Srila Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa

As a yogi, you see the body that covers you—the pure atma or self—as being made of layers of material energy, from the subtle to the gross.

Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation

The subtle layers of matter that first cover you—such as the mind, intelligence, and false ego—are like underclothes. Then, over the subtle material elements come the grosser material elements (going from the more subtle to the more gross), which cover you, the self, layer by layer. The layer of ether or sky covers over the mind, intelligence, and false ego; then the element air covers the element ether; the element fire then covers the element air; next the element water covers over the element fire; and finally the element earth covers over the element water. So in this way, you, the self, are covered by these eight primary subtle and gross layers of material energy. Thus, just as a man may have different layers of clothes over his naked body, the self also has eight layers of “clothes.”

Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation