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Astral Plane Dead
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Life Is But A Dream
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Treatise on Lucid Dreaming
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Astral Plane Introduction
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Lucid Dreams Waking Within the Dream - Too Dumb for Words
Astral Plane Introduction
Reference to the astral plane, or Kamaloka as it is called in
Sanskrit, has frequently been made by Theosophical writers, and a good
deal of information on the subject of this realm of nature is to be
found scattered here and there in our books; but there is not, so far
as I am aware, any single volume to which one can turn for a complete
summary of the facts at present known to us about this interesting
region. The object of this manual is to collect and make some attempt
to arrange this scattered information, and also to supplement it
slightly in cases where new facts have come to our knowledge. It must
be understood that any such additions are only the result of the
investigations of a few explorers, and must not, therefore, be taken
as in any way authoritative, but are given simply for what they are
worth. On the other hand every precaution in our power has been taken
to ensure accuracy, no fact, old or new, being admitted to this manual
unless it has been confirmed by the testimony of at least two
independent trained investigators among ourselves, and has also been
passed as correct by older students whose knowledge on these points is
necessarily much greater than ours. It is hoped, therefore, that this
account of the astral plane, though it cannot be considered as quite
complete, may yet be found reliable as far as it goes.
The first point which it is necessary to make clear in describing this
astral plane is its absolute _reality_. Of course in using that word I
am not speaking from that metaphysical standpoint from which all but
the One Unmanifested is unreal because impermanent; I am using the
word in its plain, every-day sense, and I mean by it that the objects
and inhabitants of the astral plane are real in exactly the same way
as our own bodies, our furniture, our houses or monuments are real--as
real as Charing Cross, to quote an expressive remark from one of the
earliest Theosophical works. They will no more endure for ever than
will objects on the physical plane, but they are nevertheless
realities from our point of view while they last--realities which we
cannot afford to ignore merely because the majority of mankind is as
yet unconscious, or but vaguely conscious, of their existence.
There appears to be considerable misunderstanding even among
Theosophical students upon this question of the reality of the various
planes of the universe. This may perhaps be partly due to the fact
that the word "plane" has occasionally been very loosely used in our
literature--writers speaking vaguely of the mental plane, the moral
plane, and so on; and this vagueness has led many people to suppose
that the information on the subject which is to be found in
Theosophical books is inexact and speculative--a mere hypothesis
incapable of definite proof. No one can get a clear conception of the
teachings of the Wisdom-Religion until he has at any rate an
intellectual grasp of the fact that in our solar system there exist
perfectly definite planes, each with its own matter of different
degrees of density, and that some of these planes can be visited and
observed by persons who have qualified themselves for the work,
exactly as a foreign country might be visited and observed; and that,
by comparison of the observations of those who are constantly working
on these planes, evidence can be obtained of their existence and
nature at least as satisfactory as that which most of us have for the
existence of Greenland or Spitzbergen. The names usually given to
these planes, taking them in order of materiality, rising from the
denser to the finer, are the physical, the astral, the devachanic, the
sushuptic, and the nirvanic. Higher than this last are two others, but
they are so far above our present power of conception that for the
moment they may be left out of consideration. Now it should be
understood that the matter of each of these planes differs from that
of the one below it in the same way as, though to a much greater
degree than, vapour differs from solid matter; in fact, the states of
matter which we call solid, liquid, and gaseous are merely the three
lowest subdivisions of the matter belonging to this one physical
plane.
The astral region which I am to attempt to describe is the second of
these great planes of nature--the next above (or within) that physical
world with which we are all familiar. It has often been called the
realm of illusion--not that it is itself any more illusory than the
physical world, but because of the extreme unreliability of the
impressions brought back from it by the untrained seer. This is to be
accounted for mainly by two remarkable characteristics of the astral
world--first, that many of its inhabitants have a marvellous power of
changing their forms with Protean rapidity, and also of casting
practically unlimited glamour over those with whom they choose to
sport; and secondly, that sight on that plane is a faculty very
different from and much more extended than physical vision. An object
is seen, as it were, from all sides at once, the inside of a solid
being as plainly open to the view as the outside; it is therefore
obvious that an inexperienced visitor to this new world may well find
considerable difficulty in understanding what he really does see, and
still more in translating his vision into the very inadequate language
of ordinary speech. A good example of the sort of mistake that is
likely to occur is the frequent reversal of any number which the seer
has to read from the astral light, so that he would be liable to
render, say, 139 as 931, and so on. In the case of a student of
occultism trained by a capable Master such a mistake would be
impossible except through great hurry or carelessness, since such a
pupil has to go through a long and varied course of instruction in
this art of seeing correctly, the Master, or perhaps some more
advanced pupil, bringing before him again and again all possible forms
of illusion, and asking him "What do you see?" Any errors in his
answers are then corrected and their reasons explained, until by
degrees the neophyte acquires a certainty and confidence in dealing
with the phenomena of the astral plane which far exceeds anything
possible in physical life. But he has to learn not only to see
correctly but to translate the memory of what he has seen accurately
from one plane to the other; and to assist him in this he is trained
to carry his consciousness without break from the physical plane to
the astral or devachanic and back again, for until that can be done
there is always a possibility that his recollections may be partially
lost or distorted during the blank interval which separates his
periods of consciousness on the various planes. When the power of
bringing over the consciousness is perfectly acquired the pupil will
have the advantage of the use of all the astral faculties, not only
while out of his body during sleep or trance, but also while fully
awake in ordinary physical life.
