Mysteries of Mind

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Book Agency

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
the flame of enlightenment or the rolling waves of consciousness within him, he would not be able to do so all of a sudden. He will see only bones, flesh and fat in the body and not the spectator-knower within him. He will complain that there is no flame and no ocean of consciousness there. We have, therefore, to encourage the practitioner and persuade him to proceed slowly and step by step. He should first watch the gross sensations and then the subtle ones. It is difficult to penetrate into the gross boby, but once the practitioner has crossed the gross body, he will come across the subtle body. This subtle body is made of energy and is, therefore, called the taijasa body (electrical body) or the abhávalaya (the aura) or a mass of electrical energy from which emanate waves of different colours. Next comes the last and the subtlest body known as the karına sarira. It is in this body that the effects or particles of our deeds gather, become mature and assume an active form to manifest themselves in the gross body and influence our behaviour. Our behaviour is the reflection of the karma body. The roots of our deeds lie in the karma body. It is on the basis of what happens in the subtle body that we can predict when the gross body is going to die or suffer from this or that disease. The diseases from which the gross body suffers first strike their roots in the subtle body. They sometimes take a long time to manifest their symptoms in the gross body. The causes of death also first appear in the subtle body.
The subtle body is always seething with all kinds of vibrations and waves. The practitioner will have to contact all that is happening there. For this he will have to make his mind very subtle and sensitive. If he succeeded in doing so, he will be able to go beneath the subtle body and get a clear and definite glimpse of the soul which is a seer and knower only. He will see a spectrum of light in his heart and will come across an ocean of consciousness. called self-realization. But he will have to pass through a number of stages before he can arrive at this realization. In the beginning he will find everything hazy, but his vision will go on becoming clearer as he proceeds. Ultimately he will enter into a state where there is nothing to be perceived and