by Swami Panchadasi

Reality of The Astral

It is customary among occultists to speak of the Astral Plane, simply as “the Astral” as for instance “out in the Astral;” “visiting the Astral;” “phenomena of the Astral;” “inhabitants of the Astral,” etc., etc. The student may as well familiarize himself with this use of the term “the Astral,” in order to understand, and be understood by, others interested in occult study. Accordingly, I shall from now on use this term, “the Astral,” as indicating the Astral Regions, – the Astral Plane – without further explanation.

One of the hardest things for the elementary student to realize is that the Astral is just as real, abiding, and fixed as is the material world. Just as steam is actually as real as water, or even as ice, so is the Astral just as real as the world of the physical senses. For that matter, if we could see our world of matter placed under a sufficiently strong magnifying glass, we should perceive it not as a great body of solid fixed matter, but rather as an aggregation of an infinite number of the tiniest particles themselves built into atoms; these built into molecules; and these built into solid masses.

The space between the ions of the material atom is as comparatively great as the space between the planets of our solar system. And every ion, atom and molecule is in constant and intense motion. Under a glass of sufficient power, there would seem to be nothing solid in the material world. If the magnifying glass were to be raised to an infinite power, even the ions would melt into seething nothingness, until there would be nothing left but the ether which has no weight and which is imperceptible to the senses even when aided by the strongest instruments of the laboratory. So you see, the solidity of things is merely relative and comparative. The vibration of substance on the Astral is higher than those of the material plane; but even the Astral vibrations are far slower than those of the next higher plane, and so on.

To the traveler on the Astral the scenery, and everything connected therewith, seems as solid as the most solid material does to the physical eye. It really is just as solid as is the astral body in which you visit it, for that matter. As for reality, the Astral is just as real as is the material, in every respect.

The Forces of Nature are not perceptible to the physical eye, except as manifesting through matter – but they are very real as all of us know by experience. You cannot see electricity, but when you receive its shock you realize its reality. You cannot see the force of gravity, but you become painfully aware of its reality when it drops an apple on your head; or causes you to fall suddenly when you make a misstep on the curb of the street. In fact, it is realized by all advanced occultists, that if there really can be said to be any degrees in reality between things, the balance is in favor of the finer forms of substance and forces, and against the less fine.

So, student, never permit yourself to think of the Astral as something comparatively unreal, or as only relatively existent. I, of course, am not speaking of Reality in the metaphysical sense of the term, for in such sense the entire manifested universe, including all of its planes, is unreal as compared to the One Reality. And, again, do not permit yourself to think of the astral senses as being one whit less real, reliable and important than those of the physical body. Each class of sense perception has its own proper field in which it is king. Each is master in its own realm. And there should be no attempt to draw distinctions of reality between them At the last, they are all but mechanisms of consciousness, or “awareness” each adapted to the peculiar requirements of its environment.

The Astral has its scenery, geography, and “things,” just as has the material world. These things are just as real as are England, the Vatican, St. Paul’s, the Capitol at Washington, Broadway, Picadilly, or the Rue de la Paix; the Great Redwood Trees of California, the Grand Canyon, the Alps, or the Black Forest. Its inhabitants are just as real as any of the great men of the country in which you live, or those of any other country, whose names I hesitate to call, lest they pass from this material plane and thus become “unreal” even before these printed words pass before your eye, so impermanent are the inhabitants and things of even this real material world.

The law of constant change operates on the Astral just as on the material plane. There, things come and go, just as they do here on the material plane. Stop a moment and concentrate on the gist – the matter, and you will see that the difference between the things of the two planes is simply like the difference between red and blue – simply a difference in the rate of vibration of substance. And, this again, is the cause of the difference between steel and hydrogen gas, between electricity and light, between magnetism and heat – simply a difference of vibrations of substance.

Moreover, and this is quite important to the student, the Astral has its laws just as has the material world. These laws must be learned and observed, otherwise the inhabitants of the Astral, as well as the visitor thereto, will reap the result which always comes from broken natural laws. Again, there exists what may be called the “geography” of the Astral, if this material-plane word is permitted in this connection. There are regions, points of space, places, kingdoms, countries, etc., on the Astral, just as on the material plane. Sometimes these Astral regions have no connection with any on the material plane, while in other cases they have a very direct connection with and relation to material places and the inhabitants thereof.

