The Five Elements

The yellow square is Earth; the densest of the elements.
It is the plane of animal consciousness and is characterised as inertia.
In yoga terminology it is known as Tamas Guna. It is the realm of the body where the five senses are the driving forces behind our actions.
As humans we unconsciously seek moments of bliss through pleasures, even pain, when in the grip of the earth element.

The blue circle is Water; less dense than earth and has the mobility of a liquid. It represents the beginning of self-awareness through knowledge. Known as Rajas Guna it is associated with world of action driven by thought and imagination. Action is not jumping up and down, it is the activity of the mind, which is always processing thoughts, and never gives us rest.

The red triangle is Fire; fire gives light and heat. It brings a great rush of energy that can lead to change. We see things in a ‘new light’ under its influence. We experience a quickening when fire transmutes the other elements. New combinations create new possibilities. If we are active, fire can amplify and supercharge. If we are stuck it can burn a new path around obstacles.

The white crescent is the gaseous element air. Air implies space. Lightest of the four elements, it symbolises the higher functions of mind and is known as Sattva Guna. In this zone there is an expansion and lightness as the lower states lose their influence over the imagination. The quest for knowledge, wisdom and compassion become dominant themes. With this experience of space, we often see the ‘big picture’ and gain an overview of our personal journey.

The blue-violet drop is hard to define. It is called many things, for instance, egg, seed, pearl, dot, bindi, flame, ether, prana, chi, spirit, life-force, god. This is the subtlest element of all and according to the sages pervades everything as intelligent consciousness. Some physicists of the West are now coming to much the same conclusion. Ether is the consciousness or quantum element that gives rise to, and activates everything else.

The twenty-five Tattvas

1. Double Earth
This is the densest state. There is awareness of the world, but no interest in understanding the mind or heart. For some, just existing is enough. To eat, sleep, work and play satisfies all needs if there is security. Under stress, reactive animal behavior often dominates. Anger, violence, fear, envy, inertia, indifference and stupidity are characteristics of the earth state and here they are at their thickest.

2. Water within Earth
Water brings movement, eroding the solidity of double earth. To stir means there is action. A little bit of imagination seeps through and we explore the possibilities of more sensation. Snippets of bliss are extracted from the thrills the senses and hormones provide, particularly when the body is being pushed. We become slightly more adventurous in our relationship with sensory input. An athlete typifies this state; he or she can go through life focused solely on the body. No other questions need arise but those that affect performance.

3. Fire within Earth
Fire is both heat and light. The heaviness of the earth element keeps us bound to the five senses but fire supercharges our actions. This is the realm of workaholics and the hyperactive. Still no interest in closely examining the mind and consciousness – there are too many distractions calling for attention. Over-indulgence and recklessness dominate this stage. More adventure, more variety, more sex, more input to the point of overload. All sensation is coming from the bombardment of signals received by the senses and the hormones that are thereby triggered. Wars start here because there is not yet much discrimination but plenty of energy. Like the monkey in the experiment, we keep pulling the lever to get a peanut.

4. Air within Earth
Air is also Space. In this model, it represents the higher intellect. With our new focus and interest, we expand into the world looking for more extreme experiences. We seek new sensations – food, sex, travel and excitement: variety. These impressions feed our memory and give rise to ever more possibilities. The imagination now has much more information to work with. We want more of everything and become saturated in the pleasures the senses provide. The seed of enquiry sprouts and we begin to examine more closely the universe we inhabit.

5. Ether within Earth
There is a sense of going around in circles, repeating the same habits, seeking ever more variety, finding less satisfaction. The influence of the element Ether affects the imagination which by now has enough information to give rise to the thought, ”I want something more, but I don’t know what”.
A yearning arises for something bigger. This yearning manifests in many forms. Some are drawn to explore the world, some find answers in faith, some zone in on careers, some seek celebrity, some crave wealth, and some are attracted to charitable works. This stage is characterised by restlessness, frustration and obsession.

6. Earth within Water
We now enter the level of Action. This is not the action of the body; it is the increasing activity of the mind. Everything is dominated by the influence of water, or mind.
The mind reflects on the life we have lived and tries to make sense of it.
Interests become occupations - arts, crafts, trades, sciences, economics, and so on. Language develops; our databases fill with new information, increasing the possible combinations that feed imagination. The world starts to make sense. It can be a comfortable place if things turn out well. Fundamental questions seem to have been answered and we can dive into animal mode whenever we like. The freshly minted ego thinks it understands how the world works and that it is in control. Self-inquiry is off the radar.

7. Double Water
Double water is double fluid, and ideal for making connections. Everything is in flux. Thoughts combine and break apart, creating new possibilities.
The world opens up. We feel as though we are getting somewhere. We review our half-formed thoughts and change them. Sometimes a career path appears and we follow it. We learn new skills and cruise along in the world. If we are content with this stage we can stay here for a lifetime. Some are driven to achieve more and so undertake further learning and practice. The imagination creates possible futures: more wealth, more respect, more understanding, and more happiness. Looking within seems a waste of time and is generally sidelined as irrelevant.

