BHAKTHI AND HEALTH

Under the Divine Inspiration of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba by Dr. (Mrs.) Charanjit Ghooi

Excerpts shared for educational and spiritual purposes with reverence to the author. This is a non-profit project dedicated to selfless service.

MAN AND HIS GARMENTS

MAN, the thinker or thinking self is clothed in a number of garments. These casings enable him to work on various planes according to his consciousness. Just as one uses various vehicles for land, water or air, the bodies of man are the vehicles, through which consciousness works.

Baba says, "in addition to the physical body, (Sthool Sharir) man has Linga Sharir (Ethereal Body), Karana Sharir (Desire body) and Mahakaran Sharir. In Vedanta, it is stated that the perfect, Immaculate Self apparently looks contaminated due to its association with imperfect objects conditioned by limitations and gathers the stink of the five sheaths or 'Koshas' which are as follows:

(a)       Annamaya Kosha – the physical body

(b)       Pranamaya Kosha – the vital air-body (Physiological)

(c)       Manomaya Kosha – the mental body (Psychological)

(d)       Vijnanamaya Kosha – the Intellectual body

(e)       Anandmaya Kosha – the Bliss body

Almost every human being is aware of only the physical body. When His grace comes to them, those who get well advanced on the spiritual path become aware of all the subtle bodies or 'Suksham shariras.' Out of crores of devotees, there is one who perceives his real Self and out of some of those, there is one who perceives the subtle bodies.

He is then liberated because he is then taught by mystic practice the art of coming out from the imprisonment in ·the physical body and enjoying with consciousness in other bodies. While living on earth, he comes back into the physical body with his will. The following is a brief description of the various bodies that are the coverings or garments for Real Self, the Atma. This tallies with their nomenclature as mentioned in the Vedanta.

Physical Body

This is the visible tabernacle in which the Self is imprisoned. In fact, this is the House in which the real man. The Atma is a sort of tenant. Therefore, this is the real temple or Hari Mandir. It is composed of Panch Mahabhutas (Panch Tatwa), namely, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether with three sub-divisions of Solid, liquid and gas. It is the spirit (Atma) which endows it with life and keeps these constituents together to form the body. When the spirit (Atma) goes out, the house falls and the particles separate and mix with the physical materials.

Nervous System

Just as a spider weaves his web and then gets entangled into the same, we form the nervous system of our· body and as a result of the Five Senses born of that, we entangle ourselves with the external world. The result is transitory pleasures, suffering and pain. The cause of avidya or ignorance is that we identify ourselves with the body which is actually meant only as our instrument or our servant. We eat to live and do not live to eat. The body exists for us and not vice versa; but actually everybody thinks of the other way and the result is pain and suffering.

There are two sorts of organs in the body, namely voluntary and involuntary, both of which are controlled by the network of nerves. The life force is maintained by Brain, Lungs, Heart, Excretory, and Secretory Organs and Hormones which are controlled by involuntary nerves of Sympathetic System., and Parasympathetic System within is the domain of the Spinal column. In the early stages of evolution, it was. under the control of the Will but with the passage of time it became involuntary. With Yogic practice, all the involuntary organs can be brought under control. The beats of the heart can be slowed or quickened and breathing can even be suspended. We live in the world with voluntary system of nerves springing from the Brain. The sensory and motor nerves of the cerebro-spinal system, reach every part of the body. The centres for all the senses exist in the brain and are controllable by Will. The main function of man, as thinker, is performed by the system and this is what misleads the Materialist. He is, however, unable to explain as to why this system stops working after death.

The study of the physical body is the domain of Anatomy and Physiology. As for the spiritual path, we are concerned with Purity of this instrument to make it a servant of the real man, The Atma, the tenant. The most important thing that should receive prime attention is the:

(1)  Purity of Food which builds the body. As long as the Inner Controller has no say in this, the result will be like a masonry structure built of Blood, Bone, Muscle and Flesh. Discrimination in what we eat and taking only Satwick food will build up a very strong structure that will .be impregnable to evil influences. As meat, alcohol and spices will pollute the body, these have to be excluded. As the body is a creature of habit, it sticks to the habit of consuming any food and it is difficult to dissuade it. But if a new habit is adopted, one will follow that habit if one persists with it.

