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We saw in my earlier blogs on how the ‘divine’/’blissful’ energy came to be referred as such. I was able to express my thoughts on the common denominator that exists between the structure of the universe and the structure of the human in other blogs. I expressed my thoughts that the nature of this true infinite manifest (since the use of the term ‘energy’ in itself is limiting) can never be completely explained. We will come across the concept of ‘ADHRSTA’ or the unseen if we attempt so. As we cross frontiers after frontiers in the science, we understood how the concept of ‘ADHRSTA’ is staring at us at every breakthrough! Since we are not able to define the vast, intelligent, infinite manifest as anything but ‘GOD’ ,  let us look at the manifested universe and try to understand the tangible portion of this divine energy! We can term this divine manifest as the ‘ADI SAKTHI’ or the ‘PARASHAKTHI’. ADI means ‘root’ and Parashakti translates as “The Eternally Limitless Power”. In my opinion, this primordial continuum consists of, but not limited (Since we come across the concept of ‘ADHRSTA) to – infinite energy and infinite types of energies in infinite range of intensities, infinite intelligence and infinite types of intelligence in infinite range of intensities and infinite feelings/emotions and infinite types of feelings/emotions in infinite range of intensities. But, I believe that with respect to the last factor, the pridominat feeling/emotion is bliss as explained earlier. Thus, I believe that the divine energy is not only infinite and intelligent, it is very much alive and kicking! Look at the variety of species and prakruthi, just on earth - I see them all as multitude of ways in which the divine energy is letting us know that it is alive! For example, in the Vak system of the humans, the innermost (4th Layer) energy form of the speech is called ‘Para’ (intent/urge). At this layer, there is no differentiation between Prakruthi and Soul-Body complex. We have to depend on our mental faculties to understand the inner layers of this energy-mass continuum. Once this manifests in dimension-1, (a.k.a manifested universe), science is able to not only takeover this concept but also is able to direct this knowledge to the benefit of the lives on earth. Spiritualists on the contrary are not interested in dimension-1, but in the inner 4 layers of the Panchakoshanas. Once MAHAT is formed in the process of the creation of this universe, the 1st derivative of the ‘ADI SHAKTHI’ is seen as permeated in this layer. There may be several other 1st derivatives of this energy. This energy at the MAHAT is termed as ‘ICCHA SAKTHI’ or the ‘Energy of the will’. The concept of ‘Dark Energy’ in contemporary science comes close to this.  Karmic energy repositories for groups and souls, intelligence related to the governance of this Universe etc., lies in this layer. Thus- ‘ICCHA’ meaning ‘will’, means – ‘the will’ of the intelligence deriving from this great dark energy and dark mass continuum (MAHAT) where all the created souls are seen embedded like a lattice. For example, in the Vak system of the humans, the 3rd innermost-layer energy form of the speech is called ‘Pashyanthi’ (formation/assembly). Thus 'ICCHA' Sakthi exists for both the Prakruthi and the Soul-Body complex. The next layer of the universe laid over MAHAT is the Sukshma Universe where the ghost bodies of humans/Prakruthi exist. This Sukshma Universe is powered by the ‘JNANA SAKHTHI’ or the ‘Power of Knowledge’ which is the 2nd derivative of ‘ADI SAKTHI’ .There may be several other 2nd derivatives of this energy. Whose knowledge are we talking about? This is the knowledge of the Prakruthi which in turn is waiting to be explored by the science. When you consider the humans in this light, we may see a slight disconnect. A ghost of a dead man may have feelings but will not have intelligence (the act of thinking). Hence is it right to call this as ‘JNANA SAKTHI’? The answer is that this is term used with reference to the Prakruti and not the human embedded in it. For a living human, whose ghost body and physical body, coexist, while the person is alive, this JNANA Sakthi is what is powering his ‘act of thinking’. It is possible, that the ghost bodies of other living things in this dimension may have a different dimension-1 body/prakruthi in their context other than what we, humans have. For example, in the Vak system of the humans, the 2nd innermost energy form of the speech is called ‘Madhyama’ (mind voice/act of thinking). Thus 'JNANA' Sakthi exists for both the Prakruthi and the Soul-Body complex.   Finally, emerges the manifested universe. The 3rd derivative of the ‘ADI SAKTHI’ is called ‘KRIYA SAKTHI’. ‘Kriya’ means – action. So, all the energy powered actions – visible/invisible can be attributed to this energy. All the other derivatives of this energy has been adequately explored by science and we have not stopped with our current understandings. Again, this is the 'KRIYA SAKTHI' of the prakruthi. With respect to a human or a living thing, this Kriya Sakthi is primarily designed to be provided by the food that is eaten since some part of intelligence and karma has a play in this activity. For example, in the Vak system of the humans, the manifested, expressed energy form of the speech is called ‘Vaikhari’ (Spoken words). Thus 'KRIYA' Sakthi exists for both the Prakruthi and the Soul-Body complex. Similar to the 4 layers of energy discussed above we can contemplate about the mass or the combined continuum. Perhaps the vacuum in space is limited only to this dimension! Similar to the vak system, we, in our endeavour to understand this manifested universe, should explore the other principles that are currently in incomplete state.   Reference: https://www.mayoan.com/post/33-the-vak-system-or-the-system-of-speech-in-humans https://www.mayoan.com/post/26-the-panchakoshanas-or-5-sheaths   Part 2 of this blog is at : https://www.mayoan.com/post/46-about-the-layers-of-the-divine-energy-part-2 Hari om!

Please refer to the Part 1 of this blog at - https://www.mayoan.com/post/41-workings-of-the-consciousness-mind-body-complex . Now let us explore this topic further in the context of tri-gunas ( https://www.mayoan.com/post/24-the-trigunas ) and the adopted value systems ( https://www.mayoan.com/post/31-value-education-at-schools-and-universities ). Our objectives to excel as humans, if simplified and distilled, will become the below 2 – 1.    Be good at heart and 2.   Whatever you do, be in pursuit of excellence and in every passing day, build your knowledge and intelligence and if possible, at least occasionally, commit great experiences. The experiences that a human goes through -can be one of the 3 possible states- grouped as tri-gunas – Sattva, Rajo and Tamas. Each of these states will generate its own 1.      Physical effects 2.      Mental Thoughts 3.      Soul Impressions Sattvic experiences does good to body, mind and soul. Rajo experiences create action and sense of purpose/pursuit and challenges status quo. Tamasic experiences retards the progression of a soul. Based on the intensity of these experiences and the related thoughts, impressions are created in the soul which may drive the destiny of the soul eventually. It helps if a person has accepted several layered virtuous value systems. Because of a series of good, layered value systems the below may happen: 1.      PHYSICAL EFFECTS: An accepted/well-integrated value system may give directions to the host on what to smell, what to taste, what to see, what to touch and what to hear. Further, it may help him decide on where to go, what to take/accept, what to speak etc., Thus the physical effects are filtered by the adopted value systems into manifesting externally or to get stored internally in the impressions of the soul.   2.      MENTAL EXERCISES: Similarly, an accepted/well-integrated value system may give directions to the host on whom to accept as a Guru, which knowledge base to build, which profession to take or to choose hobbies and habits.   3.      SOUL IMPRESSIONS: Further, prolonged sattvic experiences like kundalini practices (as part of Kriya/Raja yoga practices), deep professional mastery/acumen (as part of Karma yoga practices), meditations/Bhakthi/Bhajans (as part of Bhakthi yoga) and passion to acquire soul enriching knowledge (as part of Gnana yoga practices) – can lead to a super stoic state where the in-built/strengthened value systems can prevent the storage of disturbing tamasic experiences into the soul impressions. Thus, a super soul is born. These super souls might have evolved/involuted over time which means, they may be storing past tamasic experiences as impressions in their soul. These super souls can supress any such impressions from emerging or they can even expel it from their store house of impressions as part of purifying their souls. We know from part -1 that the brain-based cache memory storage system and Chittam based hard memory storage system – both throw up conscious and subconscious thoughts into the manas and we know that few of them will get selected to be processed in the buddhi as conscious and subconscious acts of thinking. Consider, 2 people both eating and watching television. Based on their adopted value systems, for one person the observing the television becomes a primary activity and related thoughts become the conscious thoughts and the act of eating becomes a secondary activity with its own subconscious thoughts. For the other person with a different adopted value system, his primary activity and conscious thought may be set on the food and his secondary activity and subconscious thought setting may happen on watching the television ! Here we should also be aware that a stoic/seasoned super soul (say a protagonist) may have several strong built-in good value systems that operate in the conscious/subconscious layers of the mind/buddhi. And he may be having several conscious/subconscious thoughts all at once in a related flux in his Consciousness-Mind-Body complex that for the ordinary people it may be impossible to know his intent or next action by merely observing this flux of thoughts ! Now, I sincerely believe that an accepted/well-integrated value system may control what gets thrown into the mind (manas) as well as into the intelligence (buddhi). Which means the right value systems can operate in both conscious or sub-conscious manner. After all, these value system principles also operate like a meta-level conscious/sub-conscious thoughts! These meta-level conscious/sub-conscious thoughts need great deal of reinforcements (possibly by all 4 margas or paths – Kriya yoga, Karma yoga, Bhakthi yoga and Gnana yoga) to become a guiding meta-level principled thought system that can help vacate tamasic thoughts (ans allow the desired rajasic thoughts) in the system before it takes root. We already know of the 3-doshas from my blog ( https://www.mayoan.com/post/32-tri-doshas-or-3-malaises ). Based on what we experience in our total consciousness-mind-body system, imbalances may get created in the physical and astral bodies creating a tamasic base for various kinds of mental and physical diseases to form. So the foundational principle for being in a good state of health means to avoid tamasic experiences totally and to have rajasic experiences with good control and to binge on sattvic experiences.   Hari Om !

