nderstand half the
complexity of the problem; for besides all these new forms of physical
matter we have to deal with the still more numerous and perplexing
subdivisions of astral matter. We must note first that every material
object, every particle even, has its astral counterpart; and this
counterpart is itself not a simple body, but is usually extremely
complex, being composed of various kinds of astral matter. In addition
to this each living creature is surrounded with an atmosphere of its
own, usually called its aura, and in the case of human beings this
aura forms of itself a very fascinating branch of study. It is seen as
an oval mass of luminous mist of highly complex structure, and from
its shape has sometimes been called the auric egg. Theosophical
readers will hear with pleasure that even at the early stage of his
development at which the pupil begins to acquire this astral sight, he
is able to assure himself by direct observation of the accuracy of the
teaching given through our great founder, Madame Blavatsky, on the
subject of some at least of the seven principles of man. In regarding
his fellow-man he no longer sees only his outer appearance; exactly
co-extensive with that physical body he clearly distinguishes the
etheric double, which in Theosophical literature has usually been
called the Linga Sharira; while the Jiva, as it is absorbed and
specialized into Prana, as it circulates in rosy light throughout the
body, as it eventually radiates from the healthy person in its altered
form, is also perfectly obvious. Most brilliant and most easily seen
of all, perhaps, though belonging to quite a different order of
matter--the astral--is the kamic aura, which expresses by its vivid
and ever-changing flashes of colour the different desires which sweep
across the man's mind from moment to moment. This is the true astral
body. Behind that, and consisting of a finer grade of matter--that of
the rupa levels of Devachan--lies the devachanic body or aura of the
lower Manas, whose colours, changing only by slow degrees as the man
lives his life, show the disposition and character of the personality;
while still higher and infinitely more beautiful, where at all clearly
developed, is the living light of the Karana Sharira, the aura or
vehicle of the higher Manas, which shows the stage of development of
the real Ego in its passage from birth to birth. But to see these the
pupil must have developed something more than me