Compendium of Metaphysics I

METAPHYSICS The meaning of the word Metaphysics derives from: meta (beyond) and physics (physical). In other words, it involves the study of that which is hidden to our perceptions through the five physical senses. Therefore, it is a science in which our intuitive faculties play a very important role. This science comprises the learning and practice of ancient spiritual knowledge and wisdom embodying fundamental principles related to existence and manifested life. Throughout the entire history of humanity, innumerable exceptional beings were able to understand a cosmic reality through direct experience of the inner worlds and also through intuitive perceptions. They did this by leading an intense spiritual life of meditation and contemplation, then they transmitted to others their discoveries on the spiritual field in different manners including images, symbols, and metaphorical stories. This spiritual wisdom is ageless, and teaching of it has existed from the very beginning of human existence. THE HUMAN PHYSICAL BODY Coming back to the human physical body, the joining of all these chemical atoms, molecules, cells, and tissues, form a larger living organism called physical body, which serves as a vehicle to a higher form of consciousness than that present in a separate single chemical atom. Further, the human physical body is also part of a bigger form, like Humanity as a whole; and the latest is part of our planet Earth, and so on... The corpuscles that fashion the human physical body are in perpetual motion and exchange (attraction and rejection of electrons). From this, we may deduce that this physical body is not the same from instant to instant, since it is constantly exchanging its materials, which remain for a while and then pass to form part of other organisms. This fact can be seen as one of the evidences of our condition of interconnectedness with everything that exists. The human physical body is the most crystallized and the densest clothing of the human being, as well as the most restricted expression of us. Our expressions depend on the limitations imposed by the state or condition of this vehicle. The physical body is not the indelible Self; it is only one of the vehicles or instruments serving as a dwelling to a conscious entity (innate intelligence), who functions, develops and expresses itself acting through and utilizing diverse bodies. The physical body may be considered as a temporary composite of matter and energy that has the potentiality to recover its primordial state (light) through purification and spiritualization. Work on the Purification of the Human Physical Body In order to work with purifying our physical body, we should pay careful attention to the following: • What we eat. • How we eat. • Hygiene. • Breathing. • Speech and silence. • Exposure to sun light, pure air, and nature. • Physical activity. • The manner we expend physical energy. • Rest, sleep, and moments of solitude. • Sexual activity. • Addiction: food - alcohol - smoking - medicines - drugs. • General attitude toward the physical body. THE HUMAN ETHERIC BODY OR “ETHERIC DOUBLE” The human etheric body serves the function of being a mold as well as a frame for the physical body. We may consider it an energy skeleton underlying the physical body. It is, in truth, a matrix in the form of a net or web, constituted by infinite number of lines of force or energy, which all together forge a structure that resemble a luminous wire sculpture. The entire etheric body is nothing less than an electromagnetic field of energy and its formation occurs prior to the building of the physical body, which is in reality a result of the former. The etheric body is manufactured in accord with and following the guidelines provided by the Lords of Karma. A new etheric body is formed for each incarnation of the human entity, and it will dissipate within three days each time when physical death takes place. This body represents the primary blueprint or outline of the physical body. The physical matter that composes the tissues of the physical body are cast and arranged according to the original patron of the etheric body, which serves as the anchoring place for these tissues. We may surely say that the conglomerate of the physical matter in the form of a physical body exists due to the presence of the vital energy field behind it, which enlivens, vitalizes, and sustains it. In summary, the human etheric body is another vehicle for the use of the soul. Through it, the soul or inner intelligence can vitalize and activate the physical body. Both of these bodies, the physical and the etheric, will change simultaneously in their quality. If an individual consciously works to refine and perfect her or his physical body, the corresponding etheric body shall follow the same direction, and vice versa. Both bodies are very sensitive, reacting strongly in response to emotional impulses and thoughts emerging from the respective bodies: the astral body and the lower mental body.