The Antahkarana

Wisdom Teachings
Inner Realities

On the spiritual path we learn to work on the subjective and the objective side of life. In order to be able to function in both worlds there are inner and outer instruments. Just like we have the outer body working with the help of the outer instruments, we also have an inner body and inner instruments. The outer instruments are called in Sanskrit Bahirkaranas, the inner instruments Antahkaranas. Karana means instrument, aid; antah means inside, bahir outside. We don’t have to be worried about the Sanskrit terms, if we grasp the meaning which these technical terms contribute.

The Bahirkaranas are the outer body of flesh and blood, the senses, and the objective mind. The mind is working through the sense organs; they don’t work independently. They are the tools of the mind for an objective or outer use. The four Antahkaranas are the mind – the reflective principle or Manas; the light of discrimination, Buddhi; the individualised consciousness, also called Ahamkara, the “I-maker”; and the indwelling divine called Vasudeva in Sanskrit. Since God exists in us, we have awareness and life activities. We can visualise Vasudeva and its light, Buddhi, in the head centre, and on the forehead as a radiant light. The seat of the mind is in the brow centre. Our eyes can transmit the light. There is a look of knowledge inspiring and uplifting others. We can see this light when we look into the eyes of another human being or also into those of an animal. Each form is a form of light, in which we can realise the transmission of the light. This light is enveloped and veiled by the forms.

By contemplating on the presence of the divine in us we allow the three qualities of the soul – Will, Love and Light – to manifest more and more in us. These three are also called the inner instruments. The individualised consciousness, Ahamkara, functions through them. The mind should receive their work, reflect it and express it with the help of the outer instruments, the thought, the senses, and the body. This requires that the inner and the outer instruments, the Antahkaranas and the Bahirkaranas, are aligned to each other and thus the outer man is connected with the inner man. Then we enter into the inner space, which is called the inner temple or Antahkarana Sarira. We find the entrance into the temple in the pulsating vital principle, the heart. For this we have to lock out the outer activities and turn to the inner. Master C.V.V. calls this “Dip Deep”. In Yoga this is also called the state of Pratyahara, of absorption. By observing the respiration we get to this state where the body consciousness falls away. Therefore the respiration also belongs to the inner instruments.

The outer man makes experiences in the world. In this the inner man gives him advices. The outer man goes to the inside in order to receive what is being said by the inner man, the “I AM” consciousness, and to act accordingly. Advanced disciples and masters listen to this voice of silence and thus can be impressed from the higher planes. With his Spiritual Astrology and other works Master EK has given outstanding examples of this process of inspirational writing. When asked how this happens, he said that in the Buddhic plane he gets a sudden call and his apparatus the Antahkarana Sarira, gets alerted and oriented. Then he sees a script running in the ether, which he reads out for dictation, or he sees a running movie and he describes it. This is how he dictated books. He never claimed them to be his.

All great masters of wisdom function on both sides, in the subtle with the help of the Antahkaranas, and with the help of the Bahirkaranas in the outer, with the physical body. In the subtle realms they don’t need the Bahirkaranas. While working in the gross physical, they use the Bahirkaranas together with the Antahkaranas. This is beautifully demonstrated in the book “Music of the Soul”. The soul in its subjectivity is Djwhal Khul, and in its objectivity it is Giri Sarma. Thus the initiates lead a double life: one life relating to the soul and being eternal, and one life limited by this one incarnation.

The wisdom of the masters is a realised wisdom. For their actions Will, Love and Light are natural instruments. Essentially they are being manifested in the Antahkarana Sarira and penetrate into the surroundings through the looks, the words, the presence. An initiate helps other people to transform and to turn to the inside, because he himself lives in the Antahkarana, very close to the divine centre.

Those who only live in the outside and look out for outer recognition are swept away by the hurly-burly of the world. Therefore the Scriptures emphasise that we should get ourselves acquainted with the Antahkaranas and turn inside. Mostly we only know how to use the Bahirkaranas. If we don’t have attained the inner instruments, the wisdom doesn’t help us in the daily activity. There is then a gap between what we speak and how we act and live. Bridging this gap is called building the Antahkarana or the body of light. The Antahkarana body consists of light waves, of the most subtle form of matter, which cannot be destroyed.

The construction of the Antahkarana is done through a pure life, through right thought, speech and action. It is a slow, enduring process. Therefore it is said that on the path of discipleship Saturn cooperates with Mercury with the construction of the Antahkarana. Saturn rules the discipline concerning our behaviour, Mercury is the Lord of Speech and of Interaction. Those who don’t have command of right thought, speech and action has not yet built the Antahkarana. The throat centre holds the key to the construction, and when we work with holy sounds and colours, the magic of the construction of the Antahkarana happens. Also worship of God with devotion, with the ardent desire to experience his light and his presence, promote the development of the Antahkarana Sarira.

Milk plays a significant role in cleansing the layers of the body. Milk and milk products of a good quality support the construction of the Antahkarana body with their material. Especially Ghee, purified butter, is described as the “spiritual sperm” and “the fuel of light”.

When the Antahkarana body is built, we realise that we are the immortal Self and live in the Antahkarana Sarira like in an inner house, for which the dense physical sheath is like an outer house. Even after dropping the physical body the inner house remains. The house becomes a temple when in the Antahkarana Sarira an image of God or of the Inner Master is installed. We can contemplate it as an image or a radiant light in human form, and thus the qualities of the divine manifest in us more and more. When the bridge between the buddhic and the mental plane is built, intuition happens. The master speaks and guides us from inside and brings about the transformation of our personality. We can also speak with him and ask for guidance and advice.

The light in the centre of the Antahkarana body is the flame, which is also called the centre of the egoic lotus, the jewel in the lotus. It is surrounded by a light structure like triangular petals of light waves. Through the centre of the egoic lotus the light is focused like from a source. In the Scriptures it is described as “the electric blue light”. It radiates through the petals as a triangular flame, whose rays are the inner instruments, the Antahkaranas. The light itself is not the source, but the channel for the source through which man meets the Heavenly Man. The information about it helps us to work with it.

K.P. Kumar: Master E.K. – The New Age Teacher / notes from seminars / E. Krishnamacharya: Spiritual Psychology. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India.