Planes of existence Subtle bodies In metaphysics and esoteric cosmology, a plane of existence (sometimes called simply a plane, dimension, vibrating plane, or an inner, invisible, spiritual, supraphysical world, or egg) is a theoretical region of space (and/or consciousness) beyond, but permeating, the known physical universe (or the region of the physical universe itself... The Subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. ...
The Winged Self
Theosophy
Causal plane: Causal body Mental plane: Mental body Astral plane: body, projection Etheric plane: Etheric body Physical plane: Physical body Image File history File links The Winged Self The purpose of The Winged Self Symbol is to focus thought in the inner Divine perfection of each individual. ... The Winged Self: The purpose of The Winged Self Symbol is to focus thought in the inner Divine perfection of each individual. ... Seal of the Theosophical Society Theosophy is a body of ideas which holds that all religions are attempts by man to ascertain the Divine, and as such each religion has a portion of the truth. ... The Mental Plane in Hermeticism, Theosophical, Aurobindonian, and New Age thought refers to the macrocosmic or universal plane or reality that is made up purely of thought or mindstuff. ... The Mental Body is one of the Subtle Bodies in Theosophy and New Age thought. ... The astral plane, also called the astral world or desire world, is a plane of existence according to esoteric philosophies, some religious teachings and New Age thought. ... Astral projection (or astral travel) is a controversial interpretation of out-of-body experiences (OOBEs) achieved either consciously or via lucid dreaming, deep meditation, or use of psychotropics. ... The etheric plane or etheric region is one of the planes of existence, or more specifically a subplane or planes, in Theosophy and New Age thought. ... The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, or vital body is one of the subtle bodies in esoteric philosophies, in some religious teachings and in New Age thought. ... The Physical Plane or Physical Universe in Hermeticism, Theosophical and New Age thought refers to the visible reality of space and time, energy and matter. ... The Physical body is understood in Theosophy as simply the last of seven progressively denser vehicles of consciousness. In Blavatskyian Theosophy it is called by the Vedantic name sthula sarira - gross body - and distingusihed from the linga sarira, the subtle body or astral double. ...
Rosicrucian
The 7 Worlds & the 7 Cosmic Planes The Seven-fold constitution of Man The Ten-fold constitution of Man The Temple of the Rose Cross, Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, 1618. ... The Rosicrucian Fellowship Emblem The Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded in 1909/11 by Max Heindel as herald of the Aquarian Age and with the aim of promulgating the Rosicrucian teachings of the Mystery School of the West, the invisible Rosicrucian Order (which, according to Max Heindel, is an Order in... The Rosicrucian Fellowship Emblem The Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded in 1909/11 by Max Heindel as herald of the Aquarian Age and with the aim of promulgating the Rosicrucian teachings of the Mystery School of the West, the invisible Rosicrucian Order (which, according to Max Heindel, is an Order in... The Rosicrucian Fellowship Emblem The Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded in 1909/11 by Max Heindel as herald of the Aquarian Age and with the aim of promulgating the Rosicrucian teachings of the Mystery School of the West, the invisible Rosicrucian Order (which, according to Max Heindel, is an Order in...
Surat Shabda Yoga
Cosmology // Surat Shabd Yoga or Surat Shabda Yoga is a form of spiritual practice that is followed in the Sant Mat and many other spiritual traditions. ... Surat Shabd Yoga or Surat Shabda Yoga is a form of spiritual practice that is followed in the Sant Mat and many other related spiritual traditions. ...
Sufism
Sufi cosmology Tanazzulut Sufism (Arabic: تصوف, taṣawwuf) is a mystic tradition of Islam. ... Although there is no consensus with regard to Sufi cosmology, one can disentangle various threads that led to the crystallization of more or less coherent cosmological doctrines. ...
Hinduism
Lokas - Kosas
Buddhism
Deva lokas
Kabbalah
Atziluth - Beri'ah - Yetzirah - Asiyah Sephirah Hinduism (Sanskrit , also known as and ) is an Indian religious tradition that is based on the Vedas, and is among the oldest still practiced today. ... In metaphysics and esoteric cosmology, a plane of existence (sometimes called simply a plane, dimension, vibrating plane, or an inner, invisible, spiritual, or supraphysical world) is a theoretical region of space and/or consciousness beyond the known physical universe, or the region containing the universe itself. ... Kosas are five cases or sheaths which cover the Atman in Hinduism. ... Buddhism (Pāli Buddhadhamma or Sanskrit Buddhadharma) is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following his death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and... Devaloka is a sanskit word which means, literally, plane of beings of light, referring to a higher plane of existence where Gods and Devas exist. ... Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, soul of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an insight into divine nature. ... Atziluth is the highest of 4 worlds in which exists the kabbalistic Tree of life. ... Beriah is the second of 4 worlds in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... This article is about the religious attributes. ... Asiyah is the 4th and last of the worlds in which exists the kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... Sephirah, also Sefirah (Hebrew language סְפִירָה Enumeration); plural Sephiroth or Sefiroth סְפִירוֹת. ...
Fourth Way
Ray of Creation The Laws Three Centres Five Centres The Fourth Way is the title of the posthumously published 1957 book by P. D. Ouspensky that describes the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. ... The Ray of Creation is a metaphysical cosmology which was taught by G.I. Gurdjieff. ... In the school of thought created by G.I. Gurdjieff The Laws are governing principles of the universe. ... The Three Centres are a teaching within some Gurdjieffian Fourth Way groups relating to his teaching of Three-brained beings, Law of Three, Law of Seven, etc. ... The Five Centres are a teaching within some Gurdjieffian Fourth Way groups relating to his teaching of the Three Centres, Three-brained beings, Law of Three, Law of Seven, etc. ...
Popular culture
Plane (Dungeons & Dragons)   Inner Plane   Prime Material Plane   Outer Plane Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in any given society. ... In the standard cosmology of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game, the planes of existence are alternate planes or alternate dimensions. ... The Inner Planes are the innermost planes of existence in the standard cosmology of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. ... ... The Outer Planes are the outermost planes of existence in the standard cosmology of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. ...

