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A Look at....... The Second Kosha

Although our physical bodies appear to be dense and solid, at their most fundamental level they are composed of trillions of molecules and atoms or energy in constant transformation. Our whole being is one energy field of different vibrations – science tells us that matter is nothing but energy.

According to the ancient yogis man is not a “body and soul” but a soul or spirit who has built himself a body and animates it.

The individual soul expresses itself through five koshas (kosha translates as sheath or layer) which are divided between three bodies, ranging from the physical body which is visible and 2 surrounding subtle bodies known as the astral body and the causal body linked to the soul.

Pancha Kosha (five sheaths)

The five sheaths within the three bodies are not separate like onion layers, but interconnect so working on one level will affect all levels. Each of the koshas can be seen as a defence mechanism that hides the soul – like a grain of sand in the oyster, it is the forgotten cause of the pearl.

Within the subtle astral body there is the second kosha or sheath called the Pranamaya Kosha. Prana means “life or vital force”, maya means “consisting of” so this is the energy department that allows our human physical body to move and act. The first sheath, the Annamaya Kosha (the physical sheath, mentioned in an earlier article) is animated and sustained by this second sheath, the Pranamaya Kosha. Without the energy body the physical body would disintegrate. Both the Annamaya kosha and Pranamaya kosha exist in time and space and dissolve with death.

The Pranamaya Kosha represents the vital body, the breath – as you place your body in a particular asana, working with your breath, you develop awareness of the inner movement and the release and flow of energy.

The Pranamaya kosha is in constant flux – consider that there is something in the background that can observe this flux of energy, the essential “I” which is not the energy body.

(To be continued...)