आनन्दमयोऽभ्यासात् ānandamayo'bhyāsāt
ānandamayo
ānandamaya'kośa
is
that part of our
body
that is referred to as
the body of bliss.
So the physical body, matter and energy are interpreted as matter and energy.
The subtle body is mind, intellect, and ego.
And then as we get closer
to
the fundamental levels of reality, we enter
what is called the bliss body.
The bliss body is also called ānandamaya'kośa
as in this sutra
ānandamaya'kośa
it's also called that in yogic literature.
So you have
what we call
annamaya kośa
the layer
of the body, the sheath derived from food, prāṇamaya kośa,
energetic body, vital energy prana.
And then the subtle body, which is also called ...
which is mind, intellect and ego subtle body.
And then as we go closer to the source of all experience,
and Atman and Brahman are referred to as the bliss body because they have
very minimal fluctuations of consciousness and you enter
the event horizon I would say
of bliss and ultimate reality,
the infinite being that you are, which is also referred to
as sat chit ananda.
So today, I'll take this starting point to explain how spiritual practice actually
epigenetically modulates brain activity
and autonomic activity
and ultimately
our body's metabolism
at the quantum level. I know people will object to that. But what the heck
quantum means
you know, quantum is defined as the smallest unit of energy in which
waves are emitted or absorbed waves, fluctuations of
basically
photons, electromagnetic activity, whatever strong and weak interactions,
that's all part of the electromagnetic field.
So particles
fluctuate
as quantum fluctuations and that is influenced.
Now, here's the controversial part, but
it's not controversial. As far as I'm concerned,
every experience modulates, the experience modulates the activity of your genes.
So genes are constantly going on and off right now. As I'm speaking to you,
the genes in your frontal cortex are going on and
off and they're influencing because all genetic activity is entangled.
Then
every
gene is
correlated in its activity with every gene correlated with its activity
at
a quantum level.
So choosing our experiences, how we choose our experiences
actually allows us to modulate our genetic activity
and
also effectively and consciously engage in neuroplasticity,
which means new connections between neurons and ultimately neurogenesis,
which is also the generation of new neurons.
But remember that's not just happening in your brain, it's happening
everywhere
because everything is connected in the body.
So traditionally, the nervous system
is divided into the brain
and then the autonomic nervous system,
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
So one is considered the voluntary system the other is considered
the
involuntary system or. So you can say the
autonomic nervous system is the neural correlate of our subconscious mind.
But it's not really subconscious in a way,
it's super conscious because it influences everything
that's happening in the conscious mind.
So for the Yogi, it's all one
correlated activity, mind, brain,
sympathetic nervous system,
parasympathetic nervous system,
metabolic activity all happening simultaneously through
acausal, nonlocal, quantum mechanical interrelatedness.
Notwithstanding what the
classic mainstream
quantum physicists might say
we can ultimately be able to map
mathematically everything that we call experience.
And so where does experience happen? Experience happens in awareness.
So awareness is nonlocal. We've said that before.
So all experience is happening or is being processed non-locally
in
ānandamaya kośa
if we can get there
and this is why we need these scriptural guides
to say, how do we get back
to where we started from?
Remember that poem of T S Elliot, we shall not cease from exploration.
And the end of our exploring is to arrive where we started from
and know the place for the first time. What is that?
So, you know, when somebody asked a great Rishi
who was traveling across India,
boy, you're traveling a lot and he said, no, no, my body travels,
I've never left home.
So when you learn to go back home and then stay there, even as your body mind travels,
then
you arrived where you start from. And that is the body of bliss.
And that is the ultimate self regulation, genetic epigenetic
neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, metabolic self-regulation, homeostasis,
the ultimate
self-regulation from the body of bliss behind the karmic body.
So now close your eyes for a second, feel your body, the sensations you feel
are the projection of karma:
stories, past interpretations of experiences, future desires, memories,
that's all being projected from the subtle body as your physical body.
But behind this
is the body of bliss
and,
and everything we do from you know, social emotional intelligence,
which are the first two limbs of
patanjali
yoga and then
you know
the seats of awareness through physical postures,
pranyam breathing techniques,
interoceptive awareness, pratyahara
withdrawal of the senses, tarna
focus
gyan meditation, samadhi, transcendence all
lead us back to the source, the body of bliss,
neuroplasticity,
epigenetic activity
all
in perfect harmony
for
ultimately creating a joyful, energetic body,
loving, compassionate heart, clear mind
and lightness of being
so more to come.