I thought it is time to clarify how the mind-body complex along with consciousness works. Please refer to my blog on the Koshanas - https://www.mayoan.com/post/26-the-panchakoshanas-or-5-sheaths . The Intelligence or Buddhi is related to the brain organ of the gross physical body (Annamayakoshana). The Mind or collection of thoughts is related to the chakras of the astral body (Manonmayakoshana). The Consciousness is what remains further inside – in the Pranamayakoshana, Vignanamayakoshana and Anandamayakoshana as tanmatras, impressions, intuitions, enlightenment etc., Let me write my understanding of certain terms before I try to explain the inner workings. The terms are lined up from deep inside (Ahankara) to the outside (physical gross-body) basis: 1.      Ahankara: This is the ‘I’ ness rooted in the soul. This is the strong basement upon which the super-structure of consciousness-mind-body complex is built.   2.      Chittam: Locus of all impressions. It operates in both the modes – pull and push. Please refer to my other blog - https://www.mayoan.com/post/39-chittam-or-the-impressions-of-the-soul .   Pull mode: Sensory organs (both Karmendriyas and Gnanendriyas) in the gross body pulls thoughts from the chittam into the mind and then the intelligence (processing by brain with co-relations and context building), possibly commands an action out of it.   Push mode: The karmic store creates and raises thoughts into the mind. This can be aided by certain triggers released ‘inside’ by the sensory organs of the gross body. For example, if a person is karmically destined to be in USA in a certain phase of life, a sensory act of seeing a bird in flight, may trigger a thought to buy a ticket to USA that raises up into the mind. Then the brain-based intelligence adds additional context related to schedule, visa proceedings, expenses, outcome etc.,   3.      Mind or Manas : This is centred in the heart and related to the astral body (not gross body) and literally for an ordinary person, it is a storm of thoughts that constantly plays out in the mind (conscious or sub-conscious) because of constant pull and push functions mentioned above. Hence meditation can help such persons to calm down a stormy mind and therefore to have a calm external disposition. A stormy mind (say with repetitive same stressful thoughts) can lead to an agitated-stressful brain organ.   Conscious thoughts:  These are thoughts that are actively processed by the brain. This can again be of 2 kinds – that which is accompanied by a mind-voice (also raised while reading a book), or that which just remains as a thought in working. In the vak system this occurs in the Madhyama phase.   (please refer to my blog - https://www.mayoan.com/post/33-the-vak-system-or-the-system-of-speech-in-humans  and https://www.mayoan.com/post/29-communications-flow-between-astral-physical-bodies )   Sub-conscious thoughts: These are the thoughts that has manifested in the Pashyanthi phase and briefly felt in the Madhyama phase in an abstract manner or in an out-of-focus manner. Psychologists have to curate these thoughts from Madhyama to understand the psyche of a person because it is difficult for an ordinary person to lie in the Para/Pashyanthi phases, but it is easy for that person to lie in the Madhyama/Vaikhari phases. The above conscious or unconscious thoughts(tamil word for this is 'ennam') can come from brain-based-cache like memory system or Chittam-hard storage like impression based system. Please note that - at least some of the brain based superficial thoughts that originated in an outside-to-inside manner - can never reflect in Pashyanthi (or the stored tanmatra for that Pashyanthi) unless it is meant to be stored as an impression in the chittam. It depends on the intensity of the thought (or the physical experience that resulted in the thought) to get registered in the Chittam. I think this tanmatra of a powerful thought stored as an impression in the Chittam, and the 'adhi sakthi' (dark energy) from the MAHAT is the Para form of the speech when this is raised again from stored impressions into the mind.   4.      Buddhi or Intelligence: This is centred in the throat chakra and the brain part of the gross body plays a vital role in this function. This is where a thought is processed and additional information, additional contexts, plan of action etc., are decided. I think the current body of science related to biology has to enhance based on the new understandings coming from the consciousness-mind-body complex. What thoughts are processed by the brain from the manas is decided by the value systems adopted by the host. Sometimes the actions expended from thoughts are challenged by the same value systems adopted by the host. This act of thinking (tamil word for this is 'sinthanai') in the brain can also be in a Conscious or Subconscious manner.   5.      Action by Karmendriyas/ Gnanendriyas: Based on the finalized thoughts, commands are issued by brain to the Karmendriyas to either turn or walk or take or speak or excrete or copulate. The brain can also issue commands to the Gnanendriyas to smell (to process the smell entering the nose) or taste (to taste the food placed on the tongue) or see (followed by processing of the sight) or touch (to feel the temperature) or to hear (to focus on a particular feeble sound).   The actions in the brackets above are the follow-up actions of the brain!   Please note that these Gnanendriyas based action can be conscious or subconscious. Sometimes the Karmendriyas based action can also be subconscious (like in driving).     To put everything in the perspective let us recap the above concepts through a simple exercise. This time we will revisit the above concepts through an earthly example in an outside-to-inside manner.   Let us say Mr.X is walking along a downtown street.   1.      His eye sees a Red-Velvet cake. 2.      His brain picks up the information and by co-relations, it immediately adds some context – like – ‘It looks good!’, ‘It looks hygiene’ etc.,), Here, I believe in the modern science which talks about a cache memory system operating out of the brain organ. The immediate reactions may be coming from this cache system. Imagine brain-based memory as a ‘cache memory system’ and the ‘Chittam based impression’ as a ‘hard drive storage system’). 3.      Now because of the thought flux, some thoughts based on additional but related contexts are elevated into the mind from the Chittam. As an example, these can be the below ones: -          Conscious thoughts:  About ‘his age’, ‘his heath’, ‘his calorie adds’ etc., -        Subconscious thoughts: About ‘his scare on the last visit to the clinic’, ‘his deceased wife likes it too’, etc., 4.      Let us say, there is a + ve karmic load on Mr.X at this juncture in his life. So, one of the +ve karma is related to the ‘joy’ of moving to a higher position with higher remuneration’ that further leads to a multitude of pleasant experiences. It is waiting to materialize based upon a trigger event. 5.      Mr. X’s brain quickly analysis all pros and cons and decides to intake the Red-Velvet cake into the gross body. 6.      Mr. X’s brain orders his feet to walk towards the bakery, orders his hands to pick up his wallet, and certain subconscious thoughts triggers his light salivation at the thought of eating this delicacy and so on. Thus the Red-Velvet is purchased and eaten. 7.      The Law of Karma may decide this action of soulful eating to be the trigger and arranges certain happy sequences of events to happen in Mr.X’s life.   Consider- a normal person who was immersed in earthly activities in the past, and at the time of retirement, say, he turns spiritual and seeks peace and becomes a recluse. His life is then considered to be consisting of 2 grand phases - Evolution and Involution. Consider my blog on the Varnashramadharma at - https://www.mayoan.com/post/17-varnashramadharma-in-my-point-of-view . Evolution : This is when he goes through the first 3 phases of the 'asrama' dharma. This is heavily dominated by physical activities. Involution - This is when he goes through the last 2 stages of the 'asrama' dharma. This is heavily oriented towards mental/meditational activities. While it is possible that a single life may contain remnants of both evolution and involution, It is also possible that a soul's progression from being in evolution and then further into involution may span several births. To give a very crude example, a soul starting as a fish can evolve successfully by birthing into higher organisms in multiple births before it takes the human form (as a great guru or rishi) and attains mukthi. Probably, I will write more about evolution and involution as it applies to a soul's journey later. For now, it is good to know that the 'asrama' dharma talks about this concept in a single human's life. Part-2 of this blog can be found at - https://www.mayoan.com/post/42-workings-of-the-consciousness-mind-body-complex-part-2 . Hari Om !

