Ahwan - The Spiritual Approach to Life

DIMENSIONS OF OUR EXISTENCE- (Gross and Subtle bodies) Part1

Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty

We are all familiar with that story in Mahabharat when Yudhisthira was asked ‘what is that you find most intriguing?’ – kimAscaryam?.

His answer was: Ahani ahani bhutAni gachanti yamamandiram, Apare jivitum icchanti kimascryam atahparah.

Day in and day out all eventually enter the portals of death. Yet others keep clinging and striving for eternal life. What could be more intriguing?

In saying that, was Yudhisthira trying merely to expose the foolishness of the individuals – the jivas?

It does sound to be utter foolishness on the face of it when men continue to aspire to ward off death. But is it really so? If trying to prolong life is such a foolish exercise, why would God build this desire into the very nature of every living being, from a lowly insect to the highly developed man? On further thinking, why are we given a ‘life to live’ in the first place?

Surely, the gift of life is not given to us to be thrown away. And if it is not to be thrown away, then what is so intriguing about our trying to preserve it?

That is the moot point. Every ‘life’ happens to be the only opportunity whereby any development, any spiritual evolution can take place. No other means exists for any of us.

That is why, by nature inherent within us, we are all programmed to resist any decay or snuffing out of life within us.

We cling on to this opportunities and by the grace of Brahman these opportunities come in abundance to us.

While discussing about the theory of rebirth or punarjanma, (refer ‘Understanding our own position’ and ‘Concept of many births’ in July, October/November 2000 issues of AHWAN) we have understood ‘life’s essentiality, purpose of higher development and essentiality of change of state etc.

In the background of this concept a number of questions come naturally to all of us:

Can life be made to prolong indefinitely?
Is there a need to have so many life forms, plants, animals and all that?
Is ‘life’ confined to the ‘bodies’ that you and me and the ‘jivas’ in general possess?
Is there a final curtain in this drama of cycle of birth and death? And most importantly-
Who controls this whole process?

Philosophies that do not subscribe to the view of rebirths or the concept of evolution as a continuous progression, do not give much importance to human individual effort and potential to be capable of reaching the highest perfection and absolute freedom and atonement from his shortcomings and mistakes – or ‘sins’ as they like to put it. For them, man always remains short of perfection, always underdeveloped or partially evolved and is always condemned or condoned by The lord when the time comes.

But the sanAtan philosophy takes a very positive view of the ‘life’ (or lives) itself and the divine nature of the individual soul and its potential to conquer the process supplementing by its own effort – the effort that is known as yoga – and raise himself to the level of absolute perfection and purity and make himself deserving to be one with that entity Brahman, beyond which nothing else exists to aspire for.

Sanatan philosophy, let it be fully understood, does not accept despondency and despair, but always thrives with hope and confidence that finally the prize of knowledge, freedom and bliss will be for everyone.

To this end, God is his benefactor and guide, providing opportunities after opportunities. That is ‘life’ that we have, the meaning and purpose of it.

Once the very purpose of life is understood, the urge to prolong it is not difficult to appreciate. But that is only the beginning of our understanding. The larger question is: when we say ‘life’, which life are we talking about?

In common concept, our understanding of life is limited to the physical body that we have in our possession now. We are confused and tremble in fear when we see that in spite of all our efforts, this body is eventually nearing its end. The so called ‘death’ is staring at us.

That is the result of our ignorance. We simply think in the single dimension of the physical body and forget that our existence is an integral existence in more than one dimension. Therefore we indeed live in many levels of our existence simultaneously and not only in our physical level.
We in fact are constituted of many bodies or ‘sariras’ through which we simultaneously live and ‘life’ exists embracing all these sariras at the same time.

We have to first understand the concept of these different bodies or sariras. There are various explanations and one has to take in all the view points to get a mental and intellectual perception, before we can answer their possible span of existence and their behavioural pattern.

The gross physical body made up of bones, flesh and blood is the one we are familiar with. We ascribe the name of body or sarira conveniently to that. But because of that, one should not start imagining that other sariras are similar to that in physical terms.

Each sarira is synonymous with the specific level of consciousness (the brahma cetanA) that holds it or associated with it. Sthula or gross and sikshma or subtle are the two most simple nomenclatures. There are other nomenclatures carrying deeper meanings and describe with more precision the characteristics of each.

You must have heard of the five sheaths or panca koshas comprising of the food sheath (annamay sarira), vital sheath (prAnamay sarira), mental sheath (manomay sarira), knowledge sheath (jnanamay sarira), and the bliss sheath (Anandamay sarira). They all stand for different levels of consciousness spanning between the most gross (sthula) to the most subtle (sukshma) as differentiated by progressively higher levels of consciousness. (For more details about koshas articles ‘On Meditation’ parts 2 & 3 in AHWAN August and September 2001 issues may be referred)

Further probing deeper we also understand that between these five broad catagorisations there are indeed layers and layers of consciousness levels as the jiva (individual soul) makes its progress towards absolute consciousness (purna caitanya) or satchidananda.

