PERSONALITY OF MAN
Physiology considers ma=
n as a
physical structure with a brain, having the capacity to think and feel. It =
is
well known that mere physical body will not move, grow, or act, unless the
Life-principle presides over it. A dead body can no more smile, eat or walk,
think or feel. This is true, however great the man might have been while he=
was
alive. This divine Spark-of-Life is called the Atman in Vedanta.
The Five Sheaths (Panc=
ha
Kosam)
The Atman is considered=
to
have been enveloped by the various layers of matter of varying degrees of
grossness. There are 5 distinct sheaths:=
When we s=
ay that
one sheath is interior to the other, it only means that the inner one is
subtler than the outer. Again, the subtlety of a sheath is measured by its
pervasiveness. For example, water is subtler than ice, steam is subtler than
water and so on.
The subtlest of all is the Life-centre in us, which is the core of this
five-sheathed structure. These five layers of matter, along with the eternal
Life-centre at its core, together constitute the spiritual-physical structu=
re
of every person.
The Food and the Vital-Air sheaths together constitute the gross body. The
Mental and the Intellectual sheaths constitute the subtle body. The Bliss
sheath is called the causal body. Of these, it is the subtle body that is t=
he
instrument for all seekers in obtaining Self-perfection.
Mind is the doubting element, while Intellect is the determining factor in =
each
of us.
The Kosa or Sheath is compared to the scabbard. The scabbard of the sword
covers the sword. It is of the same shape as the sword. It indicates the
presence of the sword, even though it covers the sword from one's sight. The
scabbard is always different from the sword and does not affect the sword in
any way. Similarly, the Self is covered by the five sheaths. The functionin=
g of
these sheaths proves the presence of the Self. But they cover the true natu=
re
of the Self.
What is the mind?
This is better understood if we take the example of a river. The rive=
r is
not water, nor is it water with two banks. A river is there where waters fl=
ow,
the flowing is the essence of the river.
Similarly, thoughts are not the mind. But thoughts flowing one after
another in an unbroken continuity create a delusory 'something' called the
mind. And this mind threatens us, nay, even governs over us, persecuting us
with its low demands, animal instincts, and vicious urges, or, at some mome=
nts
with its higher demands of divine calls and spiritual urges.
To control and develop this mind and bring it within our hold is the secret=
of
all personality development. He, who is a master of his mind, is a master of
the world.
Mastery over the situations in life, without a mastery over the mind, would=
be
a mere vain dream. And this is the great secret of the failure of man today=
, as
individuals or communities or nations in the world. The tragedy of man is t=
he
tragedy of the condition of his mind.
Mental control means the control of the thought flow. When thoughts are lea=
st
agitating in us, we are in the state of maximum happiness. The more the sto=
rmy
flood of gushing thoughts, the more disturbed the mind becomes. Calm the mi=
nd
through a process of stilling its thoughts. But the 3 knots - Ignorance, De=
sire
and Action - make this process very difficult.
Man is ignorant of his real spiritual identity. Because of his ignorance, he
feels himself imperfect. Revolt against this sense of imperfection manifests
itself as desires in the mental zone. Desires throw open the volcano- peaks=
of
the mind and they erupt to throw out the scorching lava of thought-currents.
Without desire, no thoughts can rise up. When a desire gets fully establish=
ed
in the mind, the very desire in self-expression manifests as our actions in=
the
outer world.
Thus, ignorance at the spiritual level itself is the desire rising in the
mental zone, and the desires are amplified in the grosser sense-world of
objects, as our actions express themselves in the quality and nature of the=
ir
desires, which in their turn advertise the degree and depth of ignorance.
The attempt of every religion is to eliminate ignorance through spiritual
practices until the devotees come to gain the Light of Wisdom. The ignoranc=
e in
man, manifesting as desires in his mental plane, comes out into the world as
actions. The Great Saints, therefore, advise all seekers, first of all, to
purify, control and regulate the texture of their actions. “Be good, =
be
kind, be tolerant, be merciful, be selfless"- are some of the advices
common in all great religions of the world.
When actions are thus controlled and purified, they being but expressions of
the thoughts of the actor, those thoughts get themselves purified. Since
thoughts are generated by desires, the pure thoughts, naturally, propel pure
desires. The pure desires will gradually remove the spiritual ignorance and
Eternal Knowledge will come to shine and the processes of evolution will re=
ach
their last destination- Perfection.
Since Personality consists of several sheaths, the body being only the
outermost, there is no reason why Personality should die when the body is s=
hed.
The Sages of the Upanishads saw Personality as a field of forces. Packets of
Karma to them are forces that have to work themselves out. If the process is
interrupted by death, these forces remain until conditions allow them to wo=
rk
again in a new context.
Again, sleep can illustrate the dynamics of this idea of reincarnation. In
sleep a person passes in and out of two stages - dreaming and dreamless sle=
ep.
In the first, consciousness is withdrawn from the body and senses, but still
engaged in the mind. In dreamless sleep, however, consciousness is withdrawn
from the mind as well. Then the thinking process - even the sense of “=
;I”
- is temporarily suspended, and consciousness is said to rest in the Self. =
In
this state a person ceases to be a separate Personality. In dreamless sleep,
the Upanishads say, a king is neither a king nor a pauper poor; no one is o=
ld
or young, male or female, educated or ignorant. When consciousness returns =
to
the mind, however, the thinking process starts up again, and Personality
returns to the body.
According to this analysis, the ego dies every night. Every morning we pick=
up
our desires where we left off; the same person, yet a little different too.=
The
Upanishads describe dying as a very similar process. Consciousness is withd=
rawn
from the body into the senses, from the senses into the mind and finally
consolidated in the ego. When the body is finally wrenched away, the ego
remains - a potent package of desires and karma. And as a person's last wak=
ing
thoughts shape his dreams, the contents of the unconscious at the time of d=
eath
- the residue of all that he has thought and desired and lived for in the p=
ast
- determine the context of his next life. He takes a body again to come bac=
k to
just the conditions where his desires and karma can be fulfilled. So, there=
is continuity
between this life and the next, and all the baggage of desire and motivation
goes right along with the soul.
The Self-realized person, however, has no karma to work out, no personal
desires; at the time of death he is absorbed into the Lord. Such a person, =
the
Upanishads stress, can actually shed his body voluntarily when the hour of
death arrives, by withdrawing consciousness step by step in full awareness.
Some of the Gita's most fascinating verses are
![The Five Sheaths (Panc= ha Kosam)](3D"http://www.geocities.com/parasu41/5sheaths.gif"){kind=link}