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Asubtle body is a "quasi material"[1] aspect of the human body, being neither solely physical nor solely spiritual, according to variousesoteric,occult, andmystical teachings. This contrasts with themind–body dualism that has dominated Western thought. The subtle body is important in theTaoism of China andDharmic religions such asHinduism,Buddhism, andJainism, mainly in the branches which focus ontantra andyoga, where it is known as theSūkṣma-śarīra (Sanskrit:सूक्ष्म शरीर). However, while mostly associated with Asian cultures, non-dualistic approaches to the mind and body are found in many parts of the world.[1]
Subtle body concepts and practices can be identified as early as 2nd century BCE inTaoist texts found in theMawangdui tombs.[1] It was "evidently present"[1] in Indian thought as early as the 4th to 1st century BCE when theTaittiriya Upanishad described thePanchakoshas, a series of five interpenetrating sheaths of the body.[2] A fully formed subtle body theory did not develop in India until thetantric movement that affected all its religions in the Middle Ages.[1] InIndo-Tibetan Buddhism, the correlation of the subtle body to the physical body is viewed differently according to school, lineage and scholar, but forcompletion stage in yoga, it is visualised within the body.[3] The subtle body consists of focal points, often calledchakras, connected by channels, often callednadis, that convey subtle breath, often calledprana. Through breathing and other exercises, a practitioner may direct the subtle breath to achievesupernormal powers,immortality, orliberation.
Subtle body in the Western tradition is called thebody of light. The concept derives from the philosophy ofPlato: the word 'astral' means 'of the stars'; thus theastral plane consists of theSeven Heavens of theclassical planets.Neoplatonists Porphyry and Proclus elaborated on Plato's description of the starry nature of the human psyche. Throughout theRenaissance, philosophers and alchemists, healers includingParacelsus and his students, andnatural scientists such asJohn 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 and 20th-centuryceremonial magicians.
TheTheosophy movement was the first to translate the Sanskrit term as 'subtle body', although their use of the term is quite different from Indic usage as they synthesize Western and Eastern traditions. This makes the term problematic for modern scholars, especially as the Theosophist view often influencesNew Age andholistic medicine perspectives.[1] Western scientists have started to explore the subtle body concept in research on meditation.[4]
TheYogic,Tantric and other systems ofHinduism,Vajrayana Buddhism, as well as ChineseTaoist alchemy contain theories of subtle physiology with focal points (chakras,acupuncture points) connected by a series of channels (nadis,meridians) that convey subtle breath (prana, vayu,ch'i, ki,lung). These invisible channels and points are understood to determine the characteristics of the visible physical form. By understanding and mastering the subtlest levels of reality one gains mastery over the physical realm. Through breathing and other exercises, the practitioner aims to manipulate and direct the flow of subtle breath, to achieve supernormal powers(siddhis) and attain higherstates of consciousness,immortality, orliberation.[5][6]
Early concepts of the subtle body (Sanskrit:sūkṣma śarīra) appeared in theUpanishads, including theBrhadaranyaka Upanishad and theKatha Upanishad.[7] TheTaittiriya Upanishad describes the theory of fivekoshas or sheaths, though these are not to be thought of as concentric layers, but interpenetrating at successive levels of subtlety:[8][9]
Subtle internal anatomy included a central channel (nadi).[8] Later Vedic texts calledsamhitas andbrahmanas contain a theory of five "winds" or "breaths" (vayus,pranas):[8]
A millennium later, these concepts were adapted and refined by various spiritual traditions. The similar concept of theLiṅga Śarīra is seen as the vehicle of consciousness in laterSamkhya,Vedanta, andYoga, and is propelled by past-life tendencies, orbhavas.[10] Linga can be translated as "characteristic mark" or "impermanence" and the Vedanta termsarira as "form" or "mould".[11]Karana or "instrument" is a synonymous term. In the Classical Samkhya system ofIsvarakrsna (ca. 4th century CE), theLińga is the characteristic mark of the transmigrating entity. It consists of twenty-fivetattvas from eternal consciousness down to the five organs of sense, five of activity (buddindriya orjñānendriya, andkarmendriya respectively) and the five subtle elements that are the objects of sense (tanmatras) TheSamkhyakarika says:[12]
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 withbhavas ("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 orkarana) does not exist without that which is specific (i.e., a subtle body).
