Editing Subtle body

{{Short description|Quasi material aspect of the human body}}
{{other uses}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2017}} 
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
[[File:Sapta Chakra, 1899 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The subtle body in Indian mysticism, from a [[yoga]] manuscript in [[Braj Bhasa]] language, 1899. A row of [[chakra]]s is depicted from the base of the spine up to the crown of the head.]]

A '''subtle body''' is a "quasi material"{{sfn|Samuel|Johnston|2013}} aspect of the human body, being neither solely physical nor solely spiritual, according to various [[Western esotericism|esoteric]], [[occultism|occult]], and [[mysticism|mystical]] teachings. This contrasts with the [[mind–body dualism]] that has dominated Western thought. The subtle body is important in the [[Taoism]] of China and [[Indian religions|Dharmic religion]]s such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Jainism]], mainly in the branches which focus on [[tantra]] and [[yoga]], where it is known as the ''Sūkṣma-śarīra'' ({{langx|sa|सूक्ष्म शरीर}}). However, while mostly associated with Asian cultures, non-dualistic approaches to the mind and body are found in many parts of the world.{{sfn|Samuel|Johnston|2013}}

Subtle body concepts and practices can be identified as early as 2nd century BCE in [[Taoist]] texts found in the [[Mawangdui]] tombs.{{sfn|Samuel|Johnston|2013}} It was "evidently present"{{sfn|Samuel|Johnston|2013}} in Indian thought as early as the 4th to 1st century BCE when the [[Taittiriya Upanishad]] described the  [[Panchakosha]]s, a series of five interpenetrating sheaths of the body.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017}} A fully formed subtle body theory did not develop in India until the [[tantra|tantric]] movement that affected all its religions in the Middle Ages.{{sfn|Samuel|Johnston|2013}} In [[Indo-Tibetan Buddhism]], the correlation of the subtle body to the physical body is viewed differently according to school, lineage and scholar, but for [[completion stage]] in yoga, it is visualised within the body.<ref name="Shrīmālā | Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism & Astrology | London 2020">{{cite web | title=Tibetan Medicine and the Subtle Anatomy - Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism & Astrology - London | website=Shrīmālā {{!}} Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism & Astrology {{!}} London | date=11 January 2020 | url=https://www.shrimala.com/blog/tibetan-medicine-and-the-subtle-anatomy | access-date=2 April 2021}}</ref> The subtle body consists of focal points, often called [[chakra]]s, connected by channels, often called [[Nadi (yoga)|nadis]], that convey subtle breath, often called [[prana]]. Through breathing and other exercises, a practitioner may direct the subtle breath to achieve [[Siddhi|supernormal powers]], [[immortality]], or [[Moksha|liberation]].

Subtle body in the Western tradition is called the ''[[body of light]]''. The concept derives from the philosophy of [[Plato]]: the word 'astral' means 'of the stars'; thus the [[Astral plane#History|astral plane]]  consists of the [[Seven Heavens]] of the [[classical planet]]s. [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonists]] Porphyry and Proclus elaborated on Plato's description of the starry nature of the human psyche. Throughout the [[Renaissance]], philosophers and alchemists, healers including [[Paracelsus]] and his students, and [[natural science|natural scientists]] such as [[John Dee]], continued to discuss the nature of the astral world intermediate between earth and the divine. The concept of the astral body or body of light was adopted by 19th and 20th-century [[ceremonial magic]]ians.

The [[Theosophy]] movement was the first to translate the Sanskrit term as 'subtle body', although their use of the term is quite different from Indic usage as they synthesize Western and Eastern traditions. This makes the term problematic for modern scholars, especially as the Theosophist view often influences [[New Age]] and [[holistic medicine]] perspectives.{{sfn|Samuel|Johnston|2013}} Western scientists have started to explore the subtle body concept in research on meditation.<ref name="Loizzo 2016"/>

