Several years ago I read a small essay called "Astral World", which was written by the Hindu master Swami Panchadasi. The book attracted my attention because its author presented the topic with great understanding, lively and skillfully operating with his knowledge in the physical sciences, as well as in biochemistry, history, literature and philosophy.
The astral world is not an easy topic, as it can take our imagination beyond all reasonable boundaries. Because Panchadasi presents the astral world clearly and gives a fairly traditional explanation, which is adhered to by various mystical schools, I will use his point of view.
Seven planes of existence
Ancient teachings tell us that there are seven planes of existence.
* The first plane, the densest of all, is the material plane, which is identified with our physical world. * The second plane is the plane of power, which is known as the etheric plane. * The third plane is astral. * The fourth plane is mental. The next three planes are so high. the degree of spiritual evolution that very little is known about them.
Each of these seven planes is subdivided into 7 sub-planes, which in turn are subdivided into 7 subsections, which are further subdivided until they reach the seventh degree of a subsection. These plans do not overlap one another the way they would if they were part of the Earth's stratum; on the contrary, they are all manifested at the same point in space. To understand their essence, it is important to remember that they, with the exception of the physical plane, do not have material substance and are energy of varying degrees of vibration. The densest and slowest vibrations are produced by the physical world. Higher and faster vibrations are produced by other planes, other worlds, including the astral world. Different plans exist at one point
If the plans arose as manifestations of energy as the vibrational speeds increased, then it is not difficult to imagine that they can be at the same point in space, but in a state of different density, each one is thinner than the previous one. To better understand this concept, it is enough to remember that heat, electricity, magnetism, X-rays, laser beams and ultraviolet light can exist in the same space, without interfering with each other, because they all consist of energies that have different vibrational frequencies. In the same way, different planes can coexist at the same point in physical space, without colliding with each other. Some of the ancient masters tried to explain this idea by saying that the plan is not a place, but a state of being.
In the second plane, known as the force or etheric plane, we find the creative energies through which the universe began its existence. In recent years, physicists, especially those dealing with quantum mechanics, have been studying energies of the etheric plane without even knowing it. This is where we find subatomic particles such as neutrinos, mu meson and quarks, which some physicists believe may be the primary building blocks of matter. The etheric substance known as prana, which we absorb with every breath, is, according to the science of yoga, our true source of life. Prana is best absorbed by the body through a special rhythmic breathing known as pranayama.
The third plane - the astral plane or the astral world, is a state of being that is achieved by the human spirit after the onset of physical death. In addition, this is where we get every night while sleeping. The astral plane is accessible to a living human being through either the use of astral senses, or travel to these internal regions in the astral body (article: Subtle human bodies). Astral senses
These feelings are directly related to the physical, and it is through them that people establish contacts with the astral world. In other words, each of our 5 senses - sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste - have their counterparts in the astral world. There are other senses on the astral plane, which we call by one expression "extrasensory perception." Among them are telepathy, psychokinesis, clairvoyance, etc. These feelings in most people are in a dormant state, but recently they are gradually awakening. Clairvoyants sometimes have astral visions, but they are usually spontaneous and uncontrollable. True astral vision is acquired only through special training. People who have developed this ability can use it to move from one plane to another with the help of willpower.
Astral travel
Astral travel is a method of moving through different planes using the astral body. This body is formed from an etheric substance that has a very high vibrational frequency, and the human personality usually dwells here. Although the astral body is very rarefied, it can still be seen under certain circumstances. Typically, it surrounds the physical like a transparent shell and can be perceived as a bluish-gray halo that extends several inches from the surface of the body. The color can change depending on the health, mental and moral state of the person. This halo is commonly referred to as an aura and is not difficult to see. It is easily visible if, for example, you hold your hand against the light and slightly defocus your gaze. The aura will be visible as a not very bright bluish-gray strip along the entire length of the arm.
Astral body
The astral body is an exact copy of the physical body and remains after its death. However, the astral body is not immortal and eventually disintegrates into its constituent elements, just like the physical body. Many people have had the experience of being out of the body. Some say that after traveling to unfamiliar, strange places, they then returned to their physical body, which at the same time seemed cold and lifeless - something like an empty house. These are all examples of astral travel, in which the individual leaves the physical world in his astral body. People who are capable of clairvoyance or have lucid astral visions say that the astral body is connected with a physical cord, which resembles a bundle of grayish-silver smoke, which connects the two bodies independently. from the distance at which they are from each other. This silver cord breaks at death, allowing the astral body and spirit to leave the physical body.
It is necessary to clarify that the astral body is not the spirit or consciousness of the individual. While the etheric body is a collection of human instincts, the astral body is the abode of emotions. Spirit is a combination of mind, logic, reason, inspiration and all the esoteric qualities of a human being.
