THE ASTRAL WORLD/PART 9

 

CHAPTER IX.

HIGHER PLANES AND BEYOND.

RAISING our vibrations a little we now enter upon the great second sub-plane of the Astral with its seven subdivisions and its many minor divisions and regions. Almost before I tell you, you will feel the religious atmosphere pervading this region. For this is the plane upon which the religious aspirations and emotions find full power of expression. On this sub-plane are many souls who have spent some time on the other subplanes of the Astral, doing their work there and then passing on to these scenes in order to manifest this part of their natures.

But, I wish to call your attention to the occult distinction between “spirituality” and “religion.” Spirituality is the recognition of the divine spark within the soul, and the unfoldment of the same into consciousness; while religion, in the occult sense, consists of observance of certain forms of worship, rites, ceremonies, etc., the holding to certain forms of theology, and the manifestation of what may be called the religious emotions. The religious instinct is deeply implanted in the hearts of men, and may be called the stepping-stone toward true spirituality—but it is not spirituality itself. In its higher forms, it is a beautiful thing, but in its lower ones it leads to narrowness and bigotry—but it is a necessary step on the Path, and all must mount it in order to reach higher things.

This second sub-plane of the Astral is filled with a multitude of souls each of whom is endeavoring to manifest and express his own particular shade of religious conception. It may be said to contain all the heavens that have ever been dreamed of in theology and taught in the churches—each filled with devotees of the various creeds. Each of the great religions has its own particular region, in which its disciples gather, worship, and rejoice. In each region the religious soul finds “just what he had expected’’ and hoped to find on “the other shore.” Some remain content in their own place, while others growing dissatisfied drift toward some sub-region, or group, which comes nearer to their newly awakened conception of truth.

In passing rapidly through these regions, you will find that each has its own particular environment in exact accordance with the beliefs of the persons inhabiting it. Some have the appearance of a plain, old-fashioned meeting house, on an immense scale; while others resemble a gigantic cathedral, filled with gorgeous decorations and paraphernalia, and echoing with the sound of glorious litanies and other ritualistic forms of worship. Each has its officiating priests or preachers according to its regulations. You see at a glance that the environment, scenery, buildings, decorations, etc., are built up from the astral substance by the imaginative power of the minds of those congregating at each point. All the stage-setting and properties are found fully in evidence (I say this in all seriousness, and with no attempt to be frivolous or flippant)—you may even see the golden crowns, harps, and stiff haloes in some cases and hear the sound of “the eternal chant of praise.”

I regret to be compelled to call your attention to the regions of some lower forms of religion, in which there is a background picture of a burning hell, at which the devotees gaze with satisfaction, feeling the joy of heaven intensified by the sight of the suffering souls in hell. It is a satisfaction to tell you that the suffering souls, and their hell, are but fictitious things created by the imagination from the astral substance—a mere stage setting as it were. Dante’s Inferno has its adequate counterparts on the Astral Plane.

I ask you particularly to gaze upon this most horrible scene before us. A large severely furnished edifice is shown, with seated congregation wearing stern, hard, cruel faces. They gaze toward the top of a smoking bottomless pit, from which rises a sort of great, endless chain, each link having a huge sharp hook upon which is impaled a doomed soul. This soul is supposed to rise to the top of the pit once in a thousand years, and as each appears it is heard to cry in mournful accents: “How long—how long?” To this agonized question, a deep stern voice is heard replying: “Forever! Forever!” I am glad to tell you that this congregation is dwindling, many evolving to higher conceptions, and practically no new recruits arriving from the earth-plane to fill the depleting ranks. In time, this congregation will disappear entirely, and the ghastly stage scenery and properties will gradually dissolve into astral dust and fade from sight forever.

All forms of religion, high and low, oriental and occidental, ancient and modern, are represented on this plane. Each has its own particular abode. It would delight the heart of a student of comparative religion to visit these scenes. There are some beautiful and inspiring scenes and regions on this plane, filled with advanced souls and beautiful characters. But, alas! there are some repulsive ones also. It is marvellous, in viewing these scenes, to realize how many forms human religion and theology has taken in its evolution. Every form of deity has its region, with its worshippers. It is interesting to visit the scenes once filled with the worshippers of the most ancient religions. Many have only a handful of worshippers remaining on this plane; while in some cases, the worshippers have entirely disappeared, and the astral scenery of the region, its temples and shrines, are crumbling away and disappearing just as have the old temples disappeared on the material plane.

