Question asked by Eric w.
How important are the subtle bodies
I was reading in a blog by a kadampa practitioner
About how much importance we place on the physical.
I don't give my physical body much importance
I know I am not the body.
I seem to be more aware of my subtle bodies than
Most people.
I feel like people are are intruding in my subtle body alot and it really bothers me.
So my question is what importance should I give my energy
How can I be compassionate when someone intrudes in my energy field
Thank you
Dear Eric W,
Thank you for your question. There are two ways to view our bodies, one is from the sutric system which just talks about the physical body and the mind. The second is from the tantric system, which talks about multiple bodies and the mind.
In the tantric system there are two major bodies, the physical or gross body and the energy or subtle body. The physical body is made up of the elements: earth, water, fire and air. The subtle body however is made up of the winds (sanskrit: prana), channels (sanskrit: nadi), and the drops (sanskrit: bindu). The subtle energies move along the channels. There are many different types of energies known as “winds or breaths”. Within the Highest Yoga Tantra (sanskrit: Anuttarayoga) there are meditations which are used to penetrate these energy channels in order to bring about higher states of mind and spiritual realisations. Meditations that work with the subtle body and energies include the Inner Fire, and Six Yogas of Naropa meditations. However, one can only engage in the meditations after receiving empowerment into the Highest Yoga Tantra practices, and having received the commentaries and instructions on how to practice properly.
It is believed that the mind or consciousness rides on these subtle energies. Just like a jockey rides on a horse. In this case, the mind is the jockey and the subtle energies are the horse. Therefore, with meditation we can control where and how these energies move.
At our level, since the mind is what ultimately directs the winds, we should work with our minds in order to make it more stable. In that way we can also develop more compassion, so that when we are confronted with situations that we are not comfortable with, such as when people invade our energy fields, we can deal with it in a better manner. In fact, one way of doing this is by engaging in various forms of meditation such as breathing meditation (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-accidental-meditator.html). You should give it a try. It will end up balancing your own energy field. That is one side-effect of breathing meditation that people are not aware of. I hope this helps. Thank you.