Now, I am also told, 'You've got me all confused; you say the
Overself is going to vary the current - well, what is the
connection between the Overself and the sub - conscious?'
Let us try to get this clear for ever and a day or a bit
longer; there is you who is just one - tenth conscious. You are
bottom man on the ladder, or you might even be bottom woman on
the ladder. Above you - you have your subconscious, and your
subconscious is like the operator who controls the switchboard,
etc., which is your brain. The subconscious is in touch with you
through your brain - through your joint brain would perhaps be a
better term - and the sub - conscious is also in touch with your
Overself.
So it's like you, the ordinary poor worker, who cannot get a
word with the manager, you have to go through the shop steward
or the foreman first. So you sort of hang around, try to make
yourself obtrusive (iøynefallende) in the hope that the shop
steward or the one above you will notice you, and wondering why
the (you - know - what!) you are not at work will come and see
what it's all about. Then you have to get your point of view
over to the shop steward (tillitsmann) or foreman, and persuade
him to take up your case with the manager or whoever is above
him. This is similar to conditions with the Overself and you.
Before you can get through to your Overself - you have to enlist
the aid of your sub - conscious, and once you can convince your
sub - conscious that it's really necessary for your joint good
(fellesgode), then the sub - conscious will contact the Overself
and the pendulum will be varied according to the indications
which you are 'perceiving'.
Incidentally, if you can get through to your Overself by way
of the sub - conscious you can cure a lot of illnesses which you
may have. The Overself is like the president of a company and he
doesn't always know what minor ailments affect the lower
departments. He knows it in times when conditions are very, very
serious, but often he is in complete ignorance of some
grievance, which the lower order of workers have. But if you can
get your shop steward (tillitsmann) to take up the matter with
the Overself, or president, or general manager, then a grievance
can be settled before it becomes serious. So if you have a
persistent ache here, there, or somewhere else, then keep on at
George or Georgina (the name you give your subconscious), say
clearly what the trouble is, what is this pain, what does it
feel like, why do you have it, and will the subconscious please
see that you are cured. The Overself is the unapproachable. The
sub-conscious is the link between you, the one-tenth conscious,
and the Overself which is all conscious.
by Swami Panchadasi
Life And
Work On The Astral
What I have said regarding the nature of the astral
scenery must not be taken as indicating that the Astral,
itself, is merely imaginary or unreal in any sense. Nor is
the substance of which the scenery is composed any less real
than the substance of which the material world is composed.
On the material plane, substance manifests as matter; while
on the astral plane it manifests in a finer form of “stuff”
or material. Again, on the material plane, the material, or
matter, is shaped by the physical forces of nature, or,
perhaps, by the mind of man using the original material in
order to build “artificial” structures or forms. On the
Astral, on the other hand the astral material is not thrown
into shape by physical forces, but is shaped and formed only
by the thought and imaginative power of the minds of those
inhabiting that plane. But these shapes, forms and
structures of the astral material are not to be thought of
as existing merely in the mind of the astral dwellers. They
have an independent existence of their own, being composed
of astral material, though shaped, formed and built up
directly by the mind-power of the astral dwellers, instead
of by the physical forces of nature. The astral scenery,
etc., survives the passing away of the mind which built it
up, and disintegrates only after the passage of considerable
time, just as do the material things on the earth plane. As
for the power of the imagination of man, do not be deceived
for a moment – for this is one of the most efficient powers
in nature, and operates strongly even on the material plane,
though on the Astral its power is more easily recognized by
the senses. To the dwellers on the Astral, their scenery,
buildings, etc., are as solid as are those of the material
plane to the dwellers thereupon.
Passing through the various sub-planes, and their
divisions, on the Astral you notice a great variety of
scenery, and a great difference in the character and
occupations of the inhabitants. But, you notice one general
characteristic underlying all of the differences, namely,
the fact that all of these persons (astral dwellers) seem to
be filled with an intense earnestness, and manifest a degree
of concentration which gives to them an appearance of being
preoccupied. This, often, to such an extent that they seem
to be oblivious to our presence and passage through their
midst, unless we address them directly. Again, everyone
seems to be busy, even when their tasks are those of sport
or play.
The key to the occupation and pursuits of the
dwellers on the Astral is found in the principle that the
life of the soul on the comparatively higher divisions of
the Astral consists in a working out of the intellectual
desires, and ordinary tendencies, tastes, likes, and
aspirations which they were unable to manifest fully in
earth-life. I do not mean the low sensual desires, or purely
animal tastes, but rather the “ambitions” and similar forms
of desires of strong inclinations. Many of these
inclinations may be very creditable and praise-worthy,
rather than otherwise, but they are all concerned with
physical manifestations, rather than with spiritual
unfoldment and evolution in the strict sense of these terms.
