The terms Pancha Koshas arise from Sanskrit, pancha meaning five and koshas implies bodies. Pancha koshas is presented in Taittiriya Upanishad of Yajur Veda, Vedantic literature by Adi Shankara, and other scriptures. These various bodies or sheaths offer different degrees of awareness and also make different levels of experience possible. We generally identify ourselves with the Physical Body alone. However, other sheaths that are invisible to the naked eye interpenetrate and extend beyond the Physical Body. The more subtler bodies encompass the less subtler and grosser bodies.
The five bodies or vehicles are:
1. Annamaya Kosha (the Physical Body) –
It literally means the food sheath. Exercises, diet and sleep are very important to maintain this body.
2. Pranamaya Kosha (the Etheric Body or Energy Body) –
This body is so closely knit with the Physical Body, that it is also known as the Etheric Double. The word “Double” denotes the Physical and Energy Body together. They are highly interdependent on each other and influence each other quite immediately.
3. Manomaya Kosha (the Emotional and Lower Mental Bodies) –
We experience feelings of happiness, joy, compassion, peace, sadness, irritability, anger, etc. through the emotional part of this kosha or vehicle.
This sheath also includes the Lower Mental Body, as the desires and thoughts also get intricately bound together. It includes the experiences of fear, insecurity, addiction tendencies and even the ability of correct planning. Your thinking and perceptions are formed here, affecting your behavior and actions.
4. Vijnanamaya Kosha (the Higher Mental Body or the Causal Body) –
This is a higher or much subtler body. If you develop this body and act with your consciousness centered here, you will work accurately and properly. It is from this body that everyone incarnates into the above 3 bodies just mentioned and gets back step by step from life to life.
5. Anandamaya Kosha (the Intuitional or Buddhic Body) –
If you always want to remain in peace and bliss, you need to tune up to this kosha. When you climb down from there, you may get agitated, but if you stay there, you will remain in intense happiness or bliss and deeper inner peace.
Would you like to know how to climb up this ladder?
The Annamaya Kosha and Pranamaya Kosha are purified and maintained using exercises, breathing exercises and diet. Your Physical and Energy Bodies become subtler with right food! You must know what to eat, how to eat, how much to eat and when to eat! Physical Body needs exercise for circulation of blood and movement of energy in the body. These three are essential for boosting your immune system, besides they actually lift you to subtler and higher states too.
The Manomaya Kosha can be calmed, purified and trained using breathing exercises, Forgiveness Sadhana, inner reflection, the erase technique and firm resolutions (refer to the article Ahimsa Paramo Dharma). When you go through difficulties, whether you succeed or not, you learn, grow and develop these bodies. So, be grateful to these people who created the tough situations for you and forgive them. Also, YPV Healing can be used to get rid of any unwholesome and undesirable tendencies.
The Vijnanamaya Kosha can be strengthened using meditations, affirmations and service. Also, multi-pronged development can be achieved by imbibing greater qualities from others through recognizing and respecting the divinity in others as described in the article “Kill the Sense of Separation and Practice Forgiveness”.
Become a channel for the Divine daily by using any of the channelling meditations, such as, Planetary Peace Meditation, Metta Meditation or prayer on Great Invocation, to connect to the Anandamaya Kosha. Practicing these in a group accelerates the process and makes you generate greater entitlement or karma. You can also connect there by the acts of healing, blessing, etc. You can additionally express peace, extend love by addressing others’ needs and practice forgiveness, by opening your Heart centre so much, that your Crown chakram opens up in the Intuitional Plane! Thus, you can bring the Intuitional Plane energies down to the physical reality. Again, any of these in a group will accelerate the progress exponentially. Bigger the like-minded group, the better it is. Sangham Sharanam Gachami!
As mentioned in the article on “Importance of Chanting the Mantras”, the mantra “OM” can be used to purify the various bodies. Sometimes, while chanting AUM, A is reduced, U and M are chanted with more emphasis. For purification of the Physical Body, the vibration used is different. For Emotional Body purification, a different scale of higher vibration is used. Similarly, with the Mental Body! Like different octaves of music, or shades and hues of colors, there are higher or subtler vibrations which also have greater penetrating affect.
