The goal of a spiritual path is to experience the totality of our existence in the level of consciousness that manifests itself throughout our body or, in fact, bodies. Our physical body is a biological miracle. It is, however, only a part of us, the densest part at that. The physical body is subject to time and space. It is mortal, has a beginning and an end. 

We are also an ‘inner being’ which is comprised of much subtler energies. These energies can exist independently, but they can only develop and evolve through the physical body. The Ontogonic model offers an exploration and understanding of layered realities: the energies and consciousness that manifest through each. 

The Physical Body itself is a system that goes from the densest level, where we find hair, nails, and bones, to the most subtle level, such as the nervous and endocrine systems. Each system contains or expresses one or more levels of energy, interacting with the rest, and yielding the total experience of that body. If our model were a little different, we would say that physical life expresses itself through a skeletal body, a muscular body, and a brain body, among others. Thus, instead of one physical body, we would describe three, five, or seven physical bodies that interact. 

The Body of Vitality has also been termed the etheric body, the aura, the pranic body, and the electromagnetic body. It is more subtle than the physical body, and is the densest of subtle bodies. Modern science has begun to detect and measure this body. It is the only subtle body that we can reach through our technology, for the time being.

The body of vitality covers and circulates through all the physical organs, generally protruding about 5 cm from the physical body. Its brilliance, clearness, and size vary according to the health and emotional state of the person. The body of vitality is a condensation of cosmic energy that gives life to the physical body. Its detachment results in death.

The Double is subtler than the body of vitality and is so called because it is an exact copy of the physical body. The double is joined to the physical body but, because it exists in another dimension or level of energy, it can separate from the physical body, and can travel independently to places subtle or physical. It can materialize and be visible in the physical world. The double is responsible for the apparition of loved ones, sometimes hundreds of miles away, who come to say goodbye at the time of their death. 

Unlike the body of vitality, the double has independent consciousness and agency. The double is the “I” of the unconscious mind. It is also known as the Dream Body because it communicates with the physical body through the symbolic language of dreams. The double, or dream body, is denser than the Soul. Because it so resembles the physical body, it is easier for physical consciousness to recognize its reality and its experiences. When we speak of astral travel, we are referring to journeys with the double. It separates pretty much every night and produces the dreams that seem like “reality but with a mysterious glow”. 

Whereas the “reality” viewed from the Soul is of another order altogether. The world ceases to have a known shape. It becomes a marvelous and complex game of fields of energy, a meeting of auras.

The physical body, body of vitality, and double begin their existence at the same time, during conception. When the physical and vitality bodies separate at death, the double generally remains alive for some time (usually no more than three months) to finish saying goodbye to the physical world and to make a gradual and adequate transition from physical consciousness to the soul.

When the soul has completely integrated the experiences and identity of the deceased physical person, the double dies and dissipates. The soul is then free to go on to spiritual levels, or heavens, and continue evolving.

It is good to remind ourselves that only through vantage of the physical body, do we get to experience the whole of creation! Only through this maximum point of the specific, can we behold the maximum point of the universal: Cosmic Energy, the Totality…(Such is Grace!)