The five coverings of the soul

Who am I? This is a question that can have multiple answers according to one’s level of consciousness. The soul is covered by many material layers, and we may identify with any of them.

Who am I? This is a question that can have multiple answers according to one’s level of consciousness. The word “ātma” in Sanskrit, which can be roughly translated as “the self” has different meanings according to the context and the listener. Ātma can mean the body, it can mean the mind, or it can mean the soul, which is our true and final identity according to the Vedic literature.

The soul originates from a transcendental world that is beyond the limits of our physical universe. That world is not subjected to our physical laws, or even to the influence of time. There, everything is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss, the exact opposite of the situation here. How the soul falls from this position of eternal bliss to the struggle of existence in this material world is a mystery. However, when this happens, the first covering that envelops the pure soul is the concept of false-ego or ahaṅkāra. This ahaṅkāra creates a false sense of identity, which is different from our true self.

Thinking we are something else is called insanity. If I start saying I'm Napoleon, I may end up in a madhouse. Similarly, when one is covered by the false ego, one starts to see oneself as a product of this material world and, as a consequence to desire material objects and experiences.

We can do a small experiment: close your eyes and try to clear your mind of all thoughts for sixty seconds. Let’s continue when you are done. We start at 3, 2, 1, now!

Have you done it? How many thoughts came to your mind in this short time? How many remembrances of events that happened in the past, or concern for things that are happening in the present, or anxiety for what the future will bring? How many different persons, objects, desires, situations, and emotions came to your mind?

Our life in this material world is a continuum, where the desires we cultivate in one body lead to the next. This has been happening for a very long time. Our stay in this material world is defined in the Vedas as “anādi”, or beginningless, in the sense that it’s so long that it’s impossible to trace when and where it began.

If we get an amount of money that can't be counted, we may very well call it "unlimited", and it is unlimited for all practical purposes, because if we can't even count it, it means we can't spend it all. The money will never end, and therefore, it will be "unlimited" for us, even though it's not literally unlimited. Similarly, “anādi” means we are for a very long time in this material world, going through many cycles of creation and destruction. Our conditioning is not literally eternal, since we are not from here, but it is so long that, for all practical purposes may be called eternal.

In this way, under the covering of the false ego, we develop a general attraction to the material energy, we desire to master and enjoy it, just like a child wanting to play with a set of Lego blocks.

This primordial desire leads to the acceptance of the next two coverings: the intelligence and the mind. The mind is the center of desires; it stores all the previous plans and desires of the soul, and brings them back to consciousness when there is an opportunity to satisfy them. For example, a young boy that never seen a girl in his life will not have sexual desires, but as soon as he sees a young girl, his mind will remember his previous desires, and he will be attracted to her. The intelligence then starts to work, making plans on how to satisfy the desires of the mind. In the example, as soon as the mind desires to associate with the girl, the intelligence starts to make plans on how to approach her, and so on.

Finally, we have the gross material body, composed of flesh, bones, skin, etc. The body is compared to a vehicle, which allows the soul to act in this material world and thus satisfy one's desires. The body also includes the senses, which allow the soul to experience different sensations.

In this way, we are covered by five distinct layers: the false ego, the intelligence, the mind, the senses, and finally the gross body. Just like the false ego, both the mind and the intelligence are ethereal. Although material, they are composed of subtle elements that are distinct and independent of the gross material body. The body and the senses, on the other hand, are composed of gross material elements, like flesh and bones. The senses had two components, one gross (the nerves, neurons, etc., which are part of the gross body) and another subtle, grouped around the mind. This subtle component goes with us to another body, again connecting with the gross senses of a different gross body.

The fact that the mind and intelligence are independent of the gross body can be understood when we examine the position of disembodied beings, which many call “ghosts”. They are nothing more than regular people, like you and me, who, due to accidents or other causes, die before they are prepared to accept another body. In such conditions, they wander for some time in their subtle body, composed of false ego, mind, and intelligence. They still have desires (mind), they can think and remember (intelligence), and they have a concept of identity (false ego). They can even see and hear using their subtle senses, but without a gross body and senses, they can’t touch or interact with people and objects of the physical world.

Even more interesting is that people who are blind or deaf because of some physical defect can see and hear when they are out of their bodies. Similarly, when they accept another body, they will also be able to hear and see. Their deafness or blindness is thus limited to this current body. It’s a defect of the body only.

Let’s say, for example, that you are driving a car and suddenly a rock hits the front glass, badly chipping it. The glass is still there, but now you can’t see anything. If you got out of the car, you would be able to see normally, and if you got another car, you would also be able to see. Your “blindness” occurs only as long as you are inside this particular car, due to the damage to the glass.

In this way, we can understand that intelligence is independent of the body, just like the mind. One can think normally when outside the physical body, and therefore, we can understand that intelligence is not dependent on the body or the brain. In fact, the Vedic literature describes that the heart, and not the brain, is the center of consciousness, being the sitting place of the soul.

If the soul is in the heart and the mind and intelligence are subtle and independent of the body, what then is the function of the brain?

The brain works as an interface between the subtle mind and intelligence and the gross senses. It may look strange at first, but it’s actually a simple concept. Let’s imagine that you are in a dark, closed room, with just your computer. Through the internet, you can see, hear, and interact with other people. The computer works as an interface between you and the outside world. Let’s now imagine that something would fall and damage the screen. Maybe you could figure out a way to use the computer without the screen, but without the screen, you would not be able to see anything. You can still see with your eyes, but without the screen, you lose contact with the outside world. Similarly, if the speakers stopped working, you would not be able to hear anything.

In this example, we can see that the computer works as an interface. You don’t need the computer to think or to desire, but without the computer, you would not be able to interact with the outside world. Similarly, the brain works as an interface between the mind and intelligence (which are subtle) and the body and senses (composed of gross matter).

Just like a computer, the brain is a very complex machine, and damage to different parts of the brain is going to limit the ways one can interact with the world.

Naturally, the functions of the brain go beyond the example I was able to give. Just like the brain connects the mind with the senses, it is also an interface to memory and intelligence. Someone with a better-developed brain may be able to think faster and store memories more sharply and easily. Similarly, damage to the brain may impair one’s cognitive ability while still in this body.

The example of the computer can also be used to explain this more esoteric aspect. If one has a faster computer, with more RAM and a bigger hard drive, one will be able to run applications faster, open more tabs in the browser at once, store more files, and so on. As a result, he will be able to do things in a more efficient way than someone who is struggling with a very slow, old computer. Similarly, if the computer is damaged (we could imagine a defect in the cooling system, which makes the processor run slowly, for example), his experience can become even more limited.

The brain is thus not the intelligence, but it can limit the ways the intelligence is expressed. The same soul can identify with a powerful brain and thus act as a philosopher or scientist, or can identify with a less powerful brain and act like an illiterate. It’s just like a power socket with a 20-watt lamp and the same socket with a 100-watt lamp. Although the power socket is the same, you get more or less illumination according to the lamp you plug into it.

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