In one of the earlier blogs we talked about astral and physical bodies and how they are related ( https://www.mayoan.com/post/12-the-domination-of-astral-body-over-gross-body ) In this blog, I dwell and try to ruminate a little more on this topic. While a person is living, his physical or sthula body is playing a dominating role. After death, the astral body may live a little more and thus is considered more dominating than the sthula body. Let us understand how the different apparatus of an integrated human body plays out. This is purely my assumption of how the 2 bodies interplay while a person is alive or when he is dead. Please refer to my other blog, if you have not done so earlier, before proceeding - https://www.mayoan.com/post/11-the-construct-of-a-human 1.      Outside to Inside communication : The Karmendriyas or organs of action does the actions necessary driving from free-will. The action and the outcome is processed by the brain based intelligence and then is felt by the heart based feelings, if necessary, in different intensities as demonstrated by the emotions. The Gnanendriyas or organs of senses converts its inputs which are processed by our brain and again it may be converted into heart-based feelings if necessary. The intelligence-based inputs and heart-based feelings are then converted into tanmatras and is passed by the 3rd koshana-Pranamayakoshana- ( https://www.mayoan.com/post/26-the-panchakoshanas-or-5-sheaths ) to the chittam This tanmatras impinges on the chittam (locus of all impressions)   2.      Inside to Outside communication : From the chittam, based on karmic inducements or other interactions, selected impressions climb into manas. Few of the selected, may, then climb into buddhi. A person may experience a glimpse of a impression, while it is residing in chittam, as a feel and undefined by a language construct. Intuition is also a feel from the chittam. (The vak system consisting of para, pashyanthi, madhyama and vaikhari will be taken up later in a separate blog) Those thoughts from soul's impressions can be of 4 kinds: Conscious/Sub-conscious 'acts of thinking' processed by the brain (tamil word for act of thinking is 'sinthanai'). Conscious/Sub-conscious thoughts processed by the manas (tamil word for the thought is 'ennam'). Conscious/Sub-conscious thoughts that lead to some actions through Karmendriyas Conscious/Sub-conscious thoughts that lead to some sensory feelings through Gnanendriyas These thoughts in manas can again induce some sensory perception. This is different, in the sense that it is not as strong as those from the sensory perceptions coming out of Gnanendriyas (in the outside to inside process). Now if we break-up the above process into its constituents and map it the first 2 layers of the human bodies, we obtain the below mapping: Karmendriyas – Present in sthula body and astral (sukshuma) body. The Karmendriyas in astral body is not as fully defined as in the sthula body. Gnanendriyas – Present in sthula body and astral(sukshuma) body. The Gnanendriyas in astral body is not as fully defined as in the sthula body. In fact, the basic 3 functions – FOOD, SEX and SLEEP are not attainable fully in astral-body only existence and hence this transient condition propels it to the next stage naturally. Hence this astral-body only existence is considered as not sustainable. Intelligence or Buddhi – Present in sthula body (brain centred) Manas or thoughts – Present in astral body (heart centred) Chittam/Ahankara – Present in the soul. Now, while we are in pursuit of excellence, and expend our karmas, this outside to inside communications and vice-versa takes place continuously. From the chittam (holding all past and current impressions), a real world person can get the required information/wisdom through intuition, beliefs/assumptions and facts. Sometimes a known fact from chittam can be converted into an assumption by the same person due to doubts arising from his intelligence. The reverse process - a real world person's scientific knowledge, beliefs, facts and assumptions can get stored in chittam as impressions. These impressions of chittam are generally believed to last over several life-cycles of birth that soul may probably undertake. Please also read - Vak System - https://www.mayoan.com/post/33-the-vak-system-or-the-system-of-speech-in-humans A Human - https://www.mayoan.com/post/11-the-construct-of-a-human Hari Om!

