When I got to Larson, I was immediately struck how similar his system was to those of say, Steiner, Theosophy, and Christian Mysticism. Like these systems, Larson found that the physical world is composed of two general regions that he termed the material sector and the Cosmic sector. Usually these are refereed to in the above mentioned systems as the chemical(material) and the etheric regions. They are in further agreement with Larson in that, as Larson posits that the cosmic sector life unit animates the material form, so does the unit of the etheric region, often calling it the "vital body".
So much for the similarities. Where they diverge is over the issue of the astral. Larson lumps everything beyond the physical into the ethical sector. This is, of course, completely understandable, as the RS is a physical theory, and the nature of the breadth and depth of the ethical sector can only be got through extrapolation. It does not seem at all unreasonable to assume the ethical sector to be comprised of different levels, since that is the finding in the known region.
In all three of the above mentioned systems, the Astral is "a level up", so to speak, and entirely non-physical. These systems stress that desire, attraction/repulsion, emotion, etc, is the role of the astral. They also claim that plants lack an independent astral body, whereas animals and man posses one, and posit this as a major difference in terms of systematics. It is this factor that gives animals and man the ability to move independently of their environment. Plants, lacking this in their constitution, are incapable of such motion. Vines creep, leaves turn, and flowers open and close, but the plant remains firmly rooted at its place of origin.
They also say that the astral acts as a brake upon the vital body, the sector two unit in Larson's terms. Impulses, desires, and feelings (often in opposition to the well being of the organism) tend to break down the vital body. Many plants, since in general they lack this brake upon their growth, grow to enormous sizes, or at least continue to grow throughout their lives. The reversal of this tearing down of the vital body by the astral body is, they say, one of the primary reasons for sleep. They claim that in man and higher animals, the consciousness leaves with the astral body during sleep, allowing the vital body to reinvigorate the form unhindered. Astral travel or projection during sleep seems to verify this.
Here's my view:
RS "material sector" (time-space events; form) == material component of physical plane
RS "cosmic sector"; Steiner, et al "Etheric Region" (space-time events; energy) == etheric plane;animating component of physical plane
Now we run into the lumping together problem of Larson. With this in mind, then comes:
Astral Plane
Mental Plane
One interesting note is that these system break down the mental, as they do the physical, into two regions. A lower mental associated with concrete ideation, and a higher mental associated with abstract ideation. As a simplistic example, the idea of "boat", and the concrete idea of a particular boat, say, "a schooner".
bperet wrote:
The Missing Link: The "etheric" plane
The "etheric plane" is notably missing from the above structures, because it appears to be a "bridge" between the astral and physical planes. It behaves more like a projection from the astral/cosmic into the physical, and manifests as an "etheric body" surrounding a physical body.
Theosophy actually has two different "eras". During the HPB era, it's true that there is no reference to the etheric plane. In the second era, call it the Besant/Leadbeater era, the etheric region becomes a prominent component of their philosophy. At least that's my understanding.
Dan