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Home Preface 5 Planes of Existence Introduction Five Planes of Manifestation A to Z Contact Related Information BIBLE VERSES |
SLEEPING AND WAKING, THE FOUR STATES OF THE SOULSymbolic of the states of consciousness in the physical (waking state), astro-mental (dream sleep), causal (deep sleep), and buddhic (blissful sleep) bodies. “The Vaisvânara that exists in waking condition, recognising external objects, with seven limbs and nineteen mouths, enjoying that which is material, is his first quarter (Mand. Upanishad, III)." — DEUSSEN, Philosophy of the Upanishads, trans. p. 300. The spiritual ego in the physical body is conscious of the vibrations of sensation from the external world. He is possessed of the five planes and of the individuality and the personality (seven limbs); also of the faculties of perception, expression, knowledge and action. "When now he falls asleep, he takes from this all-comprehending universe the timber, cuts it down, and himself builds up of it his own light, by virtue of his own brilliance; when therefore he sleeps this spirit serves as light for itself" (Brihad. Upanishad, IV. 3, 9). — Ibid., p. 302. After physical death the ego perceives no external world, but he takes from the manifold life, activities and forms of the astral plane (wood) and builds up for himself an environment of imagination (dream-sleep) to be his own world of light and thought, desire and joy. "Then that god enjoys greatness, inasmuch as he sees yet again that which was seen here and there, hears yet again things heard here and there, perceives again and again in detail that which was perceived in detail in its surroundings of place and circumstance; and the unseen as the whole he views it" (Prasna Upanishad, IV. 5). — Ibid., p. 304. The ego in the post-mortem state is the centre of a world of attractive memories, and with these the consciousness is filled, so that it seems to be the whole of things. "Just as there hovers in space a hawk or an eagle, after it has circled round, folds its wings wearied, and drops to the ground, so also the spirit hastens to that state in which fallen asleep it no longer experiences any desires nor sees any dream image" (Brihad. Upanishad, IV. 3). — Ibid., p. 306. The ego after exhausting the astro-mental activities of the "dream sleep" leaves the astral body to decay, and passes into the state of consciousness called "deep sleep" (sushupti). "That is its real form, in which it is exalted above desire, free from evil and is fearless. For just as a man, embraced by a beloved wife, has no consciousness of outer and inner, so also the spirit embraced by the Self consisting of knowledge (i.e. by Brahman) has no consciousness of outer and inner. That is his real form, in which desire has been laid to rest" (Brihad. Upanishad, IV. 19). — Ibid., p. 306. The causal-body is the real form of the manifesting ego, and in it the consciousness of "dreamless sleep" is exalted above the desires and imperfections of the lower planes. The consciousness here perceives the truth and becomes one with Higher Self on the higher mental plane in devachan. “Knowing neither within nor without nor yet on the two sides, nor again consisting throughout of knowledge, neither known nor unknown — invisible, intangible, incomprehensible, indescribable, unthinkable, inexpressible, founded solely on the certainty of its own self, effacing the entire expanse of the universe, tranquil, blissful, timeless — that is the fourth quarter, that is the atman, that we must know (Mând. Upanishad, VII)." — Philosophy of the Upanishads, p. 310. The spiritual ego, rising above the mental plane, manifests in the world-soul or the causal-body on the buddhic plane (fourth quarter) of the quaternary. The state of consciousness at this high level, called the "blissful sleep" (turîya), is inconceivable to the lower mind and negatives all its conceptions; its fullness of content must transcend all that pertains to the phenomenal universe and the cycle of time. “The matter of the astral plane is much more plastic and obedient to imagination and desire than that of the gross earth. . . . In this condition of being people are well aware that they have quitted the earth life and have passed through the change spoken of here as death, but conceive themselves translated to another world filled with the same interests and occupations as those they have quitted, although these are divorced completely from the strained and painful aspects they have down here. The inhabitants of this region create for themselves dwellings, churches, entertainments, music and instruments, and social surroundings of all sorts, in the midst of which they pass their time in a state of placid contentment." — A. P. SINNETT, Growth of the Soul, p. 191. |
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ASTRAL
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