Page 269 - The Path of Grace

APPENDIX I - KOSAS
based on these sensations, 3) to perform actions through the motor organs. It controls the indriyas and the instincts and activates the body to fulfil the basic desires for food, sleep, sex and to react to danger through flight or fight.
This layer is possessed also by animals and even trees. When this layer dominates, there is no sense of awareness of Ego/self/I ness. When this Kosa is operative the mind is in a state of waking consciousness. The functions of this layer are associated with chitta.
While studying the nature of Annamaya Kosa with reference to Sadhana, we have noted that our Self is covered by several bodies and these bodies are called Kosas in Sanskrit, which means "sheath, vessel, container or layer." They are the sheaths through which the Self/Soul functions simultaneously in the various planes of existence. The Kosas, in order of increasing subtlety, are: 1. Annamaya Kosa: the sheath composed of food-the physical body, being the coarsest of sheaths. 2. Pranamaya Kosa - sheath composed of Prana (vital force) also known
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