The nature of the energy centers.

[anagogy]

I agree with both Matt1 and Plenum.  

Location is an illusion, and as such, location in terms of metaphysical structures like "chakras" may be viewed in the same light we might look at locations in a dream world.  The locations may not be real, but their locations are symbolically relevant parts of their structure.  For example, the heart chakra is in the center of the system in very close proximity to the physical heart symbolizing the importance of this metaphysical aspect of consciousness -- at the very "heart" or core of the structure.  A similar analysis and relevance can be found with the rest of the structures.  You can also look at in terms of being the portion of the physical body that 'resonates' most closely with the level of consciousness of the energy center.  In fact if you look at the frequency of sound it has been shown that bass most strongly affects the lower organs and nerve centers, and the stomach and sexual organs.  Midrange affects the chest and heart, and higher pitch noises and white noise affect the head and brain as well as most strongly affecting our more subtle emotions.

Each higher ray encompasses a level of consciousness that is more subjective than the last.  In the world of consciousness there is a nexus between subject and object, mind and matter, experiencer and experience.  At the lowest level, red ray, the consciousness is oriented most predominately toward the objective world -- the consciousness is almost completed projected "outwards" which gives it its "tangibleness" or "physicalness".  The next layer of consciousness, orange ray, still leans predominately toward this objective "outwards" world but has begun to lean towards the subjective to some degree.  The next level, yellow ray, begins to lean enough towards the subjective world to be able to encompass "abstract thought".  And so on up the rays until you get to violet ray which is pure subjective energy, pure mind, just as red ray is pure matter.  Technically violet ray encompasses the whole spectrum, so the pure matter of red ray is included in its vibratory field as the counterbalance to its pure mind.  The pure outwards focus balances the pure inwards focus.

In terms of the energy bodies, you talked of them being something created through experience.  I think this is largely correct in the sense that each progressive ray or layer of consciousness encompasses a different "energy body" but each of these bodies exists in a progressively more subjective reality.  While there are physical reflections of these rays at every level (for example, there is a physical red ray body, a physical orange ray body, a physical yellow ray body etc.) there are also "pure ray" versions of these bodies which are the nonlocal energy bodies, or subtle bodies of these levels.  For example, the subtle orange ray body, from my perspective would be the "lower astral energy body", which is the subjective manifestation of interacting with the orange ray energy level.  In the same way you could look at the physical body as being able to only see and interact with "red ray physical material", in the lower astral body you are seeing and interacting with only orange ray vibratory material.  Here there are still vestiges of the tangible since it is not far removed from it, but there will be differences in the experience, it will be less solid or tangible in certain respects.  I've said before this is the level where most people dream at night, in the focus of energy that is the "personal level".

The remainder of the subtle bodies follow a similar logic of progression from the outer projection of objective reality we are familiar with to more and more purely subjective world of inner realities, literally "within us".  We tend to associate the "subjective" with not being real due to materialistic notions, but it is actually an even more real, consistent, and more vivid reality than what we are familiar with in the physical world, albeit far more fluid. The fluid part is only the outer appearance, as the "inner aspects" of these realities are actually quite consistent in terms of "consciousness texture", which can be just as solid and steady from that framework as a physical landmark is to us in this physical reality.

So the ultimate point of describing that was just to affirm that your concept, that energy bodies are something we "create" as a matter of convenience for navigating reality, is a valid one in my opinion.  Ultimately, there are no barriers in consciousness, there are simply "filters" that we have chosen to take on, for the sake of the experience.  As such, the levels of consciousness that the energy centers represent are just levels of "filter" or thresholds of understanding that encompass a certain degree of the all encompassing light of the OIC.

All is just consciousness. The "inner" and "outer" aspect comes into being in my opinion at the exact same point as the Logos comes into focus. It takes a "self" to have an inner and outer aspect. Self is the line in the sand between the two. In fact the self reflexively produces this barrier between the subjective and objective. It is my belief that the 8th density lies beyond that "self" and as such there is no distinction between the two after that point. The Logos is a 7th density focus of consciousness from my perspective -- the proto or archetypal Self that we are all reflections of. So I tend to think of the 8th level as being akin to the eastern concept of nirvana, or liberation, that is beyond all sense of ego or self.

Anyway, just thought I would share some thoughts on the matter. Always a fascinating topic of discussion.