A Path To Samadhi

As we have learned in previous articles, beneath the surface of our ordinary identity lie layers of experience known as the five koshas, or sheaths. They surround the deepest awareness of our being, much as layers surround a hidden center.

These five sheaths are Annamaya, the physical body; Pranamaya, the vital energy; Manomaya, the mental and emotional body; Vijnanamaya, the sheath of wisdom and discernment; and Anandamaya, the sheath of bliss.

In this article, we explore how meditating on the koshas can become more than a relaxation technique. It can become a process of moving consciousness inward—away from identification with the changing world and toward the awareness that exists beneath it.

In this sense, the five koshas can be understood as a guide pointing toward samadhi.

The Practice of "Neti Neti" (Not This, Not That)

The core meditative method for transcending the sheaths is the ancient Upanishadic technique of Neti Neti.

Witnessing: You look at each sheath objectively.

Reasoning: You tell yourself: "I can perceive my body, so I am not my body. I can observe my breath, so I am not my breath. I can watch my thoughts, so I am not my thoughts.”

Detachment: By systematically detaching your identity from these changing layers, you slip past them. What remains when all five sheaths are negated is the unchanging witness: the Atman.

The Meditative Practice

Entering Through the Body

The journey starts with Annamaya Kosha, the physical body.

Sit quietly and bring your awareness completely into the body. Notice the weight of the body, the movement of the breath, the heartbeat, the sensations in the hands and feet. Do not attempt to control these sensations. Take your time within each kosha, and simply observe.

Recognize something subtle. You are aware of the body.

The body is being observed by consciousness. This does not mean rejecting the body. It means beginning to loosen the belief that the body is the entirety of who you are. As the body becomes still, consciousness can turn inward.

Following the Breath

Now move into Pranamaya Kosha.

Bring your awareness to the breath. Watch the inhalation and the exhalation without forcing either one. As the breath slows and grows quieter, the movement of energy within the body may also become more subtle.

The breath is a bridge between the physical and the mental.

When the breath is disturbed, the mind is often disturbed. When the breath becomes peaceful, the mind can begin to follow.

Eventually, the breath itself may seem to disappear from your attention. It continues, but you are no longer trying to control it.

Awareness is becoming still.

Entering the Mind

Now encounter Manomaya Kosha.

Thoughts will arise. Memories will appear. Emotions may surface. Do not fight them. Watch them. A thought comes and goes. An emotion comes and goes. A memory comes and goes. Everything within the mind is changing. But something is watching all of it. That realization is one of the great turning points of meditation.

You begin to understand that consciousness is not the thought. It is that which is aware of the thought. The more clearly this is experienced, the less power the mind has to define who you are.

Passing Into Wisdom

Beyond the mind's restless activity lies Vijnanamaya Kosha—the realm of discernment.

Here meditation becomes an investigation about the nature of the self. Who is the one observing? Who is aware of the body? Who is aware of the breath? Who is aware of the thoughts? Who is aware of the question itself? Do not answer intellectually. Remain with the question.

This is where meditation moves beyond concentration and toward contemplation. The mind is no longer simply watching its contents. It is turning toward the source of awareness itself. As identification falls away, a deeper intelligence begins to reveal itself.

Experience the Sheath of Bliss

Eventually, consciousness encounters Anandamaya Kosha, the sheath of bliss.

This is not pleasure in the ordinary sense. It is the peace that can arise when the movement of thought becomes quiet, and the struggle to maintain a separate identity begins to dissolve.

There may be moments when there is no desire to change anything. No need to become anything. No need to go anywhere.

There is simply presence. The meditator, the meditation, and the object of meditation begin to lose their apparent separation.

This is where the five koshas point beyond themselves.

Bliss expands into Samadhi

The koshas are still sheaths. Even bliss is something experienced. The deeper purpose of the practice, therefore, is not to become attached to peaceful sensations or mystical experiences. It is to continue moving inward.

In samadhi, the usual distinction between the observer, the act of observing, and the object being observed becomes profoundly transformed. The fluctuations of the mind have become sufficiently quiet that awareness is no longer distracted by its contents.

The individual consciousness is no longer occupied with constantly defining itself. There is simply awareness.

Samadhi is not something the ego can manufacture through effort. Practice prepares the ground. Concentration steadies the mind. Meditation deepens awareness. Identification gradually falls away. Then, in stillness, something deeper can reveal itself.

The five koshas therefore provide more than a description of human existence. They provide a path of inward discovery. We begin with the body. We follow the breath. We witness the mind.

We discover wisdom. We enter stillness. And finally, we move beyond even the experience of bliss toward the silent awareness beneath all experience.

The goal is not to escape the world or destroy the self. It is to discover that beneath the changing layers of human existence, there is a consciousness that does not depend on them.

Samadhi is not the creation of a new self. It is the recognition of what remains when everything that is not the Self becomes still. And perhaps this is why the ancient yogic path continually directs us inward.

The truth we seek is not somewhere outside us. It is under the layers. Exploring the five koshas is the journey home.

Meditate