Fashionable Philosophy - and Other Sketches by Laurence Oliphant
page 62 of 103 (60%)
page 62 of 103 (60%)
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mankind was occult knowledge and power then found to be disseminated.
To the task of putting it under a rigid system of rule and law did Tsong-kha-pa address himself." Of course, before transferring my material body to this region, I was perfectly familiar with it by reason of the faculty which, as Mr Sinnett very truly tells us, is common to all adepts, of being able to flit about the world at will in your astral body; and here I would remark parenthetically, that I shall use the term "astral body" to save confusion, though, as Mr Sinnett again properly says, it is not strictly accurate under the circumstances. In order to make this clear, I will quote his very lucid observations on the subject:-- "During the last year or two, while hints and scraps of occult science have been finding their way out into the world, the expression 'astral body' has been applied to a certain semblance of the human form, fully inhabited by its higher principles, which can migrate to any distance from the physical body--projected consciously and with exact intention by a living adept, or unintentionally by the accidental application of certain mental forces to his loosened principles by any person at the moment of death. For ordinary purposes, there is no practical inconvenience in using the expression 'astral body' for the appearance so projected--indeed any more strictly accurate expression, as will be seen directly, would be cumbersome, and we must go on using the phrase in both meanings. No confusion need arise; but strictly speaking, the _linga sharira_, or third principle, is the astral body, and that cannot be sent about as the vehicle of the higher principles." As, however, "no confusion need arise" from my describing how I went about in my _linga sharira_, I will continue to use it as the term for my |
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