Silahkan dibaca pengantarnya (teori tentang Ether) Every student of Occultism is familiar with the fact that man possesses several bodies or vehicles through which he is enabled to express himself on the various planes of nature – physical, astral, mental, and so forth. The occultist finds that physical matter exists in seven grades or orders of density, viz. : Atomic Subatomic Super-Etheric Etheric Gaseous Liquid Solid Particles of all these grades enter into the composition of the physical vehicle. The latter, however, has two well-marked divisions, viz., the dense body, composed of solids, liquids and gases, and the Etheric Body, or Double, as it is frequently called, consisting of the four finer grades of physical matter. It will be our purpose in these chapters to study this Etheric Double; its nature, appearance, functions, its relationships to the other vehicles, its connection with Prâna, or Vitality, its birth, growth and decay, its connection with certain methods of healing, with mesmerism, with mediumship and materialisations, the powers it can be made to exercise, and a host of miscellaneous etheric phenomena with which it is connected. Briefly, we shall find that the Etheric Double, while necessary to the life of the physical body, is not, properly speaking, a separate vehicle of consciousness: that it receives and distributes the vital force which emanates from the sun and is thus intimately connected with physical health: that it possesses certain Chakrams or Force-Centres of its own, each with its distinct function: that upon the action of etheric matter mainly depends the memory of the dream life: that it plays an important part in determining the kind of physical vehicle which an incarnating ego will receive: that, like the physical body, it dies and decays in due course, releasing the “soul” for the next stage in its cyclic journey: that it is especially associated with what is known as Vital or Magnetic Healing, and also with Mesmerism, whether for purposes of healing, anæsthesia, or trance: that it is the principal factor concerned in séance-room phenomena, such as the movement of objects, production of “raps” and other sounds, and materialisations of all kinds: that the development of etheric faculties confers new powers and reveals many etheric phenomena, which are beyond the experience of most men: that by the use of the matter of the etheric body objects may be “magnetised”, much as living beings may be mesmerised: and, finally, that the etheric body provides the material out of which the substance known as ectoplasm is formed. The Etheric Double has been given a variety of names. In early Theosophical literature it was often called the astral body, the astral man, or the Linga Sharîra. In all later writings, however, none of these terms are ever applied to the Etheric Double, as they belong properly to the body composed of astral matter, the body of Kâma of the Hindus. In reading the Secret Doctrine, therefore, and other books of the older literature, the student must be on his guard not to confuse the two quite distinct bodies, known today as the Etheric Double and the Astral Body. The correct Hindu name for the Etheric Double is Prânamâyakosha, or vehicle of Prâna: in German it is known as the “Doppelgänger” : after death, when separated from the dense physical body, it is known as the “wraith”, and has also been called the “phantom”, “apparition”, or “churchyard ghost”. In Râja Yoga the Etheric Double and the dense body together are known as the Sth•lopâdhi, or lowest Upâdhi of Âtmâ. Every solid, liquid and gaseous particle of the physical body is surrounded with an etheric envelope: hence the Etheric Double, as its name implies, is a perfect duplicate of the dense form. In size it projects about one quarter of an inch beyond the skin. The etheric aura, however, or health Aura as it is frequently called, projects normally several inches beyond the skin: this will be further described later. It is important to notice that the dense body and the Etheric Double vary together as to their quality: hence one who sets himself deliberately to purify his dense body, at the same time automatically refines its etheric counterpart. Into the composition of the Etheric Double must enter something of all the different grades of etheric matter, but the proportions may vary greatly, and are determined by several factors, such as the race, sub-race, and the type of man, as well as by his individual karma. As yet, the only information which the compiler has been able to gather regarding the particular properties and functions of each of the four grades of etheric matter is the following :- 1 Etheric The medium of ordinary current electricity, and of sound. 2 Super-Etheric The medium of light. 3 Subatomic The medium of the “finer forms of electricity”. 