(2)  Purity of Thoughts: Itis said that to realise God one must be born as a human being. Even the angels are envious of human birth as they cannot attain to Godhood. Therefore, in order to clear the path for Divinity to work in our body, the first essential necessity is purity. After Purity of Food, comes the Purity of Thoughts. Before taking up Yoga for Divine path, Yama and Niyama are insisted upon as essential preliminaries.

(3) Nama Smarnam: The other most essential factor is Nama-Smarnam or remembrance of God which purifies the body. The real self in the body is covered with the veil of Maya or pleasures of the senses. Nam Smarnam is most effective in tearing off the veil and then one can actually see light in the body. Thus, the physical body, though on the one hand, is an obstacle in apprehending Reality as it is rusted, it can be made the instrument to realise the Reality, if it can be trained to become a servant and by its purification.

Physical Body

The gross body is an assemblage of millions of cells, each of which is like a cumulative battery through which the current of life flows due to the (Atma) spirit. Just as electricity is produced by rotating a magnet, the gross body is charged when it lies North to South (Head towards North) direction. In the reverse direction, the battery of life gets discharged. This explains the old Hindu religious custom of sleeping with Head towards North. Also, when death is near and a case becomes hopeless, the body is removed from the cot and placed on the floor in the reverse direction because of the pangs of death which are most painful like pangs of birth. This shows the Old Hindu wisdom that had studied the life process scientifically.

Etheric Body (Vital Body), Physiological Body

Interpenetrating the physical body and projecting all round it about 3 inches is the subtle Etheric Body. It is so called as it is composed of 4 grades of ether. This ether is rarer than the ether above the atmosphere in the physical plane through which the Radio waves are reflected back. It is so subtle that it is almost like our vacuum. As already stated, the life process is an electric action. Therefore, the current is proof of the existence of ether which is present everywhere on the physical plane. Like E.C.G. of Heart and E.E.G. of Brain, all Muscle reflexes are electrical in nature.

Just as the physical body is composed of solids, liquids and gases in a variety of combinations, the etheric body is formed by the 4 ethers which differ in density. As these are physical ethers, this subtle body is a part of the physical body and,in fact,is the vital body being a life giver to the physical body which is only a gross body. The life process depends on the seven energy centres or Chakras in the body called Nervo Plexus. But in fact, the seven energy centres in the ethereal body are the real active absorbers of energy from the Sun and supply the life force to the Chakras in the physical body like a playback-singer. As already indicated, the ethereal body automatically gets refined. They are (1) Muladhar, (2) Swadhisthana, (3) Manipura, (4) Anahata, (5) Vishuddha, (6) Ajna,(7) Sahrisrara Chakra.

Prana

As Prana is the life force that runs along the nerves, the ethereal body is the vehicle for prana for working of the Ego on the Physical Plane. Thus, death is the result of separation of the Etheric body from the physical body although in some abnormal cases, there is a partial division of the two bodies during its life on the earth and this produces great nervous strain, and running of the life process gets complicated and difficult. Death occurs with complete separation. This body is also called 'ethereal double' as it is exactly a copy of the physical body and the apparitions that we hear are due to this. It is said that this body after separation from its counterpart of physical body hovers round the latter for 36 hours after death like a cloud. It feels the pinch as the two have been life-long companions.

Reference has already been made to old Hindu Wisdom. This is one· chief reason why they made cremation the mode of disposal of the dead body to afford relief to the Mind working within the ethereal body. After the cremation of the dead body or after the due completion of its hovering period, the ethereal body crumbles down like the physical body and its constituent ether mixes with the physical ether.