It took me considerable time to map the koshanas concept to the human form with all the functions. So let me explain the Panchakoshanas as I understand it. The 5 sheaths of a human existence are: 1.     Annamayakoshana - The physical sheath 2.     Manonmanyakoshana - The astral or ghost sheath 3.     Pranamayakoshana - The Pancha prana sheath 4.     Vignanamayakoshana - the soul itself as sheath 5.     Anandamayakoshana - The 'existence' (?) after the great merge or the bliss sheath Let us look at their functions briefly. 1.     Annamayakoshana: This is the external form of a human, this is manifested (also as eating action by mother - while the child grows in the womb) and maintained by the action of eating once the individual is born. Please note that it is said in some scriptures that, just before entering the birth canal, a new born experiences a special type of prana - called - 'Vaishnava Prana', that passes over the brain in a down to up manner, and completely erases any past memories. Thus the baby starts with a clean slate - ready for wordly inputs. It is sometimes thought that this is the same prana that causes the water to break, in a 100% natural birth. This body exists to expend karma in the external world. The below organs of actions (5 Karmendriyas) are used to expend karma through this sheath: Speech or Vak – Mouth Grasp or Paani – Hands Move or Paada – Foot Excrete/Expulse or Paayu – Anus/Rectum Fornicate or Upastha – Sexual organs In nutshell, this is the conveyor of actions to the external world. Food nourishes this sheath. Some where, I have read that some indian sadhus claim that they have practiced some stringent sadhanas by which they directly observe energy from sun or prakruthi or MAHAT. 2.     Manonmayakoshana: This is the astral or ghost body of a human. This is manifested at conception and grows as the body grows. Sometimes they may stay for some additional time after the physical form is destroyed. In the ordinary souls, the Annamayakoshana and Manonmayakoshana, together act to feel the effects of internal sense organs or the 5 Gnanendriyas. They are as given below: Sight or Chaksu – Eyes Hearing or Shrotra – Ear Smell or Ghraana – Nose Taste or Rasaana – Taste Touch or Sparshana – Skin Please note how the senses are sensed by our brain/mind complex to produce the intended effect. In nutshell, this is the conveyor of senses to the internal organs. The related astral body is a transient state and hence there is no ability to eat, sleep or have sex. 3.     Pranamayakoshana: This is the third sheath consisting of 5 main and several sub Vayus. You may imagine this to be a flexible/fluidic sealed bottle containing 5 primary gases each maintaining their individuality/functions by flowing through the Nadi systems (like the great barrier reef of the human body !. I tend to imagine that the complex personality of each human is being reflected here as a multi-facetted arrangement of fluidic-sealed bottle and perhaps the multi-colored reef occurring naturally is reminding us this complexity). They convey the senses from the first two sheaths to soul as effects of tanmatras. The five pranas or Pancha pranas are listed below with their auxiliary functions. The auxiliary functions are adequately explained in the link provided in the reference section. Prana Vayu – Vayu flowing and operating in head and thoracic region. Apana Vayu – Vayu flowing and operating in lower abdominal region. Samana Vayu –Vayu flowing and operating in the upper abdominal region. Udana Vayu – Vaya flowing and operating in the throat, head, and face regions. Vyana Vayu – Vayu flowing, operating, and permeating the whole body. Please note that some Gurus consider the process of death as compete, only when the Vayus are completely withdrawn by the MAHAT. When the accounted/set karmas of the life are exhausted, MAHAT withdraws these Vayus and completes the process of death. There is more to these Pranamayakoshana and perhaps when the time comes, I may write another blog just on this third sheath. 4.     Vignanamayakoshana: This is the fourth sheath – the soul. (also called as causal body or 'Karana Shariram') This is indestructible till the great merge happens. When the pranas convey the senses (while performing the karmic activities) as tanmatras to the soul, it faithfully transfers the sensations to the great divine energy. This feedback required by the divine energy is caused by the primordial question that originated in the divine energy – “Who am I?” Imagine the infinite commits (of sensations) by the various life forms to the divine energy – all culminating finally in the great merge after its journey through many types/forms of bodies-thus committing/reinforcing the answer to the primordial question as “I am God”!! Please refer to my other related blog at - 5. The Great Merge ( mayoan.com ) 5.     Anandamayakoshana: This is the divine energy itself – the final “Mukthi” state of an individual soul. This is bliss itself as existence. Another important consideration is how the actions of Karmendriyas can impact pranas and how it is consequently converted as tanmatras and transferred to soul and then to the divine energy. Similarly, the sensations of Gnanendriyas too are imposed upon soul as tanmatras. And the thoughts/free-will, themselves, from the mind/intelligence complex are imposed as "Chittam" right into the soul itself - and they become the locus of all impressions for that soul. They remain as impressions affecting several forms that the soul may take in its journey through countless life-death cycles, or such thoughts cleansed in hellish situations as part of dispensing justice or expending karma. But note that our regular physical breathing is not the same as these Pranas. Controlled breathing, a smaller number of breathing cycles leads to- (means -less activities), less agitation in the koshanas and hence less agitation in Chittam. The reverse is true too - a smaller number of thoughts (alpha state of mind - say for example, 4 thoughts in a minute), leads to less energy consumption and helps us present a calm disposition. Please note the act of brain too as part of mind-body complex. The sensations from the sense organs are felt by brain, processed, and then transferred to the pranas by mind. On the inside-to-outside transfers, the Chittam presents thoughts relevant to current context to the mind, and it is the brain that converts these thoughts into actions by activating the Karmendriyas. Also, note that the mind as captured in statements like - "love felt in the heart", "a hearty laughter", "a brave heart", etc., is centered in the heart but the intelligence is centered in the brain (when someone emphasizes advanced concepts to their students and ask them to think, they unconsciously point to their head while speaking about it). Thus, intelligence acts as an effective filter to mind in an outside to inside manner (have you heard 2 people verbally fighting, and at the end when they make up- they sometimes say - "I hope you have not taken it to the heart !!"). And it acts as effective filter to control actions in an inside to outside manner. In a cosmic sense, thus, mind dominates over intelligence and the purpose of intelligence is to generate super refined higher thoughts in mind - in an outside to inside manner. Conversely, when mind processes only higher intelligent thoughts, in an inside to outside manner, the resulting actions, become great and commendable! Please note the mind itself acts as an internal sense organ - that passes, unexpressed thoughts (through Karmendriyas), and feelings such as jealousy, greed, rage etc., to the "Chittam" and as the same as tanmatras to the divine energy. So, we can consider our brain (intelligence/thinking) to be our tool that is essential for survival. But mind(feelings) is some part of you - yourself!! Having said that and since we are constantly fighting for justice/freedom/success etc., we cannot underestimate the importance of our tool- the brain, since it, the intelligence, is a fundamental requirement when we are in pursuit of excellence. After the Great Merge, it is said that we FEEL bliss for eternity, but as long as the brain of a soul, as part of survival instinct, differentiates the divine energy and THINKS it as a separate God, Great Merge may not happen for that soul.   I presume that for the last 3 koshanas, the energy comes directly from MAHAT. When the intake of this energy stops, (a related term is 'Pranan left the body)', death happens- this is the real death and not the medical death observed in the 1st and 2nd koshanas. We also must think about how the 3- imperfections (Please refer to my other blog - 20. The 3-Imperfections ( mayoan.com ) ) operate in these sheaths. The first imperfection, ‘Anavam’ – operates in the soul itself. The second imperfection, ‘Maya’ – operates in the first two sheaths. The third imperfection, ‘Ganmam’- operates in the first sheath. Sage Patanjali has similar classifications called Kleshas which are five in number. 1.     Avidya or ignorance – I consider this as Maya as above. 2.     Asmita or I-am-ness – I consider this as Anavam as above. 3.     Raga or Attachment – I consider this as Maya as above. 4.     Dvesha or Repulsion – I consider this as Maya as above. 5.     Abhinivesha or Will to live or survival instinct – I consider this as Anavam as above. Thus, we can see how Sage Patanjali considers the Ganmam to be a by-product of Maya and Anavam , and thus has treated it as such.                                                 Reference: 1.       Pancha Prana Vayu - The Five Energy Flows in the body ( yogicwayoflife.com ) 2.       https://www.yogabasics.com/learn/the-cause-of-suffering-the-kleshas/   Hari Om!