Planes and their Sub-Divisions
The field of manifestation of our humanity and other kingdoms of nature has 7 planes. They are Adi, Anupada, Atmic, Intuitional or Buddhic, Mental, Emotional and Physical Planes. Each of these planes is further sub-divided into seven sub-planes.
1. The Physical and Etheric Planes, together being a double, have seven horizontal partitions, namely, solid, liquid, gases, Etheric – 4, 3, 2, 1, grosser to finer.
E4 is called electric ether or electric energy. This is more of ground prana. The Physical Body needs more ground prana than other pranas to keep it healthy. For generating good karma, upgrading the soul, for spiritual practice and also for upgrading the Energy Body, this prana is essential. This is grossest of the pranas. That doesn’t mean it is dirty energy. It can have both dirty or healthy energies. It supports the Physical Body for survival.
E3, the pranic ether or pranic energy. When we breathe, we draw E3 primarily, the air prana. It supports the Energy Body. It is chiefly generated by the lungs and spleen during breathing. It can be converted to many sub-energies and colors to maintain the body.
To experience emotion through the Physical Body, you use E2. It is still in the Pranamaya Kosha. That is linking!
E1 is the mental reflecting ether. Mind integrates into the brain through E1. Brain is functioning by the E4 and E3 energies, which are part of the Energy Body only. Manifesting thinking into action requires impregnation of thought into the brain, which requires E1 in the Energy Body. This is another linking!
2. The Emotional Plane is sub divided into Em1 through Em7. Em7 being the grossest and Em1 the subtlest.
3. Lower Mental and Higher Mental Planes are divided into M1 to M4 and C1 to C3 respectively. In the Lower Mental Body, decreasing order of coarseness being M4 through M1. In the Higher Mental or Causal Body, lower vibration is that of the C3 Plane and higher vibration of C2 and C1 being the most subtle.
4. The Intuitional Plane also can be considered as I1 to I7, higher vibration to lower respectively.
There is a separation between denser and subtler planes through the transitional realms of darkness. There are smaller transitional realms between sub-planes. This is done so that subtler sub-planes are not mixed with the lower sub-planes or planes.
We have our existence in these planes with a body each in these planes. Our existence does not end at Pancha Koshas. Our being continues into the Atmic, Anupada and Adi Planes too with Higher Koshas or Bodies.
Our bodies are composed of the matter of the various sub-planes. Depending on waking, sleep or meditative states, our consciousness is centred more in the different bodies. Like, in the waking state, our consciousness is more in the Physical and Energy Bodies. However, when deeply engrossed in some mental work or reading a book, the consciousness is more centred in the Mental Body. When emotionally stimulated, it moves more to the Emotional Body.
As you move your consciousness up in meditation, each sub-plane is seen as a light, then a small separation or darkness, then a little brighter light than before, again separation of darkness, more brighter light this time and so on. Each higher sub-plane or plane is brighter, bigger, more expansive and less restrictive than the previous.
Consciousness travels very fast as you go to the Higher Planes. Like, Emotional Plane is 49 times subtler than the Physical and the Mental Plane is 492 times powerful and so on. Physical limitation is minimized. Hence, you can be instantaneously be anywhere when in the Higher Planes.
According to a certain estimate, in the Emotional Plane, your consciousness can reach the farthest point on Earth in just 1 and 1/2 mins. In the Mental Plane, there is instant connection. Energy of the Mental Plane is such, that simultaneously our Mental Bodies are together in the Mental Plane.
Mother Earth also has Physical, Etheric, Emotional and Mental worlds or bodies. In distant healing, as explained in the article YPV Healing, we can heal others who are far away, as we are connected to others through the Earth’s Energy Body. Similarly, our Emotional and Mental Bodies are also connected to others’ Emotional and Mental bodies via Earth, as these bodies are part of the bodies of Earth!
Language is a barrier on the Emotional Plane. Mental Plane is beyond language, as communication occurs through thought forms.
