STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN VI
PRANAMAYA KOSHA (Energy Body)
The sheath of energy (life force) animates the physical and mental bodies. The Pranamaya Kosha energizes the minerals and chemicals composing the physical body into a living being; supplying energy to all components. The air element, or pranic force, creates vibration and life. Prana rides the breath. It allows our True Self to animate in the physical universe. It initiates life. The Old Testament tells of God breathing life into Adam.
DANCE OF SHIVA
Consciousness is purusa, unchanging. In order to exist as a material life form it must combine with matter that is always changing, prakriti. This is a paradox. The Hindu yogic tradition uses the myth of Shiva and Shakti to explain.
They are a divine couple, lovers in the fields of creation. Shiva is the seer, purusa, never changing, and Shakti is energy, prakriti, always changing. Shakti, the lover, wants to play a game of passion and creates a world inviting Shiva, the beloved, in to join her. Shiva points out the world is always changing and he is always the same. How can he play in her creation?
“You be the center,” she replies. “You remain in your unchanging bliss and I’ll intermediate between you and the outside world. I will build sheaths through which you can experience the fun of my world while doing nothing in eternal bliss.”
Five koshas (sheaths) surround Shiva, allowing the lovers to experience passion as the embodied soul.
Weight Loss Through Yoga, Jewel in the Lotus page 69
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN IV
Hindu yogic myth explaining how the soul assumes corporeal form:
YOGA = UNION
They are a divine couple, lovers in the field of creation. Shiva is the seer, purusa, never changing, and Shakti is energy, prakriti, always changing. Shakti, the lover, wants to play a game of passion and creates a world inviting Shiva, the beloved, in to join her. Shiva points out the world is always changing and he is always the same. How can he play in her creation?
“You be the center,” she replies. “You remain in your unchanging bliss and I’ll intermediate between you and the outside world. I will build sheaths through which you can experience the fun of my world while doing nothing in eternal bliss.”
Five koshas surround Shiva, allowing the lovers to experience passion as the embodied soul.
Recently, the University of Southern California released the results of a multi-year study on the common cold. The researchers said their findings showed that the most effective means of preventing the common clod was a five thousand year old yoga technique — irrigating the nose. As well as cleaning the sinuses and nasal passages, the technique was credited by the study with boosting the immune system. This simple daily procedure is demonstrated in detail with illustrations on pages 116 and 117 of the yoga manual: Weight Loss Through Yoga, Jewel in the Lotus. 
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN VIII
VIJNANAMAYA KOSHA (Wisdom Body)
The sheath of knowing, the Vijanamaya Kosha is often called the ‘Wisdom Body’. This is the knowledge inherent to the universe’s multitude of functional relationships that balance and order existence from the structure of subatomic particles to the spin of the cosmos.This is knowing beyond the information of the senses.
This is the paradox of seeing what is in the illusion. The ego (intellect) forms structure from experience, but at some point perceives the structure as only that, a construct. Here is understanding on the highest level, unfiltered intuition. Here we have the deepest insights, as we experience the moment. The Vijnanamaya Kosha is insight, integration and wholeness.
Design by Michele Savelle GIS & Graphic Design Photography by Wm Wickett Site by Sublime Point Design
