Māyāvi-Rūpa

Māyāvi-Rūpa is a Sanskrit compound word from māyāvin (मायाविन्, "illusory") and rūpa (रूप, "form or body"). It is also called "thought body" because it is created by the power of thought (Kriyāshakti):

The Mâyâvi-Rûpa is a Manasic Body, and should not be confused with the Linga-sarîra; its projection is always a Mânasic act, since it cannot be formed without the activity of Kriyâshakti.

The Māyāvi-Rūpa is composed of the principles of manas and kama:

the “Thought” body, or Dream body, rather; known among Occultists as the Mayavi-rupa, or “Illusion-body.” During life this image is the vehicle both of thought and of the animal passions and desires, drawing at one and the same time from the lowest terrestrial manas (mind) and Kama, the element of desire. It is dual in its potentiality, and after death forms, what is called in the East Bhoot, or Kama-rupa, but which is better known to theosophists as the “Spook.”

Nothing can hurt the Mâyâvi-Rûpa–no sharp instrument or weapon––since, as regards this plane, it is purely subjective. It has no material connection with the physical Body, no umbilical cord. It is spiritual and ethereal, and passes everywhere without let or hindrance. It thus entirely differs from the Linga-Sarîra, which, if injured, acts by repercussion on the physical Body.

Types of Māyāvi-Rūpas

A more important kind of Astral Body is the Mâyâvî-Rûpa, or illusionary Body, and this is of different degrees. All have the Chhâyâ as upâdhi, but they may be unconscious or conscious.

The adept may at his will use his Mayavi-rupa, but the ordinary man does not, except in very rare cases. It is called Mayavi-rupa because it is a form of illusion created for use in the particular instance, and it has quite enough of the adept’s mind in it to accomplish its purpose. The ordinary man merely creates a thought-image, whose properties and powers are at the time wholly unknown to him.

Unconscious projection

If a man thinks intensely of another at a distance, his Mâyâvî-Rûpa may appear to that person, without the projector knowing anything about it. This Mâyâvi-Rûpa is formed by the unconscious use of Kriyâúakti, when the thought is at work with much intensity and concentration. It is formed without the idea of conscious projection, and it is itself unconscious, a thought body, but not a vehicle of Consciousness.

Conscious creation

But when a man consciously projects a Mâyâvi-Rûpa and uses it as a vehicle of Consciousness, he is an Adept.

When an Adept projects his Mâyâvi-Rûpa, the guiding intelligence that informs it comes from the Heart, the essence of Manas entering it; the attributes and qualities are drawn from the Auric Envelope.

Sometimes Mme. Blavatsky would call this "double" consciously created "kāmārūpa":

That which appears, or the “double,” is called Mayavi-Rupa (illusionary form) when acting blindly; and Kama-Rupa, “will” or “desire-form” when compelled into an objective shape by the conscious will and desire of its possessor.

However, in general the term kāmārūpa is applied to the subtle body formed after death out of kamic elements.

Further reading

• Māyāvi-Rūpa at Theosopedia