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Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
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BIBLE VERSES
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PARADISE
A symbol of a state of blissful consciousness on
either the higher mental plane or the buddhic plane, in which the
soul is suffused in Wisdom, Truth, and Love, and entirely free from
the lower nature.
“Paradise, symbolically taken, means wisdom, intelligence, both
divine and human, and the proper comprehension of the causes of
things." - PHILO, Works, Yonge, Vol. IV. p. 286.
“In a straight line below the Arsh and Kursi, and of the light of
the former, God created the eight Paradises. These are arranged one
within the other, in as many ascending stages, the inner-most and
highest of all being the 'Garden of Eden,' which overlooks all the
others like a citadel on a lofty eminence in the midst of a walled
city. . . . The wonderful tree called the Tuba or 'Beatitude,' the
roots of which are in the region of the Lote-tree above the highest
Paradise, sends its branches down to all the eight Gardens, a shoot
entering the abode of every inhabitant." - GIBB, Hist. of Ottoman
Poetry, Vol. I. pp. 36-7.
"To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the Paradise (or Garden) of God." - REV. ii. 7.
Below the planes of atma (Arsh) and buddhi (Kursi), there is the
mental plane divisible into seven sub-planes, on each of which the
ego may experience a subjective state of consciousness, while
withdrawn from incarnation. On the three higher of these sub-planes
is the blissful state of devachan. On the lower sub-planes of the
buddhic plane is the "Kingdom of heaven," the "Garden of Eden," or
the "eighth Paradise." The "tree of Life," or "Tuba tree," which has
its roots above, in atma, and its branches below, is the Ray of the
Divine Life, the Spirit or Spark which is in the higher nature of
every human soul. The ego which overcometh the lower nature shall
rise to the buddhic plane and be given the fruit of the tree of
Life, the spiritual endowments which accrue from successful efforts
in the life below.
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