SUBTLE BODY
(Continued…)
Pancha Karma Indriyani —
Five Organs of Action
These are five sense
organs of action. So one is meant for input and receiving the stimuli (the
previous one) and one is meant for output or expressing our responses (this
one).
- Organ of speech – Vag
Indriyam. Verbal response.
- Organ of Hands – Pani
by which we do varieties of action.
- Organ of Legs – Pada
by which we move from place to place. Organs
of locomotion.
- Organ of evacuation -
Payuhu – wastage removing organs.
- Organ of Procreation -
Upastham – organ of reproduction because of which alone the species continues
as a lineage.
Pancha Pranaha –
Five-fold Energy functions
The five fold Pranaha.
The energy generating system or fuel-converting system. If you have to keep on
acting, we have to generate energy constantly. We have Prana Shakti behind the
organs of action. Prana Shakti lends energy. There are five-fold Pranas well
known as:
- Respiratory system
- Prana – Inhalation and exhalation which alone has to absorb the
Prana Shakti or oxygen. Then the Carbon dioxide has to go out, oxygen has to go
to lungs, blood has to absorb and it has to be circulated.
- Evacuating system
– Apana – Energy behind functioning of the evacuation system or
waste removal. Any form of removal of waste can be called Apāna.
- Circulatory system
- Vyana – Oxygen has to be circulated, the nutrition that is
generated in the stomach has to be carried to all parts of the body.
- Digestive system
- Samanaha – This converts various eaten food into various nutrients
– carbohydrates, proteins, fats, salts, minerals etc.
- Reversing system - Udanaha –
This operates at the time of death generally when all the processes are
reversed because it is time for dying.
They are the life-giving
ones and function behind the Karma Indriyas giving energy to the Karma
Indriyas.
That is why on a
fasting, no Karma Indriyam will function properly because you are weakened and
hence you cannot walk properly, talk properly etc.
That is why we chant the
prayer
Om Pranaya Svaha Om
Apanaya Svaha Om Vyanaya Svaha Om Udanāya Svaha Om Samanaya Svaha
Chatvari Antaha Karanani
– Four-fold Internal Organs
These are four-fold
internal organs.
Manaha or Mind : Stands for all
forms of emotional faculty. Roughly can be translated as the emotional faculty
and also the doubting faculty. Sankalpa Vikalpatmakam Manaha – should I do this
or should I do that? To be or not to be.
Buddhihi or Intellect : Rational
faculty or the discriminating faculty or the knowing faculty or the weighing
faculty or Reasoning Faculty.
Chittam or Memory : To receive
or to record our experiences in our mind. This records all the five of Shabda,
Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa and Gandha.
According to Shastra, we
can remember not only the past of this life but the past of our past lives as
well.
Without knowing the
details sometimes, we feel that something is already known. A musical prodigy
feels that he knows the music already, a spiritual prodigy feels, he knows the
scriptures before.
Ahankara or Ego : the faculty of
self-reference. Reflexive faculty which is well developed in a human
being.
Aham Karanam Ahankara –
that which refers to myself is called Ahankara.
Function
The function is
transactions. All forms of transactions are done by the Sookshma Shareeram with
the help of these 19 instruments. Some instruments are meant for input and some instruments are meant for output and some for both (for example - mouth).
Change
This is also subject to
change. So they improve and sometimes weaken. Eyes become poor, memory fails,
intellect is dull. So change is one feature and the next feature is visibility.
Visibility
Sookshma Shareeram is
evident and recognizable only for oneself and it is not available for others.
What is my mind, I know, what are my feelings I know, but you are not able to
see my mind or know my feelings or my memory. Because it is available only for
me and not for others, it is called subtle body – not concrete like gross
body.
The
indweller relates through the Indriyas
Observe the
ten senses during daily life: What the ten doors have in common,
is that they are all doors. By observing these ten in daily life through
meditation in action, or mindfulness, we become increasingly aware of the
indweller. We see more and more clearly how the indweller relates to the external
world through the
means of these ten instruments.
"Who I really am is independent
of my actions and senses". |
"I"
am independent of actions and senses: As we come to see that the actions
and senses are only instruments (though very good at their jobs), we
increasingly see that "Who I am is independent of my actions and sensory
input and fulfillment". It does not mean that we do not enjoy life, and
its actions and sensory experiences. Rather, these are enjoyed more fully, in a
spirit of wisdom, freedom, and non-attachment.
When we see
through direct experience of observation how the ten senses are doors serving
the indweller, we increasingly become aware of the true nature of that
indweller.
Manas and
the Ten Senses
The ten
senses are like employees: The ten senses are like the employees in the
factory of life, and they receive their instructions from manas, one of
the four functions of the mind.
This is an
important part of the practice of meditation in action and witnessing our inner
process. Being able to see that this is how the actions and senses operate
helps a great deal with the cultivation of non-attachment, vairagya.
Beyond the
fact that manas is giving instructions to the ten senses, is the
very important question of whether manas is acting out of
unconscious habits (stored in chitta) or the wisdom of buddhi.
Withdrawing
the senses and sitting still at meditation time naturally come much more easily
as a result of an ongoing mindfulness of the ten senses.
Love.
