Astral Body

Osho, you have told us what happens to the soul during that timeless interval between two births. But some points remain unresolved, regarding the bodiless soul: in that bodiless state, does the soul remain stationary or can it move about? And how does it recognize other souls? In that state, is there any possibility of a dialogue between souls?

Sometimes different types of events may also happen, but these kinds of experiences will differ. Occasionally, it may so happen that souls which are neither stationary nor in movement will enter other bodies. But to say that the souls will enter is a linguistic fallacy. It would be better to say that some body may behave in such a way that it will cause a soul to enter into it. The world of such souls is not different from ours. That world exists also beside us, close by. We are all residing in the same world. Every inch of space that is here is filled with souls. The space right here which appears empty to us is also full. There are two types of bodies which are in a state of deep receptivity. One is of those that are in great fear. Those who are in great fear cause their…

Osho, is there something like a subtle body within the body, or not?

There is only one way: while you are alive, the body and the body’s consciousness can separate. At the time of death it happens anyway. But then we have no means left to know it. The only means we have is that, while living, a person can experience being outside the body. This experience often happens accidentally—and to many people. It is a fairly common experience; it is not very unusual. Many people have it happen accidentally—during some grave illness, sometimes when a severe injury occurs...

Osho, if a person situated in the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh chakras is reborn after death, what will be their corresponding cyclic status? Which embodied people attain the disembodied higher realms? For the final attainment, does a disembodied being have to take a human body again?

One whose fifth body has become active goes beyond the deva-yonī as well. The fifth body is the atma-body, the soul-body. And at the level of the fifth body, activity and awareness mean the same thing, because no one can reach the fifth without awareness. There, activity and awareness are simultaneous. Up to the fourth body, one’s journey can happen even while asleep. If one awakens, the journey changes toward the deva-yonī; if one remains asleep, the journey goes toward the pret-yonī. With the fifth body, activity and awareness are one and the same, because it is the soul-body; without awareness there is no meaning to “soul.” The very meaning of soul is consciousness. Therefore another name for soul is consciousness. There is no place for unconsciousness there. So from the fifth body onwards, the two are the same; but before the fifth, the two paths diverge. Up to the…

Osho, in that timeless interval you have described what happens to the soul. But what is the soul’s disembodied form? Is it still or does it wander? How does it recognize other familiar souls? And is there any possibility of dialogue in that state?

Ask: in a dream are you still or moving? It is hard to say. Waking, you find you lay still in bed; yet within the dream there was great movement. Strictly speaking, even movement in dreams is not real. If you understand precisely, in dreams you are not a participant but only a witness. You can see yourself dying in a dream; you can see your own corpse. Even when you see yourself walking, what you see walking is only the dream; you remain the seer. Properly understood, in dream you are only the witness. Hence religion devised a maxim: one who comes to see the world as dream-like attains the supreme realization. Philosophies calling the world maya or dream arose for this reason: if we can see the world as a dream, we become the witness. In dreams there is never a participant; there is always a witness. You…