The Three Bodies (Physical, Subtle, Causal)

The following questions are answered in this article:

What is the causal body?
What is the subtle body?
What are the three different bodies in Vedanta?
Is the causal body the deep sleep state?
Is the subtle body used when dreaming?

The three bodies are all superimposed appearances that veil the Atman (the pure self) from being known in its true light. The bodies are emanated from the Atman. Within Maya, the Atman takes itself to be something other than itself, and identifies as either one of the three different bodies, although these three bodies all exist at once and are not truly separate from the Atman.

The first body is the causal body. This is also known as Karana Sarira. It is referred to as the causal body because it is the cause or the potential to express the other two bodies (subtle and physical). This causal body is not an actual body or form. It is formless and imaginary. It is not in the category of physical existence as it only exists as a potential to express itself. This means, it is actually nothingness and completely empty. It is unexpressed as undifferentiated data, meaning it does not hold any form whatsoever. We do not consider the causal body to be the Atman or the eternal self because it undergoes modification. It is equivalent to deep sleep. In deep sleep, there is the experience of absence or nothingness since the mind is completely inactive. Yet, in this inactivity, there is the potential to awaken to a world with name and form through a subtle body. When awakened, one is now aware of the world and perceives itself to be something inside it, separate from all other things. This casual body therefore, holds within it, un-manifested karma and vasanas that are yearned to be expressed. When the desire hidden within becomes unbearable, it manifests as the subtle body which automatically holds the “I am” as it now expresses itself through actions, ultimately forming experience and false knowledge (of being something it’s truly not). The immaterial data from the causal body therefore, goes from undifferentiated to differentiated as it now holds onto form.

The second body is the subtle body. This is also known as sukshma sarira. This is referred to as the subtle body due to its subtle nature of being dream-like, void of physicality. This body is the vehicle we use when dreaming. It is also used when the physical expression (i.e. physical body) dies as one now automatically identifies as the subtle body since there is no longer any physical expression to hold on to. Again, all bodies are superimposed on one another, so if one doesn’t identify with one, there is automatic identification with the other. The subtle body depends on the causal body because it relies on the storehouse of unexpressed data within the nothingness of potentiality to express itself. When the subtle body is expressed, it perceives itself to be a Jiva (ego) perceiving and experiencing a world of name and form.

The subtle body also consists of the many similar perceptions we use in the physical body such as sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Though all of these qualities are subtle in nature and do not require physical body parts such as eyes, ears, limbs, mouth and nose. Just like we can move about freely with the physical body in the physical realm, we can also move about freely with the subtle body (similar to your own unique experiences every night when you dream) - though this moving around is an illusion! The subtle body, while it relies on the undifferentiated data within its causal state, serves as the building blocks of data that yearns to be expressed in the physical state.

The third body is the physical body. This is also known as sthula sarira. This is referred to as the physical body due to its physical and dense nature. The physical body is the vehicle we use when operating in the physical realm during the waking state. It is the most deceiving body because it takes your attention furthest away from the Atman. You now perceive yourself to be a body made up of flesh, bones and skin, all of which are really empty. The physical body relies on the subtle body for its functions. The lifeless and inert matter could not be animated without the subtle body (mind) that facilitates its movement. It is the subtle body that projects the physical body which now perceives itself to be an external world. But if you turn within to reveal the subtle body; or simply dream; you can still perceive an external world of plurality within your own mind. It is this mind (subtle body) that governs the waking state held by the physical body. In truth, the physical body IS the subtle body since it's being projected by it. This means while it feels as if it is actually physical, it is truly not, and only experienced that way through the functions of the immaterial subtle body - a stubborn illusion.

While all bodies (causal, subtle and physical) are superimposed on one another and exist all-at-once, they are all fundamentally unreal. As you go from the waking state, to the dream state and then to the deep sleep state, there is one underlying principle that remains static and unchanged that allows all other states to be known. This principle is the very reason you know you are in the physical body, subtle body or causal body. It is that which witnesses all other superimposed states. This underlying observer is known as the pure self (Turiya). This observer is what allows all experiences (bodies) to be known. It is free from duality since its essence is non-dual. While it seems that this observing principle transitions its own attention throughout different states, the different states actually change and gives the illusion that attention is moving. Furthermore, it is actually that which makes up all states and is non-separate from them. It only appears to be separate from them due to ignorance or the delusion one has about the truth of their real self. When attention is turned away from all thoughts and objects that make up these different bodies (states), it is intuitively known that what appeared to be separate from the Atman, was in fact nothing but the Atman. In other words, what appeared to be separate was actually non-separate and was only an appearance that was always one with the Atman. It is only through Maya, that the Atman's own attention went inside the appearance and now perceives itself to be something it’s not due to ignorance of its own true self. The point of spiritual sadhana is to remove your identification with all three bodies so you can rest your own attention in the unbroken self (Atman).