Revisiting Koshas - from a Healing Perspective🔗

The allopathic system of medicine is related to the annamaya kosha, the physical layer. For all problems related to annamaya kosha, allopathic medicine is the best curative. Allopathic treatment plays an amazing role in all sorts of problems related to annamaya kosha. Injuries caused in accidents occur in the annamaya kosha. Intensive care, emergency care, etc are available in the treatment of annamaya kosha. It is only allopathic remedies, which are useful for treating fractures and other injuries related to accidents.

The trouble starts when the layers beneath the annamaya kosha need to be treated. After trials and errors with various medicines, people realised that close to 90% of illnesses were psychosomatic in nature and it came to be accepted that allopathic medicine was not very effective for it.

Today, research on mind-body medicine is happening at a very fast pace in the world of medicine. People have begun to explore the deeper, subtle layers that are inside the physical body. Research is being conducted on the manomaya kosha, looking deep inside the physical body, the annamaya kosha.

The physical body, which we think as solid, is not solid at all. It is like this: The Cosmic energy is all-pervading. The various living forms, such as trees, animals and the human body, are actually different forms of the same energy.

How is it that this cosmic energy is available in various forms, yet remains one?

Let us understand this with an example.

Suppose you have a picture of a wave that is six to twelve feet high. Is this wave a truth? No! It had just risen, when the picture was taken. The next second, it would have fallen. But how huge it looked when it was at its peak! But the very next second, the same wave ceased to exist. Only in the picture, the wave seems like an independent object. Apart from the photograph, the wave would be part of a continuous motion.

Similarly, we see various objects only through the mind. We are able to see objects independently only due to the presence of our mind. If we did not have the mind, we would not be able to realise the boundary between our own body and that of a chair that is present in front of us. Everything would be seen as a whole.

People who have slipped into deep meditation say that suddenly they feel they have totally lost their self. This is because the mind becomes still. This is the case of man going beyond the mind. This is the experience when you go beyond the manonmaya kosha.

One more thing: Allopathy can cure the problems that affect the outer most layer of the human body. A person has to go for allopathic remedy to fix a broken bone. However, after it has been plastered, for the actual healing to happen, the energy play has to be addressed, nurtured.

There is a popular quote amongst the doctors: 'Doctor Stitches, God Heals!'

What is God?

God is the all pervading, pure form of energy. God is neither an individual nor a character as we think. If we are able to connect to this pure form of energy, then we can maintain eternal youth. The energy called God is available aplenty in every single layer of our body. However, it gets filtered as it passes through each of the layers.

The divine energy is over flowing in the deepest kosha, which is the a*nandamaya kosha*. It is reduced in the v*ignanamaya kosha* and gets lesser and lesser as it comes towards the outer layer.

The medical system suitable for Annamaya Kosha is Allopathy.

The medical system suitable for Pranamaya Kosha is Yogasana and Pranayama.

The medical system suitable for Manonmaya Kosha is Homoeopathy.

The medical system suitable for Vignanyamaya Kosha is nature cure and Ayurveda.

The medical system suitable for Anandamaya Kosha is Energy Healing like our Nithyananda Spiritual Healing.

Only the healing touch of the Master or the healing energy passed through divine meditation, can heal the problems related to anandamaya kosha.

The Physical Layer – How You Create It

So, please sit up with your spine straight in line with your neck and head. We will start the process on the first layer. Let us now work on the first layer that is the annamaya kosha. The layer that is the physical layer - the body which you are carrying now, the body made of flesh and bones and blood.

Annamaya kosha is the material part of Creation. Whether it is a tree or a rock or man, all these have the annamaya kosha in addition to having different degrees of consciousness. This kosha is the gross manifestation of energy as matter, in different proportions and strengths. It is the first layer of skin, muscle tissue, bones, and organs. It is called the gross body, the tangible part of yourself that you can mostly see, touch, and feel.

You have actually created this body of yours out of so many engrams, or samskaras, or engraved memories, belonging to past lives. The base material out of which you created this body is your engraved memories or samskaras. Engraved memory means the memory out of which you do all the actions, including your thinking. The engraved memories or samskaras are the base material out of which you have created this body. If you ask me whether I believe in a person having many births, I don't just believe, I know it is the truth. You go through many births. The samskaras which you collect in the many different births - out of that you create your body for this birth.

