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The last chapter of part one, "...And Now Yoga", elaborates upon the true nature of yoga, the concept of the five koshas, the types of yoga, and finally the idea of finding the perfect alignment with existence. Part 2 of the book explores the concept of layers or sheaths in a human being's identity.
A kosha (also kosa; Sanskrit कोश, IAST: kośa), usually rendered "sheath", is a covering of the Atman, or Self according to Vedantic philosophy. The five sheaths, summarised with the term Panchakosha, are described in the Taittiriya Upanishad (2.1-5), [1] [2] and they are often visualised as the layers of an onion. [3]
In Advaita Vedanta the Anandamaya kosha is the innermost of the five koshas or "sheaths" that veil the Atman or Supreme Self. Unlike the next three more outer koshas, it constitutes the karana sarira or causal body. It is associated with the state of dreamless sleep and samadhi.
According to three bodies doctrine in Hinduism, the human being is composed of three shariras or "bodies" emanating from Brahman by avidya, "ignorance" or "nescience". They are often equated with the five koshas (sheaths), which cover the atman.
The book was one of the first three reference works on asanas (yoga postures) in the development of yoga as exercise in the mid-20th century, the other two being Selvarajan Yesudian and Elisabeth Haich's 1941 Sport és Jóga (in Spanish: an English version appeared in 1953) and Theos Bernard's 1944 Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience. [2]
Early concepts of the subtle body (Sanskrit: sūkṣma śarīra) appeared in the Upanishads, including the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad and the Katha Upanishad. [7]The Taittiriya Upanishad describes the theory of five koshas or sheaths, though these are not to be thought of as concentric layers, but interpenetrating at successive levels of subtlety: [8] [9]
Vigyanamaya kosha is one of the five koshas that cover Atman. Vigyanamaya kosha literally means a shell that is composed of wisdom or intellect. It is the fourth covering of Atma. [1] It is also the first layer of the causal mind located in the Vishudda chakra, the Ajna chakra and the Sahasrara chakra.
Yogācāra philosophy is primarily meant to aid in the practice of yoga and meditation and thus it also sets forth a systematic analysis of the Mahayana path of mental training (see five paths pañcamārga). [8]