The Desire-Feeling Body is a form resembling the physical body, yet much larger in size and made of the luminous substance that characterizes the astral plane. The blueprint of this body and its frame structure is a projection of the energies of the Soul shaped with every detail of the human form. Through this projected Soul energy, the life and the sense of self-awareness of the human Self travel to give life and sentientness to this body. In some teachings this body is also known as “the Astral Body” or “sentient nature”.
The Desire-Feeling Body is the instrument of the Persona for contacting, perceiving and using the energies we call feelings. Complementing the sentientness of the Soul, which enables us to contact the souls of all kingdoms, this sentient instrument makes it possible to contact and realize the quality, the beauty and the goodness of the different forms that other Selves and Intelligent Essences use to manifest and gain experience. Thus, in the incarnated human being this body is the seat for the tremendous power of feeling, the power that reveals the relatedness of all.
The characteristics of the energies of the astral plane can be described as fluid and highly sensitive to the impacts coming from the mental realms, from other sources of sentient energies and from physical events. Because of these characteristics, the astral plane and the human Desire-Feeling Body are often compared to a reservoir of water that is easily agitated by thoughts, by other astral emanations and by events in the physical realm.
This acute sensitivity makes of the Desire-Feeling Body the most powerful instrument that the human being possesses while in physical incarnation. However, this brings to the human being evolutionary advantages and liabilities. Advantages, because the Desire-Feeling Body provides a mechanism to experience and learn to use with mastery the energy of Love — Love is the building energy of Divinity that relates everything harmoniously. Liabilities, because an uncontrolled Desire-Feeling Body (as is the case with many human beings today) hinders progress by overpowering with its fluidity and turbulence the activities and the direction of the mental life and the physical body.
Besides being the instrument for feelings, the Desire-Feeling Body can be described as “the body of desire”.
When the energy of Will (also called the energy of Intention) of the human being impacts the Desire-Feeling Body, the result is desire. In the human psyche, Will is a latent power, directionless and colorless, which can be activated by the many kinds of attractiveness sensed with the Desire-Feeling Body. When uncontrolled desire colors the individual's life — that is, when the individual reacts more to stimuli coming from the environment than to those coming from within — the energy of Will is dispersed in many directions and usually wasted. On the other hand, when desire is directed by the intelligent activities of the mind and by the highest aspirations of the individual, the energy of Will can be used for progress. The point here is that the Desire-Feeling Body can be used to sense attractions both from ‘within’ and from ‘without’. Desire, therefore, is a subjective power or driving force that can be used at will to gain experiences and knowledge in the direction that one chooses.
The mastering of the Desire-Feeling Body and of the energies contacted through it requires of a long process. For humanity in general, this mastering was initiated during a civilization millennia ago. The process is still going on. However, for many human beings the development of the mental capacities is opening up the possibility of ending the domination imposed by the natural reactiveness of the Desire-Feeling Body. The prominent position occupied by desire in their immediate field of awareness has lead many to the realization of desire as a driving force for the individual's progress. Now, they need to learn to give feeling and desire a proper place in the human experience under the direction of the “I AM”.