We have to note that upon death of the human, the astral or ghost body leaves the human body and then the human body decays upon time. If you are lucky (!) , you may spot the ghost body !! On contrary, just for a satirical line of thought , if it happens that upon death of a human, the ghost body dies and the gross body lives, we may really see lot of zombies amongst us !! Consider this for the other living species too!. What a morbid, ghoulish and ghastly scene it would be on planet earth ! Fortunately, the divine energy is intelligent enough to design better. Now extend the same idea to other non-animate objects. The difference between animate and non-animate objects are that animate objects will have soul and non-animate objects will not have soul inside - they are inert with a mass , part of prakruthi. So every living object in dimension 1, will have a astral body in dimension 2 which in turn will have a soul in dimension 3 (MAHAT). Similarly every non-living object may have a astral body in dimension 2 which has directly derived from the dark matter of MAHAT with no soul in it. Consider the below act to understand better: Mr.X takes a stone and hits Mr.Y Now picture this: The physical body of Mr.X takes a stone of mass from dimension-1 and hits the physical body of Mr.Y - Dimension 1 The astral body of Mr.X takes a stone of mass from dimension-2 (having perhaps, the exact shape) and hits the astral body of Mr.Y - Dimension-2 The soul of Mr.X moves some dark matter towards the soul of Mr.Y using dark energy- Dimension 3 (MAHAT) In a hypothetical situation, consider that a brilliant scientist dies in his laboratory with all his lab equipment in working condition. And let us consider that he is also a transcendental meditation practitioner and a spiritualist with good understanding of the ways of working of the universe. If he is extraordinary in his intelligence and has promising intuitions on the after-life, he may do the ultimate thing as a learner - that is to observe himself dying and understand the process of dying. Since he is considered as a advanced soul, due to his intelligence and spiritual practices, it is fair to assume that he will retain his intelligence and knowledge in his astral body too in dimension-2. Since he is an advanced soul, he may build a body in dimension-2 over his astral body in dimension -2. Because of his exposure to science field, he is knowledgeable in the current gaps of science as a body of knowledge and he decides to live in dimension-2 to explore science in dimension 2. Let us suppose, by providence and divine intervention, he is not harmed by anything or anybody in dimension-2 and he is still in his lab with all the tools now seen to be made up of mass from dimension-2. Say for convenience, he moves one of his tool , a microscope to another part of the lab in dimension -2. But the microscope in dimension-1 remains in the same place- which means the microscope's dimension-1 body and dimension-2 body are separated - Looks like the microscope has died (!) , since if the same thing happens to a human , i.e. if his physical body and astral body are separated , it means that human has died in dimension-1. By extrapolation of the fact that in a human if the body in dimension-2 is separated from the body in dimension-1, the body in dimension-2 (ghost or astral body) continues in its journey of life till his astral body is peeled off and dispersed by the law of karma which also directs the unmasked soul to a new womb (I call this process as 'THE SILENT AND INVISIBLE STORM'). Here the new womb may be present in a part of universe (STAGE) where the karmic load of the soul can be expended better for that soul. If we look at the proposed representation of the construct of the universe, we may see that the similar forces/laws are operating in the dimension-1 and dimension-2 but has different qualities. Thus it should be possible for the scientist's astral body to use the microscope in dimension-2. He may continue his work as scientist in dimension-2 and, with his inference and knowledge from dimension-1, he may understand the scientific principles of dimension-2 as well. Since stranger things may happen in dimension-2, we have to be ready for any number of surprises that the study of that scientist produces. Since he is an advanced soul, he should be able to transfer this knowledge of dimension-2 to the body of knowledge in dimension-1- but this time he may be seen to be transferring his knowledge to the spiritual body of knowledge and not the scientific body of knowledge !! I see a similar line of concept in Ayurveda where there are statements related to the health of an individual, which claims that all diseases of a human body in dimension-1 has corresponding one or many root manifestations in the astral body in dimension-2 ! Hari Om!

We discussed about the construct of the universe which we often state as the 'STAGE'. Now we have to discuss the construct of the ACTORS. Since the human species is the most complex of all the organisms in this planet earth, let us take this as a sample to explore the construct of species. This is not any way related to the anatomy of the human body in dimension 1 explaining the different body systems or the explanation of astral body with the chakras and the Nadi systems in dimension 2. Similar to the stage , the actor is also seen spanning the dimension 1, dimension 2 and the MAHAT. I am presenting a picture of the construct of a human spanning the 3 dimensions: The above construct is an inside out perspective and also and outside in perspective that is valid in both dimensions - 1 & 2. The organs of action carry out the karmic activities as guided by the manas and rooted by the 'I'-ness factor called AHANKARA. The five organs of actions are Mouth, Hands, Legs, Excretory organ and Reproductive organ. The sensory organs under the guidance of buddhi or perception are Hearing, Touching, Seeing, Tasting and Smelling. Together these karmendriyas (action organs) and jnanendriyas(sensory organs) along with the tanmatras (Universal properties - Sound, Touch, See, Taste and Smell) form an very effective and efficient input systems to the human. Again manas is where the thoughts accumulate and the buddhi selects or discerns the thoughts to be selected for consideration and execution as actions. The physical body of a human will have the buddhi, manas, karmandriyas and jnanendriyas. For a powerful soul, like a sage or a rishi or some one who is practicing transcendental meditation, these can also be present in the astral body in the almost same strength. These advanced soul can also build a new dimension-2 body over their astral body (similar to the governors in dimension 2). For ordinary souls, based on their level of intelligence/knowledge/practices the same four can be present in lesser intensity. Thus in the death of a average person, his ghost represented by the astral body may have only a limited intensity of the actions/perceptions and thus it will be unlike how it was in the living form. It may not be surprising to see it being startled, confused, shocked or unable to speak etc., So it is important that the humans understand the ways of working of the universe and acquire knowledge about the dimension-2 to guide them better in their after-life phase. I presume that the below may be true: An astral body or ghost is an intermediate state. Hence it will not be able to have sex, eat or sleep. Most of the ordinary souls cannot even think. Thus it is by design that they will be driven to their next stage/skin soon after its death in dimension-1. Sometimes due to actions like suicide (Karma not exhausted fully for this birth and hence this existence in a intermediate suffering state (ghost) continues ) and due to some ADHRSTA natural accidents, they spend more time in this intermediate than they should and becomes visible sometimes. It helps to think that , the physical form is akin to a hardware, the ghost & layers 3 of Panchakoshanas are an advanced interface system to this hardware and the other end of the interface (layer 4) is 'plugged' into the MAHAT for power and direction. (Please refer to my other blog on Panchakoshanas at - https://www.mayoan.com/post/26-the-panchakoshanas-or-5-sheaths . The AHANKARA or 'I'-ness forms the root of the human's existence. From Chittam(store house of all impressions)/manas(locus of all thoughts), the thoughts raise for an individual and the buddhi considers the VALUE SYSTEMS that the person subscribes and then allows only certain thoughts to be executed as actions. So it is important that we build a range of strong value systems covering our existence as - an individual person - as part of a religion/any other significant group(s)/country/community - as citizen of this world - as actors in this universe. - etc., The combination of these value systems should guide the individual to realize his maximum human potential and make him aware of his real purpose of existence. The experience of a human, good or bad can happen from an outside to inside or an inside to outside perspective. Examples: Some diseases start in the astral body and progress to the gross/physical body. An accident may result in damage to the gross/physical body and then the astral body is hurt too because of that. Based on how a person uses his karmendriyas and jnanedriyas , he may take in lot of bad qualities( drug abuse, alcohol abuse etc.,) or take in a lot of good qualities (wisdom, physical/mental health etc.,) An outside to inside practice like meditation, can make a person a better citizen of this world. Hari Om!

