| Mental Body |
Article Index for Mental |
Website Links For Mental |
Information AboutMental Body |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MENTAL BODY | |
| esoteric cosmology | |
| shabd paths | |
| theosophical philosophical concepts | |
| esoteric christianity | |
| new age | |
| paranormal worlds and bodies | |
| philosophy of mind | |
|
The mental body (the Mind ) is one of the Subtle Bodies in Esoteric philosophies, in some Religious teachings and in New Age thought. It is understood as a sort of body made up of Thought s, just as the Emotional Body consists of Emotions and the Physical Body is made up of Matter . In Occult understanding, thoughts are not just subjective Qualia , but have an existence apart from the associated physical organ, the Brain . VEDANTIC PHILOSOPHY In eastern Vedantic philosophy, the words "mental body" and "mind" almost never refer to an entity independent of consciousness, certainly never in Advaita Vedanta in which consciousness is all that exists. Rather such terms generally speak only of the thoughts, impressions, or memories themsevles and there is no distinction from consciousness. Ramakrishna "Gospel of Ramakrishna", Nisargadatta "I Am That" A good example of this for instance Meher Baba writes, "It is well to remember always that the beginning is a beginning in consciousness, the evolution is an evolution in consciousness, the end, if there be an end, is an end in consciousness." Meher Baba, "God Speaks," Dodd Mead, 1955 Thus any references in such works to the mind or "mental body" refer strictly to a class of human experiences. In this sense they mean something more equivalent to a western phrase like "He began to consider his entire body of thoughts." In such teachings any reference to a 'mental plane' refers to a state of consciousness and not a metaphysical 'place.' Here a person focuses more on thoughts and emotions than upon gross objects available to his five senses. THEOSOPHICAL AND NEW AGE CONCEPTIONS According to Theosophists C.W. Leadbeater Leadbeater, C. W., ''Man, Visible and Invisible'', 1902 and Annie Besant Besant, Annie, ''Man and His Bodies'', 1911 ( Adyar School Of Theosophy ), and later Alice Bailey , the mental body is equivalent to the "Lower Manas" of Blavatsky 's original Seven Principles Of Man Blavatsky, H.P., '' The Key To Theosophy '', 1889. But the New Age writer Barbara Brennan describes the Mental body as intermediate between the Emotional and the Astral body in terms of the layers in the "Human Energy Field" or Aura Brennan, Barbara Ann, ''Hands of Light : A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field ( Mental body )'', Bantam Books, 1987. The mental body is usually considered in terms of an aura that includes Thoughtform s. In Theosophical and Alice Bailey's teachings, it corresponds to the Mental Plane . ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY According to of the thinker, which ensouls the Thought-form . Heindel gives a clear description on how the man's inner Spirit perceives, from the (Chapter III: Man and the Method of Evolution )'', 1909, ISBN 0-911274-34-0. He also states that to the trained Clairvoyant there appears to be an empty space in the center of the forehead just above and between the eyebrows and it looks like the blue part of a gas flame, but not even the most gifted seer can penetrate that veil, also known as "THE VEIL OF ISIS". SEE ALSO '' Esoteric '' REFERENCES FURTHER READINGS
|
|
|