The higher planes are those in which the spiritual forces
bud and flower, and bear fruit – the Astral, even on its
highest planes, is the scene of the living-out, and
working-out, of earthly intellectual and similar ambitions
and aspirations.
The higher the plane of the Astral world, the less
are the old earth scenes in evidence, even in the shape of
the dim background we saw as we progressed on our journey.
As we mounted on the scale, these old earth scenes grew very
dim, and where we are standing now, on the fourth sub-plane,
they are practically out of sight. This particular sub-plane
is not particularly elevating, but nevertheless is
interesting to the student.
As we pass from scene to scene, we see the “happy
hunting grounds” of the American Indians, thickly settled
with these old aborigines who have been dwelling there for
quite a period of time. They are busy, and happy hunting
their astral buffaloes, and other game (all artificially
created by their imagination, from the astral substance, and
having no real existence as living, feeling animals). A
little further on, we witness similar forms of the
“Spirit-land” of other primitive people, in some of which
the disembodied warriors fight and conquer great hosts of
artificial foes, and then have great feasts according to
their old customs.
Valhalla is here, as well as the other imaginary
Paradises of the old races of men. But their inhabitants are
dwindling in number, being caught up in the current bearing
them on to reincarnation. But, note this, that while there
is nothing elevating in the pursuits followed in these
scenes, there is nothing degrading or lowering, from a
strictly spiritual point of view. But, there is in evidence
always a living-out, and wearing-out, of the old desires of
this kind, to make room for higher ones – all tends toward
spiritual evolution.
Raising our vibrations rapidly, and passing over
many degrees of scenes of this kind, we find ourselves on a
considerably higher plane. Here we see men engaged in what
would be called “useful work” in earth life. But they are
performing it not as labor, but rather as a joyous
recreation. Observing closely, you will see that the work is
all of an inventive and constructive nature. The men and
women are perfecting that in which their interest was
engaged while on earth life. They are improving on their
work, and are filled with the joy of creation. They remind
one forcibly of Kipling’s mention of the future state when:
“…no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for
fame; but each for the joy of the working.” On some of these
sub-divisions we see the artist busily at work, turning out
wonderful masterpieces; also musicians creating great
compositions, of which they had vainly dreamt while in
earth-life. The architect builds great structures – the
inventor discovers great things. And all are filled with the
joy of work, and the ecstasy of creative imagination.
But, make not the mistake, student, of regarding
this as merely play, or as possibly a form of reward for
well-done world work, though, of course, both of these
elements play their part in the general working of the Law.
The main thing to remember is that in this work on the
Astral, there is an actual mental advance and progress.
Moreover, in many cases, here on these very planes
of the Astral there is being built the mold from which will
actually pour great inventive and creative achievements, on
the material plane, in the future incarnations of these
souls now doing work on this plane. The Astral is the great
pattern shop of the world. Its patterns are reproduced in
matter when the soul revisits the earth scenes. Many a work
of art, musical composition, great piece of literature, or
great invention, has been but a reproduction of an Astral
pattern. This will help to explain the feeling common to all
great performers of creative, imaginative or intellectual
work – the strange feeling that their work is but a
completion of something at which they had previously wrought
– a re-discovery, as it were.
Again, in this work-play of the Astral, the soul is
always at work using up old ideas, aspirations, etc., and
discarding them finally. In this way real progress is made,
for after all even earth-life is seen to be largely a matter
of “living-out and out-living” – of mounting higher on the
steps of each mistake and each failure. In the work of the
Astral many old ideas are worked out and discarded: many old
longings exhausted and discarded; many old ambitions
manifested and then left behind on the trail. There is a
certain “burning up, and burning out” of old mental
material, and a place made for new and better material in
the new earth life. Often, in this way, on the Astral there
is accomplished as much in the direction of improvement and
progress, as would be possible only in quite a number of
earth-lives. Life on the Astral is very earnest and intense
– the vibrations are much higher than on the material plane.
Bearing this principle in mind, these Astral scenes which
you are now witnessing take on a great and new meaning. You
recognize them as very important schoolrooms in the great
school of life. Work is being done here that can not be
accomplished elsewhere. Everything has its meaning.
There is no wasted effort, or useless activity in
the universe, no matter what the careless observer may say
to the contrary. The Astral is no joke of the universe – it
is one of its great, real workshops and laboratories of the
soul. It has its distinct place in the work of spiritual
unfoldment and evolution.
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 sub-planes 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 halos, 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 marvelous, 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 worshipers. It is interesting to visit the scenes once
filled with the worshipers of the most ancient religions.
Many have only a handful of worshipers remaining on this
plane; while in some cases, the worshipers 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,
meta-physicians, 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 then 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, 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.
Excerpt from The Astral World
see also the books of ANTHONY BORGIA on this theme- very
interessting books.
