In the world of energy-focused philosophies, there are many systems describing how the levels of human existence are divided into bodies or energy bodies. Practically, each of these energy body systems views itself as the only true and correct one.
I suggest considering all these body systems as equally valid. It’s similar to horoscopes: regardless of which horoscope you read, it’s formulated so openly and abstractly that each one can serve as a useful guide to briefly reflect on your life—regardless of the zodiac sign or the day in question.
I propose approaching the various energy body systems in exactly this way: each system offers valuable approaches for self-reflection on different levels. Each is unique, and therefore each reflects differently. It’s perfectly fine—even expected—that you’ll find your own favorite system.
Here, I’m introducing a system that I believe excels in terms of self-reflection as well as understanding the world around us. It fits perfectly with the often quite different thinking styles of analytical psychology, behavioral psychology, Vedic philosophy, and other areas relevant to our context.
The Energy Body System
In the system we use here, there are two levels: on the one hand, there is the earthly self, and on the other, there is the higher self. For those who, for example, believe in rebirth based on experiences with hypnotic regression, the following explanation is the easiest way to understand the difference between the earthly self and the higher self.
The earthly self is formed at birth—or more precisely, during the growth process between conception and birth. For each life in the series of rebirths, you have a new earthly self. The higher self, on the other hand, is considered the soul, along with the soul’s tasks and talents. The higher self remains constant through all of that soul’s reincarnations. The Earthly Self
The earthly self is thus a way of looking at the levels we associate with our earthly existence as human beings. “The levels”? Are there predefined levels of existence? No. Of course, there can be levels of existence in any categories and at any granularity. Everyone is free to come up with their own levels and their own body systems.
Here, we view the earthly self—our existence as a human being, as a human body—as divided into five levels or five bodies. We will now look at these five bodies in more detail.
The Physical / Somatic Body
The physical body is the biological unit bounded by the skin that constitutes the living being—what we typically call the “body” in everyday language. Do hair and nails, which grow beyond the skin, belong to it? Well, in essence, they are inanimate matter. On the other hand, many esoteric schools say that hair serves as antennas for energy. Everyone is free to decide for themselves. The details aren’t that important. Much more influential is that the overall picture makes sense to you and feels coherent.
The Vital Body
The vital body is the realm that contains organic life. It has exactly the same shape and size as the physical body. Whether the vital body is present or not is precisely the difference between living flesh and dead flesh. When the organism dies, the vital body disappears. From a purely earthly perspective, it’s still the same body. The physical body hasn’t changed. Yet something is different. In our model of energy bodies, the vital body is what makes the difference.
The Emotional Body
The emotional body is the realm in which emotions and all emotional energy unfold. “Unfold” because emotions are processes. Even if they are present, they are constantly changing. Seeing an emotion as a stable thing that’s either there or not there deprives you of the flexibility you could have in dealing with it. Emotional energy, in turn, can often simply be felt when you come close to a person or enter a room. The closer you are to the source of this energy, the more intense it becomes. This is the emotional body extending beyond the physical body.
The Mental / Cognitive Body
The mental body includes everything that opens up in the realm of the mind, as well as all energies moved by focused consciousness. This is typically quite palpable when you are near very charismatic or otherwise strong personalities. By “consciousness,” we do not mean someone who is simply thinking very hard, so lost in their thoughts that they are hardly present. Instead, we mean a person who is attentive, mindful, and truly present in the here and now. All of that happens in the mental body and extends beyond the physical body, the vital body, and the emotional body.
The Astral Body
The astral body is the body that extends beyond space and time. Have you ever experienced suddenly thinking of someone, and then seconds later that person calls you—possibly from an entirely different continent? This is a connection that takes place in the astral body. As we have seen with the concept of Maya (illusion), any notion of “I” requires all time and all space—that is, all of the existence—to be able to distinguish itself from the “not-I.” We can do this only because, through the astral body as a connecting plane to all existence, we have the potential for access. Astral travel would then be possible if the mental body gains access to the astral body—and if one accepts the model of energy bodies as valid.
The Higher Self
As already mentioned, the higher self consists of the levels that persist across various lifetimes and reincarnations. One could say, if one accepts the concept of reincarnation, that this is the soul. Since we are also thinking in layers when we speak of these bodies, it is subdivided a bit more. The soul is only one of the three levels that we attribute to the higher self. Hence, the different terms “soul” and “higher self.”
Above, it says: “If one accepts reincarnation.” I am not asserting that reincarnation exists. However, I do point out that many people, in deep trance or deep hypnosis, experience phenomena that can only be interpreted as memories from previous lives.
Is this proof that reincarnation exists? No. It is an indication that human neurology may function in such a way that it processes various scenarios as if they came to us from earlier lives.