==Asian religions==
The [[Yoga|Yogic]], [[tantra|Tantric]] and other systems of [[Hinduism]], [[Vajrayana|Vajrayana Buddhism]], as well as Chinese [[Taoist alchemy]] contain theories of subtle physiology with focal points ([[chakra]]s, [[acupuncture points]]) connected by a series of channels ([[Nadi (yoga)|nadis]], [[Meridian (Chinese medicine)|meridians]]) that convey subtle breath ([[prana]], vayu, [[Qi|ch'i, ki]], [[lung (Tibetan Buddhism)|lung]]). These invisible channels and points are understood to determine the characteristics of the visible physical form. By understanding and mastering the subtlest levels of reality one gains mastery over the physical realm. Through breathing and other exercises, the practitioner aims to manipulate and direct the flow of subtle breath, to achieve supernormal powers ''([[siddhi]]s)'' and attain higher [[Altered state of consciousness|states of consciousness]], [[immortality]], or [[Moksha|liberation]].{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=171–184}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |url=https://www.goldenelixir.com/press/occ_03_jindan_history.html |title=The Way of the Golden Elixir: A Historical Overview of Taoist Alchemy |publisher=Golden Elixir Press |year=2012 |format=PDF, 60 pp., free download}}</ref>

=== Hinduism ===
[[File:SahajaSubtleSystem.svg|thumb|An illustration of a subtle body system of seven [[chakra]]s connected by three major [[Nadi (yoga)|nadi]] channels, as commonly adopted by contemporary yoga]]
{{Further|Three Bodies Doctrine|Kosha|Chakra|Nadi (yoga)}}

==== Early ====
Early concepts of the subtle body ([[Sanskrit]]: ''sūkṣma śarīra'') appeared in the [[Upanishads]], including the ''[[Brhadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' and the ''[[Katha Upanishad]]''.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=173-174}} The ''[[Taittiriya Upanishad]]'' describes the theory of five [[kosha]]s or sheaths, though these are not to be thought of as concentric layers, but interpenetrating at successive levels of subtlety:{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=33}}{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}}

* The ''anna-maya'' ("food body", physical body, the grossest level),
* The ''prana-maya'' (body made of vital breath or [[prana]]), 
* The ''mano-maya'' (body made of mind), 
* The ''[[Vijñāna|vijñana]]-maya'' (body made of consciousness)
* The ''ananda-maya'' (bliss body, the subtlest level).

Subtle internal anatomy included a central channel ([[Nadi (yoga)|nadi]]).{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=33}} Later Vedic texts called [[samhita]]s and [[brahmana]]s contain a theory of five "winds" or "breaths" (''vayus, [[prana]]s''):{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=33}}

* ''Prāṇa'', associated with inhalation
* ''Uḍāna'', associated with exhalation
* ''Vyāna'', associated with distribution of breath within the body
* ''Samāna'', associated with digestion
* ''Apāna'', associated with excretion of waste

==== Later ====
A millennium later, these concepts were adapted and refined by various spiritual traditions. The similar concept of the {{IAST|Liṅga Śarīra}} is seen as the vehicle of consciousness in later [[Samkhya]], [[Vedanta]], and [[Yoga]], and is propelled by past-life tendencies, or ''[[bhava]]s''.{{sfn|Larson|2005|p=242}} Linga can be translated as "characteristic mark" or "impermanence" and the Vedanta term [[Sarira (Vedanta)|sarira]] as "form" or "mould".<ref>Purucker, Gottfried. ''The Occult Glossary''</ref> ''Karana'' or "instrument" is a synonymous term. In the Classical Samkhya system of [[Isvarakrsna]] (ca. 4th century CE), the ''Lińga'' is the characteristic mark of the transmigrating entity. It consists of twenty-five [[tattva]]s from eternal consciousness down to the five organs of sense, five of activity (''buddindriya'' or ''jñānendriya'', and  ''karmendriya'' respectively) and the five subtle elements that are the objects of sense (''[[tanmatras]]'') The ''Samkhyakarika'' says:{{sfn|Larson|2005|p=268}}

{{Blockquote|The subtle body (''linga''), previously arisen, unconfined, constant, inclusive of the great one (''mahat'') etc, through the subtle elements, not having enjoyment, transmigrates, (because of) being endowed with ''bhavas'' ("conditions" or "dispositions").

