Life Supreme — Page 105
108. LIFE SUPREME. Islam teaches that the soul must exist in and manifest itself through a body. A pertinent question that has arisen is in what body does the soul exist when it is taken away during sleep? The etheric body solves the question for it is, as it were, the home of the soul. An alternative answer could also be that the soul emanates around itself an aura and that it dwells within its spiritual haze. . An important fact to be known is that the etheric body and the soul are never completely detached from the physical body during their outer travels. They are linked by an intangible spiritual cord so, in fact, the etheric body and the soul are at no time completely separated from the physical body before death. This linking cord is sometimes called the astral cord and has been clearly observed by those who have out-of-the-body experiences. It may be likened to the umbilical cord uniting mother and infant even after it has left the dark world of the womb and entered the new outer world. The new born infant is freed from all connection with its mother on the severance of the umbilical cord. Similarly the etheric body and soul are completely and permanently freed from the physical body when the astral cord is severed. At other times the astral cord always unites the physical body with the etheric body when it is detached and projected from the former; and it is also the medium which draws back the etheric into the physical as, by way of illustration, the radio link between ground station and space ship brings back the latter to earth through remote control. . There is, therefore, a double counterpart in man which can move and travel out of his physical body and at the same time be normally conscious. While projected he can look down upon his physical body lying on the bed or wherever it may be. In his etheric body man can travel to far off places and verify the truth of this phenomenon by later describing in detail the place he visited although he had never visited the place in his life. Astral projection is no dream, illusion, or hallucination. The etheric body is wide awake and fully conscious when detached from the body, being able to see and hear what is taking place in the material world. Normally a person has no recollection of the outer journeys of his etheric body but it is not an unusual thing for a person to find himself separated away from his physical body and at the same time in his full wide awake senses; and he is able to remember this experience afterwards.