Energy (esotericism)

Energy (esotericism)

The term energy has been widely used by writers and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine to refer to a variety of phenomena. Such "energy" is often seen as a continuum that unites body and mind. The term "energy" also has a scientific context, and the scientific foundations of physical energy are often confused or misused to justify a connection to a scientific basis for physical manifestations, properties, detectability, or sensing of psychic energy and other physic phenomena where no presently known scientific basis exists. It is sometimes conceived of as a universal life force running within and between all things, (as in some forms of vitalism), as doctrines of subtle bodies or as concepts such as qi, prana, or kundalini.

Spiritual energy is often closely associated with the metaphor of life as breath - the words 'qi', 'prana', and 'spirit', for instance, are all related in their respective languages to the verb 'to breathe'. Sometimes it is equated with the movement of breath in the body, sometimes described as visible "auras", "rays", or "fields" or as audible or tactile "vibrations". These are often held to be perceptible to anyone, though this may be held to require training or sensitization through various practices.