So you essentially admit that you will not find any use of the words astral or causal in any traditional yoga text. I think the translations you’ve given for these two sutras are greatly over simplified and maybe a little self-serving, but I understand you need to justify your use of these terms, which I view as little more than pop culture.
Asuri,
Correction. It is almost standard in Vedic scripts to use sthul shareer (physical body), sukshma shareer (astral body) and karan shareer (causal body). I wrote that ‘Yoga Sutra does not specifically use these terms’; but it does imply such terms or concepts unquestionably. (Examples of implied concepts are reincarnation, evolution etc. Also see the table below.)
It will be more valuable for you to point out which part of my interpretation is extraneous than to reach a hasty and easy conclusion of their self-serving nature or pop culture. I know Sanskrit and have read most of the standard interpretations. It is my opinion that some writers have chosen a literal translation of many sutras. Such literal translations present incomplete jigsaw puzzles which appeal to some writers eager to discover a mystique of Eastern philosophy. Yoga Sutra is intended to be a hardcore guidebook for a seeker and not a philosophy book for an academician. Simplicity is therefore intended, not superimposed by me.
Let me give one classic example. Book 1, sutras 21 & 22:
[B]Original Sanskrit/[/B] Tivra = intense, samvega = urge, asannah = quite near
[B]Commonly used Literal Translation/[/B] Those who have an intense urge attain (Samadhi) very soon
[B]A simplified yet authentic translation/[/B] Attainment of (spiritual consciousness) is rapid for one who seeks it wholeheartedly with an intense urge
[B]Original Sanskrit/[/B] mrudu = mild, madhyama = medium, adhimatra = extremely strong, tvat = due to,
[B]Commonly used Literal Translation/[/B] With the intensity of urge rising through the mild, medium and strong conditions, Samadhi can be achieved sooner.
[B]A simplified yet authentic translation/[/B] How rapid depends on whether the practice is intense, moderate or gentle …
22 (continued…)
[B]Original Sanskrit/[/B] tato api = also, more than that, visesh = special, peculiar
[B]Commonly used Literal Translation/[/B] (Above translations ignore these 2 inconvenient words, “tato api” and “visesh” since they can’t place them. Instead they add ‘samadhi can be achieved sooner’ borrowing it from sutra 21. Patanjali’s precise words never get repeated. )
[B]A simplified yet authentic translation/[/B] … yet, more than that, there is another special way.
Patanjali is simply giving a pointer to another known reference in Bhagvdgeeta that instead of intense urge and practice, one can be born with Bhakti, a total devotion to Ishvara. That is another concept implied in Yoga Sutra.
I’m not going to engage in academic discussions of the sutras and how they should be translated. I will say only that every occurrence of the word suksma that I have seen has been consistently translated as ‘subtle’, not astral, so I’m not buying the correction. You want to talk about writers eager to discover a mystique about Eastern philosophy, I think using words like astral body and causal body falls into that category.
The reason that different literature mentions a different number of ‘bodies’ is because they classify the bodies differently, but they are aiming at the same concept: reality is multidimensional. This means every body in reality whether it be the human being, an insect, a plant or a rock exists across a spectrum of reality spanning many dimensions. It has a counterpart on every level/dimension. Each level is a higher vibrational density than the other. According to classical Samkhya there are 7*7 or 49 levels of vibrational density of original matter. Of these 49 levels there are 7 distinct planes of reality, where matter behaves in a coherent and predictable way.
Classical Samkhya does not go into detail on what those 7 planes of reality are, but more details can be found in Vedanta and Puranic literature. In Vedanta the emphasis is more on the human body and it is broken down into 5 main dimensions. In other words there really is no such thing as many bodies, there is only one body but that body has many dimensions. They are:
The physical or space and time dimension
The energy or quantum dimension
The mental or information dimension
The intellectual or process dimensiom
The bliss or consciousness dimension
These 5 dimensions are classified in Vedanta according to 3 states of consciousness and 3 states of matter: waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep and gross, subtle and causal.
From what I have read there are 7 major chakras in the body. There are smaller ones in various other parts through out the body. I have found a profound difference in my life when I work to keep the 7 major chakras clear. I think this practice can be an important part of our health.
