Ojas Foundation - Vedic Path to Healthy Living

Healthy living can be attained only if an individual is healthy in all spheres of his life. Leading a virtuous life leads to a healthy existence at physical, mental, Intellectual and spiritual level. Eating right kind of food, breathing a pure prana strengthens the Annamaya and Pranamaya Kosha. Engaging in contemplation and reflection strengthens the Manomay and Vigyanamaya Kosha. Engaging in meditation and other spiritual activities strengthen the Anandamaya kosha.

When all the five koshas function in harmony it enriches the ojas which results in nourishing the tejas and bala requited for effective functioning of mind and body.

According to the scriptures, the five layers or sheath we are made up of are:

Anna-maya-kosha
Anna-maya-kosha is first layer of our personality which is made up of the quintessence of food (anna-rasa), and it expands because of this essence. So the food we consume plays a major role in what we are, since it governs this layer.

Praana-maya-kosha
Praana-maya-kosha is the second layer of our personality. The word praana means source of energy. Every physical activity needs energy. Our vital functions which the prana primarily governs are breathing, heart beats, circulation, and digestion, so on.

Mano-maya-kosha
Mano-maya-kosha is the third layer of our personality which depicts ‘mind’. Thoughts are provoked by reminiscences, conditionings, emotions so on.

Vigyana-maya-kosha
Vigyana-maya means our wisdom and intellect which forms the fourth layer. Through this layer, we experience the intellect and knowledge. Also these experiences leading us to a discriminative thinking ability and guide us through the good and bad.

Aananda-maya-kosha
Aananda-maya-kosha is the soul of Vigyana-maya-kosha which forms the last layer. Resultant of the previous birth, the residues, the deeds and actions leads us to the formation of the layer which constitutes our personality.

Through any of these layers Disease manifests. According to the scriptures due to ignorance the disease manifest in vijyan layer and slowly transcends to the other layers.

These factors lead to the malnutrition for different kosha thus resulting in a disease. Disease penetrate causing imbalance in the Vigyana-maya-kosha due to ignorance and then slowly impacting the manomaya causing negative emotions ,then passing to the prana layer causing interruption and then manifest in the annamaya layer as a physical disease. This state is called as VYADHI.

So the causative factor for a disease often erupts in the Vigyana layer (psycho and wisdom layer) and often transfers itself as physical ailment which the modern science elicits as PSYCHOSOMATIC DISEASE.

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