ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter uniquely situates the theoretical and practical study of subtle bodies and spatial bodies as intersecting forms of transformational embodiment in Asian religions, provoking new thought on the question, “What is body?” Subtle bodies, by definition, exist as a more porous and dynamic mental, affective and/or energetic, interconnective materiality formulated beyond any isolated notion of an individual self. Analogously, spatial bodies delineate the ways bodies are interactively configured through various exchanges and actions that occur across physical and social transcultural spaces. The pairing of subtle bodies with spatial bodies reveals important dimensions of how both types of bodies are engaged as sites for transformation, transaction and transgression. The chapter highlights boundary crossing, multi-layered embodiments consider not just the overlap of mental, affective and physical aspects experienced within an individual subject or system, but demonstrate how embodiment is mutually informed by intentions, contexts, agency, relationality, intersubjectivity and purpose.
