Theos-Talk Archives (April 1996 Message tl01007)

JHE
>>  For HPB, bodies are independent entities that
>>come into existence either at the death of the physical body,
>>or through an extraordinary act of will.
etc, etc, ...

	Jerry, I think I will simply agree to disagree
at this point.  Our discussion, to date, has, if nothing
else, illustrated my point concerning the sorry state of
TS terminology.  There is really not a whole lot more
to say on the subject for I am no closer to understanding
your rationale than when I started.

For Dan, and anyone else interested, I will close with
a quick look at how I see one body--the astral:
	The astral body is the body or vehicle that
our consciousness focuses through while on the
astral plane.  We can shift consciousness to this
body via yoga or magic and make observations on
the astral plane (psychism to say the least, but it can
be done, more or less correctly).  When we fall asleep,
we function in this very same body, but now it is called
our dream body.  In both instances, the astral body is
connected to the physical via the sutratman or Silver
Cord.  After death, this psychomagnetic link is broken
and we find ourselves in the same astral body, but
now it is called the kama-rupa because we are now
in the post-mortem state of kama-loka.  The
astral, dream, and kama-rupa ('desire form') bodies
are the same, but given different names according to
how we function in them.  Although this is my own
personal belief-system here, I know of nothing in
the literature that would discount it or contradict it,
and it has the benefit of linking the CWL/AB model
with the HPB model, at least to a degree.  It also
has the benefit of agreeing more or less with
mainstream occultism and magic.  I can't
help but wonder why HPB didn't just use the koshas
(sheaths) as they are taught in Vedanta instead of
giving us "principles" which muddied the waters
right up to today.  Does anyone know where she
got the word "principles" from?  What is the
Sanskrit derivative, if there is one?

	Jerry S.
	Member, TI