Yoga considers a five fold perspective to get a complete picture of one’s personality known as “Pancha Kosas”. In this course however we are concerned about three aspects of the personality.
- Anna Maya Kosa – The part of the personality which is physical and predominantly refers to the body which is constructed and made of food.
- Prana Maya Kosa – The vital part of the personality which refers to the vital sheath, made of the subtle prana or life energy.
- Mano Maya Kosa – The mental part of the personality which refers to the mental sheath, made of even more subtler material.
These three are inter related and interconnected. They rely on one another and also affect each other. They are complimenting to each other and participate in the effort to bring about a feeling of a unified single personality.
They are like the three legs of the tripod and if one of them is not set or aligned properly then the picture taken is also improper. Focusing on the development of one aspect of the personality, while being negligent of the other aspects will only be an incomplete and dissatisfying approach.
The uniqueness of Yoga is in the fact that we are not considered as the body! Yoga takes a complete and thorough look into our personality, which is based on the robust foundation of the scriptural understanding of how the macrocosm and the microcosm are created, sustained and refreshed.
If one wishes to have a happy peaceful life, if one aspires to enjoy the beauties of life, if one wishes to set specific achievable goals in life and successfully achieve them then one should ensure that these three part of the personality are strong, efficient, disciplined and refined.
The whole system of Yoga works towards optimization of these different parts of the personality.
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