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;68239]The reason that different literature mentions a different number of ‘bodies’ is because they classify the bodies differently, but they are aiming at the same concept: reality is multidimensional. This means every body in reality whether it be the human being, an insect, a plant or a rock exists across a spectrum of reality spanning many dimensions. It has a counterpart on every level/dimension. Each level is a higher vibrational density than the other. According to classical Samkhya there are 7*7 or 49 levels of vibrational density of original matter. Of these 49 levels there are 7 distinct planes of reality, where matter behaves in a coherent and predictable way.
Classical Samkhya does not go into detail on what those 7 planes of reality are, but more details can be found in Vedanta and Puranic literature. In Vedanta the emphasis is more on the human body and it is broken down into 5 main dimensions. In other words there really is no such thing as many bodies, there is only one body but that body has many dimensions. They are:
The physical or space and time dimension
The energy or quantum dimension
The mental or information dimension
The intellectual or process dimensiom
The bliss or consciousness dimension
These 5 dimensions are classified in Vedanta according to 3 states of consciousness and 3 states of matter: waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep and gross, subtle and causal.[/QUOTE]
Although I have not read any of the texts cited, this is my sense of the body. Each dimension can be subdivided infinitely, I am sure.
Wouldn’t it be a bummer, though, if all this great thinking was for naught and all we really are is a bag of flesh, blood and bone and an overactive imagination? :-o 
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;68239] According to classical Samkhya there are 7*7 or 49 levels of vibrational density of original matter. Of these 49 levels there are 7 distinct planes of reality, where matter behaves in a coherent and predictable way.
[/QUOTE]
Talk about wanting to create a mystique about Eastern philosphy, this is complete and utter fiction. It does however show the influence of Samkhya. Every crackpot idea claims to be Samkhya, in order to try to establish some credibility, because it was so widely accepted in the ancient world.
Theory and practice is like chicken and egg; hard to say which comes first. But in Yoga Sutra practice did precede the theory. That makes “astral” and “causal” as mere labels to attached to an experience that however stands as truth. Labels enable sharing of the experience. Where experience is not the basis of exchange only labels prevail. And that is a pointless debate.
Wouldn’t it be a bummer, though, if all this great thinking was for naught and all we really are is a bag of flesh, blood and bone and an overactive imagination?
We are that too, but of course we realise there is more going on within us. Emotions and sensations, thoughts, desires, awarenesss. These are all taking place in different dimensions of reality, but their activity has a counterpart on every level. As far as our current scientific knowledge we are only aware so far of 2 of 5 of the dimensions recognized in the the theory of koshas: space-time and quantum. But the discovery of the quantum dimension is a huge revelation in science. Now we are aware of how information can and does travel outside of space-time and how the same takes place in the brain. We are aware of how networks can be created on the quantum level to transmit and receive information, which is not very far off from the the theory of chakras, nadis, prana.
There is somewhat a nod by scientists today to an informational dimension of reality(3 of 5) where the entire universe exists as pure information, like some kind of cosmic matrix. At this level all past, present and future events exist as one.
The best classification I?ve seen so far comes from Alice Bailey & Theosophy:
Monad
Atma
Buddhi
Manas {Higher Manas and Lower Manas
Astral Body
Physical Body {Etheric and Dense
This chart from A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Alice Bailey explains the subject:
The Constitution of Man
[QUOTE=YogaPrem;68016]Some sources use the term ‘body’ interchangeably with ‘kosha’ or sheath and generally name five: Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya…which is probably not much help to a novice but will give you another facet of yoga to explore.
So much to learn and so little time in which to do it.[/QUOTE]
:p:p:p
Here, this may help.
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/moksh/moksh_09.html Here is another very good resource from Swami Krishnananda that explains the 5 koshas and relates them to the concept of subtle bodies. It follows fairly closely the document in the previous post, but with a few seemingly minor but important differences.
First observation: Swami Krishnananda does not use the term astral body. He calls it the subtle body, but relates it to the Pranamaya, Manomaya, and Vijnanamaya koshas as does the previous post.
Second observation: The koshas are explained in terms of Samkhya principles, up to the point of the Anandamaya kosha. The swami uses words like guna, indriya, manas, and buddhi to to explain how the koshas are constituted. These are all Samkhya terms.
