THE SPIRITUAL REALITY - Part 1

And what is this deepest? The physical body, being outside as a part of the physical world, should be considered an object like the other things of the world, and it is constituted of the five elements. This material body of five elements acts as a vehicle for certain powers that work from within. Our actions are movements of these powers.

There is an energy within the body which is other than the elements. This energy is called Prana or vital force. The Prana has many functions, which are responsible for the workings of the body.

The organs of action, viz., speech (Vak), hands (Pani), feet (Pada), genitals (Upastha) and anus (Payu) are moved by the motive power of the Prana. But the Prana is a blind energy and it needs to be directed properly. We know we do not just do anything at any time, but act with some, method and intelligence.

There is a directing principle behind the Prana. We think before we act. The mind is, therefore, internal to the Prana. But thought, again, is regulated by something else. We engage ourselves in systematic thinking and follow a logical course in every form of contemplation and action.

This logical determinant of all functions in life is the intellect, which is the highest of human faculties, and it is inseparable from the principle of the ego in man. All these functions of the psychological apparatus are, however, confined to what is called the waking state.

The human being seems to be passing from this state to others, such as dream and deep sleep. Though we have some sort of an awareness in dream, we are bereft of all consciousness in deep sleep. Yet, we know that we do exist in the state of sleep. This means that we can exist without doing anything, even without thinking.

The condition of deep sleep is a paradox for psychology and is the crux of the Yoga analysis. It is strange that in sleep we do not know even our own selves, and still we know that we do exist then. An experience, pure and simple, of the nature of consciousness alone, is the constituent of deep sleep, notwithstanding that we are not aware of it due to a peculiar difficulty in which we seem to get involved there.

In deep sleep, we have consciousness not associated with objects, and hence we remain oblivious of everything external. There is, at the same time, unconsciousness of even one’s own existence due to there being the potentiality for objective perception. The result is, however, that the deepest in the individual is consciousness, which is called by such names as the Atman, Purusha, etc.

This is the real Self.Now, what is the deepest in the cosmos? We learnt that there are five elements. But this is not the whole picture of creation. There are realities within the physical universe as they are there within the individual body. If the Prana, mind, intellect, ego and finally consciousness are internal to the bodily structure, there are also tremendous truths internal to the physical universe.

Within the five gross elements there are five forces which manifest the elements. These forces are the universal causes of everything that is physical, and are called Tanmatras, a term which signifies the essence of objects.

There is such a force or power behind the elements of Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Sabda or sound is the force behind Ether. But this sound is, different from what we merely hear with our ears. It is the subtle principle behind the whole of Ether, on account of which the ears are capable of hearing at all.

This is sound as Tanmatra. Likewise, there are the Tanmatras of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, called respectively Sparsa or touch, Page Divine Life Society, Sivananda Ashram, India Rupa or form, Rasa or taste and Gandha or smell. These powers are subtle energies immanent in the elements constituting the physical universe.

From - The Yoga System