4 Atomic The medium for the transmission of thought from brain to brain The following is stated, in Theosophy for May, 1922, by F.T. Pierce, to be probably correct:- Occult Chemistry Physics Example E-1- Atomic Electronic Electron E-2- Subatomic Positive Nucleus Alpha Particle E-3- Super-Etheric Neutralised Nucleus Neutron E-4- Etheric Atomic Nascent N. Atomic H. Gaseous Molecular Gas, etc. H2 , N2 or gaseous compounds In appearance the Etheric Double is a pale violet-grey or blue-grey, faintly luminous, and coarse or fine in texture according as the dense physical body is coarse or fine. The Etheric Double has two main functions. Firstly, it absorbs Prâna, or Vitality, and distributes this to the whole body, as we shall see in detail presently. Secondly, it acts as an intermediary or bridge between the dense physical body and the astral body, transmitting the consciousness of physical sense-contacts through the etheric brain to the astral body, and also transmitting consciousness from the astral and higher levels down into the physical brain and nervous system. In addition, the Etheric Double develops within itself certain Centres by means of which the man is able to cognise the etheric world and its hosts of etheric phenomena. These powers or faculties will also be described in due course. It is important to recognise that the Etheric Double, being merely a part of the physical body, is not normally capable of acting as a separate vehicle of consciousness, in which a man can live or function. It has only a diffused consciousness belonging to its parts, and has no mentality, nor does it readily serve as a medium of mentality, when disjoined from the dense counterpart. As it is a vehicle, not of mental consciousness, but of Prâna or Vitality, its dislocation from the dense particles to which it conveys the life-currents is disturbing and unhealthy. In normal, healthy persons, in fact, the separation of the Etheric Double from the dense body is a matter of difficulty, and the Double is unable to move away from the body to which it belongs. In persons known as physical or materialising mediums the Double is comparatively easily detachable, and its etheric matter forms the basis of many phenomena of materialisation, which will be dealt with more fully in a later chapter. The Double may be separated from the dense physical body by accident, death, anæsthetics, such as ether or gas, or mesmerism. The Double being the connecting link between the brain and the higher consciousness, the forcible extrusion of it from the dense physical body by anæsthetics necessarily produces anæsthesia. Further than this, the etheric matter thus forced out usually wraps itself round the astral body, and dulls the consciousness of that vehicle also; hence after the effects of anæsthetics have worn off there is usually no memory in the brain consciousness of the time spent in the astral vehicle. The method and consequences of withdrawal of etheric matter by mesmerism will be dealt with more fully in the chapter specially devoted to the purpose. In conditions of weak health or nervous excitement the Etheric Double may also in great part be extruded from its dense counterpart: the latter then becomes very dully conscious, or entranced, according to the lesser or greater amount of the etheric matter extruded. Separation of the Double from the dense body is generally accompanied by a considerable decrease of vitality in the latter, the double becoming more vitalised as the energy in the dense body diminishes. In Posthumous Humanity Colonel Olcott says :- “When the double is projected by a trained expert, even the body seems torpid, and the mind in a ‘brown study’ or dazed state; the eyes are lifeless in expression, the heart and lung actions feeble and often temperature much lowered. It is very dangerous to make any sudden noise or burst into a room under such circumstances; for, the double being by instantaneous reaction drawn back into the body, the heart convulsively palpitates, and death may be caused.” So intimate, in fact, is the connection between the etheric and the dense bodies that an injury inflicted on the Etheric Double will appear as a lesion on the dense body, this being an instance of the curious phenomenon known as repercussion. It is well known that repercussion can also occur in the case of the astral body, an injury to the latter, under certain circumstances, reproducing itself in the physical body. It seems probable, however, that repercussion can occur only in the case of a perfect materialisation, where the form is both visible and tangible, and not when it is :-1.) tangible though not visible, or 2.) visible though not tangible It must be born in mind that the above applies only where matter of the Etheric Double is used for the materialised form. When the materialisation is formed of matter, from the circumambient ether, an injury to the form could affect the physical body by repercussion no more than an injury to a marble statue could injure the man himself. It must also be born in mind that etheric matter, though invisible to ordinary sight, is still purely physical, and can therefore be affected by cold and heat, and also powerful acids. Persons who have lost a limb by amputation sometimes complain that they can feel pain at the extremities of the amputated limb, i.e., at the place where the limb used to be. This is due to the fact that the etheric portion of the limb is not removed with the dense physical portion, but can still be seen in its place by clairvoyant sight, and therefore, under suitable stimulus, sensations can be aroused in this etheric limb and transmitted to the consciousness. There are a large number of other phenomenon connected with the Etheric Double, its extrusion from the dense body, its emanations, and so forth, but these can be dealt with more conveniently and satisfactorily at a later stage, after we have studied the nature and methods of working Prâna, or Vitality. CHAP
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 06:04:43 +0000
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