From Shiva to Jiva: Part 4
From Prakriti to the Five Elements In the earlier parts we saw how the limitless Consciousness, referred to as Shiva, appears as the individual experiencer through the limiting power of Maya. Through Maya arise various tattvas that introduce limitation, individuality, and the sense of “I”. In this way the jiva — the individual soul — emerges. But the jiva cannot experience by itself. Experience requires three things: a body through which experience occurs senses and mind through which perception happens a world that can be experienced For this reason the process of manifestation continues further. From the field of Maya emerges Prakriti, the primordial matrix from which the material universe unfolds. Prakriti and the Three Gunas Prakriti is not yet the physical world. It is a subtle state of nature in which three fundamental forces remain in equilibrium. These three forces are known as the three gunas: Sattva – the principle of clarity, illumination, and harmon...