And that is precisely what I want to encourage when I say that one could accept reincarnation—not as proof, but as an acceptance that, for many people, their neurology works wonderfully when it is simply taken for granted.
You can read better when there is light. Period. Does there have to be light for letters to exist? No. But human eyes work better with light than without it. And neurology works better when you allow it to function as it seems to function. This is a model of how one might think about certain things, to make thinking about them as simple and natural as possible. I don’t claim that anything stated here “is” in an absolute sense. I only claim that it makes some things more easily understandable than what scientific theories—even after years of study—can explain.
The Spiritual Causal Body
The first of the three bodies in the higher self is the causal body, which sets the direction in life and is, so to speak, the causal source of one’s life mission. The causal body contains which experiences and developments we should go through in our life if we orient ourselves toward our true self. According to Carl Gustav Jung, “libido” is general life energy. Sigmund Freud saw the libido purely as sexual energy. Jung expanded this understanding. Libido, then, is the life energy that drives people to do things. And the direction in which the libido pushes an individual comes from the causal body. The causal body is also called the spiritual body because, through this flow of libido, a person’s spiritual behavior is also influenced—or even predetermined—in certain ways.
The Intuitive Buddhi Body
Buddhi is the plural of Buddha. And the word Buddha stands for a talent or gift of the universe on a mental level to truly understand and integrate higher concepts. In yoga, it refers to abilities that seem to transcend normal perception, enabling one to work with people and energy. We gain increasing access to these universal gifts the further we develop personally and the more we grow spiritually. By doing so, we move closer to our life mission. Most people discover that their gifts are closely linked to their mission. The Buddhi body is also referred to as the intuitive body or intuition body. It is from this body that intuition and empathy arise—an intuition that goes far beyond what can be explained by mirror neurons, and that some people experience briefly, while others can reliably tap into.
The Atman Body or Soul Body
Atman is the Sanskrit word for “soul,” although the Vedic concept of the soul differs from that of the three major Western monotheistic religions, all of which trace back to the Egyptian god Aton. In Vedic philosophy, Atman—the soul—is an expression of Brahman, the universe. The soul’s task is to recognize once again that it truly is the universe. Until it recognizes this, it will be sent back to Earth through many reincarnations to mature and fulfill its purpose. Fulfilling and completing all other bodies is the prerequisite for the merging of Atman and Brahman to occur. Achieving this requires considerable personal development and spiritual growth.
The Aura
The aura is not counted among the bodies of the earthly or the higher self listed here. However, I include it here as an addition.
What is the aura?
The word “aura” comes from Ancient Greek and refers to a puff of air. Because simply being around another person can give many people a perceptible impression of that person, many esoteric teachings adopted this radiance as the concept of the aura: the puff of air that surrounds a person and leads to what is almost extra-sensory perception regarding that person.
From a scientific perspective, we can now confirm that every living being is surrounded by a measurable electromagnetic field. This field arises from the fact that the nervous system uses tiny electrical impulses—from sensory perception all the way to every muscle movement—to represent processes in the human body.
Among other things, sharks have specialized sensory cells that allow them to perceive these impulses, and they use these perceptions to locate their prey. Even a fish that is buried in sand and thus hidden from sight still has a heartbeat, which is electromagnetically detectable.
Moreover, since the 1990s, science has been describing so-called “mirror neurons.” They become active when sensing something or even when recalling memories (see also “mental training” in sports). Mirror neurons take the observed activities and states and transfer them into one’s own neurology.
They therefore also provide a possible scientific explanation for empathy. If someone is better at putting themselves in another person’s shoes—that is, recognizing and sharing their emotions and motives—then that person’s mirror neurons function optimally in relation to the other individual.
Returning to the aura: The “puff of air” that surrounds a person is thus not only an immeasurable, mystical, esoteric field around them. Large portions of this field are scientifically measurable and explainable—even though not all statistically demonstrable phenomena have so far been scientifically explained.
We can therefore conclude that the aura, on the one hand, is a scientifically verifiable electromagnetic field, and on the other hand, extends beyond what is scientifically explainable by encompassing additional statistically demonstrable phenomena. Finally, depending on an individual’s beliefs, it may be capable of even more. In the context of the earthly and the higher self, the aura is the radiance, the “breeze,” primarily of the three middle levels of the earthly self.
Cognitive & Emotional & Vital & Somatic Bodies
Most likely you have recognized the word cognitive, emotional, vital, and somatic as the terms we are using for the commitment therapy.
That is no coincidence, as these are precisely the four bodies we are working on during commitment therapy.
Starting by working on the somatic body, we will create the fundamentals to strengthen the vital body. By working on the vital body, we will create the fundamentals to expand the emotional body. And by working on the emotional body, we will create the fundamentals to elevate the cognitive body.
And at the same time, the other way around. As the different bodies are closely linked together.