The Gross, Causal and Subtle Bodies

In order to practice yoga most efficiently, it is important to become aware of three separate bodies or sheaths which make up our existence. Although it may seem that we are a stagnant physical body alone, we are actually the compilation of three separate types of existence layered over one another as in a relief painting. Each layer is affected by the others. They work together to form the self.

In Sanskrit it is called Sthula Sharira. The gross body feels all the aches and pains of an overzealous asana practice. It is for example, the blood and muscles, the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the gray matter resting between our ears that make us a human organism. Our physical body is that part of us which is grounded in form.  Form is not eternal.  It is ephemeral.  We are spiritual beings utilizing a form for a limited time.  When this form is old and dies away, our being does not.  Many of us fear death because we believe erroneously that we are our bodies.  We cannot die because we are more than just our physical bodies.

Sukshma Sharira is the subtle or pranic body. This is the body at the intuitive level of the mind. It is a more subtle level which is animated by the life force or pran. Deepak Chopra states that the difference between a cadaver and a live person is all in the pran, after all there is no difference of weight between a person just before he dies and once he or she has passed. We are not just molecules, but organisms composed of energy. The engine of our life force or pran or chi (qi) depending on your cultural background, is the breath. We breathe approximately 50,400 times in one day. Through the breath we are constantly interacting with our environment through our subtle bodies. Although oxygen is vital to our physical bodies, it is also vital to our subtle bodies. Usually, our breathing is too quick. We breathe in a shallow manner, not allowing the full benefits of a deep, even breath to nourish our bodies. Not only is every cell in our body starved for oxygen, but basically, we become polluted because cells cannot eliminate toxins efficiently. Despite the obvious physical detriments, our life force is also diminished. This force is subtle and underlies all manifestation, but works in a systematic way. Pranayama is a way to control this life force. But breath control is not only discussed in yogic traditions. It is studied in Islam, in Taoism and in the Kabbala. Prana travels through our bodies in what are known as 'nadis' or channels. There are over 72,000 nadis in the body. Through slow, deep breathing we allow the life force to travel freely through the nadis, bringing life to all our body, both the physical aspect and the subtle.

Karana Sharira is the causal body. It is the changeless, immutable aspect of the infinite self. It is our primordial essence. If you were to peel away the layers of the other two bodies, the Karana Sharira would be the background for everything else we are. This is the layer of the body where the chakras operate, and where we are not defined by what we do or who we are to the external world. We are not our bodies.  We are being. We are not a mother or father or brother, we are not a housewife or a corporate lawyer, and we are not a United States citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Congo. We just are. This is the realm from which all possibility springs. It is an infinite realm. In this body, our true soul is encased. In Vedic culture, as well as others, the causal body is what stores our impressions from past lives, and gives or inclinations in this one. It is the subtlest layer separating "us" from everything outside of "us." The causal layer allows the ego to form. Because in our truest form, we are infinite, the causal body allows us to manifest as a specific point in time while keeping us anchored in the infinite.

How does yoga affect the three bodies? When we practice asana, we experience the cleansing of our joints and muscles, our internal organs and the clearing of our minds. This in turn affects our two more subtle bodies. Through pranayama, for example, we become more in tune with the less "gross" aspects of being and become more in touch with the subtle aspects of ourselves, like intuition and creativity. From here we store new impressions which affect us at the causal body level. Impressions are very important to us yoga practitioners as they help to form our experiences in the future. Impressions are like programs being fed into a computer. We can only have output which matches the input. Physical impressions affect us. Emotional impressions affect us. All forms of site, sound, hearing, and taste are cause for an impression. We can affect each of the three bodies by watching what impressions we feed into our physical-mental-emotional-spiritual computer. We can also help others to see beyond their identification with only their physical bodies by remembering our chngeless self, the Karana Sharira.  we can interact with others as though they were timeless essence instead of a cranky co-worker or ill-disposed boss. These attitudes are of the ego, and not the person's truest essence. The more we interact with the Karana Sharira, the more a person remembers their truest essence also, and their behvior begins to be modified accordingly.  This is the practice of a bodhisattva or advanced yogi.

As each of these aspects of ourselves is 'tuned up' by yoga, meditation and breathing, we start to flow with the world around us in a more harmonious manner. Like a stringed instrument, when one string is plucked, the others start to vibrate in a secondary resonance, in sympathy with the initial string. Our three bodies act as strings on an instrument. Through practicing yoga, we allow them to vibrate harmoniously. When we are vibrating harmoniously within ourselves, we begin to affect the vibration of those around us. The gross, subtle and causal bodies become like the C, E and G strings vibrating to make a harmonious chord. This harmonious chord resonates with every person and sentient being around us. This resonance affects form in all its shapes, colors and manifestations. It causes us to not resist that which we see as the "other" but to move in and thorugh and around life its "form" as the form-less.

Christina Sarich (c) 2008 All Rights Reserved.

YOGA HALE

Yoga: Sanskrit Word Meaning, to Yoke Oneself to God    Hale: Hawaiian Word for House