As a picture (does) not (exist) without a support, or as a shadow (does) not (exist) without a post and so forth; so too the instrument (''linga'' or ''karana'') does not exist without that which is specific (i.e., a subtle body).|''Samkhyakarika'', 60–81{{sfn|Larson|2005|p=268}}}}

The classical [[Vedanta]] tradition developed the theory of the five bodies into the theory of the [[kosha]]s "sheaths" or "coverings" which surround and obscure the self ([[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]]). In classical Vedanta these are seen as obstacles to realization and traditions like Shankara's [[Advaita Vedanta]] had little interest in working with the subtle body.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|pp=34, 37}}

==== Tantra ====
In [[Tantra]] traditions meanwhile ([[Shaivism|Shaiva]] [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kaula]], [[Kashmir Shaivism]] and Buddhist [[Vajrayana]]), the subtle body was seen in a more positive light, offering potential for yogic practices which could lead to liberation.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=34}} Tantric traditions contain the most complex theories of the subtle body, with sophisticated descriptions of energy [[Nadi (yoga)|nadis]] (literally "stream or river", channels through which ''vayu'' and ''prana'' flows) and [[chakra]]s, points of focus where nadis meet.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|pp=38–39}}

The main channels, shared by both Hindu and Buddhist systems, but visualised entirely differently, are the central (in Hindu systems: ''[[sushumna]]''; in Buddhist: ''avadhuti''), left and right (in Hindu systems: ''ida'' and ''pingala''; Buddhist: ''lalana'' and ''rasana'').{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=39}} Further subsidiary channels are said to radiate outwards from the chakras, where the main channels meet.{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=172–174}}

Chakra systems vary with the tantra; the ''[[Netra Tantra]]'' describes six chakras, the ''Kaulajñana-nirnaya'' describes eight, and the ''Kubjikamata Tantra'' describes seven (the most widely known set).{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=40}}{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|pp=175–178}}

In the [[Dzogchen]] tradition of [[Tibetan Buddhism]], the subtle body takes a different form. More specifically, the tradition points to four areas of particularly concentration of [[Energy (esotericism)|bodily energy]] – viz. the heart (''tsitta''), where the enlightened energy resides; the "luminous channels" (''‘od rtsa''), through which the energy flows; the skull (''dung khang''), where it spreads before finally being released through the fourth hot-spot, namely the eyes (''tsakshu'' / ''briguta'').<ref name="Geisshuesler"/>{{rp|63}} Flavio Geisshuesler, who has studied the functioning of the Dzogchen subtle body in the context of the practice of [[sky-gazing (Dzogchen)|sky-gazing]], argues that many of the specific motifs that appear in the tradition's conception of the body are of pre-Buddhist origin. More specifically, he notes that the Dzogchen body's motifs of "deer-hearts, silk-channels, buffalo-horns, or far-reaching lassos [...] reproduce the terminology of the hunting of animalistic vitality as if internalizing the quest for precious substances."<ref name="Geisshuesler">{{cite book | last=Geisshuesler | first=Flavio | title=Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism | date=2024 | location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | isbn=978-1-350-42881-2 | url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/tibetan-skygazing-meditation-and-the-prehistory-of-great-perfection-buddhism-9781350428812/ | page=5}}</ref>

==== Modern ====

The modern Indian spiritual teacher [[Meher Baba]] stated that the subtle body "is the vehicle of desires and vital forces". He held that the subtle body is one of three bodies with which the soul must cease to identify with in order to realize God.<ref>{{cite book |author=Baba, Meher |author-link=Meher Baba |year=1967 |title=Discourses, volume 2 |location=San Francisco |publisher=Sufism Reoriented |pages=144–145 |isbn=978-1880619094}}</ref>

===Buddhism===
{{further|Luminous mind|Illusory body}}
[[File:Chakras and energy channels 2 (3749594497).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A Tibetan illustration of the subtle body showing the central channel and two side channels connecting five chakras]]

In [[Buddhist Tantra]], the subtle body is termed the "innate body" ({{Transliteration|sa|IAST|nija-deha}}) or the "uncommon means body" (''asadhdrana-upayadeha''),<ref name="Wayman 1977">{{cite book |author=Wayman, Alex |title=Yoga of the Guhyasamajatantra: The arcane lore of forty verses : a Buddhist Tantra commentary |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1977 |page=65}}</ref> or {{Transliteration|sa|IAST|sūkṣma śarīra}}, rendered in Tibetan as ''traway-lu'' (transliterated ''phra ba’i lus'').<ref>{{cite web |author=Miller, Lama Willa B. |title=Reviews: Investigating the Subtle Body |date=12 November 2013 |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/reviews-investigating-the-subtle-body/ |access-date=2018-03-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319151239/https://www.lionsroar.com/reviews-investigating-the-subtle-body/ |archive-date=19 March 2018 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The subtle body is sometimes known as {{Transliteration|sa|IAST|manomaya-kāya}}, the “body made of mind” and is the means for synchronising the body and the mind, particularly during meditation.{{sfn|Simmer-Brown|2002|p=169}}

