Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosphy and Oriental Occultism
by Yogi Ramacharaka
Lesson 11
Beyond the Border
IN these lessons we have not attempted to force upon the
student any conception of the truth which did not appeal to him,
or which did not harmonize with his own conception. We grant to
all the liberty of their own convictions, preferring that they
should accept only such of the Yogi teachings as may am peal to
them, letting the rest pass by as not being needed just at that
time. We merely state the Yogi's conception of the matter, as
simply and plainly as we are able, that the student may
understand the theory - whether or not it appeals to him as
truth is a matter with which we have no concern. If it is true,
then it is true, no matter what the student may think of it, and
his belief or unbelief does not change matters. But, the Yogis do
not hold to the idea that anyone is to be punished for unbelief,
nor is one to be rewarded for belief - they hold that belief
and unbelief are not matters of the will, but of the growth of
understanding, therefore it is not consistent with Justice to
suppose that one is rewarded or punished for belief or unbelief.
The Yogis are the most tolerant of people. They see good, and
truth, in all forms of belief, and conceptions of truth, and
never blame any for not agreeing with them. They have no set
creeds, and do not ask their followers to accept as a matter of
course all that they teach. Their advice to students is: "Take
what appeals to you, and leave the rest - tomorrow come back
and take some of what you have rejected today, and so on, until
you receive all we have to give you - do not force yourself
to accept unpalatable truths, for when the time comes for you to
receive them they will be pleasant to your mental
taste - take what you please, and leave what you
please - our idea of hospitality does not consist in forcing
unpalatable things upon you, insisting that you must eat them. to
gain our favor, or that you will be punished for not liking
them - take your own wherever you find it; but take nothing
that is not yours by right of understanding; and fear not that
anything that belongs to you may be withheld." With this
understanding we proceed with our lesson - a most important
one.
When the Ego leaves the body, at the moment of what we call
Death, it leaves behind it the lower principles, and passes
onward to states which will be considered by us presently. It
leaves behind, first, the physical body. This physical body, as
we have told you in the First Lesson, is composed of millions of
tiny cells - little lives having a bit of mind or
intelligence, under control of the central mind of the man;
having also a supply of prana, or vital force, and a material
casing or body, the sum of which little bodies makes the whole
body of the man. We have devoted a chapter of our book upon
"Hatha Yoga" to the consideration of these little lives, and we
must refer the student to that book for fuller particulars of
their life and work. When the death of the man occurs - when
the Ego leaves its material sheath which it has used for the
period of that particular "life," the cells separate and scatter,
and that which we call decay sets in. The force which has held
these cells together is withdrawn, and they are free to go their
own way and form new combinations. Some are absorbed into the
bodies of the plants in the vicinity, and eventually find
themselves forming parts of the body of some animal which has
eaten the plant, or a part of some other man who has eaten the
plant or the meat of the animal which had eaten the plant. You
Will, of course, understand that these little cell-lives have
nothing to do with the real soul or Ego of the man - they are
but his late servants, and have no connection with his
consciousness. Others of these atoms remain in the ground for
some time, until taken up by some other form of living thing
which needs nourishment. As a leading writer has said, "Death is
but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form
is but a prelude to the building up of another."
From the moment that the Ego leaves the physical body, and the
influence of time commanding mind is withdrawn from the cells and
the cellgroups, disorder reigns among them. They become a
disorganized army, rushing hither and thither, interfering with
each other - jostling and pushing each other - even
fighting each other, their only object being to get away from the
crowd - to escape from the general confusion. During the life
of the body their main object is to work together in harmony,
under the orders of their officers - after the death of the
body their only object seems to separate and each go its own way.
First the groups separate one from the other - then each
group breaks up into smaller groups - and so on until each
individual cell becomes freed from its fellows, and goes its own
way, or where it is called by some form of life needing it. As 'a
writer on the subject has said, "The body is never more alive
when it is dead; but it is alive in its units, and dead in its
totality."
When the Ego departs from the physical body, at the moment of
death, the Prana being no longer under control of the central
mind, responds only to the orders of time individual atoms or
their groups, which have formed the individual body, and as the
physical body disentegrates and is resolved into its original
elements, each atom takes with it sufficient Prana to maintain
its vitality, and to enable it to form new combinations, the
unused Prana returning to time great universal storehouse, from
which it came.
When the Ego leaves the body, at the moment of death, it
carries with it the Astral Body as well as the higher principles.
This astral body, you will remember, is the exact counterpart of
the physical body, but is composed of a finer quality of matter,
and is invisible to the ordinary vision, but may be plainly seen
by clairvoyant or astral sight, and may therefore be sometimes
seen by persons under certain psychic conditions. Clairvoyants
describe the parting of the Astral Body from the Physical Body as
most interesting. They describe it as rising from the physical
body, like a cloud of thin luminous vapor, but being connected
with the physical body by a slender, silken, vapory cord, which
cord becomes thinner and thinner until it becomes in. visible to
even the fine clairvoyant vision, just before it breaks entirely.
