Metaphysical Anthropologies

Shalom Place

Philip St. Romain

Metaphysical Anthropologies

I. Hindu/Yogic (from The Complete, Illustrated Book of Yoga, by Swami

Vishnu-devananda).

A. Overview

"Spirit or soul as such is the whole without any division. Mind

and bodies, being the active power of the spirit which springs

from it and brings individual consciousness, are parts of that

whole. Thus consciousness or spirit, while remaining unchanged

in one aspect, changes in another aspect into active power, man-

ifesting as mind and body. In the final stage, the spirit becomes

aware again of its real nature through the negation of the veiling

principle, the mind-body." (p. 14.)

B. Anatomical Relationships: the Five Sheaths/planes of Existences.

1. Gross Level (Stula)

a. Food Sheath (annamaya kosha). Earthly existence, birth,

physical growth, change, decay. Decomposes after death

2. Astral Level (Sukshma)

a. Vital Sheath/Etheric Body (pranamaya kosha): Etheric

particles and energy; life principle; can partially separate

from physical body; hunger '. thirst, heat, and cold;

eventually disintegrates after death.

b. Mental Sheath (suckshma shaira, manomaya kosha): emotional

life, desire, lower mental processes related to emotional

experiences and sensory life. Eventually decomposes.

c. Intellectual Sheath (vijnanamaya kosha): intellectual life,

abstract conceptualization; Ego; receives from Causal Level

and influences lower mental processes. Discrimination

and decision-making are its powers. Immortal.

3. Causal Level (Karana)

a. Bliss Body (anandamaya kosha): experiences of joy and

happiness. Pure, intuitional intelligence.

C. Intercommunication Between Sheaths/Bodies accomplished through

chakras, which transmute information from one level to a form

that can be used at another level.

D. Human life spent developing powers of each level, gradually moving

upward to the state of enlightenment, when the joy and energy of

the bliss body permeates the lower levels, and the lower levels

function in accord with the Causal Level. Then, the individual

realizes his or her oneness with the divine: Atman (Causal Body)

is said to be one with Brahman, the Hindu divinity. Hence,

enlightenment is sometimes explained as the realization of one's

own divinity. Even so, the individual characteristics realized

in the lower levels remain, as does the Ego--only their claims to

absolute independence are relativized by the boundless energy and

awareness of the Causal Body. If the soul does not complete this

journey, it re-incarnates. carrying with it the karmic

consequences of its previous life as energies stored in the higher

chakras.

II. Scholastic/Aristotelian (from Occult Phenomena, by Alois Weisinger,

O.C.S.O.)

A. Overview:

"The body consists of both matter and form . . . Matter is an

indeterminate substance without extension, it is a real

potential which cannot become a concrete body save through

conjunction with another principle of being, that of substantial

form . . . Man therefore consists of a body and a soul. The body

contains the material elements and substances of the earth . . .

the soul is the immaterial part, simple, endowed with reason,

and active; together with the body, it forms the natural entity

man . . . This soul is, though of a spiritual nature, an incomplete

substance and is designed for union with the body; it is only

through the body that it becomes a complete substance. and it is

from the body that it receives the elements by means of which it

can develop its own spiritual attributes." (pp. 4-6)

B. The Body-Soul Relationship

1. Physical Level. The material part of a person. Left behind

at death as a corpse, a transient form which will decay.

2. Vegetative Level. Coordinates physiological processes. Mortal.

3. Sensitive (animal) Level. Sense perceptions and orientation,

lower emotional drives oriented toward survival. Mortal.

4. Spiritual Level. Contains physical, vegetative, and sensitive

levels. It is the source of their life in a human. All levels

are interdependent, and are adjusted to each other.

a. Shares in characteristics of all spirits: intelligence,

freedom, immateriality, personality, immortality.

b. Obtains from the vegetative and sensitive levels the raw

data upon which it builds concepts and makes decisions.

c. Capable of abstracting principles implicit in relationships

between the objects of sensory perception. This is an

intuitive function, which, in turn, can be acted upon

directly by God or other spirits.

d. Capable of partial dissociation from lower levels '. during

which time one can experience more intensely the spiritual

powers of the soul, including psychic powers, cosmic union,

and the soulls "natural" union with God.

C. Interconnections between various levels are never really explained.

Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that psychosomatic phenomena and

somatopsychic phenomena are commonplace. A common scholastic

slogan, "Una actio, quando fuerit intensa, impedit alteram" (If

one act is intensive, it hinders another.")

D. The human soul is a created substance. It is also a fallen

creature that has lost consciousness of its "natural union" with

God. Consequently, the powers of the soul have been wounded and

generally operate in a context of ignorance, illusion. and self-

preference. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church teaches that it is

possible through the right use of reason and conscience to find

one's way back to a right relation with God and an experience of

this natural union. These experiences are of a different order

than those which come through faith. The latter are considered

supernatural, enabling the human subject to know something of the

Personal nature of God. and to love God in return. Therefore

Christian mysticism generally assumes a relational context, even

when the Christian mystic becomes awakened at the level of con-

naturality (where one's being is received from God).

III. Similarities and Differences Between Hindu and Scholastic Views

1. Both systems recognize-different levels of activity of the one

soul. These levels roughly correspond as follows:

Hindu View	Scholastic View
Physical Body	Physical Body
Etheric Body	Vegetable Soul
Mental/Astral Body	Animal Soul
Intellectual Body	Spiritual Soul (Reason)
Causal Body	Ground of Spiritual Soul

The Hindu sees the Causal Body as consubtantial with God. Hence,

to awaken at that level is to realize one's divinity. That art

Thou; Atman is Brahman.

The scholastic view recognizes that there must be a kind of

natural union between the soul and God, for the soul does not

exist except that it is given existence by God. The "level" at

which the soul receives existence is called the ground of being,

or the connatural level. Nevertheless, a distinction remains

between God and the soul. Hence. the scholastic would never

speak of union with the divine as a realization of the soulls

innate divinity.

Both sytems recognize that distortions exist in all these levels

which must be healed if the higher powers of the soul are to

be liberated. The Hindu does not have an explanation for the origin

of these woundings and distortions. The scholastic speaks of a Fall

from an original union with God: an original sin, which is passed

on from one generation to the next through non-love.

Both systems recognize relationships between the various levels:

the lower levels must be developed and clear before the higher can manifest through them consistently.
damage to a lower level impedes realization of a higher level at that lower level.
attachment to any level impedes progress in growth.
to seek the higher without developing the lower could result in damage to the lower levels.
to intensify activities in a given level diminishes intensity of energy in other levels.


The goal of yoga is to develop the various human powers in such a
manner that, eventually, the Causal Body can manifest freely through
the lower bodies.
The goal of the Christian using scholastic philosophy is to lead
one to a relational experience with God which serves as the context
for inner transformation. Right use of freedom and reason is
especially emphasized.

The Hindu system links the various levels through the chakras, which
are energy-exchange centers enabling information to be translated from
one level to the next.
The scholastic recognizes that the different levels are adjusted to
each other, that they are interdependent, that they exchange
information, but does not explain how this comes about.

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