— Samkhyakarika, 60–81[12]
The classicalVedanta tradition developed the theory of the five bodies into the theory of thekoshas "sheaths" or "coverings" which surround and obscure the self (atman). In classical Vedanta these are seen as obstacles to realization and traditions like Shankara'sAdvaita Vedanta had little interest in working with the subtle body.[13]
InTantra traditions meanwhile (ShaivaKaula,Kashmir Shaivism and BuddhistVajrayana), 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 energynadis (literally "stream or river", channels through whichvayu andprana flows) andchakras, 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:sushumna; in Buddhist:avadhuti), left and right (in Hindu systems:ida andpingala; Buddhist:lalana andrasana).[16] Further subsidiary channels are said to radiate outwards from the chakras, where the main channels meet.[17]
Chakra systems vary with the tantra; theNetra Tantra describes six chakras, theKaulajñana-nirnaya describes eight, and theKubjikamata Tantra describes seven (the most widely known set).[18][19]
In theDzogchen tradition ofTibetan Buddhism, the subtle body takes a different form. More specifically, the tradition points to four areas of particularly concentration ofbodily energy – viz. the heart (tsitta), where the enlightened energy resides; the "luminous channels" (‘od rtsa), through which the energy flows; the skull (dung khang), where it spreads before finally being released through the fourth hot-spot, namely the eyes (tsakshu /briguta).[20]: 63 Flavio Geisshuesler, who has studied the functioning of the Dzogchen subtle body in the context of the practice ofsky-gazing, argues that many of the specific motifs that appear in the tradition's conception of the body are of pre-Buddhist origin. More specifically, he notes that the Dzogchen body's motifs of "deer-hearts, silk-channels, buffalo-horns, or far-reaching lassos [...] reproduce the terminology of the hunting of animalistic vitality as if internalizing the quest for precious substances."[20]
The modern Indian spiritual teacherMeher 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]
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InBuddhist Tantra, the subtle body is termed the "innate body" (nija-deha) or the "uncommon means body" (asadhdrana-upayadeha),[22] orsūkṣma śarīra, rendered in Tibetan astraway-lu (transliteratedphra ba’i lus).[23] The subtle body is sometimes known asmanomaya-kāya, the “body made of mind” and is the means for synchronising the body and the mind, particularly during meditation.[24]
The subtle body consists of thousands of subtle energy channels (nadis), which are conduits for energies or "winds" (lung orprana) and converge atchakras.[22] According to Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche, there are three main channels (nadis), central, left and right, which run from the point between the eyebrows up to the crown chakra, and down through all seven chakras to a point two inches below the navel.[25]
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, theHevajra Tantra (8th century) states:
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 laterKalachakra tantra describes six chakras.[18]
InVajrayana Buddhism, liberation is achieved through subtle body processes duringCompletion Stage practices such as theSix Yogas of Naropa.[27]
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) inSufism, themeridian system inChinese religion, and "the immortal body" (soma athanaton) inHermeticism.[28]
Thebody of light is elaborated on according to variousWestern esoteric,occult, andmystical teachings. Other terms used for this body includebody of glory,[29]spirit-body,radiant body,[30]luciform body,augoeides ('radiant'),astroeides ('starry' or 'sidereal body'), andcelestial body.[31]
The concept derives from the philosophy ofPlato: the word 'astral' means 'of the stars'; thus theastral plane consists of theSeven Heavens of theclassical planets. The idea is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of theafterlife[32] in which thesoul's journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an ecstatic, mystical or out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in their body of light into 'higher' realms."[33]
Neoplatonists Porphyry and Proclus elaborated on Plato's description of the starry nature of the human psyche. Throughout theRenaissance, philosophers and alchemists, healers includingParacelsus and his students, andnatural scientists such asJohn 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-centuryceremonial magicianÉliphas Lévi,Florence Farr and the magicians of theHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, includingAleister Crowley.
In the 19th century,H. P. Blavatsky founded the esoteric religious system ofTheosophy, which attempted to restate Hindu and Buddhist philosophy for the Western world.[34] She adopted the phrase "subtle body" as the English equivalent of the Vedanticsūkṣmaśarīra, which inAdi Shankara's writings was one of three bodies (physical, subtle, and causal). Geoffrey Samuel notes that theosophical use of these terms by Blavatsky and later authors, especiallyC. W. Leadbeater,Annie Besant andRudolf Steiner (who went on to foundAnthroposophy), has made them "problematic"[34] to modern scholars, since the Theosophists adapted the terms as they expanded their ideas based on "psychic and clairvoyant insights", changing their meaning from what they had in their original context in India.[34]
The later theosophical arrangement was taken up byAlice Bailey, and from there found its way into theNew Age worldview[35] and the humanaura.[36] Other authors treated the subtle body in varying ways.Max Heindel divided the subtle body into theVital Body made of Ether; theDesire body, related to theAstral plane; and theMental body.[37]Barbara Brennan's account of the subtle bodies in her booksHands of Light andLight Emerging refers to the subtle bodies as "layers" in the "Human Energy Field" or aura.[38]
Subtle bodies are found in the "Fourth Way" teachings ofGurdjieff andOuspensky, who write that one can create a subtle body, and hence achieve post-mortem immortality, through spiritual or yogic exercises. The "soul" in these systems is not something one is born with, but developed through esoteric practice to acquire complete understanding and to perfect the self. According to the historian Bernice Rosenthal, "In Gurdjieff's cosmology our nature is tripartite and is composed of the physical (planetary), emotional (astral) and mental (spiritual) bodies; in each person one of these three bodies ultimately achieves dominance."[39] The "divine body" represents a fourth way, and the ultimate task of the teachings is to harmoniously develop the four ways into a single way.[39]
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 thecentral nervous system, and applied in research on meditation.[4]
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