If you lift up to higher part of the Mental Plane, there is no traffic or obstruction to your thoughts. A powerful, unselfish thought or a group thought can penetrate and impregnate everyone who touches there. They will be guided in the right direction, since all such thoughts are unselfish and purposeful. Therefore, put positive thoughts or unselfish thoughts, especially during and just after the meditation. We may put a powerful thought and blessing that all who are connected to us go in right direction, take responsibility to maintain good health and happiness, harmonize conflicting factors, balance Spiritual and material aspects of life, accomplish the purposes of the present incarnation, join and become asset for a right group, generate entitlement by proper regular service and tithing, and follow the Golden Rule in every situation.
Relation between the Chakrams and the Bodies/ Planes
Pancha Koshas are connected with the chakrams, which are actually in the Energy Body. This is an important point to note. As our chakrams develop, they have higher counterparts.
The game of Snakes and Ladders can be used as an analogy to understand how these chakrams from the Energy Body, move up to the higher bodies when activated or developed. The ladders that take you to the higher boxes are like these chakrams which move up when stimulated.
Activated Crown centre gives access to the Higher Intuitional Plane; Forehead when developed helps connect to the Lower Intuitional Plane; Ajna when stimulated connects to the Higher Mental; Throat moves up to connect to the Lower Mental; Heart opens up into the Emotional Planes of Em3 to Em1; Solar Plexus goes from the Energy Body up to the Lower Emotional Planes, however it incorporates the positive aspects of emotional commitment, courage and persistence when regulated; Navel is in the Energy Body and mainly remains in the Etheric Plane itself.
The highest you can reach using the chakrams in the Energy Body is the Higher Intuitional Plane. Hence, in the ancient times, they have stressed only up to the Pancha Koshas.
Spleen chakram is called the Prana chakram. It converts the White prana absorbed from the surroundings into different components of colour pranas and supplies to the whole Energy Body. It provides energy to the Emotional and Mental Bodies too. In fact, Sun provides energy to our Physical, Emotional and Mental Bodies. Furthermore, Sun channels the subtler energies to our Intuitional and Higher Bodies. (Dwell on the Gayatri Mantra and the statement from Bible, “For in Him, we live, and move, and have our being: Acts 17:28)
Get Healed by Connecting to the Intuitional Plane
The moment you connect to the Intuitional Plane, which is associated with the Crown chakram, that has its own aspects of the Mental, Emotional and Etheric, the energy gets channelled from the Intuitional Plane up to the Physical, like, a funnelling effect. If you really get connected the way just said, you will be healed, purified, blessed, protected, upgraded, aligned and regenerated, provided you are humble and also, some purification is needed to lift up to that plane. You must have faith, willingness to get healed and also entitlement.
There are different ways of stepping down the energy from the Intuitional Plane. It can be brought down through the various chakrams, the Crown, Forehead, Ajna, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Navel, and distributed through hands when blessing or healing. The energy thus ethericises by channelling.
Besides healing and purifying you, your environment additionally gets impregnated with these energies and gets purified and transformed. Everyone who comes in touch with you or even thinks of you, gets benefited. Whomever you think about also reaps the benefit. However, if you get sad and do not maintain your emotional state, they do not gain anything. Sustaining your state is important.
For the sake of your near and dear, who are connected to you, love you, trust you, including your Teacher, you must sustain your Heart chakram bigger most of the time! So, when they think about you, only positive goes from your Mental and Emotional Bodies. You can become a trusted or dependable channel for the Teacher. That is a great achievement! You can in turn get substantially guided and protected continuously.
Remember always, you are a Soul with bodies. As the energy is stepped down through various chakrams, you can radiate this energy through the corresponding bodies and transform your environment and everyone around at all these levels of Etheric, Emotional and Mental. That is the purpose of having manifested in these Lower Planes! Therefore, literally radiate and emanate from your entire being!
You are blessing all the beings and purifying them from the Intuitional Plane downward. To what distance you radiate depends upon your purification. The group effect exponentially increases this distance. If an individual power is X, the group of about 100 may have an effect of million times X or more. That is because Physical Plane is a three-dimensional world. Whereas, each plane above is at a higher dimension than the previous.
As you keep radiating, the world around you also keeps changing. As per some of the feedbacks from those who have been attending the online group sessions regularly, the people at their work and home seem to be cooperating better and their relationships are healthier. So, do not put any negative thought that these people around you would not change. Instead, intend that all people around are improving and getting benefited.
