The information for this part is sourced mainly from the Sankya philosophy of Hinduism. There are in all, six philosophies in Hinduism - all of which draw their material from the bottomless well of the Vedas (ultimate knowledge), of Hinduism. Though only four of the Vedas have been written down, there are in fact many more that exist only in the oral form in India. Each of the six philosophies sees the eternal truth from a slightly different perspective. The Sankya philosophy is most suited for our purposes here, as it divides existence into the Purusha (Spirit) and the Prakrithi (matter/nature). Both of these can be further subdivided into several parts, each with its peculiar attributes, which taken as a whole, makes up the world we live in.

The Sankya philosophy starts right from the beginning, describing how there are two opposing forces (light and dark or attraction and repulsion) which caused everything to be created. The interaction between these two forces produced a vibration which manifested as a peculiar sound. This sound is termed 'Aum' or 'Om' in Hinduism. This sound is called the Word (Amen) in the Bible, and Amin in the Koran. This sound had three aspects, namely that of Time, Space and Atom, and together with these three aspects, these four ideas (viz. the Word, Time, Space and the Atom) are the building blocks from which everything in the universe is created. The Sankya philosophy then goes on in great detail as to how the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) was created, and also on how the mind and intelligence came about. It also deals in other principalities such as the makeup of the ego, how the organs are formed from subtle ideas, the Five Root Causes, the Three Attributes etc. Many phrases mentioned in passing in the Bible, like the ' four beasts, ' the 'twenty four elders', ' the son of man,' ' the son of God.' The 'seven churches' etc. are explained in great detail in the Sankya philosophy. Readers who are interested in these topics can find them in a book of the Sankya philosophy, preferably with commentary by a Self Realized saint. I had originally detailed all of these for this article, but found that it ran into several pages even before it touched on the makeup of the human body. Further, it was so full of Sanskrit terms, that I figured that the reader would be bored reading all of these. I will therefore go straight to the three components of the human body and take it from there, and if necessary, track back to explain certain key concepts in greater detail.

Now according to the Sankya philosophy, the human body is actually made up of three components or three other bodies. These three bodies then are the physical body (the one that we are most aware of), the astral body and the causal (or ideational body). These three bodies did not generate as if by magic, but developed through the descent of the Spirit into the body, reflecting the ideas ever present in the cosmos. Thus man, being the microcosm of the universe, reflects in his body the whole workings of the universe.

The physical body comprises of sixteen elements; the astral body comprises of nineteen elements, and the causal body, being the cause of the other two bodies, therefore consists of thirty five elemental ideas (i.e. 16+19). Here again, readers wanting to know more about what these elements are will have to refer to a text on Sankya philosophy, as I do not have the space to elaborate on them in this article.

The physical body, as we are aware, is made up of flesh and blood. The astral body is composed of life force (prana), and the mind. The causal body is held together by wisdom and perpetual bliss. When the Maker first thought about creating a human, He decided on a matrix of thirty five ideas (the causal body). Then nineteen of these ideas were utilized to form the astral body and the remaining sixteen the physical body. The reader must be made aware here that ordinarily, both the causal and astral bodies are not visible to the naked eye. The nineteen ideas of the astral body are broken down thus - ten senses, five life forces, the ego, feeling, mind and intelligence. Sankya philosophy goes into great detail in explaining the origin and nature of each of these nineteen ideas. The remaining sixteen ideas were converted into the gross physical body of sixteen basic elements, e.g. iron, copper, calcium, carbon etc.

Each of these three bodies has its own distinguishing qualities. The physical body is the result of solidified physical vibrations. The astral body is the result of energy and mind vibrations, and the causal body is of nearly pure vibration of Cosmic Consciousness. The physical body is dependent on food, the astral on energy, will and evolution of thought. The causal body is dependent on wisdom and bliss.