One may travel from one region of the Astral to another, by simply an act of will which raises the vibration of the astral body, without it moving a point in space. Again, one may travel in space from one point to another on the Astral, in cases where these points have some relation to points on the material plane.

As an instance of this latter form of travel, I would say that one may travel in the Astral from Berlin to Bombay – in but the twinkle of an eye, as regards time, – by merely wishing or willing to do so. Yes! Time and space have their manifestation on the Astral. But, nevertheless, certain Astral manifestations, on its seven-times-seven sub-planes, may be, and likely are, present THERE in, at, and on, the exact point of space which you are occupying at this moment on the material plane – and this very moment of time, NOW!

If you have the knowledge and power, you, without leaving your seat, may traverse all of these sub-planes, one after the other, witnessing their scenery and inhabitants, their phenomena and activity, and then return to the material plane – all in a moment of time, and without changing a single point in space.

Or, if you prefer, you may travel to any of these sub-planes of the Astral, at your point space, and then travel in space on the Astral to some other place on that sub-plane, and then have the choice of returning either the same way by which you came, or else descending to the material plane and traveling on it, in your astral body, back to where your physical body is resting. Read over these last two paragraphs, until you get the idea clearly fixed in your mind, for by so doing you will be able to comprehend more easily that which I shall have to say to you in the following and future segments.

In traveling on the Astral, one meets with many strange inhabitants of that wonderful realm of Nature – some pleasant and others unpleasant. Some of these inhabitants have passed on from the material plane, while others have never dwelt there, these latter forms being natives of the Astral and peculiar to itself.

In my personal class instruction, I have found it advantageous to my students for me to describe the phenomena of the Astral to them in my lectures, in the form of the story of a trip in the Astral, rather than as a dry, technical description. In such lectures, I assume that the students are present on the Astral with me, and that I am acting as their guide. In this way, a much clearer conception of the subject seems to be gained by them. After careful consideration, I have decided to follow this same plan – in part, at least – in some of the following [now and future articles]. I need scarcely add that the descriptions given are based upon the actual experiences of advanced occultists, including myself, and are not dogmatic statements of theory, conjectures, or speculations of mere “book occultists.” Every fact herein stated may be verified by the experience of any advanced occultist.

Passing The Border

I do not deem it advisable to enter into a description of the technical details attendant upon the process of passing out of the physical body into the astral body of finer substance. Any description of this kind, even though it be but merely a suggestion of the facts, might give an untrained person at least a hint of the process, which might lead him to experiment, and which might bring upon him very undesirable results. I shall pass over this stage, for the reasons stated, which will meet with the approval of every advanced occultist and careful student of occultism. Now, student, you find yourself outside of your physical form or body, and clad in your astral form alone. You probably think that I am joking with you, for as you glance at your body you find that it appears not different from your ordinary one. Even your clothing is the same, to the most minute detail – this occurs through perfectly natural laws on the Astral plane, which I cannot take time to explain at this time.

You realize, however, that you are indeed out of the physical body, when you turn your head and perceive your own physical form, as well as mine, seemingly sunk in sleep in the arm chairs in which we seated ourselves a few moments ago.

Looking a little closer, you will see that your astral form as well as mine, is connected with its physical counterpart by a tiny, thin, tenuous filament of ethereal substance, resembling a rope of shining spider-web silk. This filament is capable of expansion, and contraction, and enables you to move about freely.

Now concentrate your attention as you have been taught to do, and will that your vibrations increase in rate, but in perfect harmony with mine, so that you will keep in my company instead of moving on to other sub-planes or sub-visions, parting with my company. You would not find it exactly safe or pleasant to leave my presence, until you have learned to pilot yourself in these strange waters.

You will find yourself with me in a strange atmosphere, although you have not moved an inch in space. Behind you, so to speak, you perceive dimly the room in which we were just living; and ahead of you, so to speak, you perceive strange flashes and streaks of phosphorescent light of different hues and tints. These are the vibrations and waves of force, for you are now passing through the Plane of Forces. That vivid, bluish streak is the passage of some electric current – probably a wireless message flashing through space. Back of you, on my table, you see the magnetic ore, or lodestone, paper-weight, which always lies there. But now you see the peculiar phosphorescence around its poles, which is not visible on the material plane.

