There are 2 types of seekers in the Path Celestial, those who aspire for
liberation and ordinary mundane seekers.Liberation is defined as a yearning for Eternal Life and the first grouphas an intense yearning for the Life Divine. Conferred with changelessfaith and indomitable will, they keep up relentless struggle and getglimpses of Transcendental Consciousness. They have the GoalofSelf-Actualisation fixed in their minds & mental problems & physicalailments do not deter them.

But My mahatmas, those of noble souls,Who tread the Path Celestial, worship MeUnendingly they keep their yearning for Me ! ( The Song Celestial )All the great mystics of all civilizations belonged to this group. He still adheres to the high and difficult roadThat sole leads to Eternity's peaks!
But this group, unfortunately is a minority.The majority of spiritual seekers belong to the second group. Thesepeople have true aspiration but it is either not intense enough or isnot supported by a strong will to undergo prolonged inner strugglesor to bear the resultant physical or mental reactions. Many of themdo not have any hope of realising the Self in this life, & so they are
unwilling to sacrifice health or peace of mind for such an elusiveand distant goal. The outer instruments for mortal man are notfit to endure the severe rigours of this spiritual journey or face its subtle & and formidable dangers. Self Actualisation can only comefrom immense Grace Divine.

Ordinary mundane people find it difficult to make spiritual progresstheir sole concern in life although they may have committed themselvesto it in a general way. For them, an integral scheme of life in which theconsiderations of health & secular values receive as much attentionas spiritual orientation is what is needed. This present article is meantfor such seekers.

The Self as the basis of all Love

Why do we collect wealth ? For whose sake is wealth loved ? It is forthe sake of the Self. Why do we love our wife & children ? For whosesake is the wife & children loved? It is for the sake of the Self.
Everything in the universe - husband,wife,children, everything - is lovedfor the sake of oneself. The Self, when known, everything is known.What do we mean by oneself here ? Vedanta speaks of two selvesin man - a lower self and a higher Self. The lower self, regarded asthe false self, is the sum total of one's instincts, drives & impulses.The higher Self refers to the pure Atman which is regarded as the truenature of man. Vedanta states that the lower self, if left uncontrolled,will act as one's own enemy, and, if purified & controlled, will act asone's own friend. When the lower self is purified by yogic techniques& attuned to the higher Self, self-hate disappears & love for the higher
Self dawns.

He sees indeed who sees in all alike,The living lordly Self, Self supremeImperishable amidst the perishing ( The Song Celestial )

When this divine love blossoms in one's bosom,one's attitude towardshis body changes. He now begins to love his body as an instrument for themanifestation of the Divine Self. Vedic Scriptures speak of the bodyas " the temple of the His great transparent mirror, Self". As a matter of fact, Vedic temples are modelled after the pattern of the human organism.Symbolism behind Vedic temples

Man has three bodies - physical, astral & causal. The outer wall of theVedic temple represents the physical body of man. The inner wallrepresents the astral body and the innermost wall represents theCausal body. Deep within these three bodies is the Self, the Atmanwho is represented by the Deity ! The word temple is derived fromthe Latin word tempulum, a place where Law and Justice can be administered. The principle behind the temple, is Know Thyself !

Am I a god, then? YesIn these pure features I beholdCreative Nature to soul unfold ( Goethe )

