become progressively egg-shaped fields surrounding the other subtle bodies.

Figure 4.1 illustrates the four primary subtle bodies beyond the physical. It should be recognized that this is
a highly simplified presentation, in that each of the subtle bodies may have a number of layers, each with its
own unique properties. Also note that while each layer extends beyond the lower, it does not exist just as a
layer around the body but rather interpenetrates all the layers below it and then extends further from the
physical body than the preceding subtle body.

The etheric body

Interpenetrating and surrounding the physical body like a glove on a hand, the etheric body is the densest of
all the subtle bodies.3 The etheric body is the realm of the acupuncture meridian system and also the subtle
body that most directly interfaces with the physical body. In fact, it is within the acupuncture system that the
magnetoelectric energy flows such as ch’i are transduced (changed in form) into the electromagnetic energy of
the physical body. This forms a primary interface between the electromagnetic flows of the physical body and
the subtle energy flows of the other subtle bodies. While acupoints have real electrical properties, they are also
the portals and controllers for the flow of vital ch’i in the etheric body.

The astral body

Interpenetrating the physical body and extending beyond the etheric body is the astral body, which is the
realm of the emotions.4 The subtle matter of the astral body is at a higher frequency than the etheric body,
and at the level of these frequencies ‘like attracts like’. Have you ever noticed that when you are angry it
attracts more anger, and that when you are joyful you are likely to notice more joy around you? This
emotionally magnetic tendency is the basis of many truisms, including ‘misery loves company’, ‘everybody
loves a lover’ and ‘like minds attract’. Opposites attract only at the physical level.
At the level of astral matter, emotions exist as vibrational patterns that are then proposed to interface with
the brain. This is thought to occur via transduction to the electromagnetic–electrochemical energy of nerve
conduction in the survival centers of the brain, the periventricular survival system and the amygdala, which is
the emotional control center for our survival and subconscious processing. Traditional yogic texts and
Descartes both proposed that the pineal gland is the major site of transduction of our thoughts. These sites are
proposed because the amygdala is the emotional center that controls our subconscious emotions, and the
pineal gland secretes hormones that control both our moods and our physiology.5
These emotions then become physical feelings via nerve signals from the amygdala to the hypothalamus,
which controls the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary, the master gland of the endocrine system. In
other words, feelings are the physical body’s way of experiencing what is really a subtle body vibrational
pattern in the astral body.

The mental body

Interpenetrating the physical and extending beyond the astral body and consisting of even higher and more
subtle vibrational energies is the mental body, the realm of thoughts.6 This is the vehicle in which self or ego
manifests and where our concrete intellect is expressed. Intellect is the ability to draw abstractions about
physical reality and to make decisions. The word intellect itself means ‘choice’.
Like the other subtle bodies, the mental body itself has several layers. The lower mental body dwells on
mental images obtained from direct sensory experience and analytically reasons about purely concrete objects.
The higher mental body is concerned with more abstract representations and concepts, often relating to other
thoughts. Higher abstract reasoning and conceptualization are a property of this realm.
While the astral body generates emotions, the mental body generates thoughts as vibrational patterns that
can be called thought forms. These thought forms can create patterns within the astral body that may then be
transduced into neural activity that is experienced as feelings: ‘I just had a very pleasurable thought.’ Similarly,
unpleasant thoughts can create unpleasant feelings.
Thus thought forms are the means by which the lower mental body can create and transmit concrete ideas
to the brain for expression and manifestation. These ideas may then be turned into action, as the areas of the
brain controlling movement are activated by conscious intent. Likewise, the higher mental body, through

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