered’ deep inside the being but usually remain inaccessible generally because the system is overloaded by the actions of an overactive mind-emotion-ego trio. In a sense they hijack all the resources of the being and create impressions which act as a cover that restricts or impedes access to those deeper parts of the being that are capable of tuning into the vibrations of Ananda.
When we are more body conscious or in the annamaya kosha, our interests are in surviving and the pleasures of the flesh experienced in the body through food, sex, comfort etc.
When we begin to outgrow body consciousness, our need for physical pleasures, sensations and experiences reduces. Our focus may go to the Pranamaya kosha or the manomaya kosha.
The Pranamaya kosha, in many ways, is the neutral kosha that helps the other koshas work or be activated.
When we focus on the Pranamaya kosha by watching the breath, for example, we begin to lift ourselves from too much body consciousness. Then the rising energy levels can be used to bring the manomaya kosha into action. The problem with manomaya kosha is that it can easily lead to activities that create karmic traps and bondages.
However, if one goes through a period where the stored past karmic energy is allowed to come to the surface, dealt with by observing the effects and thoughts within, then this karmic energy can be released. In a sense, in a relatively short period, much of the karmic energy can be allowed to work itself out of the system. Then, one is free to move on…
Naturally, all these happen somewhat concurrently and simultaneously but depending on where our attention is focused most, that’s where the real ‘action’ is! So, if the focus is on pain brought into our awareness through old memories coming up, that means some conscious work needs to be done there.
While all this goes on, access to the vijnanamaya kosha might be getting stronger and deeper. That will bring many insights, clarity and the inner knowing referred to above.
As insights, clarity and deeper knowing begin to be experienced regularly one’s dependence on activities connected with the annamaya kosha and manomaya kosha reduce substantially.
This is when Pranamaya kosha or the energy system can bring the experience of Ananda more easily, frequently and powerfully into one’s being…
The final step of dissolving into Ananda then remains a matter of time or choice…
– rajyogi (rajesh kanoi)
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