The Astral Plane | Page 6

more precise
in the use of our terms, however, we find ourselves compelled to admit
much of this invisible matter as purely physical, and therefore to define
the Linga Sharîra no longer as the astral, but as the etheric double. This
seems an appropriate name for it, since it consists of various grades of
that matter which scientists call "ether," though this proves on
examination to be not a separate substance, as has been generally
supposed, but a condition of finer subdivision than the gaseous, to
which any kind of physical matter may be reduced by the application of
the appropriate forces. The name "etheric double" will therefore for the
future be used in Theosophic writings instead of "Linga Sharîra": and
this change will not only give us the advantage of an English name

which is clearly indicative of the character of the body to which it is
applied, but will also relieve us from the frequent misunderstandings
which have arisen from the fact that an entirely different signification is
attached in all the Oriental books to the name we have hitherto been
using. It must not however be supposed that in making this alteration in
nomenclature we are in any way putting forward a new conception; we
are simply altering, for the sake of greater accuracy, the labels
previously attached to certain facts in nature. If we examine with
psychic faculty the body of a newly-born child, we shall find it
permeated not only by astral matter of every degree of density, but also
by the several grades of etheric matter; and if we take the trouble to
trace these inner bodies backwards to their origin, we find that it is of
the latter that the etheric double--the mould upon which the physical
body is built up--is formed by the agents of the LORDS of Karma;
while the astral matter has been gathered together by the descending
Ego--not of course consciously, but automatically--as he passes
through the astral plane. (See Manual No. IV., p. 44.)
Into the composition of the etheric double must enter something of all
the different grades of etheric matter; but the proportions may vary
greatly, and are determined by several factors, such as the race,
sub-race, and type of a man, as well as by his individual Karma. When
it is remembered that these four subdivisions of matter are made up of
numerous combinations, which, in their turn, form aggregations that
enter into the composition of the "atom" of the so-called "element" of
the chemist, it will be seen that this second principle of man is highly
complex, and the number of its possible variations practically infinite,
so that, however complicated and unusual a man's Karma may be, the
LIPIKA are able to give a mould in accordance with which a body
exactly suiting it can be formed.
One other point deserves mention in connection with the appearance of
physical matter when looked at from the astral plane, and that is that
the astral vision possesses the power of magnifying at will the minutest
physical particle to any desired size, as though by a microscope, though
its magnifying power is enormously greater than that of any
microscope ever made or ever likely to be made. The hypothetical

molecule and atom postulated by science are therefore visible realities
to the occult student, though the latter recognizes them as much more
complex in their nature than the scientific man has yet discovered them
to be. Here again is a vast field of study of absorbing interest to which a
whole volume might readily be devoted; and a scientific investigator
who should acquire this astral sight in perfection, would not only find
his experiments with ordinary and known phenomena immensely
facilitated, but would also see stretching before him entirely new vistas
of knowledge needing more than a lifetime for their thorough
examination. For example, one curious and very beautiful novelty
brought to his notice by the development of this vision would be the
existence of other and entirely different colours beyond the limits of the
ordinarily visible spectrum, the ultra-red and ultra-violet rays which
science has discovered by other means being plainly perceptible to
astral sight. We must not, however, allow ourselves to follow these
fascinating bye-paths, but must resume our endeavour to give a general
idea of the appearance of the astral plane.
It will by this time be obvious that though, as above stated, the ordinary
objects of the physical world form the background to life on certain
levels of the astral plane, yet so much more is seen of their real
appearance and characteristics that the general effect differs widely
from that with which we are familiar. For the sake of illustration take a
rock as an example of the simpler class of objects. When regarded with