The body is given prime importance in Vedic ritualistic worshipknown as Puja. Apart from ritualistic worship, service is divine &regarded as a form of worship known as Yajna. Vedic Scripturesenjoin five types of service known as Pancha-Mahayajna; serviceto the gods, service to sages, service to manes, service to human beings, service to animals. The ancient Law-giver Manu has giventhe injunction to divinize the body through these five practices.(" Through the repeated practice of these five great yajnas, thehuman body gets divinized".)"The human body is the greatest instrument for Self-Actualisation ",said the famous Sanskrit poet Kalidasa. Maintaining the divine statusof the body is not easy.It should be kept as clean, healthy & we shouldnot allow any kind of physical or mental indulgence to defile its sanctity& harmony. ("Chastity is the flowering in man " said Thoreau andcontinence has been prescribed for spiritual progress). That is to say,change in attitude towards the body brings with it a new responsibilityfor one's own health. Surprising indeed is the fact that many peoplethink that restoring health and curing diseases are solely theresponsibility of the medical profession. In the holistic health system,responsibility for falling ill & getting well both rest primarily withthe patient. The doctor only assists in curing himself. As AlbertSchweitzer said " All healing is Self-healing ".
Holistic medicine postulates that the responsibility for healthare restsin the patient's hands because that is where the knowledge and controlof the variables lie ( diet,stress,exercise,genetics,emotion & medication).


1. Knowledge of the Psychosomatic MachineIf the patient is aware of the disease and its aetiology, about his body'simmune power and if he can bear physical pain temporarily, with a stoic calmness, he can avoid a lot of unnecessary medication.

In the Holistic Model, the cause of any disease is understood in terms ofthe whole person and not in terms of a particular organ or tissue. As SirWilliam Osler put it, it is more import to know the patient who has thedisease than the disease of the patient. Plato remarked that " the treatment
of the parts should not be attempted without treatment of the entirety"The one person who knows about the patient more than anybody elseis the patient himself.

Compliments should go to Western Science which has discovereda lot of knowledge by research & which is the result of the painstakinglabour of thousands of dedicated scientists for more than 200 years.This accumulated treasure is humanity's precious heritage and onlycharlatans will ignore or undervalue it. It is imperative thatevery educated person should have a basic knowledge of human
anatomy & physiology, and also of Western psychology. However thisresearch is analytical and incomplete.

A Holistic Model was developed by the Sages of India 2500 years ago.The Five Levels of Being - The Yogic Model

These are the five concentric sheaths enveloping the Self, the DivineSpark in man !

1. Physical Sheath ( Annamaya Kosha )
2. Vital Sheath ( Pranamaya Kosha )
3. Mental Sheath ( Manomaya Kosha )
4. Intellectual Sheath ( Vijnanamaya Kosha )
5. Bliss Sheath ( Anandamaya Kosha )

Disease is the imbalance in any of the three lower sheaths of existence -physical, vital & mental.

The microcosm & the macrocosm are are in unbroken communionwith each other & are structured on the same pattern. At thelevel of the physical sheath, food, water & oxygen enter the microcosm
and Co2, waste products etc return to the macrocosm. This is true ofother sheaths also. The individual cannot exist independent of the cosmos. The interdependence of the Microcosm & the Macrocosm
is known in Classical Philosophy as the Bio-Cosmic tieup. If theexchange between the physical sheath and the physical worldaround it is defective, the body will become ill, and deathwill result if it is stopped altogether.

The Tantric Model

A different but parallel model of human personality was developed by theTantras. Whereas the Upanishads speak of Five Sheaths or Koshas,the Tantras speak of six chakras. These Chakras are ( in ascending order)

1. Root Chakra ( Muladhara )
2. Anal Chakra ( Manipura )
3. Solar Plexus Chakra ( Swadhistana )
4. Heart Chakra ( Anahata )
5. Throat Chakra ( Vishuddhi )
6. Eyebrow Chakra ( Ajna )

Life is regarded as the unfolding of the Self at six different levels ofconsciousness known as Chakras in the magnificent Tantric Model.In mundane people the unfolding takes place only at the first three
chakras which represent procreation, metabolism & speech; thehigher three chakras remain latent. The awakening of the higherchakras results in the unfolding and fulfillment of Life Divine. When
the Kundalini, the Serpentine Power inherent in humans, rises fromthe Root Chakra ( Muladhara ) to the Crown Chakra ( Sahasrara ),man achieves Cosmic Consciousness.

The Spirit shall take up the human play
The earthly life become the Life Divine!

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