|
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 concept of a subtle body or bodies is a common philosophical element in such traditions as Vedanta (the five koshas), Tantra (the yogic body), Neoplatonism (okhemas), Sufism, Taoism, Hermeticism, Theosophy (the seven principles or bodies or vehicles, inspired by the five koshas pof Vendanta), Anthroposophy (the etheric and astral bodies), and the New Age. A detailed comparative study can be found in J.J. Poortman's multivolume work Vehicles of Consciousness. Esotericism refers to knowledge suitable only for the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. ...
For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). ...
Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is the pursuit or discovery of what is believed to be the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality; or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ...
The term philosophy derives from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom. ...
Vedanta (VedÄnta) is an important branch of Hindu philosophy and is a form of Jnana Yoga (one of the four basic yoga practices in Hinduism; the others are: Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga), a form of yoga which involves an individual seeking the path of intellectual analysis or...
Tantra (Sanskrit: loom) [The Sanskrit word tantra means to weave. Tibetan scholars translated the term as gyu (rgyud), which means continuity] , tantric yoga or tantrism is any of several esoteric traditions rooted in the religions of India. ...
Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) was a school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would admit...
Sufism (Arabic تصو٠taṣawwuf) is the school of esoteric philosophy in Islam, which is based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as a definite goal to attain. ...
For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ...
Hermeticism is either of two things: The study and practice of occult philosophy and magic, of a type associated with writings attributed to the god Hermes Trismegistus, Thrice-Greatest Hermes, a syncretistic deity who combines aspects of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. ...
Seal of the Theosophical Society Theosophy is a body of belief 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 Septenary in H.P. Blavatskys teachings refers to the seven principles of man, In The Key to Theosophy, pp. ...
Anthroposophy, also called spiritual science by its founder, Rudolf Steiner, is a philosophy (or, as some opponents claim, a religion) that sprung from the Theosophy movement. ...
New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...
Johannes Jacobus Poortman (Rotterdam April 26, 1896 - The Hague December 21, 1970), studied philosophy and psychology at Groningen University under Professor Gerardus Heymans. ...
The Yogic Body
The yogic-occult systems of India (e.g. Tantra) Tibet, China (Taoist alchemy) and Japan (Shingon) describe a subtle physiology or yogic anatonomy in terms of a series of channels (nadis, meridians) that convey life-force (prana, vayu, ch'i, ki) and have a number of focal points (chakras, acupuncture points). Through practice of various breathing and visualisation exercises one is able to manipulate and direct the flow of vital force, to achieve superhuman (e.g. in martial arts) or miraculous powers ("siddhis"), attain higher states of consciousness, immortality, or liberation. The various attributes of the yogic body are described in terms of often obscure symbolism (Tantra features references to the sun and the moon and various Indian rivers and deities, Taoist alchemy speaks of cauldrens, cinnibar fields, and so on). Shingon (真言宗) is a major school of Japanese Buddhism, and the most important school of Vajrayana Buddhism outside of the Himalayan region. ...
In Mysticism, a Nadi (plural: Nadis) is an energy channel in which Qi energy flows and may connect chakras. ...
Prana is the vital air, or breath, of the human body, as visualized in Hinduism. ...
See Qi (disambiguation) for other meanings of Qi. Qi is a fundamental concept of everyday Chinese culture, most often defined as air or breath (for example, the colloquial Mandarin Chinese term for weather is tiÄn qi, or the breath of heaven) and, by extension, life force or spiritual energy...
In Hinduism and its spiritual systems of yoga and in some related eastern cultures, as well as in some segments of the New Age movement, a chakra is thought to be an energy node in the human body. ...
Not to be confused with the African-descended Siddi people of India (though sometimes spelt in the same way). ...
The phrase altered state of consciousness was coined in the 1970s and describes induced changes in ones mental state, almost always temporary. ...
Immortality is the concept of existing for a potentially infinite or indeterminate length of time. ...
Moksha (Sanskrit: liberation) or Mukti (Sanskrit: release) refers, in general, to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. ...
