Samskaras in the Seven Layers of the Body🔗

We store different samskaras in each of the seven different layers.

The samskaras related to chronic fatigue or tiredness are stored in the physical body.

That is why when you try to do some exercise, a workout, or even simple walking, the first thing the body will bring out is tiredness. But without bothering about these first level samskaras which are rising, if you continue to enter into it, suddenly you will see that the same action brings energy out of you. If you start walking, in few minutes, your mind will suggest ten times, 'I am tired. No...It is too much! We did enough! That is enough for today. Tomorrow we can do.' But if you don't bother about these samskaras and just go ahead, in a few minutes, the same action will bring energy.

Chronic Fatigue and the Physical Layer

Chronic fatigue which is a deep feeling to be in inaction, to be in rest or non-moving state, is stored in the physical body.

I always tell people, 'karma phala tyaaga' not 'karma tyaaga'. The results of the actions should be surrendered, not the action itself. Karma tyaaga is very easy. That is why the whole spirituality has suffered so much. The worst thing that happened to Bharat was we not following our tradition, not following what Krishna has said.

But constantly, I am seeing, these superficial analytical reports going on abusing the Hindu tradition. The other day I was reading an article, there was a technical term they started using, 'Hindu rate of growth'. I was surprised! He means the suffering of Bharat is because of our traditions. It is not. The suffering of Bharat is because we did not follow our tradition, we did not imbibe our tradition. Instead of doing k*arma phala thyaaga*, we started doing k*arma thyaaga*. That is why we are stuck in the first layer, the physical layer itself.

I have seen this in many places, especially villages. There are some great things that are practiced in villages. But there are also the wrong understandings of the Truths like karma thyaaga instead of k*arma phala thyaaga*.

For instance, in the morning until ten o' clock, you will see tea shops filled with people who will just be sitting and talking. If you want to listen to the great Vedantic truths, go to the village tea shops in the morning! You will see, the people will be sitting and just sipping the tea and philosophizing, 'Oh! Without God's grace nothing can be done! Only by God's grace anything can happen.' These are all great truths, but just to justify what they are doing, not to internalize! Karma pala thyaaga is the truth but karma thyaaga starts happening if you are stuck in the physical layer.

The chronic fatigue is deeply related to the intense craving for rest. Please understand, this intense craving for rest brings diseases which will put you in the bed.

Actually if you see any advertisement for resorts, especially beach resorts, it will have a beautiful beach, an easy resting chair and a picture of somebody resting and looking so relaxed. The moment you see that, immediately something starts happening in you. You feel you should also be lying like that, completely resting, totally in peacefulness, in the deep peace. At that moment you see that something in you is awakened. That is what I call intense craving for tamas.

Understand: If you really find that same beach, that same chair and lie down, you will not have that same peace which you visualized. Till you exhaust the tamas engrams, the lethargy engrams that you carry in the physical layer, you cannot rest. Your desire for rest will not let you rest because the desire is from engrams, from samskaras.

Even if you find the same beach, same chair, same bench, same place, try to lie down. The moment you start resting, in a few minutes, this samskara will settle down and the next layer samskara will start. Even the decision to rest, if it is based on a samskara, you cannot rest.

There is a very beautiful story in the Upanishad:

A disciple goes to the Master and asks, 'Master, please give me the method for enlightenment.' Master says,'Just take these 400 cows and when they become 1000 cows, come back.' The modern day disciple would have said, 'What! You are making 600 cows out of my enlightenment! You are trying to make more cows out of my seeking.' But the disciple is really a sincere disciple. He did not bother, he just took the cows. And the story says, when the cows had become one thousand, when he came back, Master says, 'Now we have a thousand and one cows'.

In Vedic tradition, cows are highly respected as sacred. So, Master says the disciple is also now raised to that level of sanctity.

Continuously when you work with cows, they cannot let you rest. They don't know you are working 24 hours. They don't know there is nobody else to replace you! They don't know any particular day as a holiday. They don't know one person can work only an eight-hour shift! They do not have all these problems. They will constantly demand your attention. In the disciple, the deep desire for rest had disappeared because of his working continuously with the cows.

I can say that the deep desire for vacation or the deep desire for rest, the chronic fatigue, if it leaves your system, 90 per cent of your spiritual journey is over. This first layer samskara is the worst problem.