Astral Body (Emotional Body)

Astral means light. Astral body is the light body surrounding the ethereal body and interpenetrating it and the physical body. It projects about 9 inches beyond the physical body or 6 inches beyond the ethereal body. The physical body expresses the consciousness of man during waking, the limited knowledge that he can express. Similarly, without his physical body on the astral plane, he expresses his knowledge to the extent that his astral body is capable. The limit for expression of knowledge and power through these two bodies increases with perfection. The consciousness even while on the physical plane lies in the Astral Body. It is also called Desires or Emotional Body.

During sleep or when under an anesthesia, the astral body separates from the physical body, and this leads to unconsciousness. After death, when the physical body is discarded, man works through the Astral plane, which surrounds/and interpenetrates into the physical world.

Man in his physical body can perceive only physical objects on his own plane and is unaware of his astral body and the Astral plane. His astral body is an irregular mass like a cloud or mist when it is not developed. But those who are on the spiritual path with the.

Master's grace begins to fully perceive their Astral body which is then developed perfectly by the working of the divine force and forms an exact replica of the physical body of man. After he receives the coaching of slipping out of his physical body, he can enter into the astral body which then becomes his instrument of consciousness that works on the astral plane. By this manner, he is liberated from the prison of the physical body. He then transcends space and time and can go anywhere in this Universe and other planets in no time. The astral body moves faster than Thought. While in an undeveloped man, the astral body remains near the physical body during sleep; in a developed person it can go anywhere and does some useful work on the astral plane. But the man to whom it belongs may not be aware of its whereabouts till the links between the physical and the astral bodies are fully developed and organised by mystic practice connecting the Chakras or energy centres of the two bodies. When this is complete, one is awake for 24 hours as he is all the time conscious. As the physical brain is connected with the astral body, he can see and reach through astral body at any place with his Will. This leads to the attribute of omnipresence. When further developed one can even materialise any place and at any number of places.

When the astral sight is developed, one becomes Clairvoyant. The astral sight can see from all parts of the body, back, front, top as there are no eyes. This has been termed Shiv­Netri or the Third Eye.

Just as there are 7 substates in the physical and its counterpart ethereal body, there are 7 substates of astral matter according to its fineness and there are correspondingly 7 sub­planets. It forms the vehicle for the soul or Jiva Sat-Chith Anand, the one life all pervading. It has two main sub-divisions, the lower four sub­planes are so called hell and are coarser; the top 3 planes are finer and represent the so-called heaven. Heaven and hell are states of Mind and they are not any particular places.

Aura

The colour of the Astral body changes according to the state of mind and thoughts of man as it is influenced by thought impacts. Mind is, therefore, the chief factor that works for its purity as the astral matter being very fine is affected by thoughts from within and without.

When one is dreaming and then wakes up, one realises that what he thought real was only a dream. Similarly, when the astral sight is opened, the physical life of man appears to him like a dream only. The Astral world is several times vaster than the physical world because there are no bodies but spirits working in the astral bodies. Therefore, the real life with its vast avenues opens up only when the astral consciousness develops in man to whom all his physical life is then comparable to a dream only. On the astral plane also, he has to climb up from the lower, coarser sub-planes to upper finer ones. The difference between one sub-plane and another is only development of consciousness and receptivity of higher and refined Vibrations.

Ordinarily, man in his astral body passes on to astral plane after losing the physical body by death. The time taken for moving from the physical plane to the astral plane and its sub-planes depends upon his spiritual growth. While a highly developed soul will just walk through this plane, its opposite may remain there for centuries. The sojourn on any particular level is proportional to the amount of coarser or finer astral matter of the body. By Purification and High Thoughts, the period can be minimized on the lower sub-planes. The loss of the physical body does not make much difference to the ordinary man as his mind and intellect impacts affect the astral body; the sorrow of the fr􀀅ends and near and dear ones of the dead arouse similar vibrations in his astral body on that plane and thus cause him great pain and suffering, while high thoughts lead to his consolation and happiness. When all the astral matter has been exhausted and the body gets finer and finer by disintegration of the astral matter, the sojourn on the Astral plane is completed and it passes into the Mental Plane. Thus, when one dies on the astral plane, one leaves the disintegrating astral body, which mixes with matter of that plane exactly as the physical body was cast off at the time of physical death.

