The world of the Yogis resounds with this word. EXPERIENCE.
Why would one want to experience when belief is so easily available? What is the difference really? Many who are believers even tell me that what I state as experience is also a belief. Is it true?
One of the crucial pillars of Yoga is that of residing in the form of the observer. But to understand what the observer is, one needs to understand the concept of the various levels of our own existence.
The aspect that most of us identify with in normal life, is our own bodies. The man/woman in the mirror! Its our grossest form of existence and THE gadget through which we EXPERIENCE this phenomenon called LIFE! All the 5 senses of touch, smell, taste, sight and sound help us understand and perceive the outer world. Since the body is an accumulation of the food we consume, it is called as the Annamaya Kosha in Sanskrit literally meaning, the sheath made of food.
This gross body of ours expresses a phenomena called life, without which it is treated as an urgent disposable. This life exists even in a patient who is in coma on a hospital bed. What is it that keeps us all alive? It's the life force or Prana (Sanskrit). As our bodies are organisms that are in a constant state of birth, existence and death, and I am not speaking of something esoteric here, but the trillions of cells that constitute our bodies. We are continually pulling in not just proteins, carbs, etc but also Prana that is coming in through our breath (pure air is full of Prana), water, pleasant company, beautiful words and loving relationships. A beautiful way of understanding Prana, is the way we feel over the day. The stuff that makes us feel livelier, and the ones that we detest and feel 'down' after experiencing. This level of existence is called as the Pranamaya Kosha.
The subtler mind that exists within each of us is the medium through which we develop our likes and dislikes for what we are perceiving. This is known as the Manomaya Kosha
The even subtler intellect that exists in us, helps us take decisions irrespective of whether the mind loves the experience or hates it. No wonder we prefer to take inject-able medicines which though painful are more effective than orally administered ones. This level is called the Vigyanamaya Kosha
Beyond the above 4, is THE observer. What in Sanskrit is called the Anandamaya Kosha. Literally meaning BLISS. Joy which is not event dependant. Simply the eternal joy that we all exhibited in oodles as babies.
Now comes the greater discussion on what 'Experience' is all about. When we delve deep into this phenomenon, it is the impressions of external stimuli through the body, the Prana, the mind and the intellect as simply seen by the eternal observer. Can we be in the form of the observer when the body is taken through various sensations, when the Prana flows through its various channels, when the mind is flooded with thoughts, when the intellect is busy judging? Yoga has a lot to do with our understanding of these various levels of our existence. Our introduction to the the most subtle Anandamaya Kosha which most humans simply die without even knowing, is the aim of Yoga. It is only through the stage wise understanding of the various levels, in decreasing order of grossness do we reach THAT which is the most subtle.
Can I still say more? Yes and No. Yes because a picture is equal to a thousand words and an experience is akin to a thousand pictures. It would take a million words to explain an experience. But nothing is more effective than tasting the gulab jamun or the apple cake than listening to multi million worded treatises on the same! This is the 'Difficulty in Expression'. Even when I say a few words about it, it feels I have said too much, and any amount of words I say about it, it seems so few :D Due to this fact that it is so difficult to express, one also realises that each seekers experience is also very different. This is the reason that even Krishna has a difficult time explaining what it is and finally gives Arjuna THE experience in the Gita. Our learned ancestors in India said "Ekam Satya Vipra Bahuda Vadanti"....THE truth is just ONE, but has been expressed differently by the ones who have experienced. AUM.
Why would one want to experience when belief is so easily available? What is the difference really? Many who are believers even tell me that what I state as experience is also a belief. Is it true?
One of the crucial pillars of Yoga is that of residing in the form of the observer. But to understand what the observer is, one needs to understand the concept of the various levels of our own existence.
The aspect that most of us identify with in normal life, is our own bodies. The man/woman in the mirror! Its our grossest form of existence and THE gadget through which we EXPERIENCE this phenomenon called LIFE! All the 5 senses of touch, smell, taste, sight and sound help us understand and perceive the outer world. Since the body is an accumulation of the food we consume, it is called as the Annamaya Kosha in Sanskrit literally meaning, the sheath made of food.
This gross body of ours expresses a phenomena called life, without which it is treated as an urgent disposable. This life exists even in a patient who is in coma on a hospital bed. What is it that keeps us all alive? It's the life force or Prana (Sanskrit). As our bodies are organisms that are in a constant state of birth, existence and death, and I am not speaking of something esoteric here, but the trillions of cells that constitute our bodies. We are continually pulling in not just proteins, carbs, etc but also Prana that is coming in through our breath (pure air is full of Prana), water, pleasant company, beautiful words and loving relationships. A beautiful way of understanding Prana, is the way we feel over the day. The stuff that makes us feel livelier, and the ones that we detest and feel 'down' after experiencing. This level of existence is called as the Pranamaya Kosha.
The subtler mind that exists within each of us is the medium through which we develop our likes and dislikes for what we are perceiving. This is known as the Manomaya Kosha
The even subtler intellect that exists in us, helps us take decisions irrespective of whether the mind loves the experience or hates it. No wonder we prefer to take inject-able medicines which though painful are more effective than orally administered ones. This level is called the Vigyanamaya Kosha
Beyond the above 4, is THE observer. What in Sanskrit is called the Anandamaya Kosha. Literally meaning BLISS. Joy which is not event dependant. Simply the eternal joy that we all exhibited in oodles as babies.
Now comes the greater discussion on what 'Experience' is all about. When we delve deep into this phenomenon, it is the impressions of external stimuli through the body, the Prana, the mind and the intellect as simply seen by the eternal observer. Can we be in the form of the observer when the body is taken through various sensations, when the Prana flows through its various channels, when the mind is flooded with thoughts, when the intellect is busy judging? Yoga has a lot to do with our understanding of these various levels of our existence. Our introduction to the the most subtle Anandamaya Kosha which most humans simply die without even knowing, is the aim of Yoga. It is only through the stage wise understanding of the various levels, in decreasing order of grossness do we reach THAT which is the most subtle.
Can I still say more? Yes and No. Yes because a picture is equal to a thousand words and an experience is akin to a thousand pictures. It would take a million words to explain an experience. But nothing is more effective than tasting the gulab jamun or the apple cake than listening to multi million worded treatises on the same! This is the 'Difficulty in Expression'. Even when I say a few words about it, it feels I have said too much, and any amount of words I say about it, it seems so few :D Due to this fact that it is so difficult to express, one also realises that each seekers experience is also very different. This is the reason that even Krishna has a difficult time explaining what it is and finally gives Arjuna THE experience in the Gita. Our learned ancestors in India said "Ekam Satya Vipra Bahuda Vadanti"....THE truth is just ONE, but has been expressed differently by the ones who have experienced. AUM.
