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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
The purprse of prèkşā meditation is the attainment of full consciousness. We begin this meditation by first perceiving the bones of the body, then the flesh, marrow and blood and then other constituents of the body. We perceive all the dirty material accumulated in the body. Why should we be called upon to perceive these things when our aim is the attainment of full consciousness ? It may be mentioned that perceiving these things of the body is inevitable in the process leading to self-realization. We have to pass through these perceptions before we can perceive the soul. The ideal is not remote from the body. It is inherent in it. A crocodile once took a monkey for a pleasure trip across a lake. When they reached the middle of the lake, the former told the latter that it wanted to eat its heart. The clever monkey remarked that it had left its heart on the shore of the lake. Samayika is not like the heart of the monkey which could be separated from the body and left in some remote corner. The meditator's soul always remains in his body. Therefore, we have to perform our journey through the body in order to attain the self. We will begin this journey by first perceiving the skin of the body and then pass on to the nervous system. Then we will cross the taijasa body which is the driving force of all the impulses and tendencies of the body and mind. We receive our vital energy from the țaijasa body. After having crossed the vibrations of the vital energy we will come face to face with the karma Śarīra which is the spring of all our energies. Other springs are minor and smaller springs. The biggest is the karma body The praetioner will have to perceive all the traces of past deeds imprinted on each and every particle of the karma body since time immemorial.
The subtle body is a vast world. It is so vast that all the worlds seen till today can be submerged into it. It is far bigger than the biggest star. We will have to cross the karma body. As soon as we have done so, we will begin to have glimpses of the fundamental consciousness, the attainment of which is our ideal.
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