It has been the custom of some Theosophists to speak with scorn of
the astral plane, and treat it as entirely unworthy of attention; but
that seems to me a somewhat mistaken view. Most assuredly that at
which we have to aim is the purely spiritual plane, and it would be
most disastrous for any student to neglect that higher development and
rest satisfied with the attainment of astral consciousness. There are
some whose Karma is such as to enable them to develop the purely
spiritual faculties first of all--to over-leap the astral plane for
the time, as it were; and when afterwards they make its acquaintance
they have, if their spiritual development has been perfect, the
immense advantage of dipping into it from above, with the aid of a
spiritual insight which cannot be deceived and a spiritual strength
which nothing can resist. It is, however, a mistake to suppose, as
some writers have done, that this is the only, or even the ordinary
method adopted by the Masters of Wisdom with their pupils. Where it is
possible it saves much trouble, but for most of us such progress by
leaps and bounds has been forbidden by our own faults or follies in
the past: all that we can hope for is to win our way slowly step by
step, and since this astral plane lies next to our world of denser
matter, it is usually in connection with it that our earliest
superphysical experiences take place. It is therefore by no means
without interest to those of us who are but beginners in these
studies, and a clear comprehension of its mysteries may often be of
the greatest importance to us, not only by enabling us to understand
many of the phenomena of the _seance_-room, of haunted houses, etc.,
which would otherwise be inexplicable, but also to guard ourselves and
others from possible dangers.
The first introduction to this remarkable region comes to people in
various ways. Some only once in their whole lives under some unusual
influence become sensitive enough to recognize the presence of one of
its inhabitants, and perhaps, because the experience does not repeat
itself, come in time to believe that on that occasion they must have
been the victims of hallucination: others find themselves with
increasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those
around them are blind and deaf; others again--and perhaps this is the
commonest experience of all--begin to recollect with greater and
greater clearness that which they have seen or heard on that other
plane during sleep. Among those who make a study of these subjects,
some try to develop the astral sight by crystal-gazing or other
methods, while those who have the inestimable advantage of the direct
guidance of a qualified teacher will probably be placed upon that
plane for the first time under his special protection, which will be
continued until, by the application of various tests, he has satisfied
himself that the pupil is proof against any danger or terror that he
is likely to encounter. But, however it may occur, the first actual
realization that we are all the while in the midst of a great world
full of active life, of which most of us are nevertheless entirely
unconscious, cannot but be to some extent a memorable epoch in a man's
existence.
So abundant and so manifold is this life of the astral plane that at
first it is absolutely bewildering to the neophyte; and even for the
more practised investigator it is no easy task to attempt to classify
and to catalogue it. If the explorer of some unknown tropical forest
were asked not only to give a full account of the country through
which he had passed, with accurate details of its vegetable and
mineral productions, but also to state the genus and species of every
one of the myriad insects, birds, beasts, and reptiles which he had
seen, he might well shrink appalled at the magnitude of the
undertaking: yet even this affords no parallel to the embarrassments
of the psychic investigator, for in his case matters are further
complicated, first by the difficulty of correctly translating from
that plane to this the recollection of what he has seen, and secondly
by the utter inadequacy of ordinary language to express much of what
he has to report. However, just as the explorer on the physical plane
would probably commence his account of a country by some sort of
general description of its scenery and characteristics, so it will be
well to begin this slight sketch of the astral plane by endeavouring
to give some idea of the scenery which forms the background of its
marvellous and ever-changing activities. Yet here at the outset an
almost insuperable difficulty confronts us in the extreme complexity
of the matter. All who see fully on that plane agree that to attempt
to call up before those whose eyes are as yet unopened a vivid picture
of this astral scenery is like speaking to a blind man of the
exquisite variety of tints in a sunset sky--however detailed and
elaborate the description may be, there is no certainty that the idea
presented before the hearer's mind will be an adequate representation
of the truth.
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Astral Plane Scenery
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