CHAPTER III - THE THEORY OF THE ETHERIC BODY | The Books of Alice A. Bailey
CHAPTER III - THE THEORY OF THE ETHERIC BODY | The Books of Alice A. Bailey:
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CHAPTER III - THE THEORY OF THE ETHERIC BODY
CHAPTER III
THE THEORY OF THE ETHERIC BODY
The Oriental psychologist starts with that which the Occidental regards as hypothetical. He lays the emphasis upon the spiritual nature of man, and believes that the physical nature itself is the result of spiritual activity. He asserts that all that is objectively seen is but the outward manifestation of inner subjective energies. He regards the entire mechanics of the cosmos and of man as effects, and believes the scientist is dealing only with effects. His position may be summed up as follows:
First: There is nothing but energy, and it functions through a substance which interpenetrates and actuates all forms, and which is analogous to the ether of the modern world. Matter is energy or spirit in its densest form, and spirit is matter in its most sublimated aspect.
Second: As all forms are interpenetrated by this ether, every form has an etheric form or etheric body.
Third: As the tiny atom has a positive nucleus, or positive nuclei, as well as negative aspects, so in every etheric body there are positive centres of force in the midst of negative substance. The human being too has an etheric body which is positive to the negative physical body, which galvanises it [55]into activity, and which acts as its coherent force, holding it in being.
Fourth: The etheric body of man has seven main nuclei of energy through which various types of energy flow, producing his psychical activity. These nuclei are related to the cerebro-spinal system, and the base of this psychical activity, or the seat of the soul nature, is situated in the head. The governing principle therefore is in the head and from this centre the entire mechanism should be directed, and energised through the medium of the other six force centres.
Fifth: Only certain centres are now functioning in man and the rest are quiescent. In a perfect human being all the centres will function fully and produce perfect psychical unfoldment and a perfect mechanism.
This Oriental emphasis upon spiritual energy and the Occidental emphasis upon the structure or mechanism, it will be seen, accounts fully for the psychical nature of man, both in its higher and in its lower aspects.
To unite the Eastern or vitalistic conception, and the Western or mechanistic conception, and so bridge the gap between them, it is necessary to establish the fact of the existence of the etheric body.
The Oriental system is abstruse and intricate, and defies summarisation. Still, some brief introduction must be made and the following outline is therefore given. It is incomplete, but if it gives an [56]intelligible survey of the field, however brief, it will serve its purpose.
In giving this outline, we shall make positive statements instead of continually repeating that "the Eastern psychologist believes" or "the Orientalist states" or similar expressions. It is enough to recognise once and fully that to the Western mind it must be presented as an hypothesis, to be submitted to test, to stand proved or fall disproved.
With this introduction we proceed to outline the Eastern theory.
There is a universal substance, the source of all, but so sublimated, so subtle that it is truly beyond the real grasp of human intelligence. In comparison with it, the most delicate fragrance, the dancing radiance of sunbeams, the crimson glory of the sunset, are gross and earthly. It is "a web of light," forever invisible to human eye.
The key word "substance" with its suggestion of materiality is a misnomer. It is helpful however, to reduce this word to its Latin roots: "sub" under and "sto" to stand. So, substance is that which stands underneath, or underlies. The spelling, or misspelling "sub-stans" is more indicative and suggestive.
Subtle and fugitive as this universal substance is, yet in another sense it is denser even than matter. If we could conceive of an agent outside of universal substance—an hypothesis contrary to all fact and possibility—and if such an external agent attempted to compress universal substance, or in some [57]other way affect it from without, then substance would be found denser than any known material.
Inherent in substance, and a perpetual counterpart of it, is life, incessant life. Life and substance are one and the same, one and forever inseparable, but different aspects however, of the one reality. Life is as positive electricity, substance negative. Life is dynamic, substance static. Life is activity or spirit, and substance form or matter. Life is the father and begets, substance is the mother and conceives.
