“V” —The Total Vasanas- The Realm of Causal Laws: Both the gross matter and subtle mind are subject to incessant change. Science has investigated competently and comprehensively the changes affecting gross matter and has discovered many natural laws that explain the same. But success of science in understanding mind has been relatively limited. Vedanta on the other hand has focused more on mind than on matter. It posits that the forces behind the activities of mind are the “vasanas” or tendencies deep within the individual being. The vasanas are in the inner most core of the individual personality called the Causal Body or Karana sarira. It is called the “causal body” since it is the cause of activities of both the subtle and gross bodies. In Swami Chinmayanandaji’s notation, the causal body is denoted by the letter “V”, standing for vdsanas. Vasanas are uncountable and numerous, but each is an admixture of the three primary “gunas”, or qualities, found throughout Prakrti, namely sattva, rajas, and tamas. As we will see in later chapters, vasanas play a very basic role in spirituality. ‘The goal of spiritual effort (sddhanas) is the eventual elimination of all vasanas. ‘Ihe seekers are advised to initially reduce predominantly tamasic and rajasic vasanas and replacing them with more séttvic ones. ‘There is no conceptual reason why we cannot consider the natural laws such as gravity and nuclear forces affecting gross bodies also as yasanas. With this understanding vasanas are seen as the cause behind the evolution of both the subtle and gross realms. The causal realm which includes the vasanas is also often called the “bliss sheath”, dnandamaya kosa and represents the “ananda”, or the Bliss, aspect of Brahman. For Igvara, creation is an act arising out of Bliss (as opposed to ordinary jivas which toil for happiness). Therefore, dnanda can be regarded as the primordial vasana that launches the cosmos’. Divine Creation is an ongoing process and the same dnanda continues to operate at all times in creation in the guise of all vasanas. This raises an interesting question. Why do the things and beings of Prakrti seem to meekly follow vasanas and the so-called “laws of nature”? 7 This related. It is not implied that dnanda is a vasana. Isvara, of the nature of Infinite Bliss, has no vasanas to be satisfied through creation. The chapter on Vasanas will elaborate on this point. atement only implies that the two concepts, Ananda and vasana, are