The astral body is therefore a mixture of the instincts and emotions of the individual. While a person is alive, all travels undertaken in the astral body become part of his consciousness, spirit and personality. When people travel in the astral world, they perceive it as if it were material. In this strange world there are cities, fields, forests, rivers, people and much, much more. Material things in the astral world seem to be real - as they are in the material world. Astral world
In the astral world, you can move from one point to another with just the power of thought. In other words, you can go to any place, simply by desiring it. Many different kinds of creatures are found in this unearthly world; among them are the astral bodies of dead people, as well as beings who have never lived in the physical world, because they are inhabitants of the astral plane. Fairies, gnomes, elves, naiads, salamanders, undines, sirens, devas, genies and others that have long populated our imaginations - all of them are part of the etheric kingdom of the astral plane. They exist there because we have caused them to exist by visualizing them in hundreds of fairy tales, giving each of them their own life. Everything that we can imagine immediately appears in the astral world, and it is as real as we imagined them. Therefore, thoughts are a powerful weapon and fraught with danger if they are not properly controlled.
The first subplane of the astral world, which Panchadasi calls the astral graveyard, is the place where the astral bodies of dead people go and where they await their disintegration. When a person dies, the spirit, together with the astral body, goes to one of the subplanes of the astral world, where it rests, staying in a peaceful, restorative sleep. During this dream, the spirit is prepared to live in a new place, which corresponds to its level of spiritual development. After awakening, the spirit immediately goes to the mental plane, to the level corresponding to its development. After the spirit leaves the astral body, it lingers for a short time in the astral world.
As a result, the astral body loses its strength and disintegrates into its constituent elements, like the physical body. When this happens, it is immediately sent to the astral graveyard. The more spiritually advanced a person is, the faster his astral body disintegrates, since it consists mostly of human instincts and emotions. The more a person is attached to the material world, the longer his astral body will remain on the lower planes of the astral world. The astral body of dead people, and not their spirit, comes into contact in spiritistic seances and channeling sessions. And also ghosts that haunt the living, unable to find a place for themselves. This is especially true for people who have died a violent death and are unable to come to terms with their death.
After the death of a person, the spirit usually restores itself in the astral world and then goes to the mental plane. But the astral body can retain certain memories and aspects of the personality, which enables it to establish some contact with the living. During the sessions, people want to make sure that the being with whom they communicate is the spirit of the person they once knew or loved. But an observant person will be able to understand that the creature with whom they came in contact is unconvincing, and its behavior is not quite what a living person had. There is definitely something lacking in this disembodied being. And what is missing is the spark of the spirit, the mind, which has already gone to higher planes, leaving behind an empty shell.
After death, most spirits "sleep" for a long time - over many years - in the subplanes of the astral world. People who are spiritually highly developed and people who are on the lower rungs of the spiritual ladder wake up faster than the intermediate category of people: spiritually developed - because they do not need much time to prepare for their corresponding level in the mental world, and spiritually undeveloped - because they are automatically attracted to areas of lower vibration. Once in these zones, they continue to experience the terrible, destructive actions that were inherent in their earthly life, but now they are helpless spectators.
As a result, many of these spirits are horrified at the sight of their past lives, repent of their actions and try to leave these sub-planes and ascend to higher levels of existence. The power of their desire to develop helps them to ascend to these higher planes, giving hope for cleansing. There are those who, on the spiritual scale, have sunk to such an extent that they are unable or unwilling to reject their past actions. Without this repentance and desire to ascend into the realm of greater light, these spirits risk being subjected to final disintegration. These sub-planes of the lower astral world are identified with hell and purgatory.
In addition to these terrible sublevels in the astral world, there are higher regions where spirits who were creative persons in the material world - writers, artists, poets and composers - can complete their great works that remained unfinished in the physical world. Others create wonderful works on the astral plane, which are subsequently perceived as inspirational ideas by some people living on Earth, realizing them in the physical world. Astral world - the bosom of the physical plane
The astral world is the bosom of the physical plane. Everything that happens in the physical world is nothing more than an echo of what has already happened in the astral world, which is also the world of our imagination. Therefore, it is possible to create and visualize in our mind that which later materializes in the material world.
On the mental plane, we find higher regions, which in many religions are called heaven. On these subplanes one can find exalted spirits of highly developed human beings, such as saints or great martyrs, or those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of others and in the name of lofty ideals. Angels, whose being is pure love, belong to the higher regions of the astral plane, but they constantly appear on the higher planes.
Almost all spirits - from the most exalted to the least developed - spend some time on the subplanes of the astral world, and then on the corresponding plane of the mental world. Less developed spirits spend a little time here and quickly reincarnate, as this gives them the opportunity to develop faster. A highly developed spirit can reside for centuries in areas of the mental world or in some other higher planes. Remaining in these high dimensions, the spirit comes to complete identification with its Higher Self, from which it receives purification and light. If the spirits are so highly developed that they no longer need reincarnation, they remain on the higher planes, where they can help those spirits that are still in the cycle of birth and death. Migen Gonzalez-Whippler