{"id":105,"date":"2013-07-13T01:25:57","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=105"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:25:57","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:25:57","slug":"52-animal-souls-subtle-bodies-vol-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16\/52-animal-souls-subtle-bodies-vol-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","title":{"rendered":"-52_Animal Souls Subtle Bodies.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nAnimal Souls, Subtle
\nBodies<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n     <\/span>Are
\nany of the following queries touched in Sanatana Dharma books of philosophy?<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    The
    \n nature and formation of animal soul.<\/i>\n <\/li>\n

  2. \n

     <\/span>The
    \n shape, size, formations, nature and colour of subtle<\/i> bodies.<\/i><\/li>\n

  3. \n

    \nThe difference between the subtle bodies of saints and<\/i> ordinary people
    \nand the process of developing one into the other.<\/i><\/li>\n

  4. \n

    The rationale of
    \nthe reincarnation theory.<\/i><\/li>\n

  5. \n

    The nature,
    \nconstituents and situation of invisible worlds.<\/p>\n

    <\/i><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \n              
    \n<\/span>         <\/span>
    \n <\/span>T<\/span><\/b>HE
    \nfirst three questions are of a curious interest, the last two cover a very wide
    \nfield. All except the fourth belong more or less to a kind of knowledge pursued
    \nwith eager interest by a growing number of inquirers, but still looked on
    \naskance by the human mind in general,<\/span> –<\/span>
    \nthe occult sciences. The Hindu Scriptures and books of philosophy do not
    \nas a rule handle such questions very directly or in any systematic fashion. They
    \nare concerned either with the great and central questions which have always
    \noccupied the human mind, the origin and nature of the universe, the why, whence
    \nand whither of life, the highest good and the means of attaining it, the nature
    \nof man and the destiny of the human soul and its relation with the Supreme, or
    \nelse they deal with the regulation of ethics, society and the conduct of daily
    \nlife. Occult knowledge has been left to be acquired by occult teaching.
    \nNevertheless it was possessed by the ancient sages and our correspondent will
    \nfind a great deal of more or less scattered information on these and cognate
    \nquestions in the Veda, Upanishads and Puranas. But it is doubtful whether he
    \nwould obtain a satisfactory answer to his queries in the form in which he has
    \nput them. He will find for instance a long description of invisible worlds, –
    \ninvisible, that is to say, to our physical senses,<\/span> –<\/span>
    \nin the Vishnu Purana, but it is picturesque rather than precise. We do
    \nnot think he will find much about the<\/span><\/p>\n

    \nPage-404<\/font><\/span>
    \n 
    \n<\/font>
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n

    constituents of the worlds or the size of subtle bodies.<\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n


    \n     <\/span>The form of the
    \nthird question lends itself to misconception. Obviously the method for an
    \nordinary man to develop his subtle body into that of a saint, is to cease to be
    \nan ordinary man and to become a saint. There can be no other means. The subtle
    \nbody is the mental case and reflects the changes of the mentality which is
    \nhoused in it or the influence exercised on it by the activities and experiences
    \nof our physical existence.<\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n


    \n     <\/span>Reincarnation is
    \nmuch more prominent and the ideas about it more systematised in Buddhist than in
    \nHindu books. But most of the Hindu philosophies took some kind of reincarnation
    \nfor granted. It was part of the ancient teaching which had come down to them
    \nfrom the earliest times. They are more concerned with its causes and the method
    \nof escape from the obligation of rebirth; the thing itself was for them a fact
    \nbeyond question. But the nature of reincarnation is not the same for all the old
    \nthinkers. The Upanishads, for instance, seem to teach that the physical self is
    \ndissolved at death into its principle, ether; it is the mental being that
    \nappears to be born and reborn, but in reality birth and death are merely
    \nsemblances and operations of Nature, – of Aditi full of the gods, Aditi
    \ndevatamayi; <\/i>the spirit is really one in all bodies and is neither born nor
    \ndies. Nachiketas in the Katha Upanishad raises the question whether the man as
    \nwe know and conceive him really survives death and this seems to be the sense of
    \nthe answer that he receives.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \nPage-405<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Animal Souls, Subtle Bodies        Are any of the following queries touched in Sanatana Dharma books of philosophy? The nature and formation of animal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","wpcat-5-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}