Ashtanga Yoga - The Intermediate Series. Mythology, Anatomy, and Practice

R O O T S
however, it is very different from what we generally
understand the term body to mean. The karana sharira
consists of eternal or extremely long-lived
conditioned patterns (vasanas) and subconscious
imprints (samskaras).
During the manifest state of the gunas and the
pashyantic state of sound, ego does not yet exist, and
as such we cannot really say, “It is I who is reborn”
— an expression that the Buddha rightly criticized.
Nevertheless, some form of subconsciousness,
which at this point is not attached to any egoic
notions, does exist. Therefore, as something
disappears, something else must reappear. The force
and information behind this “something” is the
karana sharira, the causal body.
When through yogic effort shakti is made to rise
to the ajna chakra (third eye center), the sacred Om
is heard, cosmic intelligence is realized, and the
causal body is cleansed, which enables the yogi to
let go of or disassociate from karma. The shakti can
be made to ascend by means of chanting, meditating
on, and finally “hearing” the sound Om.
Paradoxically, although shakti needs to have reached
the ajna chakra for Om to be heard, Om really is
heard — or, more accurately, manifests — in the
anahata chakra (heart center).
THE SUBTLE STATE AND MADHYAMA
As the process of creation continues, the gunas now
swing from the manifest into the subtle state.
During the subtle state of the gunas, the sound state
of madhyama is produced. The madhyamic state
brings forth the fifty letters of the Sanskrit language,
which are composed of sixteen vowels and
thirty-four consonants. This is significant for the
following reason: During the subtle state the gunas
bring forth egoity (ahamkara), and only from this
moment on can we strictly speak from I-thought,
I-awareness, or I-consciousness. Then the gunas
produce the subtle elements/essences (tanmatras).
Finally, both together — egoity and subtle elements
— produce the subtle or energy body (sukshma
sharira), which is sometimes also called the yogic
body or energy body. The subtle body consists of
pranas (vital currents), nadis (energy channels),
bindus (energy points), personal vasana
(conditioning) and samskaras (subconscious
imprints), and, importantly, chakras. As a result,
the subtle body understands and reacts to Sanskrit.
You can chant your mantras in English or any
other language as long as you wish; they will
not transform the subtle body. To use an
information-technology analogy, Sanskrit is the
programming language that has been used to write
the operating system of the subtle body. If you want
to reprogram your operating system, you have to
enter your new instructions in Sanskrit. Otherwise
you will talk only to your conscious mind, which
can be useful but is not nearly as effective.
Let’s have a look now at how information is
encrypted into the subtle body. Each chakra is
related to certain Sanskrit letters and certain root
syllables, or bija aksharas. The bija aksharas are
mantras that are used to activate, open, and energize
their respective chakras. They are also used in an
important technique called bhuta shuddhi, the
purification of the elements, which was described in
chapter 1. During bhuta shuddhi, each element
represented in and manifested through its respective
chakra is dissolved into the next higher chakra. This
process is called involution. It reverses the descent of
shakti, which during the process of evolution
crystallized down through all the elements until she
came to rest in the muladhara chakra — at which
point we lost awareness of the Divine within us.
Bhuta shuddhi is not possible without using the root
mantras of each chakra and element. This is because
the Great Goddess/prakrti/shakti manifested and
programmed the chakras and elements by emitting
the root mantras during the madhyama state of
sound. In this process lies the secret of many yogic
techniques.
All phenomena are made up of vibrational
patterns called shabda. Divine intention uses shabda
in the form of mantra to shape reality. The ancient
seers heard these mantras in deep samadhi and
related them down to us. We now can use these
precious mantras to shape our reality. The rishis
have taught us mantras so that we could ultimately
realize the divine intention that stood behind their
initial use. Through the correct application of
mantras we can raise shakti up through the six lower
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