1 74 Biography of a Yogidescribed, like the haṭha yogic subtle body, as having an “astral brain,” which is in
reality a “thousand- petalled lotus of light,” in addition to six awakened centers
along the astral cerebro- spinal axis of the suṣumnā. Astral beings can materialize
and dematerialize at will and assume any form they desire, at least for a time. In
most cases, however, one’s astral form is the exact counterpart of one’s last physi-
cal form at the height of its youth, though on this point the astral Sri Yukteswar
conveniently specifies that occasionally some choose to retain their aged appear-
ance. Astral beings also possess a third astral eye, placed vertically on the forehead,
which governs the sixth sense of intuition. By virtue of this sixth organ, astral
beings can experience any sensation through any sense organ, resulting in a kind
of synesthetic perception of reality.
Interestingly, this sixth organ, along with its corresponding sense capacity of
intuition, appears nowhere in Yogananda’s schema of the astral body, which tends
to follow Sāṃkhyan notions of the traditional five sense organs fairly precisely.
However, it may also be significant in this context that Yogananda’s framework
entirely excludes the five subtle elements (tanmātras). As previously noted, in
Yogananda’s work we see an interesting move toward a kind of quantum monism.
Again and again, the text affirms that everything in the physical, astral, and even
causal worlds is ultimately composed of light. On the astral level, this light con-
geals into the somewhat grosser particles of lifetrons, or prāṇa. This metaphysical
move thus eliminates the need for a fivefold division of subtle elements, which
now appear just as antiquated as the five gross elements from a molecular stand-
point. However, given such a system, Yogananda’s enumertion of the five tradi-
tional sense organs as well as the five organs of action appears rather out of place.
After all, astral beings hardly rely on their traditional sense organs but instead
employ the aforementioned sixth sense of intuition. Although Yogananda pays
lip service to traditional Sāṃkhyan and Vedāntin categories in his metaphysi-
cal taxonomy, his more qualitative descriptions imply a much more Western
metaphysical perspective, no doubt acquired during his sojourn among the New
Thought and other metaphysically inclined circles in the United States.
A final aspect of Yogananda’s treatment of the astral body relates to his
reinterpretation of the idea of resurrection, which quite clearly derives from
Christian influences and the Christian orientation of his intended audience.
Yogi Ramacharaka, or Atkinson, had already described in his Mystic Christianity
(1908) Jesus’s resurrection as “the appearance in the Astral Body— the return
from the Astral Plane in which He had sojourned for the three days following the
crucifixion.”^50 Likewise, in Yogananda’s system resurrection is a function reserved
for those who have consciously advanced to the astral world. Whereas reincar-
nation is the fate at death of all unenlightened beings, who enjoy a temporary
and involuntary sojourn on the astral plane before their earthly karma draws