Subtle body
A subtle body is a "quasi material"
Subtle body concepts and practices can be identified as early as 2nd century BCE in
Subtle body in the Western tradition is called the
The
Asian religions
The
Hinduism
Early
Early concepts of the subtle body (
- The anna-maya ("food body", physical body, the grossest level),
- The prana-maya (body made of vital breath or prana),
- The mano-maya (body made of mind),
- The vijñana-maya (body made of consciousness)
- The ananda-maya (bliss body, the subtlest level).
Subtle internal anatomy included a central channel (nadi).[8] Later Vedic texts called samhitas and brahmanas contain a theory of five "winds" or "breaths" (vayus, pranas):[8]
- Prāṇa, associated with inhalation
- Apāna, associated with exhalation
- Uḍāna, associated with distribution of breath within the body
- Samāna, associated with digestion
- Vyāna, associated with excretion of waste
Later
A millennium later, these concepts were adapted and refined by various spiritual traditions. The similar concept of the Liṅga Śarīra is seen as the vehicle of consciousness in later
The subtle body (linga), previously arisen, unconfined, constant, inclusive of the great one (mahat) etc, through the subtle elements, not having enjoyment, transmigrates, (because of) being endowed with bhavas ("conditions" or "dispositions"). As a picture (does) not (exist) without a support, or as a shadow (does) not (exist) without a post and so forth; so too the instrument (linga or karana) does not exist without that which is specific (i.e., a subtle body).
— Samkhyakarika, 60–81[12]
The classical Vedanta tradition developed the theory of the five bodies into the theory of the koshas "sheaths" or "coverings" which surround and obscure the self (atman). In classical Vedanta these are seen as obstacles to realization and traditions like Shankara's Advaita Vedanta had little interest in working with the subtle body.[13]
Tantra
In Tantra traditions meanwhile (Shaiva Kaula, Kashmir Shaivism and Buddhist Vajrayana), the subtle body was seen in a more positive light, offering potential for yogic practices which could lead to liberation.[14] Tantric traditions contain the most complex theories of the subtle body, with sophisticated descriptions of energy nadis (literally "stream or river", channels through which vayu and prana flows) and chakras, points of focus where nadis meet.[15]
The main channels, shared by both Hindu and Buddhist systems, but visualised entirely differently, are the central (in Hindu systems:
Chakra systems vary with the tantra; the Netra Tantra describes six chakras, the Kaulajñana-nirnaya describes eight, and the Kubjikamata Tantra describes seven (the most widely known set).[18][19]
In the
Modern
The modern Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba stated that the subtle body "is the vehicle of desires and vital forces". He held that the subtle body is one of three bodies with which the soul must cease to identify with in order to realize God.[21]
Buddhism
In
The subtle body consists of thousands of subtle energy channels (
Lati Rinbochay describes the subtle body as consisting of 72,000 channels, various winds and a white and a red drop whilst a further very subtle body is a wind abiding in a drop at the centre of the heart chakra. The central channel is then described as being squeezed by two channels that encircle it at each chakra and thrice at the heart chakra, ensuring the winds do not move upward or downward until death.[26]
Buddhist tantras generally describe four or five chakras in the shape of a lotus with varying petals. For example, the
In the Center [i.e. chakra] of Creation [at the sexual organ] a sixty-four petal lotus. In the Center of Essential Nature [at the heart] an eight petal lotus. In the Center of Enjoyment [at the throat] a sixteen petal lotus. In the Center of Great Bliss [at the top of the head] a thirty-two petal lotus.[18]
In contrast, the historically later Kalachakra tantra describes six chakras.[18]
In
Other traditions
Other spiritual traditions teach about a mystical or divine body, such as "the most sacred body" (wujud al-aqdas) and "true and genuine body" (jism asli haqiqi) in Sufism, the meridian system in Chinese religion, and "the immortal body" (soma athanaton) in Hermeticism.[28]
Western esoteric tradition
The body of light is elaborated on according to various Western esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. Other terms used for this body include body of glory,[29] spirit-body, radiant body,[30] luciform body, augoeides ('radiant'), astroeides ('starry' or 'sidereal body'), and celestial body.[31]
The concept derives from the philosophy of
Neoplatonists Porphyry and Proclus elaborated on Plato's description of the starry nature of the human psyche. Throughout the Renaissance, philosophers and alchemists, healers including Paracelsus and his students, and natural scientists such as John Dee, continued to discuss the nature of the astral world intermediate between earth and the divine. The concept of the astral body or body of light was adopted by 19th-century ceremonial magician Éliphas Lévi, Florence Farr and the magicians of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, including Aleister Crowley.
