The psychic sheath

Working from the intellectual sheath, the other sheaths recede on their own. These other sheaths (four others) come in the way of your progress. (For more on this, check my blog in the main site. )

 The food sheath -- with its basic needs of protection from heat/cold, hunger/thirst -- yes, it is the first need of us human, where most of us are so stuck.  Some of us use this sheath to satiate the hunger of the emotional sheath, the manomaya kosha. The emotional sheath is  where the ego resides. Very noisy, demanding place, this sheath. Most humans pass their entire lives here, in this sheath, even the ones who we see as achievers. This is the ruination sheath -- a consuming place. You dream for moksha is sacrificed on its altar.

The neutral third sheath, is where your  life force prana, resides. It can work both ways, since it is a bridge between your higher and lower self.  Prana, your breath is a tool, but it can be severely affected by your strength and your weaknesses. Just as a tool may be useful in the hands of a strong person or  slip and be ineffective in the hands of a weak one, prana can prop you up or draw u under.

Interestingly, it is not tough to work from the psychic sheath, the fourth sheath. It is a matter of intense awareness. This awareness, as to which of your sheaths is now dragging you or leading you, comes from constant meditation. It is where you learn to step back and watch yourself, as you flow between these sheaths. Once the awareness is constant, the choice is more easily made. In a way this happens on its own.
Your psychic sheath simply comes to the foreground of your mind and things happen on their own. The ego will constantly try to reassert itself. The manomaya kosha seeking to tear off the psychic sheath. This constant wear and tear happens inside till your sadhana relieves you from this battle ground, inside yourself. When the battle stops, when the psychic sheath is experienced as a constant, you get a glimpse of that bliss that the books and mystics promise. A peek into the ultimate:)