In New Age Philosophy, Mysticism and Religion
In some systems of mysticism, such as Theosophy, the physical body is understood as the last of several progressively denser "vehicles of consciousness". In Blavatskyian Theosophy it is called by the Vedantic name sthula sarira - "gross body" - and distinguished from the linga sarira, the "subtle body" or astral double. In C. W. Leadbeater and Alice Bailey, the physical body is distinguished from the etheric body, which serves as its "blueprint", and structures of the etheric body, such as chakras, are mirrored in the main glands and nerve ganglia of the physical body.
In some religions, and in some new age philosophies, a physical body is contrasted with the self, mind, spirit, soul, or astral projection, and sometimes with an heavenly body. It is ephemeral in time, not eternal. It may be what houses the spirit or soul, and it is what is left behind in an astral projection, or ascention into heaven. A physical body exists on earth, not in heaven, not in the astral world, nor in the aether.
Read more about this topic: Physical Body
Famous quotes containing the words age, mysticism and/or religion:
“When superstition is allowed to perform the task of old age in dulling the human temperament, we can say goodbye to all excellence in poetry, in painting, and in music.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“What does mysticism really mean? It means the way to attain knowledge. It’s close to philosophy, except in philosophy you go horizontally while in mysticism you go vertically.”
—Elie Wiesel (b. 1928)
“When Catholicism goes bad it becomes the world-old, world-wide religio of amulets and holy places and priestcraft. Protestantism, in its corresponding decay, becomes a vague mist of ethical platitudes. Catholicism is accused of being too much like all the other religions; Protestantism of being insufficiently like a religion at all. Hence Plato, with his transcendent Forms, is the doctor of Protestants; Aristotle, with his immanent Forms, the doctor of Catholics.”
—C.S. (Clive Staples)