On the highest of the sub-planes of the Astral we find many regions inhabited by the philosophers, scientists, metaphysicians, and higher theologians of the race—those who used their intellectual power in striving to solve the Riddle of the Universe, and to peer Behind the Veil, by the use of intellect alone. High and low are met with here. There are as many schools of philosophy and metaphysics here, as there were religious sects on the plane below. 

Some are pitifully weak, crude and childish in their conceptions—others have advanced so far that they seem like demi-gods of intellect. But even this is not true “spirituality, ” any more than is the religious formalism and dogmas of the plane below. All has its place, however, and everything is evolving and unfolding.

It is interesting to note that on this plane, and the one below, are to be found groups of disembodied souls who persist in declaring that “there is no hereafter for the soul;” “the soul perishes with the body;” etc. These deluded souls believe that they are still on the material plane, in spite of appearances, and they have built up quite a good counterfeit earth-scenery to sustain them. They sneer and sniff at all talk of life outside of the physical body, and bang their astral tables with their astral fists, to prove how solid all real things are—they believe only that which is solid and “real.” This, indeed, is the very irony of astral life.

You have noticed certain glorious forms on these regions student, as we have passed through these scenes, and I have promised to inform you as to their character. These were those highly evolved beings, once men like ourselves, who have voluntarily returned from higher spheres to teach and instruct along the lines of religion and philosophy, combining the best of both, and leading upward toward Truth those souls who have arrived at a possible understanding of these things. It is verily true, on the Astral as well as on the earth plane, that “when the pupil is ready, the Master appears.” The Astral has many, very many of these Elder Brothers of the Race, working diligently and earnestly for the uplift of those struggling on the Path.

I may say here, that an understanding of the nature of the various regions of the Astral, and the scenes thereof, will throw light upon the fact that the reports of “the other side” given by disembodied souls at spiritualistic seances, etc., are so full of contradictions and discrepancies, that no two seeming to agree. The secret is that each is telling the truth as he sees it in the Astral, without realizing the nature of what they have seen, or the fact that it is, at the best, merely one aspect among millions of others. Contrast the varying “heavens” just mentioned, and see how different the reports would be coming from some of their inhabitants. When the nature of astral phenomena is once understood, the difficulty vanishes, and each report is recognized as being an attempt to describe the Astral picture upon which the disembodied entity has gazed, believing it to be actual and real.

I wish here to tell you, student, some little about the planes higher than the Astral. These planes transcend adequate description. Enough to say, here, that each soul on the Astral, even the very lowest, finally sinks into an astral slumber when it has completed its work on that plane. Before passing on to rebirth, however, it awakens for a time upon one of the subdivisions of the next highest plane above the Astral. It may remain awake on this plane in its appropriate subdivision for merely a moment of time, or for many centuries even, depending upon its state of spiritual unfoldment. During this stay on these higher planes, the soul communes with the higher phase of itself—the divine fragment of Spirit—and is strengthened and invigorated thereby. In this period of communion, much dross of the nature is burnt out and dissolved into nothingness, and the higher part of the nature is nourished and encouraged.

These higher planes of Being constitute the real “heaven world” of the soul. The more highly advanced the soul, the longer does it abide between incarnations on these planes. Just as the mind is developed and enabled to express its longings and ambitions on the Astral, so is the higher portions of the soul strengthened and developed on these higher planes. The joy, happiness and spiritual blessedness of these higher planes are beyond ordinary words. So wonderful are they that even long after the soul has been born again on earth, there will arise within it memories of its experiences upon those higher planes, and it will sigh for a return to them, as a dove sighs for its far-off home towards which its weary wings urge its flight. Once heard, the harmony of the heaven-world is never forgotten—its memories remain to strengthen us in moments of trial and sorrow.

These, then, are the real “heaven worlds” of the occult teachings—something far different from even the highest Astral planes. The reports of the mystics are based on experiences on these planes, not upon those of the Astral. Your soul has truly informed you regarding the reality of the existence of these wonderful regions and scenes—it has not deceived you. Therefore, hold fast to the ideal and the vision—follow the gleam, follow the gleam!

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The Astral Light.