The Bodies and Energies.

Bodies

While all this energy moves about in subtle and gross channels, it creates what we think of as our “body”. But there is also what one might call field effects that interact with the chakra energies, producing what some call subtle “bodies”. Best way to think about it is that chakras are the roots of the divine in us and the bodies are those roots working at different resolutions. (I avoid using frequencies as that’s misleading)

The bodies are not the bodies of each chakra but bodies of a general resolution or level of density. The chakra energies work at all resolutions, although lower ones are more prominent at the denser energies and vice versa.

The Upanishads refer to these bodies or fields as the 7 purushas. The lower ones are sometimes called koshas or sheaths. Purusha is sometimes a term used to describe the one cosmic being or the soul or consciousness. In fact, there is only one purusha. But at different resolutions, it appears to be separate people with separate energy bodies. Simply put, the more consciousness is focused, the more localized it seems to be.

Purusha	is	includes	practice
Annamaya	food	etheric, physical	Hatha yoga
	5 elements: earth, water, fire, air, space
Pranamaya	prana	vital, emotional, sub-con.	Pranayama
	5 pranas: breath, elimination, voice, metabolism, circulation
Manonmaya	lower mind	ideas, mental forms, vital mind	Meditation
	5 Indriyas or sense impressions (subtle senses)
Vijnanamaya	higher mind	illumined, intuitive, intellect	Study
Anandamaya	bliss	the gap	(bliss)
Chaitya	soul	witness in the heart	(heart)
Sat	one	the one, consciousness	(oneness)

Sat leads to Sat Chit Ananda, full Self-realization.

Don’t get the idea that the bodies are separate. They are more like a rainbow of light, gradually shifting energies but with certain distinct qualities like the color bands. Each layer can be sub-divided into sub-layers in various ways, like a vital-mind overlapping mind with emotions. They also interpenetrate, so models calling for things like a physical-mental level as an awareness of the body is unnecessary as the mental body interpenetrates the physical.

[Update: recently ran into a reference to Chittamaya kosha and Atmamaya Kosha. These would not be recognized by some as they are typically seen as infinite, for example. However, in higher stages, even Atman is recognized as a kosha. ]

You’ll notice that ideas like “thoughts” and “emotions” occur at several resolutions. If you’ve had much meditation experience, you’ll recognize thoughts can be subtle or gross, as can feelings. What we call “mind” is a blend of energies.

There are a lot of other names for the subtle bodies, some I’ve used on this blog. A typical model is:

Physical

Etheric

Vital or emotional, sometimes called astral (widely abused term)

Mental or causal

Soul

In the above model, Annamaya includes the Physical and Etheric. Pranamaya is the vital/ emotional, and the higher mind would be the causal. There is clearly a strong relationship between the chakras and purushas, even if it isn’t directly 1:1. The Purushas are the divine flowing into form.

It’s less useful to call what’s above Anandamaya as a “body” as they’re not local. Bliss is on the edge of the “gap” or transcendent, placing anything beyond that pre-manifest. However, the soul body can be said to be the Purusha of the universe, sometimes called Hiranya Garbha or golden egg.

Pranas or Energies

Prana, life force or chi is another concept that’s almost universal. It is pneuma in Greek, ruah in Hebrew, mana in Polynesian.

Like the organs of action, pranas arise from the rajas guna of Prakriti. Yet prana itself is the energy that causes the gunas to move. Prana is the movement of Prakriti or nature. Prana is one but subdivides into 5 types. Prakriti itself is Shakti, the feminine aspect of God. Shakti might be defined as divine intention. We could also say prana is stirred by observation of Prakriti by Purusha. Purusha is Shiva, the male aspect of God.

Thus we can see pranas arise on the observed side whereas the purushas & chakras arise from the observer side. This is not a real difference but is perceived as such until well into unity.

Pranas are most dense in the Annamaya Purusha but most obvious in the vital body. Yet they operate in more subtle forms through the emotions and mind too. By the bliss body, it’s falling back into the source. It has the quality of air (movement) but can be seen to associate with other elements. Different pranas are also associated with general areas of the body and generally associated with a chakra. When they flow freely enough, they rise in volume up to the Sushumna, and one has “kundalini experiences”.

Prana	function	use	movement	element	chakra
Prana	breathing	assimilation, primary life force	forward, inward	air	heart
Apana	elimination	excretory, exhalation, reproduction	downward	earth	root
Udana	voice	evolutionary, will, mind	upward	space	throat
Samana	metabolism	digestion, growth, discrimination	balancing	fire	navel
Vyana	circulation	nutrients, thoughts	outward	water	nadis, 2nd

The different pranas create the different organs and aspects of the physical body. There is an association in the table with the mentioned elements and chakras, but this is generalized. Some further differentiate sub-types, such as 7 pranas in the head.

Some people can see the flow of prana as auras, especially the Samana prana. These are typically aspects of the etheric and vital bodies. Some people can see or “sense” deeper purushas although I’ve not corroborated which sorts of glows (golden, white, etc.) correspond with which purushas.

“A yogi, perfectly understanding Prana, and who can control it, would have control of the universe. All nature would be under his control.”
— Charlie Lutes

We’re built of energy and divine bodies, flowing through a point of observation. Next, we’ll explore how Myths and Resistance fit in.

By Davidya

Understanding your Energy System.

In the west, we’re brought up with a conceptual model of ourselves as physical beings who think and have emotions. Mind and feelings are typically seen as effects of physical functions. We are the side effects of a machine, victims of our biology as Bruce Lipton would put it.

