Astral Bodies - 2

The Mental Planes

Above the desire plane is the first mental plane, plane 4. The mind is usually considered to consist of two aspects, the concrete mind (where we are focused on practical details) and the abstract mind (where we use general theory). Plane 4 is the concrete mind, and plane 5 is the abstract mind. Both planes belong to the state of consciousness dominated by mental activity, and so mental matter is of a finer, higher vibration than the matter from the desire plane.

The concrete mind is that aspect of mind that we use in our daily activity. It works with our desires and emotions to handle and solve everyday issues and problems. The Indian term for this plane is manas.

This plane is also the plane of heaven, which we go to after the death of the physical body. Its life forms include the lower ranks of angels.

Plane 5 is the abstract mind : this is the intellect and the intuition. Using this mind, we utilise the senses for observations that we can build into concepts. We learn to generalise from experience. The Indian term for this plane is buddhi (from which we get the name Buddha - the enlightened one). Its life forms include the higher ranks of angels, such as arch-angels.

It is also the home of the causal body, the body that houses the person's soul. This body is so named because it contains all the causes and effects that act on the person during his/her lives on Earth.

The parts of all these bodies of finer matter which are of higher frequencies than the dense physical body collectively form the "aura" of the human being. This is the luminous coloured cloud surrounding the physical body which can be seen by a person who has developed clairvoyant sight.

Planes 6 and 7 do not concern us at our present level of evolution.

Variations

There are a few variations on this scheme of seven planes of reality

A principal one is that manas is considered to have a lower and higher division. The lower manas is driven by desire and emotion, whilst the higher manas is driven by will.

Again, the energy body is sometimes included with the physical body, so that they become two aspects of one plane, plane 1.

Overall, the scheme that I have outlined is the one that I have found simplest to use. The point to grasp is that we do not consist of just one form of matter. We consist of several forms of it, with each form having a different vibratory rate from the other forms. What deludes us is that our physical sensory organs are capable of responding to just one rate of vibration, that of plane 1.  Hence we think that only plane 1 exists.

A note about rebirth

After death of the physical body, then sooner or later the person ends up in heaven. Then after a while it reincarnates back to Earth. Heaven is a time of assimilation of experiences.

The person, using his mental, desire, and physical bodies, gathers experiences whilst on Earth ; in heaven these experiences are transmuted into qualities of character and the formation of ideals. Then when he reincarnates back to Earth, the germs of the developed mental faculties are planted in mental matter to form a new mental body, and those of the developed emotional and moral faculties are planted in desire matter to form a new desire body. These are the "innate faculties" and the character which the child brings with him into the world.

A note on confusions, plus sources and writers are on the next page.

The previous page dealt with the first three planes.

Copyright @2003  Ian Heath
All Rights Reserved

The copyright is mine and the articles are free to use. They can be reproduced anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.