THE ASTRAL WORLD/PART 6

 

CHAPTER VI.

DISEMBODIED SOULS.

YOU very naturally inquire: “But where are the disembodied souls themselves? I expected to see them as soon as we crossed the border of the Astral!” Yes! that is the general expectation of the neophyte in occultism when he gets his first glimpse into the Astral scenes. But, unless he happens to stumble at once upon certain sub-planes he is apt to be disappointed. But, the better way is to let you learn the story by viewing the various sub-planes at the same time listening to my explanation of that which you will witness on them.

You will notice that our vibrations are now changing, and growing more intense. We are now entering upon a very wonderful sub-plane, or rather, upon one of the subdivisions of such a plane. This region, I ask you to remember, is one the entry to which is strictly guarded by the law of the Astral, and watched over by certain very high spiritual influences. It is a sacred place. No one is admitted here as a visitor unless he be of high spirituality and pure heart. Even a trained occultist, unless he possess these qualifications, finds it impossible to enter these vibrations.

This region is the resting place of the disembodied souls for some time after they have left the physical body. In it they dwell in peaceful slumber, until Nature performs certain work in preparing them for their new plane of life. This stage has been compared to the cocoon-stage, between the stage of the caterpillar and that of the butterfly, in which stage a complete transformation is effected, and the wings of the new life are developed to take the place of the old crawling form.

We are now on this particular sub-plane. Enter upon a contemplation of its wonders with all reverence and love of all mankind. On all sides, stretching away as far as the eye can see, you perceive the slumbering forms of disembodied souls, each astral form resting in dreamless sleep. And, yet, even if you were not so informed, you would recognize that these forms are not dead, but are merely sleeping. There is none of the atmosphere of death or corpses about this region. Nothing depressing, you notice. Nothing but a sense of infinite calm and peace. Being spiritually developed yourself you doubtless feel the presence of certain great spiritual entities—though you see them not, because their vibrations are too high for you to see them even by astral vision—these are the great spiritual guardians of this realm who protect the slumber of the souls at rest herein—the Great Watchers of the Sleeping Souls.

If you will watch carefully you will notice here and there a movement indicating the awakening of some of these resting forms. A moment later the form disappears from the scene—it seemingly melts into nothingness. But it still is existent—its vibrations simply have changed, and it has moved on to another sub-plane, or division thereof, without having been aware of the scenes of this place. It has begun its real life after death. Let us move on, leaving this scene behind us, while I explain to you some of the phenomena of this period of existence of the disembodied soul. * * * Let us pause here, on the quiet subplane, until the matter is made plain to you.

It is a common teaching of many religions that the disembodied soul enters at once upon its heaven or hell. The Roman Catholic Church, and some branches of Buddhism, however, teach of an intermediate state called Purgatory, or a similar name. Some denominations of the Christian Church hold that all souls slumber in unconsciousness until the call of the great trumpet of Judgment Day, when all awaken from their long sleep and are judged and sent to the place of reward or punishment as their cases may deserve. You see on the Astral some things which show you that all of these views have a basis in fact, and yet how imperfect are these conceptions of the theologies!

All occultists know, however, that nearly all of the original religious teachers had a very complete knowledge of the real facts of the Astral, and higher planes, and merely handed down to their followers such fragments of the truth as they thought could be assimilated at the time. All of the theological teachings regarding the Life after Death—heavens and hells—contain some truth, but none contain all the truth.

In the majority of cases the mind of the dying person sinks into the slumber of so-called death and awakens only after a period of restful, transforming slumber upon the Astral, in the region we have just seen. In some cases, however, there is a brief waking, like a semi-awakening from a dream, shortly after the departure from the physical body, in which case the astral body may appear, visibly, to some friend, associate or loved one—or even in the scenes in which the person usually spent much of his time, as, for instance, his office, shop, study, etc. This accounts for the occasional instances of the disembodied person so appearing, of which there are many well authenticated cases. But even in such event the disembodied soul soon becomes drowsy, and sinks into the preliminary sleep of the Astral, moving on to the region we have just left.

There is a great difference in the time in which the disembodied soul slumbers in this state. Strange and paradoxical as it may appear the highest and lowest souls in the scale of development awaken first. The average soul slumbers far longer than either. I will explain the reason of this to you in a moment.

The highly spiritual person, needing but comparatively little transformation to fit him for the higher planes, may slumber here only a very short time, and then passes on to some of the higher astral planes; or, in cases of high development, may omit these higher astral planes, and pass on at once to the plane or planes above the Astral—into what occultists know as the “heavens,” which, technically, are regions of the mental plane, and the ones still higher. The average soul, however, slumbers a much longer time, many years, perhaps, and then awakens upon a higher astral plane suited to its requirements.

The low, material soul, as a rule, awakens very speedily, and passes at once to the low plane for which it has an affinity. But, note this difference: the highly developed soul awakens speedily for the reason that it has less to slough off and be transformed into higher attributes—the work is already partially performed.

The average soul, on the other hand, requires a much greater transformation for its scenes of higher activities, and so remains much longer in the transforming sleep; and, last (note the seeming paradox, and its explanation), the low, material soul awakens speedily, not because it has been transformed easily for the higher scenes, but, on the contrary, because it is not destined for these higher scenes— it never reaches them, but descends to a low plane of the Astral, where it lives out its low inclinations and ideals until it finally sickens of them, at least to an extent, and then is ready for further transformation.

All souls, however, high or low, eventually move off the Astral and enter into the place, or rather the state, of the Mental Plane, or the regions of the “heavens,” leaving their astral shells behind them. Some of the highest, as I have said, mount to these planes without any intervening stay on the higher Astral, but the majority have their share of Astral life, higher and lower.

On the “heaven” planes, the spiritual souls spend great periods of time enjoying the well-earned bliss. Souls lower in development spend less time there. The low, material souls, scarcely taste the experience of those high regions. I shall speak further regarding this, as we proceed.

As a general rule, I would remind you, the higher the advancement of a soul, the greater the time between its incarnations; and vice versa. There are special cases, however, such as the call to duty on the part of a higher soul, or a strong attraction to another, or others, approaching reincarnation, which may bring back a high soul in a shorter time than it really deserves—this is simply renunciation, however, on the part of the high soul, and is not a violation of the general rule as stated a moment ago.

Let us now change our vibrations, and visit some of the scenes of Astral life in which the awakened souls are living, moving, and having their being. A few actual illustrations of life on these planes will teach you more regarding this great subject than would volumes of books or years of verbal teaching. Let us begin at some of the lowest sub-planes and their divisions—the sight is not pleasant but you will gain a valuable lesson. * * *

 

 

 

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Scenes of the Astral.