Subtle Bodies

H. P. Blavatsky refers to three subtle bodies:

• Liṅga-śarīra - the Double or Astral body
• Māyāvi-Rūpa - the "Illusion-body."
• Kāraṇa-śarīra or Causal Body - the vehicle of the Ego.

The Linga Sharira is the invisible double of the Sthūla-śarīra or physical body, referred to as the Etheric Double in the Adyar tradition. The Mayavi Rupa is not regarded as a permanent body in human beings but one created through the power of thought (kriyāśakti), that serves as a vehicle both of the manasic thought and the kamic passions and desires. The Causal Body is the vehicle for the higher Ego.

A further subtle body could be the Kāmarūpa, although in Blavatsky's teachings this is not a body during life but becomes one after death in Kāmaloka.

According to Besant and Leadbeater

Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater described the subtle bodies as follows:

• Etheric Double
• Emotional body
• Mental body
• Causal body

Online Resources

Articles

• Dialogues Between The Two Editors - On Astral Bodies, Or Doppelgangers by H. P. Blavatsky and Mabel Collins

Books

• Man and His Bodies by Annie Besant
• The Etheric Double by A. E.Powell
• The Astral Body - Part 1 and Part 2 by A. E.Powell
• The Mental Body - Part 1 and Part 2 by A. E.Powell
• The Causal Body - Part 1 and Part 2 by A. E.Powell