8. Fire within Water
At this point there is a challenge: controlling our world. Heat drives ambition. Some discover the trick of influencing other’s decisions and use it for personal gain. Others will use this drive to better their skills and aim high. Life seems more complete when the material world appears to be under control. Some try to make the world a better place, but greed can drive another person to excess. Without higher qualities to act as a brake, that person can become despotic. Humans divide into three groups at this place: Masters, servants and those not interested in either controlling or being controlled. Masters become intoxicated with manipulation while servants think they can’t control life and accept their position. The others bypass this stage quickly and move on, practicing their skills with increased enthusiasm. Again, self-inquiry seems a waste of precious time in this state.

9. Air within Water
Here is the realm of the expert. Space opens up and an overview of the world becomes clear. The mind revels in its own cleverness, imagining solutions to all the big questions; the mechanics of human behavior and the nature of the physical universe. Artists, writers, economists, philosophers and scientists can become intoxicated with their own mastery and go no further on the path of self-inquiry. It is the state of certainty. It is the place of the clever fundamentalist. Some will construct elaborate arguments to prove or dis-prove absolutely anything in the world perceived though the senses and measured by the mind. The sense of individual ego blows up like a balloon.

10. Ether within Water
Under the subtle influence of ether for some the questions arise that evade a satisfactory answer: “Who am I, where have I come from, where am I going, why am I not completely in control of my thoughts?”
This is a turning point and can create a very deep disturbance.
The inner world we have constructed is under threat and the ego starts to fight back. Some turn to scientific or religious orthodoxy at this stage, clinging to certainty. Others are drawn toward a deeper exploration of the mind and human nature. The well-trained mind now becomes obsessive looking for answers. Control slips. Inner noise increases. How to switch off the noise? Alcohol? Drugs? Extreme sport? Fundamentalism?

11. Earth within Fire
Thinking about thought inevitably leads to contemplation on the nature of thought. Deeper examination inevitably leads to the penny dropping: LOOK WITHIN. This moment can come anytime, just watching a sunset or the stars. It is a moment when thought stops.
It is noticeable because the inner noise has become so loud it’s absence is a great relief. We become aware there is a still center and that it is important. Following this insight through the asteroid belt of thought we catch a glimpse of a vastness that unfolds as the inner universe reveals itself. We realise how little we actually know about the inner landscape; where thoughts come from, where desires arise, where they go. Best of all, moments of calm are experienced that settle the thought storms. We sense that these experiences are sneak previews of a hidden reality.
Our fascination with the outer world loosens its grip. Now is the time to stop for those who want to stay in the world of 'reality'. What follows will challenge scientific and religious beliefs and make you a social outcast. Just practice some mild mindfulness and get on with your life.

12. Water within Fire
This is the stage when we use the mind and imagination to actively follow the ‘breadcrumb trail’, looking for clues everywhere. We begin to understand how to decode the messages left by generations of seekers.
In the West we look to mystics, philosophers, psychologists and artists for insights, in the East and elsewhere we seek out masters of meditation and undergo training.
It is natural to “cult hop” in this state of seeking. Some accept the answers provided that satisfies the urge to seek. Others do not want answers based on faith alone or simply have a feeling there is something missing, and will persist with inner exploration.

13. Double Fire
The search can become passionately desperate in the double fire zone. Some push the body to its limits through fasting, discipline or intense yoga practices. Some find irresistible the snatches of ecstasy and profound insights that hallucinogens trigger. Some cry for help from the wise. Some sign up for extreme courses. All of these activities can ignite our latent Kundalini energy. This is like adding a jet engine to a motorbike. The imagination goes into overdrive. The safest way to navigate this intense stage is to find a true Kundalini master and follow his or her guidance. Only one who is established in the highest state can do this job and the seeker must carefully measure the master against the greats of all traditions to avoid following a self-styled teacher of Kundalini Yoga who lacks the expertise to guide and nurture the states to come.

14. Air within Fire
Kundalini energy opens up the inner spaces. One may hear inner sounds and music, experiences inner lights, visions, scents, tastes, spontaneous movements and many more new experiences. Great exhilaration and bliss comes in waves. In the West these experiences are often regarded as disorders and are suppressed with medication. Some may experience nothing at first but find later that improvements to the body or worldly circumstances have come about. In the Yoga traditions of the East and in other old cultures there is helpful advice on the nature and management of inner transformation. There is so much to explore one can easily become lost, or fall into the delusion one has reached the highest state. It is helpful to practice meditation regularly, long enough to “touch base” with the ever-present still space within. In the same way, navigators constantly check the compass. The most effective way to access meditation is via chanting Sanskrit mantras. This is sonic acupuncture. The breath steadies, the vagus nerve is massaged and the mind likes it enough to stop thinking (for a while).

