Manomaya Kosha, The Five Hindrances (Part 3) and Marc Gafni
January 19th, 2025
{Body}
The manomaya kosha
In yoga, koshas are the five layers (or sheaths) of your being, progressing from the physical to the intangible and increasingly subtle.
The manomaya kosha, or "mental sheath," is your third layer. If the annamaya kosha is your hardware and the prānamaya kosha is the electricity that powers it, then the manomaya kosha is your operating system — the software.
To be clear, atoms and energy alone cannot give rise to even a single-cell bacteria, let alone something that can walk, talk, plan and create. Physical matter and its energetic counterpart need a blueprint — instructions on where to go and what to do.
According to the ancient texts, that is the purpose of the manomaya kosha: to govern thoughts, emotions, and sensory impressions so that physical matter “knows” how to behave.
Ancient yogis went even deeper, though, positing that all of existence is actually just a manifestation of thought forms.
That is, although things look different on the surface, we intuitively recognize that everything must be made up of just one substance. From antiquity we believed that that one substance was the atom, but have since unearthed the electrons, protons, neutrons, gluons, tachyons, and neutrinos that underly it.
And whose to say that there isn’t something more fundamental than subatomic particles? Perhaps there are more layers to peel back! Perhaps all physical and energetic phenomena really are structured by prāna (life force) which itself arises from thought, just as the yogis claimed!
Said differently, who you are according to yoga metaphysics — from your physical body to the energy animating it — is the result of an intricate arrangement of thought forms. Your reality, both seen and unseen, is shaped and sustained by the currents of your mind.
Ah, but amazingly there’s more! Two more sheaths to go. Stay tuned next week as we go into the final building block of reality: consciousness, or knowing itself. The jnanamaya kosha.
Practice
Mentally, start listing out all that you are grateful for. Don’t be conservative; let yourself run with it.
When you really consider all the blessings in your life, notice what changes in your energy field. Do you feel more expansive? Do you feel lighter? Do you feel more awake?
When you think more positively, you feel better. Period. And when you feel better, your physical body heals. This is the interconnected nature of your mind-energy-body.
There is nothing more powerful than correcting your misaligned and pessimistic thoughts when it comes to healing and being happy. And there is no easier technique than practicing gratitude.
{Mind}
Hindrances during meditation
During his life, the Buddha outlined various obstacles, stages, and revelations encountered on the Path to enlightenment.
In one of his well-known teachings, he describes "the Five Hindrances" — mental obstructions that block the development of one’s meditation practice, a crucial vehicle for attaining enlightenment.
The third of these hindrances is Thīna-Middha, or sloth and torpor. This one creeps in silently, like a heavy fog, clouding the mind and dulling awareness.
Thīna-Middha is the familiar drowsiness pulling you down just as you finally sit down to meditate. The body feels sluggish, the mind hazy, and every fiber of your being whispers, “Take a nap instead.”
But Thīna-Middha isn’t just physical tiredness. It’s a mental lethargy that can show up even when you’ve slept 12+ hours the night before. It’s the weight of disengagement, the lack of vitality in your practice, and the inner resistance to staying present.
The Buddha suggested cultivating vīriya (energy) and dhammavicaya (investigation) to overcome this hindrance. These qualities reignite the mind’s natural curiosity and vitality.
Here’s how to begin:
Straighten your posture — a slouched body invites a slouched mind.
Engage in light physical activity before meditation to wake up your senses.
Reflect on your purpose — remind yourself of your aspiration for clarity and liberation.
Pray deeply and ask God (or your source of faith) for the energy to concentrate.
Meditate in a bright, airy space — darkness and enclosed spaces can amplify lethargy.
Visualize a bright light within you, symbolizing energy and awareness, dissolving the mental fog.
Keep in mind, overcoming Thīna-Middha is about more than revitalizing your meditation practice — it’s about training your mind to rise above all forms of habitual inertia.
{Soul}
“Life is about moving beyond my story in order to live my story.” — Marc Gafni
Why does the job offer arrive only after you stop obsessing over it? Or why, when you let go of finding “the one” and focus on yourself, your soul mate suddenly appears? Why does releasing your desperate desire to win automatically improve your performance?
It’s because detachment — of story and outcome — creates space for grace.
When you stop grasping, you start receiving. God, or whatever you call the higher intelligence guiding all things, wants you to see that what you seek is already here. The gifts meant for you don’t require strain or struggle — they are your birthright.
So here’s the paradox: the moment you stop trying to force your story into something extraordinary — when you release the pressure of “making it” or “being somebody” — is the moment your story truly begins.