It has already been stated that when well advanced spiritually, a human being can be fully conscious on the astral plane and then he is liberated and is no longer a prisoner in the physical body. Such persons are called Adepts. They usually employ their mental body as a vehicle and then pass on to the astral plane. This permits the great advantage of passage from mental plane to astral and back. A psychically developed person may not be spiritually developed and may have inborn psychic powers. Although he may be fully conscious on the astral plane, some of his visions will be disrooted altogether. There are Black Magicians who develop Astral consciousness but the development has been for evil purpose unlike that of Adepts which is for good. They are selfish self-seekers who in their later life are subject to great tortures by their lower mind.

One who knows how to work in his astral body can see anything inside out as his vision can penetrate through any solid. Thus, he can read a closed book, even read a thought of another man. He can perceive all etheric vibrations and can even produce them. Thus, he controls superphysical forces and can set up etheric currents and pressures. By producing Sympathetic Vibrations on the astral plane, there is no limit to a man's achievements by the control of the forces. Even this world was built by the vibrations of the Shabad or word according to Muslims and Christians. The power of a mantra by its repetition is also based on sympathetic vibrations. Even the phenomena of disintegration can be brought about by rapid vibrations, and a body can be reduced to etheric condition. The reverse process is also possible so that the Adept can materialise the astral or etheric body or even a thought by extracting the suitable matter from the surrounding ether. The two bodies are so closely associated that if any injury is caused to the materialised body when it is working elsewhere, a similar mark is reproduced on the physical body. The force of gravity can be overcome or even reversed and then one can fly in the air or walk over water by setting up electromagnetic forces with his Will.

Healing

Similarly, healing can be done by bringing about harmony in the physical system of another person by the play of the sympathetic forces. by producing vibrations in the sick person's body. Thus, immense possibilities open up and the control of nature by the Adept makes the beginning.

Mental Body

This is divided into two parts: (1) Submental or Lower Manas body, which surrounds the astral body projecting out three inches all round and interpenetrating the three bodies already dealt with, (2) The higher Manas or real Mental body which is sometimes wrongly designated as the causal body (Mahakaran Sharira). This surrounds the first projecting some more inches and interpenetrating all the rest.

While the Lower Manas body lasts after death and is disintegrated after its life period on the Buddhic plane expires, the Higher Manas body is the permanent body primarily constituting the causal body. The mental or mind body is sub-divided into 7 sub-planes grouped into 3 upper or 'arupa' (without manifestation) and 4 lower or 'rupa' (manifested by body). The difference between the sub-planes is the difference in the density of the Thoughts and Vibrations composing the body. It gets more and more rarified so that the higher manas body is almost non-existent due to its subtlety. While it is the vehicle of consciousness for the Buddhic plane, it also works upon and through the astral and physical bodies and is responsible for the origin of all thoughts during our waking consciousness. In ordinary man, it is inchoate and does not function on its own plane at all. Along with the astral body it forms the Aura of Body, which increases in size as this body is developed.

