The Threefold Nature of the Human Being and Its Subdivisions
The following is based upon the works of Rudolph Steiner and Anthroposophy. The human being consists of three essential aspects: Body, Soul, and Spirit. This threefold nature is how we experience our world and a template for understanding it provides a new clarity and greater insight of the existence of Man. Through the Body we experience the world around us. The Body is the vehicle in which the Soul and Spirit explore the physical realm. Through the Soul we link the experience of the world around us to our existence. We learn about ourselves through our likes and dislikes, what drives us, our passions, desires, etc. We learn about who we are and about the world inside of us. Through the Spirit we allow the experience of the world around us to reveal their secrets, their gifts, and the who and what they really are. This is independent of our existence. We learn about the world outside of us.
To illustrate how we experience life the threefold way imagine encountering a red rose. Through the Body we see the rose is red and smell its fragrance. Through the Soul it awakens a sense of joy and pleasure through our encounter with it. Through the Spirit we learn about some of its inherent qualities such as impermanence where as it blossoms it withers away. This threefold nature is actually three worlds in which humans live in. In the physical world we form a world outside of us. In the soul world we develop a world within us. In the spirit world we learn about a higher world beyond ours.
The following are the subdivisions of the Body, Soul, and Spirit:
1) material/physical body
2) etheric/life body
3) soul body
4) sentinent soul
5) mind soul
6) consciousness soul
7) spirit self
8) life spirit
9) spirit body
The first three make up the Body. Four to six are the Soul. And seven to nine are the Spirit. These subdivisions are all interpenetrating and exist as one functioning unit of the human being. The material/physical body is the body as we know it with its physical sense organs. The etheric/life body is the “blueprint” of the physical body and contains the formative forces that holds the Body together. Think of the “phantom limb pain” that amputees report experiencing and it’s the etheric template of the limb they are feeling. The soul body is the “container” or “soul skin” that provides a boundary for the soul just like the physical skin provides a boundary for our bodies. As perceptions from the physical sense organs come in, the sentinent soul processes all theses feelings. All of our likes and dislikes, what gives us pleasure or pain, and what attracts us or repels us is experienced here. The mind soul is the thinking part of our soul as it receives ideas/thoughts from the Spirit realm above and perceptions from the physical sense organs below. The consciousness soul is the part of the soul that is most connected to the Spirit, or Divine, realm. The spirit self is that part of us that exists in the spirit realm. The life spirit is the Divine forces that fuel through us. And the spirit body is our “container” in the spirit world.
To help simplify matters we can combine the soul body and sentinent soul and call it the astral body. The astral body is where all of our drives, passions, feelings, and desires are located. We can also combine the mind soul and the consciousness soul and call it the I, or ego. This is our sense of self, our individual essence.
Now we can modify the subdivisions to the following:
1) material/physical body
2) etheric/life body
3) astral body
4) I/ego
5) spirit self
6) life spirit
7) spirit body
Body = One to three
Soul = three and four
Spirit = Five to seven
The I lives within the Body and Soul. They are its vehicles through which it experiences life. And just like the I lives within the Body and Soul, the Spirit lives within the I. Through the I, the Spirit experiences life here on Earth. The Spirit is not capable of experiencing physical aspects in the Spirit world because they are mortal and the Spirit world is one in which immortality exists. Spirit uses the I directly in order to indirectly experience the physical/material world.
Where’s the “Mind” in all of this?
The Mind, in this model, can be thought of as a floating vehicle that acts like a tug boat for the Soul. It can tug the Soul along more towards the physical/material plane or more towards the spiritual plane. The Mind helps discipline the I/ego. The I can get caught up in the pleasures and displeasures of the physical world and “forget” its spiritual nature and inversely, can get caught up in the bliss of the spiritual world and forget its physical nature. The Mind helps balance the I’s experience. Issues arise when the Mind becomes unfiltered and clogged creating delusions affecting the I’s reality. When the Mind is too busy, the I is off to its own devices the same way a dog would be without its leash.
Applications
The physical body sustains the etheric body and the etheric body does its best to delay decay of the physical body. If we do not take care of our physical body, the etheric body steps in and softens the blow. If the abuse of the physical body is too much over time, the etheric body weakens and accelerated “aging”, or decay of the physical occurs. “Weak” areas of the etheric body can manifest in areas of pain or discomfort in the physical body when the astral body attempts to make up for the weakness. Our feelings are located within the astral body and it’s because of its predominance when there is etheric weakness we experience pain or discomfort. Just imagine when a limb “falls asleep” and the pins and needles and eventually pain that occurs as the etheric body leaves the physical and then returns. It’s the astral body that fills in the blanks until the etheric is returned to its functional state.
The astral and the I leave the physical and etheric bodies at night when we sleep. This is what happens when we dream. The more restful the physical body the more the astral and I can freely explore the Soul and Spiritual realms. The less restful or insomnia one experiences the less likely the astral and I can leave into Higher realms. It is within these realms that Spirit can more directly reinform our lower selves (physical) and allow for the physical body to repair and recover from the previous day’s activities. When one is taking prescription medications to induce sleep, the astral/I flight is still incomplete. The artificially-induced sleep does not address the supersensible events that are necessary and critical for wellness of one’s Being. What goes on when we are asleep is just as real and important as when we are awake. The physical and etheric bodies are resting while the astral/I are more active during sleep than they are while awake.
When one lives a life where they deny their spiritual selves, in other words, deny the existence of anything greater than themselves whether they call it God, Allah, the Creator, Source, the Divine, or Divine Intelligence, Extra-Terrestrials, etc, the Mind drives the I/ego more towards the physical/material world as if creating a dam or barrier against the Spirit aspect of their nature. Sooner or later when questions arise regarding life that sources from their physical/material world (in which I’ll refer to as the material world) can not answer, conflict and struggle, and often times tragedy and suffering, occurs. The crystallization of the I/ego towards their lower selves prevents ideas and thoughts from the Spirit world from entering their Being. The crystallized I/ego now finds a need to fill the void of the Spirit and does so by attempting to play the role of Spirit. In effect, Man tries to play God. This delusional state is common when the I/ego becomes too powerful and unchecked by the Mind exuding imbalance and disharmony of the threefold nature of Man.
Wellness of the Human Being can not be fully experienced unless Man’s threefold nature is taken into consideration. Diet, nutrition, exercise, and medicine are limited to the extent that they are formed and utilized for the physical body alone without addressing the Soul and Spirit. Investigations into areas such as spiritual philosophy and spiritual science such as Anthroposophy will equip Humanity with the tools to fill in the blanks embedded by a materialistic-driven society.