You also notice a peculiar faint vibratory glow around every physical object – this is the force of atomic and molecular attraction, etc. Still fainter, you find a peculiar radiance permeating the entire atmosphere – this is the outward sign of the force of gravitation. These things are all very interesting, and if you were a learned physicist, or great physical scientist, you could scarcely be dragged from this plane, so interesting would be the study of force made visible. But, as you are not such a person, you will see more interesting sights ahead of you. Now, you feel your life force vibrating at a higher rate, and realize that the sense of weight seems to be dropping from you. You feel as light as a feather, and feel as though you could move without an effort. Well, you may begin to walk. Yes, “walk,” I said! You are still on earth, and the floor of the room is still there under your feet.

Let us walk through the wall of the room, and out into the street. Don’t be afraid, step through the wall as if it were made of fog. There, you see how easy it is. Odd thing, really stepping through a brick and stone wall, isn’t it. But it’s still more odd when you stop to consider that as we moved the wall really passed through our thin substance, instead of the latter passing through the wall – that’s the real secret of it.

Now let us walk down the street. Step out just as if you were in the flesh – stop a moment! There you let that man walk right through you! And he never even saw you! Do you realize that we are ghosts? Just as much a ghost as was Hamlet’s father, except that his physical body was mouldering in the ground, while ours are asleep awaiting our return to them. There! That dog saw you. And that horse vaguely feels your presence! See how nervous it is! Animals possess very keen psychic senses, compared to those of man.

But cease thinking of yourself, and look closely at the persons passing by you. You notice that each one is surrounded by an egg-shaped aura extending on all sides of him to the distance of about two or three feet. Do you notice the kaleidoscopic play of blending colors in the aura? Notice the difference in the shades and tints of these colors, and also observe the predominance of special colors in each case! You know what these colors mean, for I have instructed you regarding them in my teaching on “The Human Aura, and Astral Colors.“

Notice that beautiful spiritual blue around that woman’s head! And see that ugly muddy red around that man passing her! Here comes an intellectual giant – see that beautiful golden yellow around his head, like a nimbus! But I don’t exactly like that shade of red around his body – and there is too marked an absence of blue in his aura! He lacks harmonious development.

Do you notice those great clouds of semi-luminous substance, which are slowly floating along? – notice how the colors vary in them. Those are clouds of thought vibrations, representing the composite thought of a multitude of people. Also notice how each body of thought is drawing to itself little fragments of similar thought forms and energy. You see here the tendency of thought forces to attract others of their kind – how like the proverbial birds of a feather, they flock together – how thoughts come home, bringing their friends with them – how each man creates his own thought atmosphere.

Speaking of atmospheres, do you notice that each shop we pass has its own peculiar thought atmosphere? If you look into the houses on either side of the street, you will see that the same thing is true. The very street itself has its own atmosphere, created by the composite thought of those inhabiting and frequenting it. No! Do not pass down that side street – its astral atmosphere is too depressing, and its colors too horrible and disgusting for you to witness just now – you might get discouraged and fly back to your physical body for relief!

Look at those thought forms flying through the atmosphere! What a variety of form and coloring! Some most beautiful, the majority quite neutral in tint, and occasionally a fierce, fiery one tearing its way along toward its mark. Observe those whirling and swirling tiny cyclonic thought-forms as they are thrown off from that business house. Across the street, notice that great octopus monster of a thought-form, with its great tentacles striving to wind around passing persons and draw them into that flashy dance-hall and dram-shop. A devilish monster which we would do well to destroy. Turn your concentrated thought upon it, and will it out of existence – there, that’s the right way; watch it sicken and shrivel! But alas, more of its kind will come forth from that place. Here, will yourself up above the level of the housetops – you can do it easily, if you only realize that you can – there, I have helped you to do it this time, it’s quite easy when you once gain confidence. However, if you lose confidence, and grow afraid, down you will tumble to the ground, and will bruise your astral body.

From this height look down around you. You will see a great multitude of tiny candle-like lights – each represents a human soul. Here or there you will see a few much brighter lights, and far apart you will see some that shine like a brilliant electric spark – these last are the auric symbols of an advanced soul. “Let your light so shine!” Behold the radiance emerging from that humble house of religious worship, and contrast it with the unpleasant auric atmosphere of that magnificent church structure next door to it – can you not read the story of spirituality and the lack of it in the cases of these churches? But these sights, interesting though they be, and as useful as they are in illustrating the lessons you have learned here in class are far less in the scale than those which we shall witness in a moment. Come, take my hand. Our vibrations are raising. Come!

Excerpt from The Astral World

See Part I here.

See Part III here.