I. THE AURA

The aura is a magnetic field which surrounds everyone on all sides. Little is known as yet about the aura. It may be defined simply as the sum total of the attractive forces in the field of individual activity. It is through the aura that an individual effect makes itself felt in a man’s surroundings.

The physical body is surrounded and interpenetrated by this subtle substance known as the aura. We ourselves are the creators of the aura, the quality and development of which increases over the long evolutionary process. The aura is an extension of the etheric body which is the higher counterpart of the physical body, and changes constantly in composition as the individual grows and develops sequentially in response to higher impressions. The aura is, in essence, a unique reflection of the point of achievement of the overshadowing soul which brings each and every one into incarnation. The soul or causal body, as it is called in certain teachings, is a central and dynamic principle in the human constitution.

The etheric or vital body is a major energising factor in the human being and is an exact replica of the outer form; as a true intermediary between the inner and outer worlds of man, it is primarily composed of the dominant energy or energies to which a man, a group, a nation, or the world reacts in any particular time cycle.

In the progressive stages of man’s evolutionary development, the aura consists primarily of three successive types of energy: the physical health aura, the astral or emotional aura, and the mental aura. It is in these threefold auric substances that impressions are registered today, both from the inner and outer worlds. Indeed, we live and move and have our vital being conditioned by this constant flow of etheric forces. The etheric body is the agent of sensitive response for the true Thinker situated within the soul, as it seeks, from its high point, to control and direct all etheric, astral and mental impressions into the material world.

The evolutionary goal for all lies in the conscious unfolding and development of the inner equipment with which we are endowed. According to the focus of our consciousness, the psychic state of our awareness, the potency of our aspiration or desire, and our point of evolution or spiritual status, so will be the type of energy carried within the etheric bodies and the quality of emanations emitted from the aura.

It is difficult to accept the existence of this subtle substance which is imperceptible to the eyes and senses, and so it remains unacknowledged by the vast majority of people. It is said that a great deal of ill-health experienced by many in the world at this time is a direct result of congestion, or a lack of vitality, within the etheric body.

The condition of the aura at any point in time determines our individual experience within the three worlds (physical, emotional and mental) and the consequent effects we have upon each other. We all carry around with us, unbeknown to most, this auric mechanism of qualified energy which represents (for those who can ‘see’) a perfect picture of our individual stage of development. At every moment in our lives, the aura attracts those conditions and situations that are in keeping with its nature.

For those who are emotionally dominant (and this includes the vast majority of people in the world) the field of activity within the aura is primarily of an astral/emotional nature. As emotional reactions lessen over time through discipline, purification and right effort, so the mental aura begins to predominate, developing in course of time to a point where it becomes more responsive to impressions coming from the mental plane, as opposed to the astral and is a crucial stage in the development of consciousness. The psychic state of awareness then shifts steadily from that of blind emotional reaction to a more mental emphasis.

The proper development of mind, as we all know, requires time and steady effort in the right direction. Upon the mental plane are found all manner of thought-forms created over millennia, and for a long time it remains the cause of much self-illusion. Right knowledge, discrimination, and conscious mental effort are required before the individual mind is able to sift intelligently the true from the false, gaining thereby control of the substance of mind and the power of true discernment. As a result of right mental development the aura is cleared of adverse forces in course of time and begins to radiate those higher energies that emanate from the soul itself. This marks a turning point in the life and a vast change in perspective. As it gains in magnetism it becomes a steady reservoir for higher impressions emanating from within and from without.

As we learn to recognise the varying impacts of the aura, not only our individual aura but also those around us, so will we register accurately the range of impressions that are constantly being radiated outward from us and inward towards us. We will see more accurately how we affect others by what we are emanting in any given moment, and how others are affecting us, for the aura is the medium by which this is effected.