Two things you need to understand: all samskaras or engrams will have a certain power, a certain energy in them. There will be an energy and a certain love or hatred attached to it. Let me describe this engram concept very clearly so that you will understand what I am trying to convey. Let us take some engram: for example the engram to have a cup of coffee as soon as you get up in the morning. When you get up in the morning, you will have that energy to get up, go to the kitchen, pick up the coffee and drink. The picture of coffee and the experience of coffee - both these put together is what is called samskara. Now, we are trying to remove the picture and give the energy alone to you. If you remove the engraved memory completely, you will loose both the energy and the picture. But when you work on the annamaya kosha, the memory's energy will be there, but the pictures will disappear! The vasanas will be removed but the shakti or the power of the samskara will stay with you. Vasana refers to the object that created the samskara in the first place. It is like the seed. Shakti is the power of the samskara. Removing vasana but not the power of the samskara, is called Self-actualization. Understand: Self-realization can be achieved in two ways: by completely removing the samskara and the energy. This is the path of renunciation; or, by having the energy but not the vasana. This is the path of self-actualization.

Now, by working on the anandamaya kosha, you will be having the power but not the pictures.

Evolution of Man – Western Versus Vedic Theories The Vedic way of putting the theory of evolution is the most beautiful way. Understand: Charles Darwin missed an important point in the theory of evolution. If Darwin had caught a little bit of the energy of enlightenment, the whole history of the West might have been different! He took the monkey as the father figure; there lies the problem! The Vedic tradition says, man came down from God! Darwin says, man came down from the monkey! The throne is given to God in one tradition and to the monkey in another tradition. Whoever you put on the throne - you will remember and live like. That is why Darwin missed the game. He did not catch the exact thread.

Again, Sigmund Freud, after 40 years of research, concluded that human beings, as such, can't be helped or healed! After 40 years of research, he said this. The problem is, he did not get a single enlightened specimen to work with! He worked only with patients, with sick people, who had not experienced the flowering of enlightenment and hence the totality of being a human. So, he was led to conclude that that was the normal state. He concluded that man, as such, was sick, and hence can never be helped or healed!

A follower of Sigmund Freud went to Tiruvannamalai, a spiritual nerve center in South Bharat, and my native place. He was afraid to meet Ramana Maharishi and so came away without meeting him. He writes, 'I was afraid I would be lost in His presence. I have done too much research, and I have too much investment in my beliefs. All my beliefs might disappear if I meet Him and sit in His presence.' Just see his mind game! It clearly shows that he was not a true scientist! He was just a marketing person; one who sells himself, not one who works for the truth. Understand: if you are a scientist, and you sign an agreement with a company, you are completely bound. The moment you sign an agreement, you give up your freedom to research the real truth. Then, you are no more a scientist. You are not a true seeker. In the same way, this man had lost the truth. In olden days in Bharat, there was a taxi which you had to push half the distance and the other half, it would go by itself! This man writes in his reminiscences, 'Such a taxi came to take me to Ramana Maharishi's place. That morning, some fear gripped me and I simply took the taxi and ran away to Chennai. From there, I came back.' He went all the way and was just half an hour's distance away from Ramana. If he had met Bhagwan, the whole Western analysis of human psychology might have been different. They would have enjoyed the science of enlightenment!

You see: these people have done enough research in the waking state, dream state and deep sleep state, but they missed the samādhi state! If they would have had one enlightened specimen, they would have been flabbergasted by the results! They would have had real fun with the science, defying results recorded!

In the Vedic tradition, evolution is linked to the different avatars of Vishnu. The first is considered to be the fish body. You are born as a fish. You accumulate some saṃskāras through a few incidents when you are a fish. Then, you see a tortoise going around. You see a better possibility in the body of the tortoise. You decide: next time I create, I will create a body like that. A tortoise can live in water and on land. Then, when you are in the tortoise body, you see a better and bigger body, like that of a pig or some other animal. Then you decide, 'The next time I create a body, I will create that kind of a body.' So when you die, you create the next level - that is the pig body. As this cycle happens, you evolve, and also collect different engrams or saṃskāras every time you take birth anew. You raise the frequency of the system, or the body, every time you are given a chance to create or design. This same sequence, you can see in the incarnations of Lord Vishnu as well! First, it is the macha avatar – the fish incarnation, then the tortoise, then the pig, then half man half animal, then the pigmy man, then the primitive man, then the civilized man like Rama, who is dharmic. Lastly, even beyond civilization, there is the civilized pūrṇa avatar – the completely enlightened being, who is not bound by any rules and regulations, who is just radiating joy, energy and enlightenment. It is this evolution that happens in man also. Step by step, different kinds of beings happen. At every stage, you collect saṃskāras and design a body, when you are given an option, in a better way. This is the process of the evolution of the physical body, and the intelligence of evolution.

A Small Prayer Before We Start

Anyhow, let us both work together. Let us not hate each other until the process is over. This is a very important thing, so understand and remember this statement deeply. Let us not hate each other till the end of the program. I say this because, when the Master starts doing his work on you, burning all your cancerous points, the points where you have invested your ego, you will experience hatred towards him. Right now, this may seem impossible to you, but when the work starts, you will be surprised!