We initially considered the possibility of the existence of diabolical states within the intelligent energy, while discussing why it is being called as 'divine' energy. Why would it even consider this diabolical state? In a simplistic rendition of this energy, it can be depicted as a humongous ball of intelligent energy surrounded by a even bigger void. The more I think about it , and try to co-relate to an analogy, I can picture the image of an intelligent sleeping/dreaming human inside a dark box with no exit. Look around us - and try to see the positive things that the divine energy has provided us to experience in our life - the blues, the greens, sun, family, friends, love, food and what not ?! But certain states/events like wars, lies, deceits, glum , stress, abandoned old people, raising substance abuse, ignoring of education, callousness, corrupt governments, raising crime rates, homelessness, unemployment etc., are all man made creations that help spread dis-order. Humans do not need any help from any other co-habitant species of this planet to promote this undesirable state ! Remember that the divine energy is providing us with great blessing and peace on one hand and we are providing a very undesirable feedback that we excel in dis-order ! We expect divine intervention to sort out our life's problems and comfort us. Is it wrong for the divine energy to expect a good feedback that will comfort it and allow it to be in a blissful stable state and not experience the disturbing diabolical state? What if all the souls of the universe in different realms/planets is doing the same thing - i.e promote disorder? And what if the divine energy then considers that the diabolical state is the most desired state? Probably, with respect to this earth planet, the divine energy is getting the right kind of feedback not from humans but from the other species who are inclined to nature to a great extent. Then, the human goes on about environmental abuse triggering climate change and laying out the ground work for the next mass extinction ! Multiply this experience in all other parts of the universe and consider the feedback that the divine energy is receiving !! It is terrifying to me and directly points to me about the possible diabolical state it is experiencing while receiving the feedback !! So, what can we do to be a responsible citizen of this universe ? Firstly be thankful for what it has provided !Says the right words in the deeply felt daily prayers before any form of deity that you believe in. Pray for guidance and to keep your thoughts and deeds pure. As humans, consciously act with honesty and integrity. Try to gain intelligence every counting day by being a learner till death. I consider that the final lesson I may take is when I am experiencing the process of death myself ! Conduct community events to celebrate festivals especially those that espouse the virtues of good winning over the evil. Come together and protect the environment. Be respectful of other lives. Conduct mass prayers to promote good will and peace and believe in it with deepest faith. And the list expands. As a responsible democratic government , adopt an iron-clad constitution that guarantees at least the bare minimum guarantees around the below aspects: Building an effective governance system that consciously avoids administrative power concentration anywhere in the democratic institutions. e.g Imagine a ring of hands clasping each other's wrist ! Ensuring wealth distribution ( I sincerely do not believe that the divine energy has created wealth as part of this universe only for a few to experience its benefits ! If this is happening - what a shame it is on humanity !) Built in fail safe mechanisms to avoid corruption Guaranteeing not just the rights of individuals but also of the respectable groups. Directives to ensure basic minimum wages for the adult population which I think can reduce crimes like human -trafficking , modern slavery, crimes related to exploitation etc., It can also cushion the sudden impact of job-loss of the primary member of the family and thus protect a very important composition of the society - that is the family itself ! Free education Effective and efficient tax system Free housing for the low income population when the government has the capability eventually, as we practice good governance Free basic level food distribution at least thrice a day from easily accessible community centres when the government has the capability eventually, as we practice good governance Free centrally managed health care system Ensuring equality of females and other oppressed sects/genders A measuring and monitoring system that tracks the health of the nation including the mental state of its population and a very effective daring response mechanism A measuring and monitoring system that tracks the performance and growth of the nation and a dynamic adjustment system the continually course corrects. Respect for environment and careful use of rare resources and practicing sustainability Acknowledging the right of other species as the co-habitants of this planet. Probably, I would think that standards institutions like ISO/BSI should step-in and create a constitutional framework for nations to enable them to develop and implement an iron-clad constitution and this should be enforceable (within a given time period) by the UN. This probably should be done after engineering some UN reforms. When all the right things happen and it is sustainable, this will reflect in the happy state of minds in the population. With this in mind, we should include in our daily prayer that - all is well and all is good and when this is the feedback coming from all the lives of the universe to the divine energy, then why should not we believe that it will be in a blissful state? When this happens, the image of an intelligent human sleeping inside a dark box will no longer hold good and we can replace it with the movie where continuously all happy faces and events surrounding them plays out in the mind of the intelligent human floating in a blissful light or anything that is even more joyful to imagine! Hari Om!

When the time for the new experiment is on, the divine energy rolls out a spatial canvas for creating the universe. I use a term from the Samkhya Philosophy to refer to this dark matter/energy - MAHAT ! The below picture is my visualisation of how the construct of the universe has been blessed upon by the divine energy. Some of the possible observations on the construct of the universe are as below: 1. MAHAT Mahat serves as an infinite sink and source. It can be considered as the sum total of all intelligence, mass and energy in the universe. Consider a facility manager in a factory floor. When all work is finished and we are ready to call it a day, the facility manager will turn off the master switch and then all the lights will be out. Similarly, I think the divine energy will absorb the MAHAT when it is time and with that the whole universe will be gone in a flash ! This is akin to a scientist pressing the emergency button to shutdown an experiment gone wrong. Why would it consider that the experiment has gone wrong? Say, the antagonist is winning and therefore disorder (bloody wars, mayhem, gore, adharma etc.,) is going beyond unacceptable levels, this may happen ! Not to be seen as simplistic and to add on to this line of thought, if any protagonist who has mandate to establish order over dis-order in the universe, is present in a given cycle, the switching-off part may be delegated to him/her. In a hypothetical sense, protagonist may shepherd all the souls to experience the great merge and expect them to use their intelligence to merge themselves into divine energy which is the true state of all souls. On contrary, the antagonist , may try to lure all the souls away from the divine energy and force them to assume different skins in different stages (thus assuming mass and perhaps in diabolical forms promoting dis-order) . When the war between good and evil is over in favor of good, then it is no longer a worry whether to be in mass form or energy form as each soul can take its own time to revert to its true state. Assuming the divine energy is continuously monitoring the state of the universe and comparing it to its own state (default to blissful state) , when there comes a moment when the blissful state of the divine energy matches with the state of the universe, then the divine energy can dissolve the universe. If the divine energy is not blissful and hence is not content with itself, it will allow the universe to exist and it will learn from the outcomes of activities in the universe to move itself to the contented blissful state. At some point, if the experiment related to the manifestation of this universe reaches a contented blissful state, the dissolution can occur at this point. 2. UNIVERSE AS THE STAGE Stage or the setting or the manifested Universe - In my opinion, the manifested universe has at least 2 dimensions. Dimension 1 is the visible universe that we all see. Dimension 2 is the place where at least the astral-bodies (of humans and other species) are located. It helps if we think that a single human has existence in both the dimensions and in MAHAT (the soul part). In dimension 1 - his physical form (called as 'sthula') with all the systems of body exist. The astral-body or ghost-body (called as 'sukshma' ) with all the Nadi systems and chakras is present in the dimension-2 and the soul (called as 'karana' ) is embedded in MAHAT and can move freely in the MAHAT. A human is set on his activities by his free will and is constrained by his karmic load. Sometimes, I tend to think that there are indeed 3 dimensions with MAHAT itself as the root dimension. And soul is in fact embedded inside MAHAT. Imagine this : You are walking on a neighbourhood street Picture this in the context of the above: Your human form is walking on a neighbourhood street - Dimension 1 Your astral form is walking on a hazy path - Dimension 2 You soul as a burst of energy is vibrating/moving in a infinite black jelly (like lattice vibrations) called MAHAT - Dimension 3 On a lighter note, since it is depressing for some to think of us as some form of lattice vibrations, I can restrict the discussion to only the 2 dimensions that matter for life to blossom. But that kind of thinking (feeling depressed) may be considered as a slight on the grand design by the divine force. Also, it is akin to you insulting self since we are all part of the divine state after the great merge. I would suggest strongly not to insult this divine energy either intentionally or unintentionally , however light it is, because that may become one of the many reasons why it would not select you as the protagonist for the next cycle !! As an additional thought, I have 2 more interesting observations as given below. The state of soul itself as seen embedded in MAHAT : There are these advanced souls and the less fortunate souls. The advanced souls might have escaped the cycle of life and death and the less fortunate souls are caught by forces of the law of karma and pushed to a different stage and re-birth. Some scripts talk about the state of the human embryo(not fully developed human form) in the mother's fetus where it is supposed to be in a uncomfortable state (because of rebirthing/current suffering) and promising itself that it will do well and follow the divine directives post birth. Since the central nervous system is not fully developed, It is safe to assume that the assumed uncomfortable state of a human embryo might have come from the impressions originating in the soul itself and enforced by law of karma or akin. Because of the above 2 reasons, I tend to think that some form of law of karma is active in the MAHAT too guiding and directing the souls in its pure-soul state. Part 2 to follow on this topic. Hari Om!