Pranic Layer and the Desire Samskaras

The next layer is the prana or breath layer. The samskaras related to desire are stored in the prana, the breathing. That is why, whenever your desires are changing, suddenly you will see the breathing pattern will also change. For example, if you are caught by strong desire like lust or anger, your breathing pattern will change; it will be chaotic.

Mental Layer and Guilt Samskaras

The third layer is the mental layer. In the pranic layer, which is the second layer, you store your thoughts about how your life should be. In the mental layer, you store your engrams about how your life shouldn't have been - guilt.

If your energy moves towards the future, it is desire. If your energy moves towards the past, and continuously it is revolving only around the past, it is called guilt. If it is flowing continuously towards the future, it is desire. If it is flowing continuously towards the past, it is guilt.

Emotional Layer and Pain Samskaras

The fourth layer is to do with emotions. In this layer, you store all the visualizations related to pain.

Understand, the fourth layer is a very powerful layer. In the fourth layer, you don't need any action or information to strengthen the engrams. In the first two layers, you need to do some action to strengthen your engrams. For example, in the case of the desire for vacation, the more you give in to the desire for vacation, the more the desire will be strengthened. In the same way, for the other desires also, the more you enter into action based on those desires, the more the engrams will become strong.

In the case of the third layer, related to guilt and its related engrams, you don't need to do the same action. Just the information or remembrance about that action will strengthen the engram. For example, if you have seen the same place, or if you are seeing the same person, if you are seeing the same situation, immediately those engrams will become strong and they will be awakened.

In the case of the fourth layer, the pain layer, neither do you need action nor do you need information related to pain. So, you don't have to have the same pain again and again. You don't even need to receive information related to that pain. Just the engrams are enough, they can multiply. They can simply expand and multiply.

Causal Layer and Deep Sleep

The fifth layer is the layer you experience in deep sleep. Even though there are engrams in this layer, you cannot do anything about them, because in the deep sleep, your mind cannot do anything. It is an unconscious layer.

In the first four layers, if you can reduce the depth of the engrams, samskaras, the fifth layer and the sixth layer will be cleansed naturally. The fifth layer will be cleansed if you clean the first four layers. If the fifth layer is cleansed, you will start experiencing the sixth layer more and more. The sixth layer is the meditation layer.

If you are getting into the deep sleep layer more easily, it means the first four layers are clean. If the first four layers are not clean, then you will suffer more in the fifth layer. That is why, when you have more stress and load, a lot of suffering related to sleep starts happening in life.

Sleep has become a big problem. Now, especially in the developed countries, I am seeing, they are able to get beds but not sleep! Their infrastructure has created the facility to have beds and different temperatures, different comforts and so many other things, but not sleep, because there is too much stress.

Not only that, if the engrams in the first four layers are too many, in the fifth layer, the relationship between you and your body gets disconnected.

Reducing the engrams in the first four layers is making friends with your body.

We don't realize how we are abusing the body. Understand, if you are overweight, it is directly connected to some of these engrams. When you feel emptiness inside, lonely, you start filling it. You start filling it with food or by drinking. Usually women choose food. And men decide on drinking. Of course, in the modern developed society, you can't generalize! When you are feeling empty and lonely, you have to fill yourself with something.

Every single thing happening in your life is directly connected to some engrams. Removing these engrams, I can say, is making friends with your body, creating a deep friendship with your body. This is the best way to heal.

The other day, I received a big letter and a report from one of our devotees in USA. She came to our program around two years ago. Of course, she did the same meditation which we are going to do now. She had a tumor in the muladhara chakra, root center. She had surgery three times. She herself is a doctor. But again and again, the tumor was growing in the same place. She came and she was doing this meditation which we are going to do today. And she was weeping uncontrollably. I tried to tell her, 'Please relax'. But it was uncontrollable. Anyhow, after the meditation, I asked her, 'What is the problem?' She said, 'I suddenly again re-lived the guilt'. At a young age, she had been physically abused by some of her close relatives. She said, 'Suddenly that samskara opened up, that guilt opened up. I re-lived it. That's the reason I was not able to control. Please forgive me Swamiji!' I said, 'That's ok. Let it leave your system.'