HREE CHARTS ARE GIVEN IN THIS RESOURCE. THE FIRST SHOWS HINDU COSMOLOGY, CORRELATING THE VARIOUS DIVISIONS AND CATEGORIES OF MANIFESTATION, AS WELL AS THE BODIES, SHEATHS, CHAKRAS AND STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE soul. It is organized with the highest consciousness, or subtlest level of manifestation, at the top, and the lowest, or grossest, at the bottom. In studying the chart, it is important to remember that each level includes within itself all the levels above it. Thus, the element earth, the grossest or outermost aspect of manifestation, contains all the tattvas above it on the chart. They are its inner structure. Similarly, the soul encased in a physical body also has all the sheaths named above–prāṇic, instinctive-intellectual, cognitive and causal. Here, now, is a brief description of the major parts of the cosmology chart. §
lokas (3 worlds & 14 planes): These are the classical divisions of consciousness, traditionally numbering 14, as listed. A simpler breakdown shows in column one the three lokas: causal, subtle and gross. The 14 planes correspond directly to the chakras, psychic force centers within the inner bodies of the soul, also listed in column two. The 14 chakras are “doorways” within man to each of the 14 planes.§
kalā (5 spheres): The center of the chart lists the five kalās–vast divisions of consciousness or “dimensions” of the mind. Note that the five states of mind–superconscious, subsuperconscious, conscious, subconscious and subsubconscious–are also listed in this column.§
tattva (36 evolutes): The 36 tattvas, listed to the right of the kalās, are the basic “building blocks” of the universe, successively grosser evolutes of consciousness. These are in three groups, as shown. §
kośa & śarīra (3 bodies & 5 sheaths): The sheaths or bodies of the soul are given in the two right-hand columns. Note the correlation of these and the worlds by reading across the chart to the left to the two columns named “three worlds,” and “14 planes.” §
On the second chart, the 14 chakras and their attributes are listed, and on the third, a complete list of all 36 tattvas is given. For more insights on the subjects in the chart, please refer to the Glossary.§