Page 69 - The Path of Grace

PIND DESH
grossest is the Annamaya kosa, which means food and is naturally related to the element earth. The second is Pranamaya kosa. Prana indicates the flowing, fluid or liquid element of Water. The third is the Manomaya kosa the layer of the lower mind. This is to be understood as relating to the element of fire where the aspiration for achieving higher values starts. The fourth is the Vijnanamaya kosa the sheath of the Buddhi. This is the state where the expansion of consciousness begins and is related to the element of air. The fifth one is the Anandamaya kosa the sheath of Bliss. The Bliss is the experience of the sphere of Ether. (See appendix 1 on Kosas for more details)
It is also necessary for us to note clearly that the five senses symbolize five forms of perception (activities of consciousness) relating to the five elements. Touch is symbolic of perception in the physical plane, taste in the emotional, smell in the mental and moral, hearing in the spiritual and sight in the ethereal planes.
The relation between the ‘senses’ and the world of manifestation has to be well understood to
113