The subtle body consists of thousands of subtle energy channels ([[nadis]]), which are conduits for energies or "winds" ([[Lung (Tibetan Buddhism)|lung]] or [[prana]]) and converge at [[chakras]].<ref name="Wayman 1977"/> According to Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche, there are three main channels (''nadis''), central, left and right, which run from the point between the eyebrows up to the crown chakra, and down through all seven chakras to a point two inches below the navel.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche |title=The Practice of Tibetan Meditation: Exercises, Visualizations, and Mantras for Health and Well-being |publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co |year=2002 |page=80 |isbn=978-0892819034}}</ref>

Lati Rinbochay describes the subtle body as consisting of 72,000 channels, various winds and a white and a red drop whilst a further very subtle body is a wind abiding in a drop at the centre of the heart chakra. The central channel is then described as being squeezed by two channels that encircle it at each chakra and thrice at the heart chakra, ensuring the winds do not move upward or downward until death.<ref name="Rinbochay 1985 p. ">{{cite book | last=Rinbochay | first=L. H. J. | title=Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism | publisher=Snow Lion Publications | year=1985 | isbn=978-1-55939-756-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nEZZwXn25QUC | access-date=1 March 2021 | page=}}</ref>

Buddhist tantras generally describe four or five chakras in the shape of a lotus with varying petals. For example, the [[Hevajra Tantra]] (8th century) states:<blockquote>In the Center [i.e. chakra] of Creation [at the sexual organ] a sixty-four petal lotus. In the Center of Essential Nature [at the heart] an eight petal lotus. In the Center of Enjoyment [at the throat] a sixteen petal lotus. In the Center of Great Bliss [at the top of the head] a thirty-two petal lotus.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=40}}</blockquote>In contrast, the historically later [[Kalachakra|Kalachakra tantra]] describes six chakras.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=40}}

In [[Vajrayana]] Buddhism, liberation is achieved through subtle body processes during [[Deity yoga|Completion Stage]] practices such as the [[Six Yogas of Naropa]].{{sfn|Samuel|2013|p=38}}

=== Other traditions ===
Other spiritual traditions teach about a mystical or divine body, such as "the most sacred body" (''wujud al-aqdas'') and "true and genuine body" (''jism asli haqiqi'') in [[Sufism]], the [[Meridian (Chinese medicine)|meridian system]] in [[Religion in China|Chinese religion]], and "the immortal body" (''soma athanaton'') in [[Hermeticism]].{{sfn|White|2018}}

== Western esoteric tradition ==
{{main|Body of light}}

The ''body of light'' is elaborated on according to various [[Western esotericism|Western esoteric]], [[occult]], and [[mysticism|mystical]] teachings. Other terms used for this body include ''body of glory'',{{sfn|Behun|2010}} ''spirit-body'', ''radiant body'',{{sfn|Mead|1919}} ''luciform body'', ''augoeides'' ('radiant'), ''astroeides'' ('starry' or 'sidereal body'), and ''celestial body''.{{sfn|Mead|1919|pp=34-35}}

The concept derives from the philosophy of [[Plato]]: the word 'astral' means 'of the stars'; thus the [[Astral plane#History|astral plane]]  consists of the [[Seven Heavens]] of the [[classical planet]]s.  The idea is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the [[afterlife]]{{sfn|Miller|1995|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} in which the [[Soul (spirit)|soul's]] journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an ecstatic, mystical or out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in their body of light into 'higher' realms."{{sfn|Woolger|n.d.}}

[[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonists]] Porphyry and Proclus elaborated on Plato's description of the starry nature of the human psyche. Throughout the [[Renaissance]], philosophers and alchemists, healers including [[Paracelsus]] and his students, and [[natural science|natural scientists]] such as [[John Dee]], continued to discuss the nature of the astral world intermediate between earth and the divine. The concept of the astral body or body of light was adopted by 19th-century [[ceremonial magic]]ian [[Éliphas Lévi]], [[Florence Farr]] and the magicians of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], including [[Aleister Crowley]].

