The word in Sanskrit is derived from a root kāś meaning "to be". It appears as a masculine noun in Vedic Sanskrit with a generic meaning of "open space, vacuity". In Classical Sanskrit, the noun acquires the neuter gender and may express the concept of "sky; atmosphere". In Vedantic philosophy, the word acquires its technical meaning of "an ethereal fluid imagined as pervading the cosmos".
Hinduism
In Vedantic Hinduism, Akasha means the basis and essence of all things in the material world; the first element created. A Vedic mantra “pṛthivyāpastejovāyurākāśāt” indicates the sequence of initial appearance of the five basic gross elements. Thus, first appearedthe space, from which appeared air, from that fire or energy, from which the water, and therefrom the earth. It is one of the Panchamahabhuta, or "five gross elements"; its main characteristic is Shabda. The direct translation of Akasha is the word meaning "upper sky" or 'space' in Hinduism. The Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools of Hindu philosophy state that Akasha or aether is the fifth physical substance, which is the substratum of the quality of sound. It is the One, Eternal, and All Pervading physical substance, which is imperceptible. According to the Samkhya school, Akasha is one of the five Mahābhūtas having the specific property of sound. In the Shiva Purana, it identifies Akasha having "the only attribute of sound". In the Linga Purana, Aksha is translated as "firmament" and listed as one of the 1,008 names of Lord Shiva. Adherents of the heterodox Cārvāka or Lokāyata philosophy held that this world is made of four elements only. They exclude the fifth, Akasha, because its existence cannot be perceived.
Jainism
Akasha is space in the Jain conception of the cosmos. Akasha is one of the six dravyas and it accommodates the other five, namely sentient beings or souls, non-sentient substance or matter, principle of motion, the principle of rest, and the principle of time. It is all-pervading, infinite and made of infinite space-points. It falls into the Ajiva category, divided into two parts: Loakasa and Aloakasa. In Loakasathe universe forms only a part. Akasha is that which gives space and makes room for the existence of all extended substances. At the summit of the lokākāśa is the Siddhashila.
Buddhism
In Buddhistphenomenology Akasha is divided into limited space and endless space. The Vaibhashika, an early school of Buddhist philosophy, hold Akasha's existence to be real. Ākāsa is identified as the first arūpa jhāna, but usually translates as "infinite space."
Modern reception
The Western mystic-religious philosophy called Theosophy has popularized the word Akasha as an adjective, through the use of the term "Akashic records" or "Akashic library", referring to an etheric compendium of all knowledge and history. Scott Cunningham uses the term Akasha to refer to "the spiritual force that Earth, Air, Fire, and Water descend from". Ervin László in Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything, based on ideas by Rudolf Steiner, posits "a field of information" as the substance of the cosmos, which he calls "Akashic field" or "A-field". Ervin László sets out a clear paradigm in this work, in line with the latest scientific discoveries on the one hand, and ancient philosophies of high stature on the other. He clearly explains the transition area between the non-manifested Potence and the manifested : a causal Field outside time and space in which all information about the manifested is "saved". László describes it as a non-dimensional holographic imprint. Everything manifested is in-formed from this A-Field on a micro and macro level.
