XXX. Introduction to Theosophy V

Let us think of the state of the human being when he is asleep, when the ego and the astral body are outside the physical body. Because the astral body has neither ears nor eyes, the human being perceives nothing during the night. Therefore, he must develop spiritual organs in his astral body. This is achieved through “purification” or “catharsis,” as it was called in ancient Greece. This is the first stage. In the second stage, the human being must imprint the perceptions of the astral body on the etheric body. Immediately after it is made, the perception is repeated like an impression in the etheric body.