According to Osho, after attaining the fifth body one will no longer take birth in the gross physical body; subtler vehicles become available, like the so-called “deity” bodies. Beyond the sixth, even these are transcended and an Ishwar-like divine body becomes available. Only upon realization of the seventh body is all embodiment ended; before that, subtler and subtler bodies persist.
After the fifth level you don’t get a human body again; you get finer and finer bodies until the seventh, when you need no body at all.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, after attaining the fifth body or any of the subsequent bodies, does one still have to assume a gross physical body in the next birth?
Yes, that is correct: after attaining the fifth body, a person will not be born into this gross physical body. But there are other bodies. There are other bodies. In fact, there are bodies of the kind we have called “deities.” After the fifth, such bodies can become available. After the sixth, even those kinds of bodies will not be available. Not the bodies of “gods,” but the kind of body we have called “God,” Ishwar, will become available. But bodies will continue to be available; what kind they are is a very secondary matter. Only after the seventh will no bodies be available. Only after the seventh will there be a disembodied state. Before that, subtler and subtler bodies will keep becoming available. Grace is superior to shaktipat.
Do those who reach the fifth and following bodies again assume physical forms after death?
Yes, it is true. One who attains the fifth or the sixth body before death is reborn in the highest celestial realm, and there he lives on the plane of the devas. He can stay in this realm as long as he likes, but to attain nirvana he has to come back to the human form. After attaining the fifth there is no birth in the physical body, but there are other bodies. In fact, what we call devas or gods signifies the kind of body that is obtained. This type of body is obtained after reaching the fifth body. After the sixth body, even these will not be there. Then we shall obtain the form of what we call ishwar, the supreme being. But all these are still bodies. What type is a secondary matter. After the seventh there are no bodies. From the fifth onwards the bodies become…
Osho, if the fifth body becomes available while the physical body is still alive, then after death in which body will that person be born?
After the fifth body—if the fifth body has become available in the human body, and the fifth body never becomes available without awakening; if you have awakened in the fifth body (without awakening it does not become available)—then obtaining the fifth body and awakening are one and the same. Then you no longer need the earlier bodies; now you can function from the fifth body itself. You are an awakened person; now there is no difficulty. Now the earlier bodies are not needed. This question remains only up to the fourth body, always. If in the fourth body a man becomes a deva—the fourth body has become active and awake. If the fourth body remains inactive, asleep, he becomes a preta (a ghost). In both situations you will have to return, because you have not yet come to any knowing of your own nature; as yet, even to inquire into…
If the fifth plane is attained in the physical body, in which form is the person reborn after his death?
To attain the fifth body and to be awakened is one and the same thing. Then you no longer need the initial bodies. Now you can work from the fifth plane; now you are an awakened person. Hence, there is no difficulty. The initial bodies are required only up to the fourth body. If the fourth is activated and awakened the person becomes a deva -- a heavenly soul. If the fourth lies idle and asleep the person enters the realm of the pretas -- the evil spirits. You will have to return to the human form from both of these states, because you have no idea of your identity as yet. And in order to know your identity you must still have a need for the other. Only with the help of the other will you be able to know yourself. Right now to know yourself you need the…
You said we have seven bodies: an etheric body, a mental body and so on. Sometimes it is difficult to adjust the indian language to the terms of western psychology. We have no theory for this in the west, so how can we translate these different bodies into our language? The spiritual is no problem, but the etheric? The astral?
Begin from the physical. Then every other step opens for you. The moment you work on the first body, you have glimpses of the second. So begin from the physical. Be aware of it moment to moment. And not only outwardly aware. You can become aware of your body from the inside also. I can become aware of my hand as I have seen it from the outside, but there is an inner feeling to it too. When I close my eyes the hand is not seen, but there is still an inner feeling of something being there. So do not be aware of your body as seen from the outside. This cannot lead you inward. The inner feeling is quite different. When you feel the body from within, you will know for the first time what it is to be inside the body. When you see it only from…