Theos-Talk Archives (September 2004 Message tt00392)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Perry Coles" <perrycoles@y...> 
wrote:

> Who checked and verified there visions and pronouncements?


Regarding the "etheric double", for example, at least three 
different clairvoyants, independently. See quotes:


"The human etheric double interpenetrates the physical body, 
reproduces its shape (hence the name) and extends about 1/16 of an 
inch beyond the skin. It is lavender grey in colour with currents of 
differently coloured *pranas* flowing through it, orange yellow 
predominating, and has seven flower-shaped vortices about 4 inches 
in diameter upon its surface, with "stalks" connecting some of them 
to the spinal cord and others to bodily glands. Though built of 
substance called ether which is finer than matter in the gaseous 
condition, it is still physical. It can therefore become densified 
so that it reflects light as in psychic photographs, and it is 
visible and even tangible.

In advance, it has three functions: Reservoir and conveyor of vital 
energy or *prana*: Connecting link between the physical and the 
superphysical: Matrix or etheric mould for the growth of the body, 
and the receipt of *karmic* modifications, from the moment of 
conception."

(Geoffrey Hodson in "Basic Theosophy" (1981), chapter III)



"I feel strongly that in a study of this kind it is necessary to say 
what I personally mean by clairvoyance. There is so much 
misunderstanding attached to extrasensory perception which is, after 
all, merely a means and not an end.

In the physical world one can learn much by observation, but it does 
not at all follow that what is observed is understood. In using the 
faculty of clairvoyance one still uses external observation, and 
sees much that is not necessarily deciphered accurately. All such 
vision is personal, and not to be confused with spiritual 
illumination. The evidence of the physical senses can never be 
accepted as proof of ultimate reality. Neither can that of psychic 
sense, for the latter, like the former, is a useful servant but a 
dangerous guide.

All extra-sensory perception has to pass through the mind of the 
percipient and is therefore biased by its mental images, 
intellectual interests, and the neutral tone and coloring of that 
mind. To me the most legitimate use of my capacity is to make such 
observations as I can, and present these for acceptance or rejection 
in precisely the same way as we present the other ideas in this 
study. At best they perhaps serve as illustrations of the many 
subtle things we have tried to convey, at worst the can be regarded 
as fantasies and thus dismissed. But after thirty years of 
observation of the human etheric field in diagnostic work for both 
physical and psychological cases, I can at least state simply that 
clairvoyant observation has been useful abd acceptable."

Phoebe D. Bendit in (with Lawrence J. Bendit)
"The Etheric Body of Man" (Quest Books, 1977,
first published in 1957 under the title 
"Man Incarnate".)



"Regarded as energies, feelings and thoughts are related to one 
another in a way that is analogous to the relationship between sound 
and light. At one end of the spectrum of consciousness lies the 
field most closely related to the the physical body. It is known as 
etheric, and its characterisitc form of energy is what is called 
*prana* in Indian thought -- that is, life energy or vitality. All 
living things are nourished and sustained by this energy. In 
diagnosing illness, the color and radiance of an individual's pranic 
flow are important indicators to me of the state of health. The 
reason why the emotions have such an impact upon our health is 
because the etheric is very closely linked with the emotional field; 
there is a constant interplay between the two types of energy.

Incidentally, this is the most difficult field to study 
clairvoyantly, because it is the most complex. The etheric is really 
the prototype of the physical body, and it replicates the 
complexities of our bodily processes. In looking for traces of 
disease, therefore, one must take note of variations in color, 
texture, degree and type of motion, and may other factors within the 
etheric. In the practice of healing techniques such as Therapeutic 
Touch, we work primarily to discover and remove impediments in the 
flow of etheric energy, while always thinking of the person as a 
whole."

Dora Kunz in "The Personal Aura", chapter II
(Quest Book, 1991) 



>We have no two beliefs or hypotheses on the same subject.


What then is the reason for HPB to mention, both in The Key and in 
the SD, *several* schools of thought concerning the constitution of 
man (e.g. Vedanta, Kabala, Taraka-Raja Yoga, Esoteric Buddhist, 
Greek)?


Pedro