The Subtle Body

Behind the obvious physical being is a series of more subtle vehicles of consciousness, each with its own aura (shown here as concentric ovoids around the body) and energy dynamics.  The set of small circles down the mid-line of the body are the chakras. illustration (c) by Martin Brofman

Beyond the consciousness of the gross physical body itself is the emotional, mental and spiritual consciousness of what could collectively be termed the psyche.  The Psyche is not a single entity in the way that the Physical Body is, but rather the sum of a number of distinct "subtle bodies" note or vehicles of consciousness that exist as frequency levels on the Etheric Plane.  The word "subtle" is used to distinguish these bodies from the gross physical body.

World	Soul	Gross realm	Subtle realm	Very Subtle realm
		not applicable	not applicable
Psychic		not applicable
Etheric
Physical			Inner Body Consciousness

Here is a tentative and speculative interpretation of the suble bodies.  Four "vertical" worlds - the physical, etheric, astral/psychic, and mental/ideational - are suggested.  Corresponding to these are three grades of increasing subtleness - the gross (representing physical consciousness), the subtle, representing psychic/interpersonal, and the very subtle or causal, corresponding to the transpersonal, the Theosophical Devachen and Steiner's "Spirit" realm.  A fourth grade, the transcendent, could be added, but this is generally beyond mundane consciousness.  So there is a dual parameter framework, not unlike the Neoplatonist Proclus' scheme of hypostases.

Thus according to this hypothesis there would be three distinct "vertical" grades of subtle body, with the physical as a fourth. lowest level.  Of course, not everyone has the same level of development.  Very few have a well developed ideational body, which is why so many people have to rely on dogmatism, literalism, fundamentalism, guru-ism, and other forms of stupidity.  They are unable to mentally perceive things on their own, hence they have to rely on the thoughts and mentality of others, which they adhere to rigidly.

Similarily, only a few individuals have a developed transpersonal consciousness (equivalent to the "Very Subtle"/"Causal" column of the above table).  Although such faculties exist in potential or germinal form in everyone (and in all sentient beings), it is only in some that they are brought out.

Kabbalah says that only the lowest grade of soul (nefesh) is inately developed, all the others have to be attained through spiritual discipline.  One finds Gurdjieff, the Taoists, and others saying the same thing.

The Etheric Bodies collectively correspond to what the Ancient Egyptians referred to as the Ka.  The various subtle bodies constitute the energy blueprints both for those subtle bodies below them, and for the gross physical body and physical consciousness.  Although the subtle bodies are invisible to our normal sense-perception, certain individuals have - whether through innate ability or training - developed a higher or extended sense perception, and have, on this basis, described these subtle bodies, and various associated phenomena.  These individuals are known as Clairvoyants.   There is no doubt that clairvoyants do perceive something, even if the majority are very limited in their abilities.  They only see a little bit, and then they claim on this basis to know everything.  There are however rare clairvoyants who do have exceptional abilities.  Such higher clairvoyance seems to be always associated with both a great spiritual development and a very strong Healing ability.

Psychic Energy System by Alex Grey © 1980

Most forms of Clairvoyance - seeing auras, colours, chakras, and so on - pertain to the various resonances of the Subtle Physical.  Here we have what in Theosophical and especially in popular New Age occult terminology are called the Etheric, Emotional, and Mental bodies, also called "koshas", "subtle bodies" or "vehicles of consciousness".  Each has its own emanated field of influence, its own atmosphere or aura.  All writers on this subject are in agreement that the aura of the Etheric body is the smallest in extent, whilst the Mental aura is the largest of these three.  The higher spiritual auras are larger again.  However, these clairvoyants all differ as to the precise size or extent of each aura beyond the physical body (usually it ranges from a centimeter or so to a meter or more, depending on the subtle body).

In all of these planes and bodies one finds individualised resonances of higher worlds.  So the physical intellect or "Mental Body" is the lower octave, or resonance, of the Noeric Universe, and the instrument of reason and imagination, or in short, thinking.  The "Emotional Body" is the lower octave, or resonance, of the Psychic Universe, and pertains to feelings, desires, and emotions; in short, teeling.  And the somatic-physical represents the basic nature of that particular plane itself (Chthonic, Material-Physical, or Etheric), and constitutes the "consciousness of the body";

Basically we can speak of three grades of etheric subtle body:

• The Etheric Body proper
• The Emotional Body
• The Mental Body

This classification of the person into Physical, Emotional, and Mental or Intellectual faculties is familiar to anyone who has encountered the Gurdjieff/Ouspensky theory of "Centers", Rudolph Steiner's faculties of thinking, feeling, and willing, Da Free John's first three "Stages of Life", and Sri Aurobindo's psychological divisions, to give just a few examples.