Western syncretic tradition
Theosophy
In the 19th century,
Post-theosophists
The later theosophical arrangement was taken up by
Fourth Way
Subtle bodies are found in the "
Meditation research
Western scientists have started to explore the subtle body concept in relation to research on meditation. The subtle body model can be cross-referenced onto modern maps of the central nervous system, and applied in research on meditation.[4]
See also
References
This article has an unclear citation style. (March 2022) |
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Samuel & Johnston 2013.
- ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017.
- ^ "Tibetan Medicine and the Subtle Anatomy - Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism & Astrology - London". Shrīmālā | Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism & Astrology | London. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ S2CID 5042508.
- ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 171–184.
- ^ Pregadio, Fabrizio (2012). The Way of the Golden Elixir: A Historical Overview of Taoist Alchemy (PDF, 60 pp., free download). Golden Elixir Press.
- ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 173–174.
- ^ a b c Samuel 2013, p. 33.
- ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 184.
- ^ Larson 2005, p. 242.
- ^ Purucker, Gottfried. The Occult Glossary
- ^ a b Larson 2005, p. 268.
- ^ Samuel 2013, pp. 34, 37.
- ^ Samuel 2013, p. 34.
- ^ Samuel 2013, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Samuel 2013, p. 39.
- ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 172–174.
- ^ a b c Samuel 2013, p. 40.
- ^ Mallinson & Singleton 2017, pp. 175–178.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-350-42881-2.
- ISBN 978-1880619094.
- ^ a b Wayman, Alex (1977). Yoga of the Guhyasamajatantra: The arcane lore of forty verses : a Buddhist Tantra commentary. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 65.
- ^ Miller, Lama Willa B. (12 November 2013). "Reviews: Investigating the Subtle Body". Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Simmer-Brown 2002, p. 169.
- ISBN 978-0892819034.
- ISBN 978-1-55939-756-8. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ Samuel 2013, p. 38.
- ^ White 2018.
- ^ Behun 2010.
- ^ Mead 1919.
- ^ Mead 1919, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Miller 1995, p. [page needed].
- ^ Woolger n.d.
- ^ a b c Samuel 2013, pp. 1–3.
- ^ Johnston, Jay (2002). "The "Theosophic Glance": Fluid Ontologies, Subtle Bodies and Intuitive Vision". Australian Religion Studies Review. 15 (2): 101–117.
- ISBN 900413638X.
- ^ Heindel 1911.
- ^ Dale, Cyndi (11 October 2016). "Energetic Anatomy: A Complete Guide to the Human Energy Fields and Etheric Bodies". Conscious Lifestyle magazine. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- ^ OCLC 35990156.
Works cited
- Behun, W. (2010). "The Body of Light and the Body without Organs". Substance: A Review of Theory & Literary Criticism. 39 (1): 125–140.
- Heindel, Max (1911). "Chapter IV: The Constitution of Man: Vital Body - Desire Body - Mind". The Rosicrucian Mysteries. Rosicrucian Fellowship. ISBN 0-911274-86-3.
- OCLC 637247445.
- OCLC 928480104.
- Mead, G. R. S. (1919). The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition. Watkins.
- Miller, Suki (1995). After Death: How People around the World Map the Journey after Death.
- OCLC 690084604.
- Samuel, G.; Johnston, J. (2013). Religion and the Subtle Body in Asia and the West: Between Mind and Body. Routledge studies in Asian religion and philosophy. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-136-76640-4.
- Simmer-Brown, J. (2002). Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism. Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-57062-920-4.
- White, John (May 2018). "Enlightenment and the Body of Light". Journal of Conscious Evolution. 1 (1). Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- Woolger, Roger J. (n.d.). "Beyond Death: Transition and the Afterlife" (PDF). Royal College of Psychiatrists. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2008.
Further reading
- Dale, Cyndi (2014). The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy. Sounds True. ISBN 978-1591798279.
- Eliade, Mircea (1969). Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. Translated by W. R. Trask. Princeton University Press.
- Poortman, J. J. (1978). Vehicles of Consciousness; The Concept of Hylic Pluralism (Ochema). Vol. I–IV. The Theosophical Society in Netherlands.
- Samuel, G. (June 2019). "Unbalanced Flows in the Subtle Body: Tibetan Understandings of Psychiatric Illness and How to Deal With It". J Relig Health. 58 (3): 770–794. PMID 30788755.
- White, David Gordon (2012). The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226149349.