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"Before creation existed there was Cosmic Consciousness: Spirit or God, the Absolute, ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss beyond form and manifestation. When creation came into being, Cosmic Consciousness "descended" into the physical universe where it manifests as Christ Consciousness:⁺ the omnipresent pure reflection of God's intelligence and consciousness inherent and hidden within all creation. When the Christ Consciousness descends into the physical body of man it becomes soul, or superconsciousness: the ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss of God individualized by encasement in the body. When the soul becomes identified with the body, it manifests as ego, mortal consciousness. Yoga teaches that the soul must climb back up the ladder of consciousness to Spirit.⁺⁺

+ The Hindu scriptures refer to Christ Consciousness as Kutastha Chaitanya, universal consciousness or omnipresent intelligence.

++ Yoga teaches that the abode of the soul -- of man's life and divine consciousness -- is in the subtle spiritual centers in the brain: Sahasrara, the thousand-petaled lotus at the top of the cerebrum, seat of cosmic consciousness; Kutastha, at the point between the eyebrows, seat of Christ consciousness; and the medullary center (connected by polarity to the Kutastha), seat of superconsciousness. Descending into the body (and body-consciousness) from these centers of highest spiritual perception, life and consciousness flow down the spine, passing through five astral spinal centers (see chakras in glossary) and branching outward into physical organs of life, sensory perception, and action.

To regain the blissful realization of its oneness with God, the soul of man must retrace its downward course, ascending by the sacred spinal route to its home in the higher cerebral centers of divine awareness. This is accomplished by the practice of guru-given scientific techniques of yogic meditation, such as may be learned from the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons. (See glossary)"

Paramahansa Yogananda. Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays On Realizing God In Daily Life, Volume I. Second ed. Page 17.