Etheric body
In the esoteric teachings of modern theosophy and anthroposophy , the etheric body , etheric body or life body is one of seven members, principles or parts of the human being.
The modern or Anglo-Indian theosophy, founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in the 1870s, ascribes six further invisible principles or parts to the human being in addition to the visible physical body, which penetrate the physical body. In early writings of modern theosophy, the term “ethereal body” was initially used as a synonym for the Sanskrit expression “Linga Sharira” or for “ astral body ”. The British theosophist Annie Besant introduced the etheric body as an independent principle in her work Man and His Bodies , published in 1896 , by depicting it as a part of the physical body, which accordingly consists of a "dense" and an ethereal part. The Austrian theosophist and later founder of anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner , tied in with this by distinguishing between a physical body, an etheric body (also known as the “vital body” or, more rarely, the “creative body”) and an astral body.
Annie Besant relied on her own research in an out-of-body state of consciousness in her portrayal in Man and His Bodies . As the actual human being, she considered “the living, conscious, thinking self, the individuality” . This is surrounded by several bodies, covers or vehicles, the lowest of which is the physical body. The physical body consists of physical matter, which, according to Besant, exists in seven interconvertible states: the three aggregate states solid, liquid and gaseous as well as four “ethereal” states. Solid, liquid and gaseous matter form the "dense" body, while the "ethereal" body consists of the four types of ether. Here Besant refers to the ether hypothetically assumed in the physics of that time , but claims that the etheric body of man is not a hypothesis, but can be observed immediately after appropriate training and is colored purple-gray. Because the etheric body penetrates the dense body completely and is an exact duplicate of it, she also calls it the “etheric double body”. When a person falls asleep, he (the "ego") leaves the physical body with his higher bodies. When he dies, the etheric body also separates from the dense body, which is why the "life force" (Sanskrit: Prana ) it mediates can no longer affect the latter. The etheric body remains connected to the ego for some time, but is then left behind when this goes to the “astral plane” and disappears together with the dense body. According to this teaching, the ego is immortal and returns in new bodies ( reincarnation ).
In his book Theosophy (1904) and in lectures held at the same time, Rudolf Steiner closely followed Besant, which is particularly evident in the use of the term "(ether) double body", which he later no longer used . In contrast to Besant, the etheric body (later mostly the etheric body) is not part of the physical body, which in Steiner's representation corresponds to the dense body (Sanskrit: Sthula Sharira) in Besant. Steiner also referred to an "observation of the supersensible" and attached importance to only depicting "self-experienced" in this sense. The etheric body or vital body is a “life-filled spirit figure” that can be perceived in every organism by means of the “awakened spiritual eye”. Despite the identical name (adopted from Besant), it had nothing to do with the hypothetical ether of the physics of the time and should not be confused with the life force that was assumed in the old doctrine of vitalism .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Zander : Anthroposophy in Germany , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, pp. 565–567; Gerhard Wehr : Anthroposophie , Hugendubel, Munich 2004, pp. 23–29
- ^ Annie Besant : The Seven Principles of Man , London / New York / Madras 1892, pp. 10 and 15; Zander, p. 566f
- ↑ Man and His Bodies ; German: Man and his body , Leipzig 1898; Graz 2009, ISBN 978-3-902705-68-6
- ↑ Besant 2009, pp. 5-8
- ↑ Besant 2009, pp. 8-10
- ↑ Besant 2009, p. 26
- ↑ Besant 2009, pp. 27-29
- ↑ Zander, S. 565f.
- ^ Theosophy , online facsimile (PDF; 804 kB) of the 1921 edition, pp. 1–3
- ^ Theosophy (PDF; 804 kB) , p. IVf (preface to the 1910 edition)
- ^ Theosophy (PDF; 804 kB) , pp. 17-19