The astral body, also known as desire body or emotional body refers to a subtle body which exists alongside the physical body, as a vehicle of the soul or consciousness. The Subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise such key features as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ...

The astral body in Neoplatonism

While Neoplatonists agreed as to the immortality of the soul, they disagreed as to whether the "irrational soul" was immortal and celestial ("starry", hence astral), or dissolved after death. Proclus combined both ideas by positing two subtle bodies or "vehicles" (okhema) intermediate between the Soul and the physical body. These were the spiritual (pneuma) vehicle which he considered mortal, and the astral vehicle which was the immortal vehicle of the Soul. Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is a school of philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century A.D. Based on the teachings of Plato and the Platonists, it contained enough unique interpretations of Plato that some view Neoplatonism as substantively different from what Plato wrote and believed. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. ... Proclus Lycaeus (February 8, 412 – April 17, 485), surnamed The Successor or diadochos (Greek Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος Próklos ho Diádokhos), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major Greek philosophers (see Damascius). ... A physical body is an object which can be described by the theories of classical mechanics, or quantum mechanics, and experimented upon by physical instruments. ...

The astral body in Theosophy

Blavatsky used the term "astral" to refer to the double (linga sharira) which was the lowest but one of the seven principles (immediately above the physical). The Septenary in H.P. Blavatskys teachings refers to the seven principles of man, In The Key to Theosophy, pp. ...

Later however, C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant (Adyar School of Theosophy), and following them, Alice Bailey, equated the astral with Blavatsky's Kama (desire) principle (the fourth of the seven principles of man, and called it the Emotional body (a concept not found in earlier Theosophy). C.W. Leadbeater (1847 or 1854-1934), English clergyman and Theosophical author, contributed to world thought mostly through his work as a clairvoyant. ... Annie Besant Plaque on house in Colby Road, London SE19 where Annie Besant lived in 1874. ... The Theosophical Society - Adyar is a successor organization to the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. ... Alice A. Bailey (16th June,1880 ‑ 15th December,1949), writer and lecturer on neo-theosophy, was born in England in 1880 as Alice LaTrobe Bateman. ...

In this way, astral body, desire body, and emotional body became synonmous, and this identification is found in much of New Age and theosophically-inspired thought since.

