Vigraha (Body)

According to Mahayana Buddhism this body that we inhabit provides the host vehicle for the Mindstream (Skt. citta-santana).  It (the Mindstream) joins the embryo at the time of conception and continues until separation occurs at death.  As consciousness develops this influences the formation of body.  That which is our physical form is, at least to some degree, an expression of the mind that inhabits it.

Vigraha is about the transition of the body from the joining of egg and sperm to the last exhalation of breath.  I’m going to talk about the movement of the life force which manifests through the body (Skt. prana, kundalani). I’m also going to talk a little bit about “epigenetics” and how the body becomes a vehicle for past intergenerational trauma. 

The Pranayama Journey of the Body

Our body is literally the combination of the five primary elements; earth, wind, fire, water and mind.  The minerals from the earth, air and water are catalysed by the sun (fire) and form the essential ingredients of our body.  We are not separate from elements which make up our body.  We are part of the living eco-system and deeply connected at all levels. 

 The body is the host vehicle for our heart-mind consciousness although the field of consciousness extends beyond the body from the finite to the infinite.  Sometimes there is harmony between the development of the body and the development of consciousness.  Sometimes the body develops or becomes ill in response to events in the mind.  

The other layer of the body covers the energy core.  Disharmony in the core is reflected in the outer body.  This disharmony can disrupt the mind and consciousness.  If the breath is shallow or unsteady the mind becomes agitated and our consciousness takes on a brittle character.  This is why breathing forms such an integral part of meditative and yoga practices.  Only when the breath is settled is it possible to practice shamatha and achieve deeper levels of consciousness.  With sufficient practice we might approach the substrate and achieve a luminosity of consciousness.  

Past Trauma in the Body - Epigenetics

I was astonished to learn that three generations can be present in one female body: 

“When your grandmother was five months pregnant with your mother, the precursor cell of the egg that you developed from was already present in your mother’s ovaries.   This means that even before your mother was even born, your mother, your grandmother and the earliest traces of you were all in the same body – three generations sharing the same biological environment.” 

Wolynn, M.  It Didn’t Start With You.  Viking, NY 2016. P25.

As mentioned above, when I first heard of epigenetics I was somewhat sceptical.  Past trauma, events from previous generations, carried in the body as well as the mind!  How could this be possible and where did it fit with karma and consciousness.  It seemed to impact the entire cellular system and not just the brain.  It posed an intellectual dilemma for me.  Could it be that the subtle mindstream found the right body in which to settle, understanding its past and all that might become manifest?  This seemed quite a stretch. 

Unexplained ailments that seem all pervasive to the individual and resistant to treatment by psychotherapy and traditional medicine.  Epigenetics offers an explanation. If we accept that epigenetically carried trauma is a genuine phenomenon, and it appears likely, what might it mean for the nature of our consciousness?  It means that our consciousness might carry an imprint or scarring from the past that is held in the body as well as the mind. 

Consciousness and the Body

Does consciousness reside within the body and even extend beyond it?  As events and emotions appear to the mind we attribute substance to them.  However, I am reminded of that well known saying of the Buddha Shakyamuni: “In the seen there is only the seen; in the heard there is only the heard; in the felt there is only the felt; in the cognised there is only the cognised…when you understand this there is no you here and no you there this is the end of suffering.”

 Wallace B. Alan,  Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic.  Columbia NY 2011 p130.

All appearances to the mind arise and pass away.  They have no ontological existence in and of themselves independent of the mind that brought them into being.  The mind exists as the heart-mind axis.  Neither is independent.  It (the mind) extends beyond the body and does not stand-alone.  According to some we are all connected in the great sea of consciousness.