Now the Universal Soul is reflected in the individual as the individualized soul. It is this individualized soul that is surrounded by, so to speak, by the three bodies mentioned above. At death, the physical body is destroyed, but the astral and causal bodies are still held together by unfulfilled desires and unresolved karma. The individualized soul then, wearing these two bodies as garments, reincarnates again and again into new physical forms, until all desires are eventually conquered through spiritual activities like meditation, and liberation achieved.

It is said that the Soul (Purusha) is encased in five sheaths or koshas. These koshas are of course not physical things, but spiritual manifestations. The five koshas, beginning from the one closest to soul are as follows:

The Anandamaya Kosha - this is composed of the four ideas mentioned above, and is the arena which feels or enjoys, and is the seat of supreme bliss or ananda.

The Jnanamaya Kosha - This sheath manifests Intelligence, and determines what truth is. It is the seat of knowledge or jnana.

The Manomaya Kosha - This sheath represents the mind, and is composed of the organs of the senses, through which the mind knows the outside world.

The Pranamaya Kosha - This is the body of energy and life force (prana - there is yet no English word to describe what prana is). It is composed of the organs of action.

The Annamaya Kosha - This is the grossest of all the sheaths. It is composed of the Atom's outer coating which becomes nourishment (Anna). It is this sheath that supports the visible world.

The distribution of the five sheaths among the three bodies is as follows:

The physical body is covered by the last sheath, the Annamaya Kosha. The Astral Body is covered by the Jnanamaya, Manomaya and Pranamaya khosas. The causal body is covered by the bliss kosha - the Anandamaya Kosha. As a man develops spiritually, each of these koshas are eradicated one by one, starting with the lowest kosha, the Annamaya kosha. If a man meets death after he has effectively destroyed the Annamaya kosha, then he would most likely reincarnate in a planet where most of its inhabitants will have only the four of the higher koshas instead of the five.

Present day medical science understands the physical body quite well, though it is often puzzled as to the cause of certain diseases or why it is extremely difficult to treat others. By a profound study and understanding of the Sankya philosophy, one is able to know why this is so, and what measures can be taken to eradicate these hard-to- cure diseases. For example, certain diseases barge past the molecular level and start operating from the atomic and even sub atomic levels. Western medical science has no power over these sorts of diseases, as medicine cannot reach beyond the molecular level. The healing science of ancient India, Ayurveda, which is now making a comeback all over the world and which is astounding Western medical science by curing hitherto ' incurable ' diseases, has its foundation in the Sankaya philosophy. Besides using herbs, massages etc. this system of medicine also employs chants and the power of music to reach into the atomic and sub atomic levels to nip in the bud disease causing embryos, (which a seer can see), that have not yet manifested themselves as diseases in the patient's body. However, although Ayurveda is a very powerful curing system, readers are warned not to rely on it entirely to the exclusion of modern day Western medicine. Ayurveda is a system that builds up the body slowly from the inside and it takes many years to transform the body to a stage where it can shrug off the most deadly of germs. If however, a serious life threatening situation occurs as a result of say, a bacterial infection, then the proper thing to do would be to follow a doctor's recommendation and take a course of antibiotics etc. Ayurveda will not work in this situation.

The comprehension of the workings of the causal body requires a deep understanding of the concepts of the Sankya philosophy, and is beyond the scope of an article like this. The astral body however is quite well understood by many who are interested in such matters. It is in the astral body that we come across such fascinating concepts as the 'chakras' and the 'nadis'. Much has been written about these in the internet, but many of these articles I found, are highly inaccurate. The presence of ghosts too can be well explained by the understanding of the astral and causal bodies. If Dirk will allow it, I will in the future, devote an entire article to the astral body.

Since this is a site dedicated to UFOs and aliens, it would not be out of place to try and analyze alien beings in the light of the Sankya philosophy. As many of the alien races seem more advanced than us, it would be fair to assume that their souls are not screened in the five sheaths like ours, but encased perhaps only in the higher two or three sheaths. This would enable them to live with very little food, and not expend too much energy in physical activities. Most of their physical work therefore will be accomplished through mental energy, including communicating through telepathy and constructing the fantastic crafts they fly in.