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Annamaya Kosha is the sheath of the physical body, including the organs, bones, blood, and limbs. |
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Kamamaya Kosha is the instinctual sheath, which senses the external stimuli through the sense organs, craves objects of physical pleasure, and acts to obtain desires. |
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Manomaya Kosha is the intellectual mental sheath, involving memory, contemplation, experiences of pain and pleasure, and dreaming. |
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Atimanas Kosha is the creative mental sheath, which contains unexpressed potential for future actions. It is responsible for providing solutions that come instantly, without mental effort or prior knowledge. |
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Vigyanamaya Kosha is the sheath of intuition, including spiritual discrimination, ego boundaries, and personal strength. A person begins to sense the divine in this sheath. |
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Hiranyamaya Kosha is the spiritual sheath, which includes the highest spiritual bliss that humans can achieve without losing their sense of individuality. |
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Anyone can strive to create a closer connection to any of these aspects within themselves. Other belief systems share similar ideas that the individual has several aspects of him- or herself called ''subtle bodies," or rather selves that exist on a parallel plane. According to these theories, these aspects are all part of a larger consciousness. The theories emphasize the idea that the body itself does not contain these aspects. Rather, this consciousness contains the body, as well as the other levels, as just part of its manifestation. |
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The Astral Body: Your Second Self |
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A commonly recognized "extra" self is the astral body, also called an energy body. The astral body is made from the vibrations that make up the physical body. The astral body may also be called a double, because it is an exact duplicate of the physical body. The Theosophists refer to it as the "etheric double." |
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According to shamans and yogis, the astral body resembles the physical body but is made of a very fine and flexible material. Driven by emotions, passions, and desires, the astral body is thought to be a bridge between the physical brain and a higher level of mind. In certain ways, it is similar to the other types of altered consciousness that we have talked about. But it also offers a special ability: the most extensive travels you can dream of. |
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