In addition to these two aspects of life and substance, there is still a third. Life is theoretical or potential activity, and needs a field of operation. Substance furnishes this and in the union of life and substance, there flames forth active energy.
Thus we have a single reality, universal substance—but at the same time a co-existent duality—life and substance; and at the same time, a coexistent trinity, life, substance, and the resultant interaction which we call consciousness or soul.
The entire manifested world arises from energy (and the co-factors substance and consciousness). All that is seen, from the tiniest grain of sand to the widest sweep of starry heaven, from an African savage to a Buddha or a Christ, all are outgrowths of energy. Matter is energy in its densest or lowest form; spirit is this same Energy in highest or most subtle form. So matter is spirit descending and debased; spirit, conversely, is matter ascending and glorified.
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In taking on density, energy takes on, or descends into, seven degrees or planes. Man exemplifies three. He has his physical body, his emotional mechanism and his mind-body, and consequently functions on three planes, or is awake on three, the physical, the emotional and the mental. He is on the threshold of the recognition of a fourth and higher factor, the Soul, the Self, and will next awaken to that realisation. The three higher planes require no comment in this elementary discussion.
In addition to seven planes, each plane has seven subplanes. We shall discuss only the seven subplanes of the lowest or physical plane.
And that great mathematical physicist, James Clerk Maxwell, concluded his article "Ether" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica with an expression of faith, not indeed in this speculation, about which he evinced great caution, but in the real existence of a supersensuous universal connecting medium, and in the probability of its having many unsuspected functions."[li]7
Dr. Sajous, Professor of Endocrinology in Pennsylvania University asserts his belief in this universal medium in the following terms:
"It seems plain that the need of a primary intelligent and coordinative creative medium such as the ether asserts itself on all sides....
"The ether, as interpreted by scientists, meets all these conditions and is the only medium known to science that is capable of doing so. It is invisible, permeates all matter and pervades all space by wave motion, without limit in the universe. It offers practically no resistance to radiant energy, even to light from the sun and the most distant stars discovered. It is the medium which transmits `radio' waves, wireless telegraphy waves, Becquerel rays, X- or Roentgen rays, etc.
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"The ether is endowed with creative power in space and on earth.... The ether of space, therefore, builds solar systems as it does matter, with co-ordination and intelligence, and endows all chemical elements it forms with the properties they are known to possess...." [lii]8
Dr. Joad of Oxford University pictures for us the activity of this vital force, of the `livingness' animating matter and shows the relationship between life and form. He comes close indeed, to the Eastern theory of the etheric counterpart and the energy functioning through it.
"The Life Force. Let us suppose that in the first instance the universe was purely material. It was chaos, deadness and blankness, without energy or purpose, and devoid of life. Into this inorganic universe there is introduced at some stage or other, and from some source unexplained, a principle of life, and by life I mean a something which is not expressible in terms of matter. At first blind and stumbling, a purely instinctive thrust or pulse, it seeks to express itself by struggling to achieve an ever higher degree of consciousness. We may conceive the ultimate purpose of the life force to be the achievement of complete and universal consciousness, a result which can only be secured by the permeation of the whole universe with life and energy, so that beginning as a world of `matter' it may end as a world of `mind,' or `spirit.' With this object it works in and through matter, infusing and permeating matter with its own principle of energy and life. To matter so infused we give the name of a living organism. Living organisms are to be regarded [68] in the light of the tools or weapons which the life force creates to assist it in the accomplishment of its purpose. Like the universe itself, each living organism is formed of a substratum of matter which has been animated by life, much as a length of wire may be charged with an electric current. It is a current of life which has been insulated in a piece of matter.
