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Self-Realization Through Vedanta and Yoga
RRE
described in Sanskrit under different names. The Sanskrit name for each of these systems is Yoga. On diving deep into the method by which this science of Yoga was developed, it is fascinating to find that, even in those ancient times, observations and experiments were employed as tools of research in discovering the secret truths of nature and the laws that govern our lives. The finer forces of nature and the description of their laws, are embodied in the various branches of the science of Yoga.
According to Vedata philosophy, there are five layers, called Koşas or sheaths (coverings) enveloping the Atman. Due to ignorance, we identify the Ātman or Ultmate Reality (the true Self) with the non-Ātman, the sheaths or coverings of the Self. These five layers are: (1) the Physical Sheath, or the Food Sheath, (2) the Vital Sheath, (3) the Mental Sheath, (4) the Intellectual Sheath, and (5) the Blissful Sheath. When all the Sheaths have been transcended, the Ātman alone remains. Shankara, the foremost exponent of Vedanta philosophy, sum it up beautifully in Viveka Chūdāmani: "When all the five Sheaths have been eliminated (discriminated or discerned as being other than the Self), the Self of man appears pure, the essence of everlasting and unalloyed bliss, indwelling, supreme and self-effulgent."
The Physical Sheath The first or outermost Sheath is the Annamaya Koşa or gross, Physical Sheath, the physical body. The yogis say that it is made of and sustained by food. It comprises the material sheath. The gross, Physical Sheath is also ter med as "Food Shea ih." It is so called because it arises from the essence of the food taken by the eater. It exists because of the food regularly taken in and, ultimately after death, it must decompose to become food again. The substance of physical structure rising from food, existing in food, and going back to food, is naturally, and most appropriately termed, "Food Sheath." It is a mass of skin, flesh, blood, bones, etc., and can never be the eternally pure, self-existent Ātman. Any intelligent and discriminating man knows that he is not this physical body, for the body, is subject to change. The body, consisting of arms, legs, etc., cannot be Atman, for one continues to live even after its particular limbs are gone. Moreover, the body, which is subject to the rule of Self, cannot be the Self which is the Ruler of all. And yet, ignorance is so deep and universal that we identify ourselves with the body in our day-to-day activities in the empirical world. Vedanta believes that all bodies die. The Self cannot die. Therefore, the body cannot be the Self.
The Vital Sheath The second covering of the Atman is called "Prānamaya Koşa" or the Vital Sheath. It is made up of the vital forces and organs by which bodily actions are performed. The Vital Sheath controls all the organs of action, and it is five-fold with its five different functions. The vital forces are called the prānas. They consist of prāņa (breathing), apāna (elimination), samāna (digestion), vyāna (circulation) and udāna (nerve currents). From experience, we have found that if we eat, these vital forces remain strong. But, if we starve, they become weak. Since these Vital Sheaths are also perishable, they also are not the Self.
The Mental Sheath The third is Manomaya Koşa or the Mental Sheath, the sheath of the mundane mind. It consists of manas (faculty of perception), buddhi (intellect) and ahamkāra (ego). The mind cannot be the Self because it manifests through thought and thoughts are extremely various--now good, now bad. The mind is too changeable to be the Self.
The Intellectual Sheath The fourth sheath is Vijñānamaya Koşa, or the Sheath of Higher Intelligence. Yogis believe that, when one has penetrated his own nature to this sheath, he gains knowledge of the universe as a manifestation of Ultimate Reality.
It is important to point out here that the term "mind" is not used in the same sense as it is used in Western psychology. What is known as "mind" in Western psychology is described
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