Is the astral body, which is made of light, the same as a ghost? If we see a ghost, are we seeing someone’s astral body? Please explain what the differences are.
—SS, USA
Dear SS,
Yes, the astral body is what we call “a ghost”.
You might enjoy a talk Yogananda gave about this topic, called “What Are Ghosts”, in the book Man’s Eternal Quest.
He explains: “There is another world, the astral, hidden behind this universe. Its inhabitants are garbed in an astral form made of light. Lacking a physical body, they are ‘ghosts,’ invisible to us.”
He goes on to explain that some of these souls are intensely attached to this material plane and that therefore they are stuck here. He calls them “tramp souls”. So if you should see ghosts, that’s what they are.
Yogananda adds: “So you see, before you took on this physical form you were a ghost, and when you die you will become a ghost again. We are also ghosts when we sleep, for in sleep we are not aware of ourselves as a physical body at all. Since you are a ghost when you are asleep, and you will be one after death, why be afraid of ghosts?”
Therefore, many greetings to you, dear ghost-to-be, and once-upon-a-time-ghost, and ghost-at-night,
jayadev
