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This undated image provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences shows the Artist's impression of the Milky Way. Scientists in China and Australia released an updated 3D map of the Milky Way on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. They used 1,339 pulsating stars, young, newly catalogued stars bigger and brighter than our sun, to map the galaxy’s shape. (Xiaodian Chen/Chinese Academy of Sciences via AP) ORG XMIT: NY120

Frank Answers About the Element of Space

I have written articles on this blog about the four elements of the classical cosmology: (in order of appearance) air/wind, earth, fire, and water. I related each of these elements to the practice of yoga.

Frank Answers About Yoga Harnessing the Wind and Releasing the Spirit, posted May 31, 2022.

Frank Answers About Connecting with Earth’s Body, posted August 12, 2022

Frank Answers About Yoga Fire, posted November 4, 2022

Frank Answers About Water and Yoga, posted February 1, 2024

Aristotle added ether as a fifth element. So did ancient Indians. They called it akasha (“space” or “void”). We know now, of course, that the universe is made up of atoms. More than a hundred chemical elements have been identified in the universe so far. We also know that space is not static; it is expanding. 

How do we expand our awareness of space around us and within us? How do we deal with our worldly conflicts from the perspective of an expanding universe? As we struggle for justice and peace in our world, the universe invites us toward expanded options. We can incorporate the wonder of science in our liturgy and in our politics as well as our yoga practice.  Our bodies need physical expansion, especially since we spend so much time hunched over in front of our computer screen. The element of space invites us to get up and go outdoors into the natural world and expand our consciousness as well as our bodies.

We think of space as “out there.” But we live in space on our planet. We occupy space in our world. We sometimes say we need more space in our personal relationships. Space is not only an element in cosmology, it is a psychological and religious reality. It is a phenomenon we experience in our bodies in yoga practice.

Modern cosmology challenges the ancient cosmologies, including the biblical cosmology. This is a matter to be considered when we ask where Jesus went after his resurrection. We say “he ascended into heaven.” But where, actually, is that?  We will consider that question at the end of this article.

Modern Cosmology

The four or five elements of ancient Greek cosmology served as the working model of Western cosmological science for centuries. Albert Einstein revolutionized cosmological thinking by demonstrating in his general theory of relativity that space is curved – also that it is not empty; it is a gravitational field. While Einstein’s theory was revolutionary, it retained the ancient notion that there is a boundary or limit to the universe since space curves around on itself. Even for Einstein the universe was a static entity.

Albert Einstein

Then Edwin Hubble demonstrated through his telescope that space is expanding. One can see that galaxies are moving farther apart from one another. It took a bit of convincing to get Einstein to admit this; he had to look through the telescope himself.  Space has an energy (called the cosmological constant) that allows it to push farther and farther away from its point of origin.

Edwin Hubble

The question inevitably arose: is the universe moving at a steady rate or is it slowing down? Recent calculations have concluded that the rate of expansion is accelerating.  Galaxies are moving farther apart. This was discovered in 1998 by two independent projects, the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova Search Team, which both used distant Type 1a supernova to measure the acceleration. But in actuality, the galaxies aren’t moving. It’s the space, the gravitational field that contains them, that is expanding; the galaxies just go along for the ride wherever the expanding gravitation field takes them.

View from the Hubble telescope

So, if I understand the current science, it is possible that the universe is both limited and unlimited; it is contained in space but the container is getting bigger, with no evident force that would stop its expansion.  Are there other universes with their own space? Scientists think so. The incredibly rapid expansion from the Big Bang produced a multiverse, multiple universes of which ours is just one. Will our expanding space bump into another expanding space? Yes, but there is always more space because space is always expanding. It seems that physics has become metaphysics.

The Value of Space

We tend to take space for granted. But space gives definition to everything that exists in the universe and in our own bodies.  If space weren’t separating the planets and stars, everything would be one great mass. It’s the same in our bodies. We would be one big blob if there wasn’t space, however imperceptible, between the organs, muscles, tissues, bones, etc. One of the reasons for stretches and twists in yoga practice is to expand the body’s space so that it can be filled with more prana or energy. The yoga wheel pose demonstrated below opens the throat and expands the chest by force of the arms and legs pushing up. Much space is opened up in the body in these large yoga poses..

Space not only separates bodies and body parts, but it also necessitates relationships between separate parts and particles. This notion invites reflections on the relationships not only between cosmic bodies like the sun, planets, and moons, but also between living bodies. We define ourselves over against other living bodies. Yet we only exist in relationship.

The same might be considered in the relationship between God and creation (especially between God and humans created in the image of God) and heaven and earth (taking earth as a stand-in for all bodies in the cosmos). These entities—God and humans, heaven and earth—are separate, yet exist in relation to each another. Space is an important element in cosmology, but also in our relationships. Philosophically we ask: what are the characteristic of space?

