In the representation of yogis, a person has a complex nature and consists of 7 principles, or bodies:
The physical body (bones, organs, muscles) itself does not possess any properties and only in conjunction with
Ethereal, which is the structural matrix of the Physical, but from more subtle matter, and
By animating, giving strength and energy generated from Prana, a living physical body forms.
The astral body, like everyone else, permeates the physical and surrounds it in the form of a colored cloud (aura). It consists of the subtle matter of emotions, feelings, human desires.
The mental body (Manas) has an ovoid shape and is a substrate of mental activity. The astral and mental bodies make up the mental and social face of the personality, its “Ego”, formed by parents, teachers, society and, of course, the person himself. After death, with the disappearance of the Living Body, the Physical is destroyed, and after it the Etheric, Astral and Mental.
The body of Intuition (Budhi) is higher than simple intellect, it manifests itself in states of inspiration, insight, and intuition. It forms a luminous halo around the head (Nimbus of saints). Spirit (Atman) is the true "I" of the personality, its essence, the Divine spark in man. Intuition Body and Spirit form
The casual body, which in other religions is called the Soul. The casual beginning exists forever, passes from life to life, accumulates spiritual and moral experience of self-exaltation.
With the birth of a person, the Casual body is embodied in matter, acquiring the remaining grosser bodies depending on the tasks of the “I” and the degree of their solution. The goal of many births and deaths, as the Bhagavad-gita states, is to overcome ignorance (Avidya), develop higher consciousness (Budhi) and become aware of one's “I” (Atman).
Karma. According to the law of Karma, every act of a person affects the fate of the future. Bad thoughts, words, deeds create difficult, redeeming Karma. Yoga teachers believed that illness is an action of Karma that wakes up consciousness, makes a person think and change himself.
In general, Karma can be defined as the totality of discrepancies between the Cosmos program embedded in the individual Soul and the real actions of the individual. The so-called acts against conscience will determine the conditions of the next birth and the next life.
The laws of Karma and Reincarnation determine the evolution of man, aim him to move upward, to perfection. The number of transformations is determined by Karma. The heavier Karma and the personality changes more slowly, the more repeated births are required before reaching Moksha (liberation). Moksha - the final stage in the evolution of the indestructible "I", the spiritualization of consciousness - is seen as the fulfillment of desires, as the fullness of being of a person freed from the physical body and representing a self-conscious spirit.
Kundalini. The tantric movement has contributed to the development of yoga theory. The concept of key universal energy was formulated, which can be activated and which can be controlled through meditation. The emergence of this theory is preceded by a long story: its elements are present in the religious and mystical concepts of China, Japan, Korea and other countries. But it was developed in most detail in the ancient literary monuments (Tantras) of Tibet. The universal power of Kundalini is understood as concentrated Cosmic energy, dormant in the sacral region at the base of the spine. Her awakening and ascent through the Sushumna thin-energy channel, passing in the center of the spinal cord, is the goal of such varieties of yoga as Kundalini and Laya Yoga.
The peculiarity of the tantra theory is to give the Kundalini a female essence (Shakti), striving to rise up to merge with the male aspect awaiting him there (Shiva). Their unity explains the effect of trance (Samadhi) when rational consciousness is turned off and the world is perceived through non-sensory channels.
During the rise, this awakened potential force passes through the vital centers located along the spine - the Chakras - and activates them. The main function of the Chakras is to accept, accumulate, transform and distribute the Cosmic Prana. Sensitive people intuitively perceive the Chakras as energy vortices in the shape of cones. These cones with their peaks rest on the vertebrae and, expanding, go out into space.
The following main centers are known: Muladhara - located between the coccyx and the pubic bone; Svadhistana - in the sacral region and further in the lower abdomen; Manipura - starts from the 4th lumbar vertebra and expands in the upper abdomen; Anahata - comes from the 4th thoracic vertebra and captures most of the chest; Vishuddha - originates from the 7th cervical vertebra and reaches the thyroid gland; Ajna - in the midbrain and diencephalon; Sahasra - in the cerebral cortex.
According to the philosophy of yoga, these centers are responsible for the physiological functions of the body, sensory organs and psychological characteristics of a particular person.
The rise of Kundalini, as it were, realizes the creative potential of the individual. Filling with energy of each center is a stage of its development. The psychological characteristics are changing, consciousness becomes different. When the Kundalini current reaches the 7th center, the human body, according to the yogis, becomes able to feel the subtle energies of the higher spheres of the cosmos, which is inaccessible to the ordinary perception of the world. Chakras turn into organs of comprehension and communication with the Spiritual World. A person acquires various phenomenal abilities, inexplicable from the standpoint of the laws of the material world. These qualities, or Sidhi, are not the goal of yoga. Patanjali and other authorities considered the appearance of Sidh for granted and warned against their intentional development and use for selfish earthly purposes. This distracts the yoga from the direct path, inhibits his self-development and self-realization.
The considered worldviews of yoga reveal the motives of traditional yogotraining, make it possible to understand that the desire of yogis to be cleaner and better is caused by the belief in their belonging (like all other people) to the Universal Cosmic Brotherhood, uniting humanity and the beings of the whole Universe. The moral elevation of even one person affects the entire ocean of the Cosmic Prana, which nourishes the life-giving energy of all.