As your Physical, Emotional and Mental Bodies get purified, you become a greater channel on all these planes. The blessings you radiate, bring heaven down everywhere, provided you maintain the connection there in the Intuitional Plane!
Importance of Sleep and How to Prepare for it?
You can recuperate well with better quality sleep. In sleep, most of your consciousness moves from the Physical and Energy Bodies to the Emotional or Mental Bodies and respective planes. Your state of mind before sleeping decides which plane your consciousness shifts to.
Experiences of sleep affect the Energy and the Physical Body because the senses are still active at a subtler level. If you read or watch violent or horror programs, you might have a disturbed sleep due to moving to Lower Emotional Planes in sleep. Same is true, if you are emotionally agitated, worried or sad before sleeping. Hence, getting to bed in right frame of mind is very important. That way, your Physical Body will be well rested.
Sleep time can in fact be very well utilized, especially in the Higher Emotional and Mental Planes. These planes can be used to assist someone in need or benefit from the vast store of knowledge that is available there. You may not remember this though. But it will have its affect in life and the events.
In sleep, people who go to higher part of Lower Mental (M1/M2) Sub-Planes, have more or less learnt to manage their emotions while in waking. People focused on a certain job and with unselfish intentions, can make it to M1 or M2 as well. General population is connected to M3 or M4 in waking. They may go to Lower Emotional Planes in sleep. There is no possibility of such people going to Mental Plane in sleep state. Care must be taken as one can get influenced by wrong company in those Lower Planes. Hence, ensure that children are in calm rested condition before sleeping.
You must prepare yourself before getting to bed, to be in a Higher Emotional state. You may practice Lord’s prayer, Rhythmic Yogic Breathing, forgiveness, inner reflection and firm resolution, chant mantras or shlokas, etc. You may combine any one or two of them. Children quickly come into a higher emotional state. You can make them chant shlokas, do a prayer or even heal them, especially, if they have watched something on TV before sleeping. Older children can practice forgiveness and also review the day.
You will then have good quality sleep. Additionally, you will be able to enter deep sleep state for couple of hours to recuperate better. Instead, if Solar Plexus is activated before sleeping, you will go to Lower Emotional Planes, be in confusion and will not get sufficient rest to the bodies.
Learn about the Higher Planes
Knowledge of the Emotional Body, Mental Body and higher, including the corresponding planes, is very important for the progress on spiritual path, as you can develop these bodies much more by knowing them.
You use these bodies in waking and also in sleep state. You will also get there when you completely transit from the Physical Plane too. Therefore, you must know all these bodies and beyond! You must know the material of these planes, about the beings on these planes, what you can do there, what can be expected, etc. For example, if you have to travel to Germany next year for some long-term work, you may try to learn their language, check for the accommodation, weather conditions, what to carry, understand and familiarize with the place, etc.
Similarly, in the waking state, study all the information that is available regarding the Emotional and Mental Planes, the information that is brought down by the Great Beings through shruti, like, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, books such as, Light on the Path, Voice of Silence, compiled Theosophical books on each of the bodies from Etheric to Causal, etc. These are such pain staking efforts put by some Great Teachers. You will find some commonality in all of them. This study will help anyone in this life and after.
In conclusion, one can touch the fifth or the Pancha Kosha, through the development of the Crown chakram by being a channel and can experience healing, peace, bliss and oneness. Bring down this experience to energy level and further physicalize it, as Energy Body interpenetrates the Physical and extends beyond it. By regular practice, especially in a group, you can substantially develop and sustain the Crown chakram bigger most of the time, and become a Paramahansa in this life itself!
You may join our online sessions daily to practice breathing exercises, Forgiveness Sadhana and channelling meditations, such as, Planetary Peace Meditation, Metta Meditation or Great Invocation to bless the entire Earth at all planes of Mental, Emotional and Physical, especially, in these pandemic times. You can also experience a very powerful guided Divine healing. These online sessions are now extended up to 31st March 2021 @ www.facebook.com/ShriNJReddy. Timings: Morning 7.15 AM, Afternoon 1.00 PM, Evening 6.30 PM.
You may also try our YPV Sadhana app which is available in various languages. It has guided audios for the breathing exercises, Forgiveness Sadhana and Planetary Peace Meditation. These techniques also boost and sustain your immune system.
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