15. Ether within Fire
Following the first rush of inner experiences there may come a long period where it appears nothing is happening. The doldrums. The important thing is to persevere with inner focus on the Self through practices such as yoga, meditation, chanting and ritual, just as the martial artist will train each day.
Yoga treatises say work is being carried out by the awakened Kundalini energy. The imagination is now supercharged and throws up many possibilities, some helpful, some not. Our old impressions are part of the mix, and can lead to strange behavior and obsession, depression and delusion. The practices help to stabilise this situation. A longing for a place of peace strengthens. Eventually we realise that to carry on up the mountain, we must learn more about the technology needed for the final ascent and to increase our efforts.

16. Earth within Air
The influence of higher intellect lifts us above the clouds. It becomes easier to gain an overview of our journey so far.
We see the character we have become as if it is an actor in a film. We see the cast of characters it has played throughout our lives and we experience a distance from them. We usually adopt a new role, that of the committed seeker- at first not realising this is also just a mental construct. It is a useful character though. It gets to work on throwing out junk even though it may become a little zealous in the process. Old friends will resist this change, just as our own inner characters will put up a fight. After all, we have had good times within some of these personas and they want the party to continue.

17. Water within Air
Discrimination here means identifying thoughts that are useful and thoughts that hinder our progress. It is the beginning of creating a filter for the imagination. We can defuse old thought-forms by first identifying them and catching them before they can get a grip.
The mind starts to cooperate with high intellect. Together, they urge us to focus on useful information, activity, sound and imagery so that we can increase the possibility of positive thoughts assisting us on our journey.
The higher intellect gains an overview of the workings of the mind. We begin to sift out the real from the imagined. This is applied discrimination. The sea of thoughts is no longer seen as an obstacle and something to fear.

18. Fire within Air
Now the higher intellect takes action. “She who tears apart thought” is a description from India that sums it up. This is the decisive battle with the ego, the individual we think we are. As we practice mindfulness it becomes easier to “pop into” the overview state. It is like falling asleep, only it is falling awake within the waking state. It is a knack. This is our weapon.
There is no precise technique for this gear change. It is like fishing. We can only set everything up and wait, remaining alert and watchful. Sooner or later, unpredictably, there is a change and we have a fish on the line. With practice it becomes easier to simply witness all thoughts as they rise and fall, from a place of peace. Observing with the eye of consciousness is beyond thinking.
Letting go of the old self with its non-stop chatter, judgment and pride is the true letting go. Willpower is not enough but is helpful. Letting go is effortless when it happens, like simply dropping a beach ball. The old ego does not give up without a fight; in fact, it has been working hard at sabotage ever since we first questioned its supremacy. This is the underlying theme of classics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and from Homer, the Odyssey.

19. Double Air
Previously we looked, now we see beyond the filters we have constructed. What appeared solid now becomes vibrant and alive with consciousness. Clarity dawns and we start to see the world as vibration patterns. Seeing means comprehending through the universal eye of the inner Self.
Earlier we listened without hearing, we looked without seeing. Now we begin to grasp deeper meaning behind the clues left by Sages. Knowledge expands in this vast state as it transmutes into wisdom. We hear the universal resonance in mantra. We hear the mantra of the breath, the rivers and stars. We perceive the ocean of vibration all around us. People are attracted to the aura of peace and the powers that sometimes manifest (siddhis). Some will be regarded as a Guru and attract followers. Remember snakes and ladders? There is a big snake right here.

20. Ether within Air
The mind has reached a place of peace and rest. Still, there is a sense of separation. The notion of “I” lingers but seems under control and devoted to good works. A reminder call from the inner Self is now heard. Keep going, keep reducing the concept of “myself” as a unique individual and instead dive in to the unimaginably vast ocean of universal consciousness. The job is not complete until duality disappears. What remains of the ego (now complete with halo) will not like this suggestion.

21. Earth within Ether
Now the subtle power of Ether dominates the following stages. There is a fourth state beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep. It is called Turiya in the Yoga texts. Its influence becomes more present. When we experience the world, including ourselves, as made of the same stuff, a great empathy arises. We sense the connectedness of all things and this feeling gives rise to unconditional love, heartfelt compassion and spontaneous joy. Barriers crumble as we see the play of consciousness in all animate and inanimate things.

22. Water within Ether
Identification with the cosmos puts us in touch with the creative powers that drive it. We know we are those energies and experience the play of creation in all things. The thoughts generated by imagination now cooperate and assist us; this is the direct result of connection with the great ocean of creativity. The mind becomes spellbound and can't get enough. This is bliss. The highest inspiration comes from this place. The temptation here is go off exploring the universal landscape. Make sure you have a compass.