At least among the humans, I think there are 3 major types of deaths that can manifest for an individual. Please refer to my blog on Panchakoshanas if you are not familiar with them already -  https://www.mayoan.com/post/26-the-panchakoshanas-or-5-sheaths . I also request the reader to be familiar with the workings of the law of karma at my other blog – https://www.mayoan.com/post/22-the-law-of-karma .   They are: 1.      Internally Induced Death: Post the previous death (of any type), the karmic engine recalculates the karma for the soul and decides upon a particular skin and stage.  Please remember that at this point of entry to the womb, the Karmic engine may have done the below: ·       Decide a suitable skin/stage for the next birth of the soul and allocate the karmic load to be expended by the soul for that skin/stage. It is prudent to expect that the Karmic engine would make the soul expend its most significant loads to be emptied first. This Karmic load that is attached to this skin/stage, that is expected to be expended in this birth-death cycle, is called Prarabdha Karma . ·       The remining karmic load (+ ve or - ve) if any, will be set in the Karmic account of the soul that is expected to be expended later. This Karma is called Sanchita Karma.   It is possible that because of the choices made by the soul or by divine intervention in the current skin/stage, some of the Sanchita Karma can also be released in the current birth-death cycle. It is possible that because of the choices made by the soul in the current skin/stage, some of the new Karmas may also be added to the Karmic account of the soul. This new Karma in the new skin/stage is called Sanchiyamana Karma . It is possible that, even some of the Sanchiyamana Karma may get released in the current skin/stage phase, due to the soul’s actions or divine intervention. Together, the Sanchita and Sanchiyamana Karmas are called Anarabdha Karma . Whatever is the karmic load for that birth-death cycle, at the end of the expending, the below happens: ·       The time, by now, may have stared the desolation of the gross physical body (old age) and the ghost body (if the being is ignorant) of the soul. ·       As the final karmic load (as set at the birth or as modified during the birth-death cycle) of the soul is expended, the karmic engine stops feeding the dark energy from MAHAT into the consciousness. ·       Panchapranas are withdrawn too. ·       Physical death happens to the current being however good the health of the gross body is. In my opinion, this is the best form of death for a health-conscious human, because there is definitely dignity in death as the person is possibly healthily living independently till the last moment. So, it is important that, we keep our good health in our mind always, and change our food habits and lifestyle suitably as we age. Good actions and certain faith based and meditative spiritual practices can definitely help in reducing the store of negative karma and suffering. And certain sacraments like chanting, fasting, personal sacrifices (like giving up meat eating) can also help in healing the soul. I also firmly believe that, if the divine energy foresees benefit to the mankind/other species, it may intervene and extend the life of a good soul. After all, the collective goal of all the souls is to realise the blissful state of the divine energy and to get to the awakening moment at which it's consciousness cries out of joy that- 'I am God'!   2.      Externally Induced Death: This kind of death may happen due to capital punishments, sabotage operations, accidents or sudden adverse health conditions. Several reasons can be behind this event, and we cannot possibly know the exact reasons as the inner workings of the Karmic engine remains ADHRST (unseen) to us. But I think some of the reasons for this sudden death event may be the below ones: ·       Unacceptable accumulation of negative group Karma in a certain place/time in a given context. ·      The souls karmic account being adjusted (as mentioned in the 1st point) due to its current actions or divine intervention. ·       Capital punishments meted out to certain souls due to the workings of the criminal justice systems. ( I do not believe that Karmic load is planned with an execution by criminal justice system in mind , as the related criminal actions by the perpetrator violate one or more value systems that the karmic engine may regard in its workings and hence cannot be a pre-planned set of actions) ·       Abuse of the current gross physical body by overindulgence and poor lifestyle. ·    I think that, rarely, sometimes, certain deaths happen due to cyclical nature of applying karma with retribution. Some times, due to the nature of karma, some souls are made to meet this type of death too.   The sudden deaths happening in this type of dying, results in the condition where the gross body is dead but the full karmic load (possibly set at birth and corrected during the birth-death cycle) is not fully expended. Hence the ghost/astral body may live a little longer before the desolation is complete. I believe that the existence as a astral-only ghost body is a state of suffering since, it is just a transient state not capable of performing any useful karma and it is not possible to experience even the basic functions like thinking, eating, sleeping and having sex.   3.      Suicidal Death: This is the worst kind of death a soul can suffer. As neither the full karmic load is expended, nor it relives the soul from the current suffering. Besides, I believe that, if any soul commits suicide, it may possibly live longer in its astral body which is again a state of suffering.   I also believe that the quality of living and death is decided by the soul’s thoughts/actions in the current life. So, one should be good at heart and be in pursuit of excellence and in the modern economic setting, should be mindful about where his source of money is coming from. Also, the karmic engine is believed to reverse the role of souls sometimes to expend karmas. We should, therefore live decently as much as possible and not harm any living beings by thought or deed. We should also be mindful about our group affiliations and the group karma that is incurred.   Hence, we should have a fresh look at our meat consumption habits too and I, for one, strongly recommend, stopping of mechanical mass culling (automated means of killing) of animals/birds meant to feed the meat industry. We, as humans, should not have rampant consumerism habits in meat consumption and indulge in mindless/excessive (say, by using monstrous fishing trawlers) killing and wastage. Another important take away, is that I believe that the great divine energy always plans for the 1st type of death, for all souls when they start a new life. (for argument sake I am ignoring the effects of manifested evil designed by the antagonist to keep the idea simple and clear) Being a benevolent blissful energy, how can we expect the other 2 types of deaths (2 & 3) to be part of the plan to release the soul in a new womb? Then comes the logical question on the violence that we see in this world. I believe that the other 2 types of deaths (2 & 3) are due to either group karma or self-inflicted or both. If the reason is group karma, the following holds true: The value systems adopted by the group is not good. (implementation faults) and/or The justice system adopted by the group is either weak or ineffective or both (enforcement faults) The group, to which the individual belongs is not fair in treating its individuals (participation and integration related faults) More individuals in the group are not aligned with the good value systems at various levels.(identity faults) If the reason is self-inflicted, the following holds true: The personal value system (or lack of it) of the individual is weak or corrupted. If the individual's value system is strong, perhaps it diabolical and/or does not accept any other value systems and hence the individual becomes vulnerable to take wrongful decisions. The group, to which the individual belongs is not fair in treating its individuals and the group is perhaps providing convenient stages for confrontation (like a crime filled neighbourhood activities) Hence, by the above groups of reasons, other types of death (2 & 3) happen which may be - death by violent confrontation, death by state, death by unhealthy lifestyle, death by self-harm etc., As mentioned before,  I also think that, rarely, sometimes, certain deaths happen due to cyclical nature of applying karma with retribution. Then, finally we are aware that, humans and certain wild animals/birds kill for food and evil always plans for mayhem.and death. These deaths do not fall under the 3 types mentioned above. I vaguely remember that the dharma of wild animals are blessed by nature and hence they will not incur karma when killing for food. Hari Om!

