The body is composed of cells, which are made up of atoms. The atoms are also physical phenomena. They are fundamentally jada, or composite or un-feeling. The Vedanthins speak of a subtle body, separate from this gross body. That too is physical. It is the centre of subtle skills and force. It is in this body that all the subtle mental feelings and agitations take place. Every force can work only through some medium or other, which is physical. The same power that operates the gross body works through the subtle processes of thought. They are not two different entities. One is the subtle form of the other, that is all.

What is the source of these powers? If we delve deep, we will find that there are two things in nature, Akasa and Prana. Akasa is the source of all the gross and subtle material one encounters; when Prana or Life-force contacts it, due to the impact, the Akasa principle transforms itself into either gross or subtle, in varying proportions. Prana too is omnipresent, like Akasa; it can also penetrate everywhere, and everything. Like the blocks of ice that water becomes and that float on water and that move about on water, the Prana acts on Akasa and bodies appear. Prana is the force that moulds the Akasa into various forms. The gross body is the vehicle of the Prana that it has shaped out of Akasa. The subtle body is of the form of thought, feeling etc.

When the subtle body is transcended, the awareness of the Reality becomes manifest. Just as the nails on the fingers persist, however often we pare them, as part of our gross body, the subtle body too is an integral part of man's make-up.