"The life force is far from being all-powerful. It is limited by the matter which it seeks to overcome, and its methods are experimental, varying according to the stage of evolution which, in the persons of the organisms created by it, it has succeeded in reaching. Different types of beings best serve its purpose at different stages." [liii]9
Will Durant, doubtless the most widely read and popular author on philosophical subjects, says:
"The more we study matter the less we see it as fundamental, the more we perceive it as merely the externality of energy, as our flesh is the outward sign of life and mind.... In the heart of matter, giving it form and power, is something not material, possessed of its own spontaneity and life; and this subtle, hidden and yet always revealed vitality is the final essence of everything that we know.... Life is first, and within; matter, coeval with it in time and inextricable from it in space, is second to it in essence, in logic, and in significance; matter is the form and visibility of life....
"The life is not a function of the form, the form is a product of the life; the weight and solidity of matter are the result and expression of intra-atomic energy, and every muscle or nerve in the body is the moulded instrument of desire." [liv]10
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These books and scientists show that the Eastern doctrine of an etheric body, the medium of a vital force, of energy or life, is not the vague dream of a mystically inclined people, but is regarded as a fact in nature by many practical minded Occidental investigators.
In summarising our ideas we might formulate them as follows:
Behind the objective body lies a subjective form constituted of etheric matter and acting as a conductor of the life principle of energy, or prana. This life principle is the force aspect of the soul, and through the medium of the etheric body the soul animates the form, gives it its peculiar qualities and attributes, impresses upon it its desires and, eventually directs it through the activity of the mind. Through the medium of the brain the soul galvanises the body into conscious activity and through the medium of the heart all parts of the body are pervaded by life.
This theory has a close correspondence to the animistic theory of the West and will be defined later. The term animism has sufficed up to the present, but is likely to be superseded by that of "dynamism," owing to the developments taking place within the human consciousness itself. Man, being now a fully self-conscious entity and the personality being now integrated and functioning, the time has come when he can, for the first time, demonstrate conscious purpose and directive will.
The three states of man's nature, referred to [70] earlier in this chapter—physical, sentient and mental—form a coordinated unity for the first time in the history of the race. The directing self, therefore, can now take control, and, through the mind, acting on the vital or etheric body and having its point of contact in the brain, drive its instrument into fully controlled expression, and subsequent creative activity. Thus will emerge what Keyserling calls the "deeper Being." He says:
"The next question is whether and how it is possible to develop deeper Being. When we speak of the Being of a man in contradistinction to his ability, we mean his vital soul; and when we say that this Being decides, we mean that all his utterances are penetrated with individual life, that every single expression radiates personality, and that this personality is ultimately responsible. Now such a penetration can actually be achieved where it does not already exist. It is possible, thanks for the fact that man as a being possessing a mind and a soul represents a Sense connection within which his consciousness moves freely. He is free to lay the emphasis wherever he pleases; according to the `place' thus stressed the psychic organism actually shifts its centre, and thus actually obtains a new centre of Being. Therefore, if theoretical inquiry shows that it depends upon the centring of consciousness, whether the centre of a man lies in his Being or at the surface, then it must be practically possible to induce the necessary process of shifting. Hence in principle everybody can succeed in raising his Being; to this end he need only persistently lay the emphasis on his essential Being, persistently demand of himself that he should never utter anything but what is really consistent with his inner Being. Surely the task is a [71] hard one. Its solution is not only a very slow process; it necessitates a specific technique of training." [lv]11
The possibility of man functioning as a soul, as a synthesis of mechanism, life and purpose, will, I believe, be greatly hastened when the Eastern and Western psychologies are merged and the relationship of the Glands to the vital body, with its centres of force, studied and understood. Hocking, in this connection, comes to this conclusion:
"There seems reason to hope for a better physical future of the race by the aid of a sound mental hygiene. After the era of the charlatans has gone by, and to some extent by their aid, there appears a possibility of steadily enlarging self-mastery, as the spiritual sense of such discipline as the Yoga joins with the sober elements of Western psychology and a sane system of ethics. No one of these is worth much without the others." [lvi]12
Two points merit discussion, before we pass on to a detailed account of the Eastern teaching as to the force centres. One is a consideration as to the nature of the soul, and the other is an attempt to consider the testimony of the centuries as to the probable location of the soul consciousness.
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