A seeker, when he is treading the path of spirituality, may come across several texts of various types – some religious, some medical, some philosophical, some etymological and so on. He must be careful before accepting any spiritual term as final. I have a personal simple rule – trust the words and its purported meanings of the 2 ancient languages – Tamil and Sanskrit. I am fully aware that there are other ancient languages like the Latin, that other may choose as the basic ones for consolidating terms. Though I may not be an expert in Sanskrit, I chose these 2 languages – Tamil and Sanskrit as my basis – for the below reasons: 1.      Foremost – I am comfortable with these languages. With Tamil, I am an expert user too. 2.      I think, a large set of religious/spiritual texts originating from India are based on these 2 languages. My earlier introduction to spirituality happened through Tamil primarily. 3.      I feel that the words, grammar etc., are very systematic and the meanings are consistent and is suitable for sweet and poetic expressions. 4.      The richness of the languages is seen expressed in the various styles of poems written in these 2 languages since ancient times. 5.      With Sanskrit, the hymns I have so far listened to with music sounds divine with rich meanings. Most of the temples in India use Sanskrit for divine oblations/chants. 6.      Both these languages host advanced medicinal knowledgebase including that of the astral body and a full-fledged system of medicine called as Ayurveda (Sanskrit) and Siddha (Tamil). And the terms used with respect to the human bodies – gross and astral are remarkably same in both the languages. In my opinion, without the knowledge pertaining to the astral body neither the spiritual quest nor the medicinal quest will be complete. So, for the serious spiritual seekers, the below are my advice on the ‘terms’ to be accepted: 1.      Use the terms from ancient languages like Sanskrit and Tamil that recognizes the astral body and its functions and preferably that has an ancient system of medicine attached to it. 2.      Know that the recent linguists might have mapped one or more profound ancient terms to new terms without thinking deep. So, what was before a profound concept might have been mapped to a mundane thing that is in vogue now. Try to know the profound meaning of the term and stick to it. 3.      When you are accepting new terms into your language, directly use the term, as-it-is, with the profound meaning and be cautious about its synonym/antonym mappings. 4.      It helps greatly if you know at least one language like Tamil or Sanskrit that has a treasure trove of rich spiritual literature. If not, it is still ok to follow the spiritual path, but be aware of the construct of the human species and the universe in all the dimensions possible. I hope your deep meditating sessions will reveal the eternal truths of the universe along with the divine blessings. Hari Om!

I firmly believe that the manifestation of the universe- all the wonders, forces, beings, energy, mass etc., and the interactions, combinations, effects etc., are there to be discovered while the actors of the universe are in pursuit of excellence. Looks like, more than any other species, any where in the universe, humans are advanced in this pursuit by excelling in building the scientific body of knowledge and of course - in building the spiritual body of knowledge especially in areas where science is currently lagging primarily because of the limits imposed by the grand design of the universe. It does not mean that we will not be able to know the still unknown truths in the universe. The above belief is a very foundational belief that I am rooted in and which is also the raison-d'être ,why I am writing these blogs. One of the beliefs that I have is about the shape of the universe itself. I believe the grand design of the divine energy has left enough clues in nature in different realms of the universe for the beings of the realm to discover the unknown including the shape of the universe. If we consider, some of the most preferred shapes of nature, those that are abundantly present in the various locational contexts, and that which is not usually associated with any negative context in the culture of the location in a long time, then we should be wondering what does those shapes signify or hint at us. At this point, considering what is implied in the first paragraph, it is alright to assume that, those visual effects of shapes of different naturally occurring things, are clues for the humble humans to understand the larger than life aspects of the grand design of the universe. I am thinking about the following shapes that are appearing abundantly in nature and which seems to be created with some extra effort (going the extra mile) to produce the final shape. We are able to see at least some or all of the rules of symmetry, geometry, aerodynamics etc., in those shapes. Some of the effects are not physical but more like a splurge or a sign of flow of energy. Sphere - as seen in the manifestation of many space objects including planets. Snow-flake carrying intricate design Conch/Shells seen in the beach sands (dextral and sinistral) Crystal formations Saligrama stone seen sculpted in some river beds of India Colorful effects of the polar glows - aurora australis and aurora borealis Flowers Shapes of chakras in the human body From this point on, It can be considered that, I am just trying to derive the shape of a larger body like the universe from the naturally occurring shapes of many naturally occurring manifestations. Generally the space-time is considered as a continuum. I consider them as 2 different continuums but interposed. When I think that all universal effects have frequency derived from some form of entropy as a basis, I tend to think the effects of frequency on space and time. I, then, co-relate this with the knowledge that I gained from certain spiritual artefacts like the Upanishads and Puranas where it is claimed that there are upper realms and then the lower realms in the universe, if we define the universe from the point of view of the earth realm. Consider a band of frequency of space from the top most realm to the bottom most realm. Within this band there could be multiple bands of space like the spectrum of colour. Each of these bands of 3-d space fabric can have its own localized effects similar to density, viscosity and mass systems and any other that we are not able to detect with our sensing faculties. The top realms are likely to have relatively lower frequency entropies as compared to the bottom realms and hence they desolate more slowly than the bottom bands. On the other hand, the Upanishads and such spiritual texts also talk about the effect of time difference in the different realms of the universe. One such text claims that a single day of Brahma (referred as 'Kalpa') is almost equal to 4.32 billion earth years!! On extrapolating this understanding, we can assume that time should be faster in the lower realms. So, I mentally form a band of frequency of time in different realms. Since time is slow in the top most realms, I assume that a slow-moving time flow that can be associated with low frequencies is in effect in those top realms, and the fast-moving time flow is in effect in the lower realms that can be associated with the high frequencies. So, combining the above designs, there may be bands of spaces from top to bottom of the universe and there may be bands of time from the top to bottom of the universe. Assuming that space is relatively static and time flows forward, if we look down from the top most reference point of the universe, we can assume that both bands are infinitely varying and cannot be considered as discreate bands. I think that this circum-ambulating flowing effect of time in different bands is is called as 'Kalachakram' or 'Wheel of Time' in Hindu scriptures. The effect of flow of time on the masses of the space is evident when we consider, as an example, how our body ages with time!! I assume at this point that, by grand design, flow of time affects all the physical and mental properties of all the living things. Your current physical form may block you from reaching this peak capacity hence it needs to be desolated over time to give you new body to understand newer things till the point where the physical body is completely lost and the grand merge happens. All the understandings/learnings/knowledge/experiences etc., of the journey may form impressions on the soul, which I, earlier pointed to that, it is indestructible. As the soul progresses, it undertakes journeys through the different 'elastic' band of space that acts as the stage of action and the 'law of karma' provides the physical body (actor) or the skin for the soul. The soul is expected to not only exhaust its negative karma but is also expected to evolve continuously till the grand merge ! The time flow relentlessly desolates the physical universe consisting of prakruthi and all souls. Again, the time flow desolates everything in dimension-2 too. Considering the bands of spaces and time and the different realms, I am assuming that the shape of the universe may not be a simple sphere or cylinder. Other imaginations are also welcome till we get a convincing evidence. This model also explains some of the claims in the Hindu texts that gods live longer since the space is resisting time flow and both time/space perhaps, have lower frequencies in their realms. Thus, when a protagonist looks at a person in earth realm, from the upper realm, all things appear to mature fast - something like a fast-forward living. Thus the protagonist may see the whole life of a human within a fragment of time ! Let us consider how time, prakruthi and soul acts together while the great cosmic dance of creation, maintenance and dissolution is enacted. (please refer to https://www.mayoan.com/post/26-the-panchakoshanas-or-5-sheaths ) The 1st body sheath - gross body is desolated by time and we grow old. The 2nd koshana - ghost body is desolated by time as we grow old and can sometimes be attrited independently post death. The MAHAT keeps track of the karmic load ( It is presumed that no matter how healthy an individual is at the completion of the set karmic load for this birth, that individual is expected to drop dead) To perform all the activities, the body complex receives the instructions from karmic load and free will. The energy for this will come from the food we eat and also from the MAHAT as the pranic energy sustaining the inner koshanas. When the karmic load of this birth is expended, the process to power the inner koshanas from the MAHAT will gradually stop. Thus attrition by time and stopping of the drawing of energy from mahat is in sync for all the souls. At the time of death, since there is no more pranic energy (life force), time quickly desolates the gross body by decaying it. (It is best to cremate it in fire). The ghost body sometimes , if left over will also be attrited by the time (I called this as the Great Storm that peels off the ghost body to reveal the soul itself) Time is a powerful tool in the hands of the great divine energy. While dispensing justice , the Law of Karma as such may use time or space or both to produce desired effects. Hari Om!