Understanding of the etheric body
On the plane of soul existence, there is no separation, no “my soul and thy soul”. It is only in the three worlds of illusion and maya that we think in terms of souls and bodies. Just in so far as a person comes under soul impression, then soul control, and final identification with the soul, just so far does he move towards the centre of fusion. As your love for humanity increases, and your interest in yourself decreases, so will you move towards that centre of light and love where the Masters stand in spiritual being.
The personality is a triple combination of forces, impressing and absolutely controlling the fourth aspect of the personality, which is the dense physical body. The three personality types of energy are the etheric body, which is the vehicle of vital energy, the astral body, which is the vehicle of the feeling energy or sentient force, and the mental body, which is the vehicle of the intelligent energy of will, that is destined to be the dominant creative aspect . . . These forces constitute the lower man.
The etheric web not only constitutes an intrinsic part of every form on our planet, but this system is carried forward throughout our solar system, and eventually beyond this complex, to include every other star, constellation and galaxy within the infinite macrocosm. It is this etheric network which serves as the channel for the flow of energy and life essence, and it is through this system that each form is eventually linked up with every other form, not only within our Earth life, but throughout the solar system and the Cosmos in its totality. Although these concepts really go beyond all human comprehension, it is because of this interlinked system that every action of whatever nature, from a flash of thought to a nuclear explosion must have some influence on all the rest of the great Surround. There are of course many impulses that are so slight that the vibrations which they set in motion can hardly be registered. Others again may be sufficiently violent to have their effects throughout the ethers. And in this way our planet, with all that it encompasses, is persistently being subjected to forces that have been generated from sources from within its sphere of normal interaction or its ring-pass-not, and in addition to constant streams of impulses or rays of energy issuing forth either from sources within the surrounding solar system or otherwise from wider stretching celestial spheres.
This cosmic etheric system, intimately connected with and reticulated down to the tiniest atom, could be regarded as the nervous system of the Universe, through which all energies and forces are canalised and distributed, and it is the medium through which all the forms are interrelated, leading to reciprocal association. This network serves a double purpose: as a medium for conducting the incoming and, simultaneously, as an avenue for the outgoing forces. In the case of human beings it is along these etheric channels that invocative appeals may be directed to Higher Spheres, and along these same paths responses are evoked and manifested.
The vital body, or etheric body, is a material body, though composed of subtler material than that of the dense physical body. it is essentially a transmitter of energies and not a generator; it is a clearing house for all the forces reaching the physical body, and the condition of the ‘etheric centres’ will largely determine the extent to which the relatively free flow of forces is affected. It is the receiver of Life Forces, transmitting them to the physical body through the nervous system, the blood stream and the endocrine system.
Although of a tenuous nature, the vital body nonetheless remains the foundation and framework on which the material body is constructed, underlying and sustaining every part of the tangible body. It provides the network of ‘nadis’ [more about them later] which forms the etheric counterpart of the nervous system. Therefore any debility or congestion occurring in the etheric system itself, or any deficiency in the relation or co-ordination between this inner structure and the outer form, will immediately be reflected in the physical, emotional or mental condition of the individual concerned. Free and unimpeded flow of energy between the various vehicles must therefore be regarded as an essential good health conditions.
The etheric body has no life of its own. With the ‘death’ of the physical body, the vital body withdraws its occupation, and these etheric forces are then dissolved into the surrounding general etheric reservoir.
To conclude it can therefore be stated that the vital body is the field where two worlds meet—the subjective or spiritual, and the world of matter. It represents the most important feature of man’s response apparatus, not only qualifying the five senses and affording the needed contact with the world of matter, but simultaneously providing the channel for the expanding consciousness to register the subtler worlds. Once control is taken over by the soul, this will also be the portal through which entry into spiritual realms will be furnished.
Furthermore, defining the etheric body; in the etheric body, which is an exact replica of its denser counterpart, we have the organ of active radiator fire, and . . . the vehicle of prana. Its function is to store up the rays of radiator light and heat which are secured from the sun, and to transmit them, via the spleen, to all parts of the physical body. The etheric body is the mould of the physical body, the archetype upon which the dense physical form is built, whether it is the form of a solar system or of a human body in any one incarnation. It is a web or network of fine interlacing channels, formed of matter of the four ethers, and built into a specific form. . . . These pranic emanations when focalised and received, reacts upon the dense matter which is built upon the etheric scaffolding and framework. . . . This etheric web, during incarnation, forms a barrier between the physical and astral planes, which can only be transcended when consciousness is sufficiently developed to permit escape. . . . When a man has, through meditation and concentration, expanded his consciousness to a certain point, he is enabled to include the subtler planes, and to escape beyond the limits of the dividing web.
The etheric body is vitalised and controlled by thought, and can be brought into full functioning activity. When the man is on the Path of Discipleship and, the etheric body becomes the transmitter of soul energy and not of personality force. It is a potent receiver of impressions, which are conveyed to the human consciousness through the medium of the awakened centres. There is, for instance, no true clairvoyance until either the solar plexus or the ajna centre is awakened.
Thus, we can say that the etheric body has been described as a network, permeated with fire, or as a web, animated with golden light. It is a composition of that matter of the physical plane which we call etheric, and its shape is brought about by the fine interlacing strands of this matter being built by the action of the lesser Builders into the form or mould upon which later the dense physical body can be moulded. Under the Law of Attraction, the denser matter of the physical plane is made to cohere to this vitalised form, and is gradually built up around it, and within it, until the interpenetration is so complete that the two forms make but one unit; the pranic emanations of the etheric body itself play upon the dense physical body in the same manner as the pranic emanations of the sun play upon the etheric body. It is all one vast system of transmission and of interdependence within the system. All receive in order to give, and to pass on to that which is lesser or not so evolved. Upon every plane this process can be seen.
Thus the etheric body forms the archetypal plane in relation to the dense physical body. The thinker on his own plane stands, in relation to the physical, as the Logos to His system.
Last, we can say, the etheric body is primarily composed of the dominant energy or energies to which the man, the group, the nation, or the world reacts in any particular time cycle or world period.
Read more at: http://edgeba.webs.com/theethericbody.htm
Read more at: http://edgeba.webs.com/theethericbody.htm
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