However, if you do any internal exploration, you quickly discover that such a model doesn’t work very well. For example, your thoughts dictate your action and your experience having free will. How could this arise from effects? Soon it becomes apparent that the model is inside out.

When if you do any browsing for better models of life closer to your experience, you find various models of mind, energy, and spirit. A disjointed jumble of ideas like chakras, kundalini, auras, and astral travel. Not much to build a sense of reality on.

The most important thing to understand is that we are what observes. This is far more important than what we experience. What we experience arises from who we are, so that is the key. Knowing the container is better than knowing the content. But unless our experiences make some sense, we’re much less likely to relax into the observation of how we experience and see who we are.

Our Energetic System

“It is from prana (life force) that everything proceeds.”
— Chandogya Upanishad

Lifeforce, prana or chi is the energy that drives our expression. That causes our form to become. On the surface, we know this as breath, electro-chemical nervous system impulses, and our heart. Tha-thump. More subtly, this is a movement of subtle energy. More subtly still, a movement of light. And yet more subtly, it is the flow of lively intention, the movement of attention. In other words, prana is the flow of consciousness. Including your very breath.

Our subtle energy moves through a fundamental structure that is the same for all beings. It begins with intention. We are intended. The intention has the form of direction, what mathematicians would call a line. In ancient Vedic texts, it’s known as a sutra or thread. A perfectly straight white thread.

On this thread are 7 energy vortexes, essentially 7 values or qualities. Same energy, different functions. These energy vortexes are typically called chakras, a term that means wheels. The main channel between them is known as the Sushumna.

If you are unfamiliar, the 7 chakras are:

7	Crown of the head (Fontanella)	Sahasrara
6	Third eye – between the 2 eyes and slightly up	Ajna
5	Throat	Visuddha
4	Heart (central chest)	Anahata
3	Just above the Navel	Manipura
2	Top of sex organs	Svadisthana
1	The root of the spine	Muladhara

There are 2 secondary channels that run alongside the Sushumna, looping up the spine and intersecting at the 7 centers. One is called the Pingala and is associated with the male and left brain. The Ida is feminine, right brain.

The Ida and Pingala are often portrayed as entwined serpents. The Caduceus of Hermes symbol used in Western Medicine (originally Egyptian) illustrates this. Because they loop through the chakras, a correct illustration has 7 points of contact, including the tails and heads. The Sushumna, Pingala, and Ida are the 3 primary nadis or tubes.

The energy that flows in these channels is called kundalini. Kundalini is a blend of pranas, not a separate thing as is often portrayed. It’s also worth noting that Chakra energy is not prana. Chakra is the divine flow into expression, prana is the flow of nature. Kind of the male and female sides. I’ll touch on this more shortly.

Some refer to the Pingala as the basis of the parasympathetic and the Ida, the sympathetic nervous system. The Sushumna is the basis of the central nervous system.

From these primary nadis, a whole series of other channels branch out. The nadis are said to be formed by the flow of energy or prana. At key points of intersection, secondary chakras form – shoulders, elbows, hands, feet, and so forth.

“Among all these nadis, 72 thousand are important. Of these, 100 are the principle. And of these, three are particularly significant. Of these three, the most important is the Sushumna, which extends from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.”
— Swami Muktananda

Nadi’s are what the Chinese call meridians, although they focus on them slightly differently.

In western medicine, when nerves, arteries or veins interlace with each other, that point is called a Plexus. Almost a hundred such plexuses have been named in the human body, but the four primary nerve plexuses are the cervical, brachial, lumbar, and the sacral plexus, reflecting the chakras. These are also associated with the endocrine or ductless glands. These physical plexuses have their foundation in the subtle energy system or nadis. The nervous system does not mirror the Nadi system, but rather the energy of the nadis (prana) creates channels that guide the formation of the entire physical body.

Looks like…

Some of the most misleading information around chakras is all the stylized artwork you see around. Typically, you’ll see each chakra a single tidy color in a progressive rainbow, with the heart green in the middle.

This is not what the chakras are like. They are whirling vortexes of multicolored light, just like some aura pictures you may have seen. The thread extends up through the chakras and out the top of the head.

They are also equidistant and in a straight line, irrespective of the position of your body. Remember, we’re not talking about physical objects.

Another way people describe chakras is as flowers with each center having a progressively larger number of petals, the crown having a thousand. The chakras can be seen as 3 levels. The center is the vortex we’ve been describing. Slightly forward is a very flower-like expression that opens with giving attention. Outward flowing.

Behind the vortex is a similar structure, but flatter. Like a disc. It balances the flower, connecting to the flow, almost like a root.

We can also see various other aspects, like a vertical donut around the heart, a descending cone around the 2nd, crusts or caps on the tops of restricted centers, and so forth.

It’s worth further noting that there is only one set of 7 chakras in our universe. We all share the same 7 centers. Including all other life forms like plants, insects, etc. Each individual is just a personality, a variation on the single expression. I’ve described how we see our lives collapse into the moment and how all beings can collapse into the same. This is shifting to the more divine view where all is concurrent and timeless.

“If one could reach the subtle vibrations, one could see that the whole universe is composed of subtle vibrations; the whole universe is seen as an ocean of thought. In the ocean of thought, we exist as whirlpools of individual thought.”
— Charlie Lutes

By Davidya 

Butterfly Pose!

The Science Of Yogic Breathing | Sundar Balasubramanian | TEDxCharleston

Bridge Pose.

Lunge Pose.

Child Pose.