The Subtle Bodies in Theosophy Whilst the eastern esoteric traditions emphasise a single subtle body (apart from the Vedantic concept of five koshas), in the west (beginning with Neoplatonism, the emphasis has often been on a series of subtle bodies or vehicles (okhema) of consciousness. This reached its most detailed and systematic account in the writings of C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant, who established the Adyar School of Theosophy. They described in detail the seven bodies, and established many of the themes that would be canonical in "new age" thought. The sequence of bodies or "vehicles" is as follows (from densest to most subtle): 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 activist, socialist and latterly theosophist Annie Besant (October 1, 1847 - September 20, 1933) was a prominent Theosophist, womens rights activist, writer and orator. ...
The Theosophical Society - Adyar is a successor organization to the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. ...
Beyond the Causal are the atmic, buddhic, and monadic levels, but these pertain to the Soul or Spirit ("Higher Triad", "Monad") rather than the subtle body. 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 Etheric Body is one of the Subtle Bodies in Theosophy and New Age thought. ...
An astral body is a form in which a person is believed to be able to travel out of their physical body. ...
The Mental Body is one of the Subtle Bodies in Theosophy and New Age thought. ...
In this worldview, the physical body is the densest, with the various subtle bodies being progressively more refined or spiritual. The subtle bodies exist alongside or within or around the physical, and have various characteristics and attributes. Each "body" has its own aura and set of chakras, and corresponds to a particular plane of existence, as the individualisation so to speak of that plane. Thus the astral body is made up of the substance or matter of the astral plane, just as the physical body is made up of the elements of the physical plane, and so on with all the bodies. A detailed account of the various subtle bodies and the corresponding planes is provided in a series of books (The Etheric Body, The Astral Body, The Mental Body, and The Causal Body) by Arthur E Powell on the basis of material compiled from the writings of Leadbeater and Besant. An Aura is an optical effect wherein gas or dust surrounding an object luminesces or reflects light from the object. ...
In Hinduism and its spiritual systems of yoga and in some related eastern cultures, as well as in some segments of the New Age movement, a chakra is thought to be an energy node in the human body. ...
For other uses of the word plane, see plane. ...
This same theme (of dense to subtle Body and Plane/Universe) is also found in Rudolph Steiner's Anthroposophical teachings, although it is simplified considerably in that only the Physical, Etheric, and Astral Bodies are referred to (beyond the Astral is the Ego which in Steiner's system is the immortal soul or spiritual aspect of man. 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...
The soul according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ...
Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens Human beings define themselves in biological, social, and spiritual terms. ...
According to both Blavatsky, Adyar Theosophy, Steiner, and some forms of Spiritualism, after physical death one lives in the subtle bodies until these too drop away and the Soul or Spirit returns to its true home to rest before reincarnating (however the details of the sequences vary).
Similar ideas to those of Theosphy are found, but less systematically presented, in The Mother's talks. And whilst Steiner did indeed draw a lot of his inspiration from Theosophy (one of his early books was even called "Theosophy"), The Mother's occultism is based in large measure on the teachings of Max Theon. Mirra Alfassa (later Morisset and Richard), known as The Mother (February 21, 1878 - November 17, 1973), was the spiritual partner of the sage and seer Sri Aurobindo. ...
The Adyar arrangement was taken up by Alice Bailey, and from there found its way (with variations) into the New Age worldview. Alice A. Bailey (1880‑1949), writer and lecturer on neo-theosophy, was born in England in 1880 as Alice LaTrobe Bateman. ...
The Human Energy Field The Adyar arrangement seems also to have been one of the inspirations behind Barbara Brennan's account of the subtle bodies by in her books Hands of Light and Light Ascending. She refers to the subtle bodies as "layers" in the "Human Energy Field" or Aura, and presents the following sequence: Barbara Brennan is an accomplished author, educator, public speaker, and spiritual healer. ...
Barbara Brennan is an accomplished author, educator, public speaker, and spiritual healer. ...