The self-manifests as intellect in this body. When this body gets organised by mystic practice, it becomes well defined though it does not shape out as an exact replica of the physical body as is the case with the astral body. It becomes egg-shaped and it can be made to assume any form and extend to any size even covering the whole Universe. It is not visible to astral sight but is seen by those whose mental sight has been opened. Just as when the astral sight is opened, the physical consciousness appears, like a dream; when the mental sight is opened, the astral consciousness appears like the manifested world multiplied a hundredfold. Thus, there is great extension in consciousness. The mind body becomes conscious of everything without any of the organs of the five senses. No words are spoken on this plane, but thoughts are conveyed by pictures or thought forms by vibrations. The mind body can only be developed by exercise of mind, (1) Satyam, (2) Shraddha, (3) Rita, (4) Yoga, (5) Maha Tattva. This replaces the coarser particles by finer and finer vibrations till it becomes a perfect vehicle for the working of consciousness. Although the astral consciousness can be acquired with one's own efforts, the mental consciousness can only be acquired when He Himself shows the path to the spiritual student who learns by mystic practice to work in the mental body with as much ease as in the physical body. It is also much easier to work in the astral body by going out of the mental body backwards rather than by coming out of the physical directly into the astral. In the latter case, one is likely to be deceived and even confused and terrified. But with consciousness, with its vehicle of mental body, one is always in heaven perfectly liberated though not freed from the cycle of birth and death.

Causal Body (Seed Body)

It is so called as all the causes reside in this body and it carries all the characteristics (Samaskara) of man from all his previous lives. All good and bad deeds of man are stored in this body for eternity, and it grows from life to life as the individual makes any progress spiritually.

It does not surround the physical body like the other subtle bodies. Therefore, it does not form a subject for this Chapter. It is, however, included here as it is the seed body. This is the tiny seed formed at the top of the mental body vertically above the top of the head about 15 inches, by fusing of all the subtle bodies after lifting them up vertically as horizontal rings, fusing them with the 4 sheaths of the physical body and depositing at the top of the Central axis. This is the body that has to take birth again sooner or later after its sojourn on other planes or immediately after physical death depending on the development of the man.

It is composed of a delicate colourless film of subtle matter and being thread like is the Sutaratma. This marks the stage of the individual in the evolutionary process. The Self enclosed in the fused stuff of the Subtle bodies in general and of the mental body, in particular, forms the seed body that is ready for incarnation and takes birth from the womb of a woman. The parents supply only the physical body and its characteristics while all the inherent properties like intellect and spiritual growth depend on the causal body (Samaskara) of the individual which is permanent and lasts till eternity till there is no birth and death and the spirit is set free. After it, there is no birth and death, and the spirit is set free after completion of the evolutionary process.

Purification of Different Koshas

(1) Annamaya Kosha or Physical body is purified by Swadhyaya, Pure Food from all senses and Mouth, Tongue, Ear, Eyes, Nose, Bhajans and Satsang.

(2) Pranamaya Kosha or the Vital body is purified by Pranayama and Yama and Niyama and Bhajans.

(3) Manomaya Kosha or Mental body is purified by Meditation, Bhakthi, Selfless Service to society, Pure Thoughts Satsang, Swadhya, and Bhajans.

(4) Intellectual Sheath or Vijananmay Kosha is purified by (i) Faith in God (Shradha), (ii) The Cosmic Rhythm (Rita), (iii) All the four paths of Yoga, (iv) Sathyam, (v) Maha Tattva (Tat Twam Asmi), Bhajans.

(5) Anandmaya Kosha or Blissful Sheath is the individual Spirit called "ATMA" - the SAT CHIT ANAND - but in a spark form which is an outcome of the universal SAT CHIT ANAND which we call Parmatma.

TOTAL HEALTH

In order to understand health, one must know the definition of health. Health is man's normal condition, living in accordance with the natural laws pertaining to the body, mind, soul and environment. WHO has said that man should be healthy Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Socially and Spiritually, and not merely being free from diseases. In order to understand these five factors, we have to agree with Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai Baba that man has got five koshas and three bodies. The Theory of Ayurveda has also confirmed this fact. The five koshas are as below:

1.        Annamaya kosha (Physical body)

2.        Pranamaya kosha (Vital body)

3.        Manomaya kosha (Mental body)

4.        Vigyanmaya kosha (Intellectual body)

5.        Anandmaya kosha (Blissful body)

Ayurveda, Rigveda, Samveda and Puranas further describe that body is composed of five elements called Panch Maha Bhutas: Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi, which are usually referred to as Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. (...)

to be continue