XXX. Introduction to Theosophy V

Then comes the fourth stage, and the master says to the disciple: Until now you have called your body “I”; now you must learn to regard it as a mere tool. It should become like a foreign object to you, like an axe, and you must remain in this feeling even if it suffers some injury. The disciple must reach the point where he says: I am not going through the door, but I am carrying my body through it. This is easy to say, but it takes a lot of strength and perseverance to really experience it and put it into practice. The effect is that while the disciple is completely absorbed in the feeling of separation between himself and his body, he receives the five stigmata on his body, on his hands, feet, and one on his right side. However, one must be careful and [not attribute every such phenomenon to spiritual development], because the stigmata can also be caused by certain pathological conditions. At this point, one has a vision of Christ carrying his cross, and the disciple becomes the bearer of the cross through his bleeding wounds; the cross is his body, which he drags behind him through the world.