The astral or emotional body here is understood as a sort of psychic body or aura that is made up of emotions, just as the physical body consists of matter. In occult thought, emotions are not just subjective qualia, but have an existence apart from the individual consciousness, and exist on a cosmic plane of existence, in this case, the astral plane. An aura is: Aura (paranormal), a paranormal effect. ... Emotion, in its most general definition, is a neural impulse that moves an organism to action, prompting automatic reactive behavior that has been adapted through evolution as a survival mechanism to meet a survival need. ... A physical body is an object which can be described by the theories of classical mechanics, or quantum mechanics, and experimented upon by physical instruments. ... Matter is commonly defined as the substance of which physical objects are composed. ... For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). ... Redness is the canonical quale. ... The astral plane, also called the astral world or desire world, is a plane of existence according to esoteric philosophies, some religious teachings and New Age thought. ...

The desire body in Rosicrucianism

According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, the Desire body is made of desire stuff from which human beings form feelings and emotions and also it impels to seek sense gratification. But while it is referred that the Dense (physical) body and the Vital (etheric) body are well organized, the desire body is said to appear to spiritual sight as an ovoid cloud extending from sixteen to twenty inches beyond the physical body; it is seen above the head and below the feet so that the dense (physical) body sits in the center of this egg-shaped cloud as the yolk is in the center of an egg. This desire body has a number of whirling vortices - since a characteristic of desire-stuff is to be in constant motion - and from the main vortex in the region of the liver, there is a constant outwelling flow which radiates toward the periphery of this egg-shaped body and returns to the center through a number of other vortices. It is said the desire body also exhibits all the colors and shades, which we know and a vast number of others unknown to physical sight, and those colors vary in every person according to his or her characteristics and temperament, and they also vary from moment to moment as passing moods, fancies, or emotions are experienced by the person. Max Heindel (born Carl Louis von Grasshoff in Denmark on July 23, 1865 ‑ United States, January 6, 1919) was a Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic. ... The Temple of the Rose Cross, Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, 1618. ... Clairvoyance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception whereby a person perceives distant objects, persons, or events, including seeing through opaque objects and the detection of types of energy not normally perceptible to humans (i. ... The astral plane, also called the astral world or desire world, is a plane of existence according to esoteric philosophies, some religious teachings and New Age thought. ...

In his writings he also states that the term "Astral body" - a vehicle made of ether, which is lighter than air and therefore capable of levitation - was employed by the mediaeval Alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the "starry" regions. The Astral body - not to be confounded with the Desire body - is the 'Soul body', the 'Golden Wedding Garment', the 'Philosopher's Stone', or the 'Living Stone', spoken of in some of the ancient philosophies as the 'Diamond Soul' ("for it is luminous, lustrous, and sparkling--a priceless gem"), and will eventually be evolved by humanity as a whole. The aether is the fifth classical element in ancient Greek philosophy and science. ... For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ... The philosophers stone, in Latin lapis philosophorum, is a mythical substance that supposedly could turn inexpensive metals into gold and/or create an elixir that would make humans younger, thus delaying death. ...

Later interpretations

Rudolph Steiner at first followed Theosophical jargon like astral and Devachan, but after he broke away from the Theosophical society to form his own movement, Anthroposophy, he also adopted a distinct terminology, replacing astral plane with "soul" and devachen with "spirit", and substituting the seven-fold model of man with a fourfold one (physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego). However his description of the "soul world" remained very similar to Leadbeater's description of the astral plane, and his definition of the astral body remained basically similar as well. Unlike Leadbetaer however he placed little emphasis on the astral or soul level, being more interested in the evolution of the ego (the immortal spirit principle, not the psychological ego) and the spiritual hierrachies (see e.g. his Occult Science - An Outline). Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner (February 27, 1861–March 30, 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, architect, playwright, educator, and social thinker (see section below with heading social threefolding), who is best known as the founder of Anthroposophy and its practical applications, including Waldorf School, Biodynamic agriculture, the Camphill Movement... Anthroposophy, also called spiritual science by its founder, Rudolf Steiner is an attempt to investigate and describe spiritual phenomena with the same precision and clarity with which natural science investigates and describes the physical world. ...

