The Gunas and the Kosas
If all memory is the province of citta, then does the atimanas kosa, which holds the samskaras have a citta component? If so then it would seem unlikely that there is a straight forward correlation between the kosas and the tattvas, e.g. that kamamaya kosa is citta, manomaya and atimanas are aham and vijinanamaya and hiranmaya are mahat. Perhaps each kosa is comprised of all three, but in differing proportions? Or there is some overlap?
Ananda Sutram 3-1 implies that the kosas are all part of the manifest mind and separate from the Aham and Mahat, thereby implying that they form in the citta? However, other passages suggest that together with the atman they form the whole being? E.g. in AS 3-5 it is said that a disembodied soul has no sense of pain or pleasure, which is the province of Aham Tattva and suggests that in death the Aham is also desolved? Or is it rather that without the crudest kosas the aham and citta do not function as fully as with them?
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Based on the functions given for the kosas, the lokas and the influence of the gunas (table above), one would have to give a rough correspondence as follows: annamaya and kamamaya kosa are related to mainly to the citta, the manomaya mainly to the aham, the atimanas kosa to both the aham and the mahat, and the vijinanamaya and hiranamya kosas to the mahat. It is likely that there is not more than a general correspondence between these two classifications, which are to some extent orthogonal rather than parallel.
On the other hand `samanya deha' is said to be a level of pure mahat and aham, beyond the kosas. This would suggest that all five of the kosas exist within the citta. ??? This is hard to reconcile with all the rest.
NOTE: In P. R. Sakar's usage, consciousness and mind are quite different concepts, with mind being a partial manifestation of consciousness, which is more fundamental.
Layers of Mind and Bodies
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The correlations between the Esoteric and other columns is not clear. In some works there is an Etheric body between the physical and astral bodies.
The standard psychic and new age view is
rather that higher levels involve higher frequencies and shorter
wave-lengths, i.e. higher energies.
In Valerie Hunt's work she was measuring
electromagnetic frequencies in the body. These were much higher
frequency than brain wave signals, and did show a good correlation
with psychic visualization of energies during healing processes.
These were also different from the regular brain-wave signals, both
in frequency and strength. [Was there any attempt to measure these
signals during meditation sessions?]
This suggests that we are talking about two different aspects of
mind or energy bodies. This also relates to the different views of
the chakras in the yogic and psychic literatures. Motoyama suggests
that this arises from viewing different levels or aspects of the
chakras. [Review this after finishing review of Ananda Sutram. If
the relationship of the kosas all manifest in the citta, then that
changes things.]
If one is `seeing' something, even in the sixth chakra (the `inner
eye') this is still an image in the citta, however, that does not mean
that the citta is picking out or generating the image. Likewise it may
not mean that one is using a high level kosa either. What levels of
mind are involved on both sides of the process. Perhaps most psychic work
actually involving the physical mind and actual physcial energy fields?
When the chakras are `read' this must all beat the same level of the
being, just as they all have physcial glands. If so which level is being
`seen'? Are all the aura levels also on the same level? It makes most
sense that most of this is taking place in the standard 3 yogic mental layers or kosas.
Michael Tamura has said that clairvoyance is working with the
transmedium space, the space between the conscious mind and the spiritual.
This would imply that one is using manomaya or atimanas kosas. It ought
to involve the mahat which is where the intuition lies, so we are back
to the kosa/guna question. if it is the manomaya, then it may be that
the work with pictures ect. is not really
working at the root samskara level, which involves the atimanas. This
is a key point.
The various stages of psychological
development can be associated with different
chakras. In this way the psychology of the Freudian anal stage relates to that
of the muladhara chakra. The psychology
of the Freudian phallic stage relates
to that of the svadhisthana chakra.
Adler's and Erikson's work with
inferiority are related to the psychology of the manipura chakra. The psychology of the
anahata chakra is reflected in the
work of Rogers and Fromm. [Y&P]
The Freudian oral stage is
seen as being an immature reflection of the nurturing psychology of the
vishuda chakra. While the development
related to the vishuda is that of devotion and trust in the infinite,
the infant displays a trust in the mother. However, this is not a
conscious devotion, and may come and go as needs are met or not met.
The first of which, if not outgrown, leads to
attachments to material objects and persons (finite objects) and a
desire for (or a fear of) merger in them and annihilation of the
conscious self (issues of the muladhara).
The other leads to an attachment to God (infinite object) and a desire
to loose the self by expansion into the universal consciousness (true
vishuda issues). The surface similarities
of these two states has led to a confusion in many western psychologies, which identify the
transcendence of the yogi with the dissolution of the psychotic. This
mirrors the association of both
the higher and lower aspects of mind into a single unconscious.
There is an apparent confusion between the use of "conscious",
"subconscious", and "unconscious" mind in the theory of the kosas and the use of "conscious" and
"unconscious" in western psychology,
The "conscious" of psychology really has more to do with the range
of ahamtattva than with a specific
layer of the mind. As one progresses in
sadhana, or other clearing
techniques, the consciousness expands and ones awareness may be
seated in the higher kosas. It is also common to associate the
"rational", intellectual mind with consciousness. And yet this is
the province of the analytical
manomaya kosa which is called the "subconscious" layer of mind.
It is true that much of the process of actual analysis may be
"unconscious", but when we work through an engineering problem it
seems quite conscious.
Note that the conscious mind is presented with perceptions that are layered with
meaning, the analytical function of the subconscious mind. This
process of giving meaning, is mostly not part of our conscious
awareness, though it can be brought into consciousness when
a new object or context is not immediately recognizable. It is
generally connected with the
emotions, in that there is an emotional aspect to the meaning.
Meaning is probably also relative to some reference point, which may be the
person's own body image. The
emotional content apparently depends on a clear relationship
between the self and the perceived object [SFF]. It is suggested
that all meaningful perception is
dependent on self-reference, without which consciousness and
understanding would be impossible [SFF]. This would only apply
to the physical world of the five factors.
It is an interesting question if our "other bodies", i.e. the
other layers of the mind also serve as
reference points for experience on other levels? Certainly there
can be no space, and any sense of that must be imported from the
experience of the physical body.
Time also would be perhaps only relative, and have little absolute
meaning (as in dreams). However, there is certainly still
consciousness and understanding.
The Frequencies of Mental Levels
The Chakras and the Physical Body
Correlation of Levels or Mind and Body
Chakra Nerve Plexuses Vertebra(1)
Physical Systems Muladhara Sacral and Coccygeal 4th Sacral -- Svadhisthana Sacral 1st Lumbar? Urogential Manipura Solar(Coeliac) 8th Thoracic Digestive Anahata Cardiac 8th Cervical Circulatory Vishuddha Superior, Middle, and Interior Cervical 3rd Cervical
Respiratory Ajna Pituitary Body and Interbrain
1st Cervical Autonomic Nervous and Hormone Sahasrara Cerebral Cortex, Entire Nervous System
-- All Tissues of the Body Psychological Theories and the Chakras
Consciousness in Different Systems
