The Divinity of the Pancha Bhootas & the Practice of Tattwa Shuddhi

Three foundational ancient texts of Yoga & Tantra, the Mandukyopanishad, Prashnopanishad and the Shiva Swarodaya all explain that, cosmically - the Pancha Bhootas, the 5 base Tattwas (elements) evolved from mind.  Mind evolved from prana, and prana evolved from Super Consciousness. 

One way to describe Super Consciousness is consciousness beyond - and more refined than the ordinary layers of the human mind.  It is a level of consciousness that is one with Brahman, the divine source of all.  It is also a source of, and vehicle for, pure intuitive knowledge.

This is a macrocosmic explanation of the evolution of the Five Tattwas. The human body itself, is also made up of these same cosmic elements.  The body is the holder of a Microcosmos - the same qualities held within a more defined space.  Both are equally cosmic. 

The properties of the elements are the same throughout the body from the processes of the senses, of digestion and respiration, right down to the behavior of the tiniest cell and atom. Their influence is so subtle and precise that they affect the whole pattern of life. The same way that there is a blueprint of all of our physical and mental characteristics in a single DNA molecule, our personal combination and proportions of the Tattwas also determine our structure as a being.

So, the Macrocosmos (the universal picture), is also held within the Microcosmos (the tiny replica within us). The complete laws of creation and dissolution and the divinity behind and within it, is inherent within us.

When we work directly and ritualistically with the Tattwas, within – as we do in the practice Tattwa Shuddhi, we create a cosmic link between our personal divinity, consciousness, and energy and the greatest cosmic divinity, consciousness, and energy.  It’s a bit like invoking and revealing the creative matrix within which we exist. It reveals to us the hidden, yet influential processes of our very existence.

If the ego gets too activated, in such deep and propelling tantric practice, it can lead itself to thinking it is creating the matrix, when actually the fabric of creation is always there, always has been, always will be.  The practices reveal it, they do not create it.  This is a key reminder and distinction to return to as individual consciousness begins to expand.

There is an important hidden, yet foundational principle that supports all tantric practice – The manifest world is created by the subtle.  The subtle realms created us – even our physicality, and it is the subtle within us, that keeps all of our perceivable aspects present.

Each tattwa has its own particular pranic frequency which impacts the mechanisms and flow of prana within the individual body.  There is a science of the breath, Swara Yoga which studies the breath in order to recognize the predominant Tattwa. Through such practice, it becomes possible to sense which Tattwa is active. This allows a Swara Yogi to decide which tasks are appropriate to undertake according to the predominate mental state connected with the Tattwa. Swara Yoga is a very literal example of how the microcosmic aspect of the elements informs the bigger picture,

The accomplished Tantric Yogi senses the impact of the elements at very refined levels of their internal life and within the nature around them.  This goes on to inform their daily sadhana (structured spiritual practice) and dharmic actions, which then further awaken their awareness of the macrocosmic aspects of creation and inspiration. This then cycles back through to the microcosmic divinity within, fueling ongoingly deeper divine revelation.  It is all divine and classical yoga and tantra make the divine within it perceivable, so that we move ever-closer into co-creation and ultimately surrender.

Spiritual surrender is not giving in or giving up.  It is moving in and taking up. It is moving into relationship with the divine processes and personalities that create and recreate us daily - and it is taking up an invitation of collaboration and partnership with the inherent truths previously veiled by the impurity of ignorance.  Surrender cleans the lens of obscurations to let in the light of truth to the extent that we come to know that we too are that very truth.