Causality proceeds from the Ketheric template downwards, and each of the layers has its own characteristics and can have its own expression of disease, requiring individual healing. As with the Adyar arrangement, each body or aura also has its own complement of chakras, which interrelate to the chakras in the other layers. The first four bodies correspond to the Physical plane, the Astral body to the Astral Plane, and the higher three bodies or layers to the Spiritual World. In Hands of Light two higher layers are also briefly referred to beyond the Ketheric Template. 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 Etheric Body is one of the Subtle Bodies in Theosophy and New Age thought. ...
The Emotional Body is one of the Subtle Bodies in Theosophy and New Age thought. ...
The Mental Body is one of the Subtle Bodies in Theosophy and New Age thought. ...
An astral body is a form in which a person is believed to be able to travel out of their physical body. ...
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 astral plane, also called the astral world and astral universe, is a plane of existence according to various philosophies and belief systems. ...
Projection and Exteriorisation The practice of astral projection, as described in various literature, is supposed to involve the separation of the Astral body from the Physical. But according to The Mother, not only is it possible to go out from a denser to a more subtle body or self (she referred to this as exteriorisation), but if one has the right training this process can be repeated until one reaches the border of the infinite (or Absolute Reality). Astral projection is a controversial interpretation of forced out-of-body experiences achieved either consciously or via lucid dreaming (or deep meditation) as an out of body experience. ...
In some varieties of philosophy, The Absolute describes an ultimate being; the Absolute is the whole of things, all that is. ...
Other Interpretations An interesting variant on the concept of subtle bodies is found in both Alchemical Taoism and the "Fourth Way" teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, where it is said that one can create a subtle body, and hence achieve post-mortem immortality, through spiritual or yogic exercises. The Fourth Way is the title of the posthumously published 1957 book by P. D. Ouspensky that describes the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. ...
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (January 13 / January 14, 1866? - October 29, 1949), the Greek-Armenian mystic and teacher of dancing born in Alexandropol, Armenia (then of the Russian Empire, now Gumri, Armenia), traveled to many parts of the world (i. ...
Perceiving the Subtle Body Clairvoyants say that they can see the subtle bodies in the aura. There are several books (Barbara Brennan's Hands of Light being perhaps the most popular and influential) and websites which include paintings of subtle bodies, their colours and structure. And Kirlian and other forms of high voltage photography claim to be able to photograph the subtle body (or at least its densest member, the electromagnetic body, sometimes identified with the etheric), including what appear to be acupuncture meridians. Clairvoyance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception that it is claimed allows a person to perceive distant objects, persons, or events, including seeing through opaque objects and the detection of types of energy not normally perceptible to humans (i. ...
Kirlian photography refers to a form of contact print photography, theoretically associated with high-voltage. ...
The existence of subtle bodies is unconfirmed by the scientific community. The scientific community consists of the interactions and relationships of scientists. ...
See also An Aura is an optical effect wherein gas or dust surrounding an object luminesces or reflects light from the object. ...
Clairvoyance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception that it is claimed allows a person to perceive distant objects, persons, or events, including seeing through opaque objects and the detection of types of energy not normally perceptible to humans (i. ...
Esotericism refers to knowledge suitable only for the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. ...
Kirlian photography refers to a form of contact print photography, theoretically associated with high-voltage. ...
This is a list of topics that may be of interest to a person who is researching subjects related to spirituality, esotericism, mysticism, or parapsychology. ...
Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is the pursuit or discovery of what is believed to be the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality; or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ...
New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...
For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). ...
See Qi (disambiguation) for other meanings of Qi. Qi is a fundamental concept of everyday Chinese culture, most often defined as air or breath (for example, the colloquial Mandarin Chinese term for weather is tiÄn qi, or the breath of heaven) and, by extension, life force or spiritual energy...
References - Alfass, Mirra (The Mother) Mother's Agenda
- 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
- Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom; transl. by W.R. Trask, Princeton University Press, 1969
- C. W. Leadbeater, Man, Visible and Invisible
- Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1970.
- 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
- -- The Causal Body and the Ego
- -- The Etheric Double
- -- The Mental Body
- 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
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 |
Feeds |
Contact