It is important to know, what these so called sariras are composed of before we probe their span of existence. They are all constituted of different forms of energy, as the consciousness or cetana is also energy. The physical body, which is so material is also another form of same energy. In earlier discussions in AHWAN we have stated that energy and matter are interchangeable entities, all being of same substance.

When we say sthula sarira or sukshma sarira, gross and subtle bodies we only apply a simpler and easily understood categorization. Another often-used categorization is physical, mental and psychic. The concept is all the same. In any case man is a combination of all these levels at any given time.

Our only objective in life being to raise ourselves to the level of satchidananda, the sariras or bodies embodying different levels of consciousness are the supports which we use in our journey to that final destination. They are not progressive supports in the sense that perfection achieved in one stage is not subservient to the progress in other stages, but the qualitative consciousness at various stages work in coordinated complementality, one supporting the other. A set back or slowness in one affects our total consciousness level. As a weak and sense indulgent body will slow down our mental or higher mental progress, a wayward mind or faulty knowledge will also retard our overall progress.

It is the combined effort at all the levels that determines the distance we have covered in this journey. Without any one of them our evolution loses all its meaning. We need to have these bodies and therefore the next all-important question is, how long these bodies last?

Let us begin with the gross material body which is our physical body. Sri Aurobindo observed that “ the body is the instrument provided for the fulfillment of the right law of our nature…It can be therefore, no integral Yoga which ignores the body or makes its annulment or its rejection indispensable to a perfect spirituality.” We need the body. The present physical body that all of us have, being only a support will last as long as it remains supportive to our spiritual development. There is no fixed or predetermined life span as many believe. The life span is determined by how the body is being used for the only purpose it has been gifted to us. If by our ignorance and blatant misuse, it is rendered no more conducive to our purpose, it is time for a new body that will suit us better.

Evil conduct in life certainly reduces the life span of the body as misuse of a tool makes the tool soon damaged and useless hastening the need for going after a new tool. But interestingly even good and righteous conduct in life may also reduce the life span. Many known great souls have discarded their physical bodies comparatively early, and some other after a long period. But that aspect is neither here nor there. The reason is always the same. The present body has fulfilled its usefulness. The good man is ready for a higher stage of development and needs a more conducive body form under more conducive environment. How the body has been used by the person in that particular phase of his yoga sadhana remains as a lesson for others to follow.

The soul is never emotionally attached to any particular body. The embodied soul has one and only aim which is its spiritual ascent. Hence acquiring and discarding the body is only part of the process for the soul. The soul’s movement from one physical form to another is always for the better.

But the importance of having a physical body is never to be underestimated. It is the first gift of nature to the soul. It is the very soil, which holds the seed of consciousness and allows it to germinate and grow. All the subtle bodies extend from this gross physical body.

Our seers put it quite plainly. SariramAdyam khalu dharmasAdhanam. A body is the first requirement, then can only spiritual practice begin.

In sanatan philosophy this truth about the importance of the physical body was recognized thousands of years back. Development and sustenance of the body was made into an integral part of spiritual practice. ‘Yoga’ was born. It was Sanatan Dharma’s invaluable gift for the mankind. Great refinements taking inputs from thousands of intellectuals and spiritual practitioners was brought about taking the science of hathayoga into perfection and providing base for the eightfold astAngayoga.

The entire world, which now recognizes the uniqueness of Yoga as the panacea for human problems should be grateful to those early thinkers and practitioners.

A question is often raised here: If the body is so important why can not there be a mechanism by which man can have a body form without change and mutation? Some explanation is needed here to understand the decay that sets in our physical forms and we have this thing called the ‘death’ of the body.

All matters, are characterized by their need for continuous renewal and replacement. They are all kshara or subject to depletion, the only akshara or without depletion entity being Brahman himself. In other words, that aspect of Brahman which is manifested i.e. all the constituents of the creation, are differentiated from the substratum Brahman by being ever changing and ever mutating and ever evolving matter. The phenomenal creation (vyakta sansAra) is known as Jagat, meaning jayate gacchati iti- now comes to be and now vanishing.

But we need continued existence for the duration of our usefulness and need. The nature’s answer for this as Sri Aurobindo has explained, “ Life always seeks immortality; but since individual form is impermanent” – the material immortality is understood through the constant reproduction as a means for self preservation, self repetition and self multiplication. It also provides innumerable verities of forms that will exactly serve as the best form commensurate with accumulated sanchita and prarabdha fruits of karma of every individual. The individual soul goes through as many body forms until the end of its journey.

But the gross body is only one constituent. In spiritual parlance life is not about activities or movements confined to a gross form but the movement of the essence of living, encompassing all the dimensions of our existence- the gross and subtle bodies (sthula and sukshma sariras). If this truth is understood, one can comprehend the entire dynamics of continuous change, progressive development and the upward movement of the soul towards its final destination.