== Western syncretic tradition ==
{{see also|Astral body}}
[[File:Cosmicman.jpg|thumb|100px|The subtle body and the cosmic man, Nepal 1600s]]

=== Theosophy ===
In the 19th century, [[H. P. Blavatsky]] founded the esoteric religious system of [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]], which attempted to restate Hindu and Buddhist philosophy for the Western world.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|pp=1-3}} She adopted the phrase "subtle body" as the English equivalent of the Vedantic ''sūkṣmaśarīra'', which in [[Adi Shankara]]'s writings was one of three bodies (physical, subtle, and causal). Geoffrey Samuel notes that theosophical use of these terms by Blavatsky and later authors, especially [[C. W. Leadbeater]], [[Annie Besant]] and [[Rudolf Steiner]] (who went on to found [[Anthroposophy]]), has made them "problematic"{{sfn|Samuel|2013|pp=1-3}} to modern scholars, since the Theosophists adapted the terms as they expanded their ideas based on "psychic and clairvoyant insights", changing their meaning from what they had in their original context in India.{{sfn|Samuel|2013|pp=1-3}}
<!--
* "Prana" - the "Life Force", the breath of Life
* ''[[Linga sarira|Linga Sharira]]'' - the Double or [[Astral body]], the vehicle of Prana
* ''Kama rupa'' - the "desire-body," the seat of animal desires and passions

The later Theosophists proposed a series of four subtle bodies, each with its own [[Aura (paranormal)|aura]] and set of [[chakra]]s:

* [[Etheric body]] (vehicle of [[prana]])
* [[Astral body|Emotional or astral body]] (vehicle of desires and emotions)
* [[Mental body]] (vehicle of the concrete or lower mind)
* [[Causal body]] (vehicle of the abstract or higher mind)-->

=== Post-theosophists ===

The later theosophical arrangement was taken up by [[Alice Bailey]], and from there found its way into the [[New Age]] worldview<ref name="Johnston 2002">{{cite journal |last1=Johnston |first1=Jay |title=The "Theosophic Glance": Fluid Ontologies, Subtle Bodies and Intuitive Vision |journal=Australian Religion Studies Review |date=2002 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=101–117 |url=https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/ARSR/article/view/8979}}</ref> and the human [[Aura (paranormal)|aura]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hammer |first=Olav |title=Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age |year=2001 |publisher=Brill |isbn=900413638X |page=55}}</ref> Other authors treated the subtle body in varying ways. [[Max Heindel]] divided the subtle body into the [[Etheric body|Vital Body]] made of Ether; the [[Desire body]], related to the [[Astral plane]]; and the [[Mental body]].{{sfn|Heindel|1911}} [[Barbara Brennan]]'s account of the subtle bodies in her books ''Hands of Light'' and ''Light Emerging'' refers to the subtle bodies as "layers" in the "Human Energy Field" or aura.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dale |first1=Cyndi |title=Energetic Anatomy: A Complete Guide to the Human Energy Fields and Etheric Bodies |date=11 October 2016 |url=https://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/human-energy-field-aura/ |publisher=Conscious Lifestyle magazine |access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Fourth Way ===
Subtle bodies are found in the "[[Fourth Way]]" teachings of [[Gurdjieff]] and [[Ouspensky]], who write that one can create a subtle body, and hence achieve post-mortem immortality, through spiritual or yogic exercises. The "soul" in these systems is not something one is born with, but developed through esoteric practice to acquire complete understanding and to perfect the self. According to the historian Bernice Rosenthal, "In Gurdjieff's cosmology our nature is tripartite and is composed of the physical (planetary), emotional (astral) and mental (spiritual) bodies; in each person one of these three bodies ultimately achieves dominance."<ref name="Rosenthal 1997"/> The "divine body" represents a fourth way, and the ultimate task of the teachings is to harmoniously develop the four ways into a single way.<ref name="Rosenthal 1997">{{cite book | last=Rosenthal | first=Bernice | title=The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture | publisher=Cornell University Press | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-8014-8331-8 | oclc=35990156 | page=[https://archive.org/details/occultinrussians00unse/page/361 361] | url=https://archive.org/details/occultinrussians00unse/page/361 }}</ref>