Yoga Cosmology

In yoga practice the elements are not abstract theory; they are experienced in the body. This is perhaps the main difference between modern cosmology and the ancient Indian cosmology. In modern cosmology the elements of the universe are objects to be observed and analyzed. For the yogis the elements were sensed in the body. They are even identified with the five senses and their respective sense organs; therefore the elements have a phenomenological quality.  Earth is related to smell (nose), water to taste (tongue), fire to sight (eyes), air to touch (skin), and ether to hearing (ears). The locations of the elements in the body are the perineum (earth), pubis/sacrum (water), navel (fire), heart (air), and throat (space).  These are the locations of chakras, and it is at the chakras that we have access to the elements in our bodies.

The elements of earth, water, fire, and air all originated in space; therefore they remain connected with space and with each other even though they are separate entities. In the yoga body the relationship between the elements is that the lighter elements purify the heavier ones. Thus space purifies air, air purifies fire, fire purifies water, water purifies earth. In the body, this is experienced by accessing the ether/space element around the throat; there the body is experienced as open in all directions. From there energy can flow downward along the nadis (energy channels) to the air element around the heart area, then to the fire element in the abdomen, then to the water element in the inner thighs, and finally to the earth element in the pelvic floor. Or, in a practice related to the chakras (energy votices) the yogi can experience the flow of energy upward from the perineum to the head.

It should be understood that since all five elements are in the body, to say that one element can be accessed in a particular chakra does not mean that other elements are not present. It simply means that a particular element is dominant in that location.

This chart shows the five yoga elements and the corresponding Taoist elements in parentheses located at the seven principal chakras. This is the subtle body that is a dimension of ourselves that exists simultaneously with the physiological body.

Space Yoga

In yoga practice ether/space has no substance of its own. Ether is experienced as the space between breaths as well as the space around the body in asana (postural) practice. In a sense, ether can help the yogi to become more aware of the breath and the asanas because space differentiates one breath or pose from another. A yoga practice that focuses on ether/space will hold inhales before exhaling and hold exhales before inhaling. It will hold a pose before going on to the next one. Perhaps if you are inhaling/exhaling at a 4:4 count, you could hold the breath another four counts and hold the pose as long as you desire or are able. One can experience spiritual power in the stillness of that space between breaths and poses provides. Perhaps this is because space sharpens our awareness of different realities.

The element of ether is associated with the throat chakra (visuddha). The energy of the throat chakra is connected with sound and communication. Communication serves the purpose of making connections, and it is through ether/space that sound waves pass from transmitter to receiver.

Yoga poses related to the element of ether/space could therefore be ones that move the neck up or down or from side to side, such as in as in fish, shoulder stands, or wheel pose.

Fish pose – the throat is open
Shoulder stand contracts the throat.
Wheel pose with the head hanging down to expand the throat.

A pose related to the throat chakra is Simhasana (lion pose).  This pose exercises the throat and facial muscles. It also exercises the vocal chords since it involves opening the mouth, sticking out the tongue, turning the eyes upward, and letting out with a roar (Aaaaaaahhhhhhh).

Ether/space yoga could also focus on expanding the universe of the body, particularly by lengthening the spine to create more internal space for prana (energy). Space can expand the body just as it expands the universe. But space is not nothing. Just as space in modern cosmology is the field of gravity, so space in yoga cosmology is the field of prana or energy.

utthita parsvakonasana  (extended side angle) with head turned and throat extended to look at extended hand

Where is Heaven?

The ancients visualized Heaven as the beyond the sky. The sky is what we would understand as space. We can only conclude, therefore, that Heaven is in another space. That’s why the Soviet cosmonauts didn’t find God when they went into space (actually not very far into space). Heaven can be envisioned as another reality that is in its own space-time dimension. Even in the traditional portrays of the Ascension of Jesus, as in this painting by Jan Matejko, Jesus vanishes into the clouds. Clouds in the Bible conceal rather than reveal. They conceal the divine presence, but also signify its reality.

When the Bible speaks of heaven and earth, it is not talking about two localities related to each other within the same space-time continuum. Nor is it talking about a physical world and a non-physical world. It’s talking about two different realities that exist in their own dimensions.

This is the value of space for our lives. It is something yogis too might consider when they get on their mats and move from one posture to the next. We’re expanding but also exploring the space within our bodies. Awareness of the element of space can be a focus for meditation in and of itself.

A lot of things are strung together in this article as I have explored the element of space. Some are speculative, including both modern cosmology and ancient Indian cosmology to which yoga appeals, as well as the biblical cosmology of heaven and earth.

Frank Senn

Frank Senn

I’m a retired Lutheran pastor. I was in parish ministry for forty years and taught at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for three years. I've been an adjunct professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. Since my retirement in 2013 I've also taught courses at Trinity Theological College in Singapore, Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia, and Carey Theological College in Vancouver. I have a Ph.D. in theology (liturgical studies) from the University of Notre Dame.