The mental body here is not to be confused with the Ideational Mental body, which pertains to the Mental-Psychic and perhaps also the lower part of the Noeric Universe

In addition to the Etheric, Emotional, and Mental bodies which are innate in everyone, there is also the possibility of further evolution in developing higher levels of consciousness. Sri Aurobindo for example refers to the Higher Mental, Illumined, Intuitive, Overmental, and finally Supramental states of consciousness that lie beyond the ordinary intellect or Mental body.  I would associate these higher faculties with the Noeric, Noetic , and even (according to Sri Aurobindo in the case of the Supramental attainment), the Manifest Absolute realities.

In addition each grade of body exists in each of planes of being.  So what we have are a series of octaves, which can be represented as follows:

Each grade or resonance of being is represented by a subtle body, and each subtle body has its own emanated field of influence, its own atmosphere or aura.  All writers on this subject are in agreement that the aura of the Etheric body is the smallest in extent (only slightly larger than the boundaries of the physical body), whilst the Spiritual aura is the largest.  However, these clairvoyants all differ as to the precise size or extent of each aura beyond the physical body (usually it ranges from a centimeter or so to a meter or more, depending on the subtle body).

Most modern spiritual and esoteric teachings consider the subtle bodies to constitute a "vertical" scale of planes or worlds of increasing Spirit, culminating in the Godhead.  But if this was so the higher "bodies" would be progressively more formless; until finally they would not be bodies at all.  As we shall see, this is indeed the case considering the principles of consciousness on the astral and higher planes; but it is certainly not the case regarding the sequence of subtle bodies.  All the subtle bodies only exist within the Spiritual Physical Plane itself.

Each subtle body has its own set of chakras or energy-centres.  According to the Theosophical paradigm (widely adopted by the New Age movement and to a lesser extent contemporary Hermeticism) the chakras serve as receiving stations or subtle organs that seem to have four distinct functions:

1. They process and assimilate the etheric energy of that particular plane.
2. They act as "voltage transformers" that enable the higher frequency consciousness-energy of the more spiritual subtle bodies to be received and assimilated by the subtle body in question.
3. They allow the consciousness of higher dimensions of self to function within the subtle body, just as the brain and nervous system does for the physical body.
4. Finally, quite apart from these "outer" energy-centre chakras, there are totally different "inner" organs of subtle consciousness, also called chakras, which allow the functioning of even more inward dimensions of self.

The subtle bodies seem to be defined according to two sets of parameters - the division into "Physical", "Subtle", and "Spiritual" on the one hand, and the distinction between "etheric", "emotional", and "mental" bodies (or willing, feeling, and knowing consciousnesses) on the other.  Barbara Brennan also describes these subtle bodies as constituting an alternating sequence of fixed "form" (i.e. structure, or blueprint) and fluid substance (i.e. "matter"), which would indicate a sort of alternating wave-pattern.  The whole series can be tentatively represented in the following table:

The table shows the seven "winds" (vayu) or etheric energy frequencies, and their associated "minds" or consciousness-levels, according to Tibetan Buddhism, the seven chakras, and the seven levels in the formulations of Rudolph Steiner and Barbara Ann Brennan.

Although there are an indefinite number of frequency-resonances, and hence of potential subtle bodies constituting every physical being, in Man there are apparently seven subtle bodies in total.  These define the human condition.  Further subtle bodies are actualised in Adepts and Enlightened Beings, whilst animals and plants are described as having fewer (although I am sceptical of this claim).  Even if this is true, this does not make them spiritually inferior or "lacking a soul", as arrogant religions and chauvanistic esotericists claim, because spiritual evolution is dependent on the degree of development of the Evolving Higher Self, and it would frequently be the case that an animal - or even a plant! - has a purer and more developed Higher Self than a human, even though the human has actualised more subtle bodies.

The Physical Subtle (Etheric) Bodies

The Gross Physical, Physical Etheric, Physical Emotional, and Physical Mental Bodies together make up the Gross Psycho-physical entity, the being that is separate from other beings, and which ceases with the death of the physical body.  The higher subtle bodies however continue in varying degrees even after the death of the physical body.

The Spiritual Etheric Bodies

The first spiritual body, the Psychic or "astral" Etheric Body constitutes the psycho-energic body transitional between the Physical and Spiritual Subtle-Physical dimensions.  Qabalistically, it is represented by the Sefirah Tifaret, the transitional stage between the lower and higher sefirot.

With the three higher spiritual bodies we enter the realm of the universal.  There are three subtle bodies to consider here, being the form (etheric), emotion, and mental bodies repeated (or originally arising) on a higher octave.

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