== Meditation research ==
Western scientists have started to explore the subtle body concept in relation to research on meditation. The subtle body model can be cross-referenced onto modern maps of the [[central nervous system]], and applied in research on meditation.<ref name="Loizzo 2016">{{cite journal |last=Loizzo |first=Joseph J. |title=The subtle body: an interoceptive map of central nervous system function and meditative mind-brain-body integration |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |publisher=Wiley |volume=1373 |issue=1 |date=10 May 2016 |issn=0077-8923 |doi=10.1111/nyas.13065 |pages=78–95|pmid=27164469 |bibcode=2016NYASA1373...78L |s2cid=5042508 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Astral body]]
* [[Etheric body]]
* [[Illusory body]]
* [[Luminous mind]]
* [[Saṃbhogakāya]]
* [[Silver cord]]
* [[Spirit body|Spirit body (Mormonism)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Works cited ==
*{{cite journal |last=Behun |first=W. |year=2010 |title=The Body of Light and the Body without Organs |journal=Substance: A Review of Theory & Literary Criticism |volume=39 |number=1 |pages=125–140}}
*{{cite book |last=Heindel |first=Max |title=The Rosicrucian Mysteries |chapter=Chapter IV: The Constitution of Man: Vital Body - Desire Body - Mind |chapter-url=https://www.rosicrucian.com/rms/rmseng02.htm#Chapter_IV |year=1911 |publisher=Rosicrucian Fellowship |isbn=0-911274-86-3}}
*{{cite book | last=Larson | first=Gerald James | author-link=Gerald James Larson | title=Classical Samkhya : an interpretation of its history and meaning | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass | year=2005 | isbn=978-81-208-0503-3 | oclc=637247445 }}
*{{cite book | last1=Mallinson | first1=James | author1-link=James Mallinson (author) |last2=Singleton |first2=Mark | author2-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) |name-list-style=amp | title=Roots of Yoga | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-241-25304-5 | oclc=928480104 }}
*{{cite book |first=G. R. S. |last=Mead |author-link=G. R. S. Mead |title=The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition |publisher=Watkins |year=1919}}
*{{cite book |first=Suki |last=Miller |title=After Death: How People around the World Map the Journey after Death |year=1995}}
* {{cite book | last=Samuel | first=Geoffrey | author-link=Geoffrey Samuel | title=Religion and the subtle body in Asia and the West : between mind and body | publisher=Routledge | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-415-60811-4 | oclc=690084604 }}
*{{cite book | last1=Samuel | first1=G. | last2=Johnston | first2=J. | title=Religion and the Subtle Body in Asia and the West: Between Mind and Body | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Routledge studies in Asian religion and philosophy | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-136-76640-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Simmer-Brown |first=J. |title=Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism |publisher=Shambhala |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57062-920-4}}
*{{cite journal |last=White |first=John |date=May 2018 |url=http://www.wie.org/j21/white.asp |title=Enlightenment and the Body of Light |journal=Journal of Conscious Evolution |volume=1 |issue=1 |access-date=2022-01-06}}
*{{cite web |first=Roger J. |last=Woolger |date=n.d. |title=Beyond Death: Transition and the Afterlife |website=Royal College of Psychiatrists |url=http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/PDF/RWoolgerTransition.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002073503/https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/PDF/RWoolgerTransition.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-02}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Dale |first=Cyndi |year=2014 |title=The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy |publisher=Sounds True |isbn=978-1591798279 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Mircea Eliade |last=Eliade |first=Mircea |title=Yoga: Immortality and Freedom |translator=W. R. Trask |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=1969 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Poortman |first=J. J. |title=Vehicles of Consciousness; The Concept of Hylic Pluralism (Ochema) |volume=I-IV |publisher=The Theosophical Society in Netherlands |year=1978 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Samuel |first=G. |title=Unbalanced Flows in the Subtle Body: Tibetan Understandings of Psychiatric Illness and How to Deal With It |journal=J Relig Health |date=June 2019 |volume=58 |number=3 |pages=770–794 |doi=10.1007/s10943-019-00774-1 |pmid=30788755 |pmc=6522444 |ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=White |first=David Gordon |year=2012 |title=The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226149349 |ref=none}}

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