Mirra Alfassa / The Mother sometimes refers to the astral body and experiences on the astral plane (see her Collected Works and The Agenda). In this context she also incorporates a lot of ideas from Max Theon. She uses the term "vital" rather than astral, and refers to exteriorisation, whereby one can move out from the physical into the vital ("astral"), and from there to successively higher bodies, twelve in all. This article is about the spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo. ... Mothers Agenda - lAgenda - is a massive 13 volume, 6,000 page, journal of the the Mothers (born Mirra Alfassa) spiritual and physical experiences, recorded by Satprem over a period of 19 years, beginning with some fragments dating to 1951, and continuing in greater detail (especially with Satprem... Max Theon (1848-1927) perhaps born Louis-Maximilian Bimstein, was a Polish Jewish Kabbalist and Occultist. ...

In contrast to theosophical and anthroposophical position, Barbara Brennan in her book Hands of Light distinguishes between the Emotional body and the Astral body. She sees these as two distinct layers in the seven-layered "Human Energy Field" or Aura. The Emotional body pertains to the physical universe, the astral body to the astral world. However the descriptions of both are similar, in that both consist of swirls of colour. (See links for illustration and more description) Barbara Brennan is an author, educator, public speaker, and spiritual healer and has been doing metaphysical healing for 30 years. ...

The astral body in generic New Age thought

New Age thought incorporates many theosophical ideas, including the concept of subtle bodies and planes of existence. While there is no consensus position, the general idea is that the Astral body corresponds to the astral plane which is sometimes also (ref?) called the 5th dimension. New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Seal of the Theosophical Society Theosophy is a body of ideas which holds that all religions are attempts by man to ascertain the Divine, and as such each religion has a portion of the truth. ... The Subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. ...

The astral body is also widely understood here as the subtle body in which astral projection occurs (see Astral projection). This is one of several types of out of body experiences, or OBEs. The term "light body" is sometimes used in this context. Astral projection (or astral travel) is a controversial interpretation of out-of-body experiences (OOBEs) achieved either consciously or via lucid dreaming, deep meditation, or use of psychotropics. ...

Artistic depictions

The emotional and/or astral body is usually drawn in terms of an aura or consisting of swirling colours. See illustrations in Man, Visible and Invisible and Hands of Light for examples of this.

See also

• Subtle body
• Esoteric cosmology
• Linga sarira

The Subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. ... Esoteric cosmology is cosmology that is an intrinsic part of an esoteric or occult system of thought. ... Lińga Śarīra is the Sanskrit term for the invisible double of the human body. ...

References

• Besant, Annie, Man and His Bodies
• Brennan, Barbara Ann, Hands of Light : A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field, Bantam Books, 1987
• ----- Light Emerging: The Journey of Personal Healing, Bantam Books, 1993
• Dodds, E.R. Proclus: The Elements of Theology. A revised text with translation, introduction, and commentary, 2nd edition 1963.
• C. W. Leadbeater, Man, Visible and Invisible
• The Mother (Alfassa, Mirra) Collected Works of the Mother
• ----- The Agenda
• Poortman, J.J. Vehicles of Consciousness; The Concept of Hylic Pluralism (Ochema), vol I-IV, The Theosophical Society in Netherlands, 1978
• Powell, Arthur E. The Astral Body and other Astral Phenomena
• Steiner, Rudolph, Theosophy: An introduction to the supersensible knowledge of the world and the destination of man. London: Rudolf Steiner Press. (1904) 1970
• ----- Occult Science - An Outline. Trans. George and Mary Adams. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1909, 1969
• Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter IV: The Constitution of Man: Vital Body - Desire Body - Mind), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3

Annie Besant Plaque on house in Colby Road, London SE19 where Annie Besant lived in 1874. ... E.R.Dodds was a 20th century British classical scholar. ... Mothers Agenda - lAgenda - is a massive 13 volume, 6,000 page, journal of the the Mothers (born Mirra Alfassa) spiritual and physical experiences, recorded by Satprem over a period of 19 years, beginning with some fragments dating to 1951, and continuing in greater detail (especially with Satprem...

External links

• Barbara Brennan on the Emotional Body
• Barbara Brennan on the Astral Body
• Astral Society