Kundalini Yoga Glossary
Ten Bodies
The ten capacities of the psyche: one soul body, three mental bodies, and six energy bodies.
Meaning
What Ten Bodies Means
The Ten Bodies are the ten capacities that make up a human being in Kundalini Yoga philosophy: the Soul Body, three mental bodies (the Negative, Positive and Neutral Minds), the Physical Body, and five further energy bodies (the Arc Line, the Aura, the Pranic Body, the Subtle Body and the Radiant Body). Most people identify only with the physical body, or at best with a physical body and a mind; the Ten Bodies describe a fuller picture.
Each body carries specific gifts when it is strong, and certain deficit tendencies when it is weak. A person's caliber is described as determined by how balanced these ten bodies are, and the root of disease is said to begin in one of them before it manifests outwardly in the physical body.
In Practice
How It’s Used
Each of the Ten Bodies can be strengthened by identifying which one is out of balance and practicing the technique that supports it: raising the Kundalini and opening the heart for the Soul Body, Yamas and Niyamas for the Negative Mind, Asana and Pranayama for the Positive Mind, meditation for the Neutral Mind, exercise and teaching for the Physical Body, and so on through the Arc Line, Aura, Pranic Body, Subtle Body and Radiant Body.
To understand how each body looks when fully developed, the manual points to the lives of the Ten Sikh Gurus, each of whom is said to personify the virtue associated with one of the Ten Bodies.
