Spirituality Studies 10-2 Fall 2024 51 Gejza M. Timčák, Gábor Pék ness is ahaṁkāra itself, not just one of the five sheaths. That is, the very nature of ahaṁkāra is avidyā or false perception of the self, because when in unity with ahaṁkāra one is always aware of oneself as “I am this body” and consequently one is aware of the seeming existence of other things. The reason why the ānandamaya kōśas is in this context said to “remain in sleep” is that since those, who have not yet become “self-realized” (Sa. jñā ni), are unable to understand the full implications of the realization that ahaṁkāra does not in fact exist even when it seems to exist, they want to know why ahaṁkāra rises again from sleep and other states of manolaya (Sa. “temporary dissolution of mind”), so saying that the ānandamaya kōśa remains in sleep and other such states, and therefore causes ego to rise again in “waking” (Sa. jāgrat), or “dream” (Sa. svapna), is intended to satisfy the interest of such individuals [5]. In the Uḷḷadu Nārpadu (Maharshi 2010, 84–86), it is expressed as: “If the First Person exists, the Second and Third person will also be in existence. But upon one’s investigation into the reality of its nature, the First Person is destroyed, the Second and Third Persons will also cease to be, and Self −nature, shining alone, will verily be revealed as one’s own nature.” Thus, if one “investigates” (Sa. vichāra) to its ultimate depth, it will be clear that no such thing has ever actually existed or risen at all, as Mahariśi implies in verse 17 of Upadesa Sarah (quoted in James 2022): “When one investigates what the mind actually is, [note: it will be clear that] there is no mind at all.” That is, however, a realization that comes in the state of jñā na. It has to be cleared however, why the concept of will is assigned here to ānandamaya kōśa, as according to the upaniṣadic sources, it should pertain more to vijñānamaya kōśa and ahaṁkāra. Ramana Mahariśi stated the view, that the kōśas are insentient and the jīva has to undergo manonāśa (Sa. “destruction of mind”) in order to become free of their ruling role and to come to the state of mukti (freedom from avidya). The state of manonāśa is difficult to link with life as ahaṁkāra will be devoid of tools for life (i.e., of the majority of kōśas) except for the case that the “Will of the Absolute” (described by Sanskrit terms of Ānanda, parāśakti, parāvāk, Svātantrya, Spanda, hṛdaya; Kṣemarā ja 2014, 6–7) emulates the function of manas and all the malas cease to take effect. This is to happen when ahaṁkāra melts into Being (Timčák 2018, 18, 23). Michael James (2022) expands on ānandamaya kōśa as follows: Moreover, the reason why our will is called ānandamaya kōśa, the ‘sheath composed of happiness’, is that vāsanās alone are what constitute it, and all vāsanās are inclinations or desires driven by our fundamental inclination to seek happiness. Therefore, the name ānandamaya kōśa implies that it is the sheath composed of vāsanās, which are various forms of our fundamental love to be happy. That is, happiness and our love to be happy are inseparable, because they are both our own real nature (svabhāva), as Bhagavan Ramana implies in the first sentence of the first paragraph of Nāṉ Ār? So, in this context ānanda implies not only happiness but also love for happiness. Though love for happiness is infinite and therefore formless, when we rise as ahaṁkāra it manifests in us in the form of numerous vāsanās, each of which is essentially just an inclination or liking to experience happiness. However, here it can be noted that it seems more related to our everyday experience that the information coming from ānandamaya kōśa to vijñānamaya kōśa forms the basis on which the ahaṁkāra (influenced by vāsanās relevant in a given case) takes a decision/identifies with a proposal for decision as illustrated in Figure 5. Thus, the question to resolve is whether ānandamaya kōśa is the storehouse of vāsanās or it only processes data coming to it through outer and inner senses from the point of joy-content. The ability of ānandamaya kōśa to connect to unconditioned Ānanda during dreamless sleep could indicate that the vāsanās are stored through ahaṁkāra. After all – as we could see above – the ahaṁkāra contains all the information needed for forming the kōśas. According to the cited upaniṣadic sources, prāṇa has its origin in Brahman, but as declared also by Ramana Mahariśi, prāṇamaya kōśa on itself is devoid of life. So, to term is as “life” as used in the translations of Michael James is perhaps not ideal for prāṇamaya kōśa. Further to add to ānandamaya kōśa the attribute of “will” can also be misleading as on itself it is devoid of life and thus cannot exhibit “will”, which the ahaṁkāra is to exhibit on the basis of data coming from vijñānamaya kōśa [6]. Further, the ānandamaya kōśa is embedded in the vijñānamaya kōśa, but they are non-identical and the ānandamaya kōśa provides only information, the quality of which depends also on vāsanās. The upaniṣadic sources declare that ānandamaya kōśa (as everything) has its identity with Brahman, which is a sole source of Ānanda, but reflects also joy coming from everyday activities. It also conveys the basic level of “inner comfort” (Sa. saṃtoṣa) that is needed for everyday life. It means that even for avoiding depres-
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