Kosha Meaning

Kosha: Learn how to Harness the Power of these Energy Bodies

The 5 koshas or sheaths (Pancha kosha) were first outlined in the Taittiriya Upanishad. The koshas, literally translated as “house” or “sheath”, map the process of embodiment from unmanifest, undifferentiated potential (the ocean) into the physical form of the body (the wave). Each of the 5 koshas is named as follows: Ananda (Bliss), Vijnana (Wisdom), Mana (Mental), Prana (Energy) and Ana (Physical) bodies respectively. Each body name is followed by the same suffixes: maya and kosha.

We know kosha means sheath, and maya means illusory. These suffixes indicate that these are illusory sheaths of embodiment which may appear to separate us from Source, but in fact do not. Thus the Ananda-maya-kosha would mean, “The illusory sheath of bliss that appears to separate us from the whole.” All of the koshas can be translated the same way. This is a subtle way of reinforcing that even though we are embodied, we are not and never have been separate from Source.

The 5 koshas delineate the subtle process by which energy progressively condenses out of the soup of unmanifest potential and eventually densifies into what we know and see as the concrete and visible physical body. A metaphor to understand the koshas or bodies as increasingly visible and materialized sheaths would be to compare the Bliss body to ether, the Wisdom body to air, the Mental body to steam, the Energy body to water and the Physical body to ice. It is harder to affect or shape ice than it is to affect water. At the water level (Energy body), water will assume the form of whatever direction it is given, whereas at the ice level (Physical body), we would need to use a hammer and chisel to effect the same changes. As you will see, one of the primary tools of Yoga Nidra—Intention (Sankalpa), makes use of this principle.

The process of embodiment first moves from formless into the most subtle condensation of energy at the Bliss body or Anandamaya kosha. Think of the Bliss body as the first undulation of an ocean as it begins to swell toward a fully formed wave. This sheath is said to arise from the initial mutation from oneness to the sense of “me” as a separate and distinct entity from the whole of the ocean.

The Bliss body or Anandamaya kosha is the most powerful of all the 5 koshas, being the first involution into form. It is the finest veil standing between ordinary awareness and Source. In the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Bliss body is equated with the transcendental Self or Source itself, although subsequent Vedanta schools consider it to be the final veil surrounding the ultimate Reality, or Self. We will go with the latter here—the Bliss body as the final veil to ultimate Reality or Self. If Source is pure light and love, the Bliss body, as the thinnest veil receives the greatest luminosity from the Source. As each sheath gets denser and further from Source, the light of Source is less able to penetrate through these apparent veils of separation.

Inside this free app you’ll find A Guide to Understanding the 5 Kosha Energy Bodies…Enjoy!!

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