During these few days, your food will be a little delayed, your sleep will also be a little delayed. Please bear with it. This is required, because if you are caught in your regular routine for these few days, your second and third layer energies can't be awakened. You cannot be brought back to life from your deep sleep. So understand the whole truth, only then you will be able to enter into the process.

Glimpse of an Enlightened Being – What It Can Do

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says of himself, 'Even seeing me is like a glimpse of enlightenment for a person!' He used to go to Calcutta in a horse carriage. He lived a very joyful life - picnicking, going out, jumping, dancing etc. He did not undertake the responsibility of a mission during his lifetime. Ramakrishna Mission was not created by Ramakrishna. He initiated around 60 disciples. When he died, only they gathered. He says, 'Even if someone sees me accidentally, they don't even have to understand that I am enlightened etc…even if they just see me casually, they are blessed!' You might think: how can that be? It sounds too egoistic. It is like me saying that if my car is standing in the signal and another car comes next to my car, if the person in the other car just happens to turn and look at me, he is blessed! He doesn't have to understand that I am enlightened. He does not even have to think that I am a holy man. Just a casual glimpse is enough! Ramakrishna says he is blessed! How can that be? When you understand how to design your body after death, you will understand this statement.

A small incident from Ramakrishna's life:

One day, suddenly, he permitted his photograph to be taken. He selected one of the three photographs and said, 'Please make prints of this photo. This is going to be worshipped by thousands of people.' Ramakrishna kept the print in the prayer room, and worshipped the photograph. The people who saw this were confused at the act of Ramakrishna and asked him the reason.

Ramakrishna explained that he was in the samadhi state when that picture was taken, and hence it had become the very form of Parashakthi (cosmic energy), which could be worshipped.

Another interesting story from the life of Krishna:

Once, Krishna and Arjuna were walking in the forest, after the Mahabharata war was over. Suddenly, Arjuna said, 'Krishna! You told me so much in the Bhagavad Gita during the war. You delivered such beautiful aphorisms. But because I was feeling deeply troubled at that time, I am unable to remember them all clearly. Can you please repeat it to me now? I will grasp it deeply in my mind.'

Krishna replied casually, 'What? You do not remember! Even I do not remember anything now!'

Arjuna was perplexed. He asked, 'What are you saying Krishna? How is it that you yourself, don't remember what you said?'

Krishna replied, 'Yes Arjuna, I would have remembered if I had told you all the sutras myself.'

Now Arjuna was even more perplexed and said, 'Krishna, do not confuse me. It is you who told me the seven hundred verses during the war. If you say that you did not tell me, then who did?'

Krishna replied calmly, 'All that was said, was not spoken by me, but by the Parabrahma Krishna – the cosmic Krishna! The Krishna who is talking to you now is Vasudeva Krishna – Vasudeva's son!'

Through these stories, understand that the physical body of enlightened Masters is not their own. Whatever they do from their physical body is only through divinity. They are a pure channel for Existence to flow. That is why getting even a glimpse of them is enough in a lifetime.

Understand: whatever saṃskāras you collect when you are alive, everything gets recorded in you, even if you have not paid conscious attention while collecting them. For example, let us say that you are driving your car, and on the way, some accident or some loud expression of grief is going on in the road. You did not really observe much; you just drove past quickly. Consciously, you may not have even registered the car number, the color of the clothing of the person, or the face of the person who was involved in the accident. But, if you are hypnotized, you will tell the exact car number, the color of the clothing, the person's face etc! What does this mean? It means that, even if you don't pay attention to the scenes in your life, there is a system inside you which records anything and everything happening around you! Anything happening around you is getting recorded inside.

When you leave the body, all the things which got recorded in your entire life will replay in front of you. Like an option, your mind will ask what you want to pick up. See, by natural intelligence, you know that the body of an enlightened being which is there in your memory is the best body to choose. But you choose only out of whatever is available in front of you. When you are living as a fish, if you have seen a tortoise even once, you will choose only a tortoise! From the fish stage, you can only take one jump at a time - like the zoning system in USA! Only one jump at a time. There is nothing else you can do. But the next jump you will always take, is based on the best information available, the best data available.

One important thing: the onlooker, the man who got a glimpse of an enlightened being during his previous birth, may not recognize that he is enlightened, but after death, the memory will show him very clearly that he had the darśan - glimpse - of an enlightened person. This happens because that memory alone will shine! At the time of death, that will be in 4-colours, while everything else will be in black and white!

Yes…any questions till now?