Third observation: The swami correlates the Anandamaya kosha to the causal body, but at this point, the correlation to Samkhya principles stops. Instead, he says that the Anandamaya kosha is composed of Avidya, or ignorance. In my view this is the correct interpretation. The previous document correlates Anandamaya kosha to Buddhi, which I believe is an error.
This is a very important subject indeed.
The name “astral” body is mainly used in western esotericism. The name comes from the fact, that this so called body is actually a kind of space traveller, and every night it returns to it’s home, the astral plane of existence, or should I say, sphere.
The astral sphere denotes the lowest spiritual realm, and to be more precise, this is the space the astral body goes to during the night. But because looking from earth, this sphere appears as up, and with the starry sky as a background, the name astral is correct, especially for the sensorial westerners. (astra = stars, in latin) The other realms are said to be the lower and upper devachan. I am sure, that the oriental teachings have the corresponding rupas.
In the sheat, or kosha structure, the astral body would correspond to manomaya kosha.
All apparent divergences come form the fixed nature of any earthy teaching. These teachings are like pictures of a great tree. They only ever show a single point of view. Add the fact that the tree is growing, as everything in the universe - yes even gods develop - and your best bet is to find a genuine school of thought, directed or ruled from the position of actual seership, and one of high level. Many people today have gained various insights into the lower levels of existence, to make things even more complicated. Add the fact that every wrong notion, concept and mental image stands there as a being in the spiritual world, and you might imagine the hardships a genuine seeker of truth must face. In this, the mumbo-jumbo part of yoga or even the moral teachings of religions will help you tremendously, while asana will have very little effect.
There is a series of books by Arthur Powell, which are a compilation of several books by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, published by the Theosophycal Society, that gives much detail on the bodies of man. They are freely available on the Internet, already in public domain, for they are books from the beginning of XX Century.
The Etheric Double (1925)
The Astral Body and Other Astral Phenomena (1926)
The Mental Body (1927)
The Causal Body And The Ego ( 1928 )
This another book completes the series, and gives a summary on the evolution of the Solar System:
The Solar System (1930)
Theosophy is largely based on Hindu Classics, plus the important contribution of modern Theosophists, such as Annie Besant, C.W. Leadbeater and Alice Bailey, who made clear the obscure points, organized the teachings of past ages, and added important corroboration from their own mystical experiences, under the guidance of some Ascended Masters, mainly Kuthumi, El Morya, St. Germain and Djwal Khul, the Tibetan.
Blavatsky was the founder of Theosophy but her successors made the things more clear.
According to Theosophy and Alice Bailey, the Physical Body is thus composed:
Dense part
Composed by matter from the three lower sub-planes of Physical Plane: Solid, Liquid, Gaseous.
This is the part we see, and can be studied in Anatomy and Physiology books.
Etheric part
Composed by matter from the four higher sub-planes of Physical Plane: Etheric, Super-Etheric, Sub-Atomic, Atomic.
The Permanent Physical Atom is located in the Atomic sub-plane, and it is the Atom which forms the next body in the next incarnation, according to its evolution and the individual Karma.
Every evolutive effort related to the Physical Body is engraved in this Atom, and forms the basis of the new physical body in the next incarnation.
This part Etheric of the Physical Body is not visible, except if one have Physical Clairvoyance developed, an Yoga Siddhi.
In this Etheric part is located the Chacras and the Acupuncture Meridians.
When the death of the Physical Body occurs, this Etheric part is dissolved as well, and only the Physical Body Permanent Atom goes to the Causal Body, also called Higher Mental Body.
The Astral Body, or Emotional Body, called Kama in Hindu literature, is located in the Astral Plane, and it is the lowest body the Monad have after the death of the Physical Body. It is identical to the Physical Body, since the Physical is a perfect copy of the Astral Body.
There are reports in Spiritualism literature of people who dies and don?t perceive that are dead, since everything continues as usual. The person is then only with the Astral Body.
Many may have had experiences at night of dreams when see oneself sleeping on the bed, or vivid dreams. This is what is called Astral Projection, or Astral Journey.
It’s this kind of stuff that we’re trying to weed out here. The original question was concerned with what are the traditional yoga teachings on the matter. I think we’ve established that the traditional teachings consist of the koshas, from the Upanishads, and the subtle body.
It doesn?t seem to me a wise thing to weed out teachings which clarifies traditional yoga teachings on the matter, often confuse and incomplete.