23. Fire within Ether
Here we identify with the light of consciousness. We are overwhelmed by the vast splendour of this state but still as an observer, drawing on our storehouse of memories that give shape to the indefinable. We may see god-like figures of effulgent light within or huge diamonds of light in the sky and we know somehow that it is our own inner self we are experiencing. The hard rocks of ego are smashed into powder. The idea of separation loses its grip.

24. Air within Ether
The world is now perceived as vibrations of pulsing, blissful energy, sometimes following the forms of objects, sometimes as vast fields of complex patterns. Again, we sense it is our own true nature we see mirrored and are separated from by a filament. That filament is the last remnants of ego, or the notion of individual identity.

25. Double Ether
India has supplied a word to describe the supreme state that lies beyond all thought: Sat-chit-ananda - Existence, Consciousness and Bliss.
In this state there is no observer. We are completely at one with all things in all dimensions. In fact there is no longer the notion of “I or we”. There is no description possible that the mind can grasp. This is another state entirely and is said to be the goal of all spiritual practices. We have never been without it. It gives rise to the mind, and the activity of the mind creates a universe of illusion that veils its own true nature.

“Om purnamadah purnamidam purnat purnamudacyate,
Purnasya purnamadaya purnamevavasisyate”

Om.That is perfect. This is perfect. From the perfect springs the perfect.
If the perfect is taken from the perfect, the perfect remains.
From Rg Veda I.189-1 and The Isavasya Upanisad

"Na ca vyoma bhumirna tejo na vayus –
Cidananda rupah sivo’ham sivo’ham"

Neither ether nor air nor fire nor water nor earth; I am consciousness and bliss – I am Shiva! I am Shiva!*
From Nirvanasatkam by Adi Shankara, 8th-century.
* Shiva is shorthand for the state of universal consciousness.

The tattvas

The Five Elements and consciousness

The quest for understanding ourselves, and the world around us is an ancient one. We create models of the universe and the mind to further our understanding. Among the most striking systems available to us is the Tattvas, a graphic expression of the interaction between the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and space that are the basis of all life. Water penetrates and erodes earth, fire evaporates water, air fuels fire and so on.

It’s easy to see the play of the five elements in the physical world, much more challenging to see how they relate to consciousness.

For millennia yogis, sages, philosophers and mystics have used the Tattvas as a tool to explore the mind. There are numerous commentaries on the play of the five elements among the world's esoteric writings however in the East there is a core of agreement about their meaning and influence, although different traditions may vary in some respects.

All agree on one point: the Tattvas represent a map to the innermost Self, the state of universal consciousness. Transition from the thickness of ignorance and turmoil to the subtle state of freedom and peace.

Throughout the East the Tattvas are held in such high regard that most temples have as their basic structure a square base with a dome above that supports a cone. On top of this there is a stylised crescent or bowl and at the very top a seed or flame. Each shape represents an element and each element symbolises a state of consciousness.

This model of the Tattvas is useful as a roadmap that identifies where we are, where we came from and where we are going. The small element within each of the five elements is like a fine-tuner. It shows a changing influence on the dominant element. Each change is a state of mind. We can use this as tool to help us develop the skills needed to catch thoughts before they manifest into action.
It is not an easy thing to do, it all happens faster than the speed of light.
In a nano-second our body responds to a thought and pumps hormones into the bloodstream, triggering more thoughts that escalate the situation. Before we know it, we are raiding the refrigerator or weeping in despair.

On The Road

In this model, the twenty-five Tattvas describe an ascending sequence from the barely conscious to the fully awake.
This does not often happen in big jumps. There are gradual changes that come about as our awareness expands. However, life is not a straight line. We progress in lurches.
One who is stuck in animal awareness may have spontaneous experiences of insight, discrimination, yearning or even ecstasy. Each step is a progression, also a trap.
The twenty-five Tattvas can be seen as a portrait of the perfect human, one who has passed through all the stages of growth from dim to enlightened awareness. All the lower states are contained within the highest state. It is also like the game of snakes and ladders; we may be quite self-satisfied in a steady 'higher' state and suddenly be thrown overboard into a 'lower' state of anger, lust or greed.
The name of the game is to keep remembering the goal, which is to break the thought barrier and directly experience the innermost Self.

This is not mysticism, there is no big mystery – all we need to do is watch the mind and identify the cast of characters who take turns at controlling our actions. They are all our own creations and are just clusters of thoughts. With this watchfulness, we may arrive at the big question: Who is watching the watcher?
All the sages urge mindfulness – the knack of watching the thoughts that come and go, without reacting. At the lower states of consciousness we mostly react without overview but things improve as we become familiar with the inner landscape.

Contact

You may contact me at kimlynchoz@gmail.com