The Astral Body exists some time after the physical death of the
man, and under certain circumstances it becomes visible to living
persons, and is called a "ghost." The Astral Body of a dying
person is sometimes projected by an earnest desire and may become
visible to relatives or friends with whom the dead man is in
sympathy.
After a time, differing in various cases, as we will see later
on, the Astral Body is discarded by the Ego, and it in turn
begins to disintegrate. This discarded Astral Body is nothing
more than a corpse of finer material, and is what occultists know
as an "astral shell." It has no life or intelligence, when thus
discarded, and floats around in the lower astral atmosphere,
until it is resolved into its original elements. It seems to have
a peculiar attraction toward its late physical counterpart, and
will often return to the neighborhood of the physical body and
disintegrate with it. Persons of psychic sight, either normal or
influenced by fear or similar emotions, frequently see these
astral shells floating around graveyards, over battlefields,
etc., and are often mistaken for the "spirits" of departed
people, whereas they are no more the person than is the physical
corpse beneath the ground. These astral shells may be
"galvanized" into a semblance of life by Coming into contact with
the vitality of some "medium," the prana of the latter animating
it, and the sub-conscious mentality of the medium causing it to
manifest signs of life and partial intelligence. At some of the
seances of the mediums these astral shells. are materialized by
means of the vitality of the medium, 'and talk in a stupid,
disconnected way with those around, but it is not the person
himself talking,, but a mere shell animated by the life principle
of the medium and the "circle," and acting and talking like an
automaton. There are, of course, other forms of spirit return,
which are far different, but those investigating spiritualistic
phenomena should beware of confounding these astral shells with
the real intelligence of their deceased friends. And now let us
return to the Ego, which has left the physical body.
While the Ego, encased in its Astral body, is slowly passing
out of the Physical Body, the whole life of the person from
infancy to old age, passes be. fore his mental vision. The memory
gives up its secrets, and picture after picture passes in swift
succession before the mind, and many things are made plain to the
departing soul - the reason of many things is discovered, and
the soul sees what it all means - that is, it understands its
whole life just complete, because it sees it as a whole. This is
in the nature of a vivid dream to the dying individual, but it
leaves a deep impress, and the memories are recalled and made use
of at a later period, by the soul. Occultists have always urged
that the friends and relatives of a dying person should maintain
quiet and calm around him, that he may not be disturbed by
conflicting emotions, or distracting sounds. The soul should be
allowed to go on its way in peace and quiet, without being held
back by the wishes or conversation of those around him.
So the Ego passes on, and out from the body. To where? Let us
say here that the future states of the soul, between
incarnations, have nothing to do with places - it is a matter
of ''states”, not of places. There are numerous places of
existence, and all interpenetrate each other, so that a given
space may contain intelligences living on several different
planes, those living on the lower planes not being conscious of
the existence and presence of those living on the higher ones. So
get the idea of "place" out of your minds - it is all a
matter of "states," or "planes."
The soul after passing out of the body, if left undisturbed by
emphatic calls from those whom it has left behind (and which
calls may consist of violent manifestations of grief, and earnest
demands for the return of the departed one on the part of some
loved one, or from someone to whom the deceased person was bound
by ties of duty) falls into a semi-conscious state - a
blissful, peaceful, happy, restful state - a dream of the
soul. This state continues for some time (varying in individuals
as we shall see) until the astral shell falls from it, and floats
off in the astral atmosphere, and until the lower portions of
that etherealized-matter which confines the lower portions of the
mind gradually dissolves and also drops from the soul, leaving it
possessed of only the higher portions of its mentality.
The man of low spiritual development, and consequently of a
larger degree of animal nature, will part with but little of his
mind-body, and soon reaches the highest of which he has been
mentally and spiritually capable in his earth-life. The man of
high spiritual attainment, will gradually "shed" much of his
mental-body, until he has thrown off all except the highest
portions developed in his earth life. Those between the two
mentioned types will act according to their degree of spiritual
attainment, of course. Then, when the last possible remnant of
the lower mentality has dropped from the soul, it awakes, as it
passes on to states which will be described a little later on in
this lesson. It will be seen that the man of gross mentality and
spiritual development will stay in the dream-like state but a
short time, as the process of casting off of sheaths is a
comparatively simple one, requiring but little time. And it
likewise will be seen that the man who has reached a high degree
of spiritual development, will rest for a longer period, as he
has much more to get rid of, and this discarded material of the
mind drops from him like the leaves of a rose, one after the
other, from the outer to the inner. Each soul awakens when it has
discarded all that it can (or rather all that will drop from it)
and when it has reached the highest state possible to it. Those
who have made material spiritual progress during the earth-life
just past, will have much useless and outgrown matter to discard,
while the one who has neglected his opportunities, and dies about
as he was born, will have but little to throw off, and will
awaken in a very short time. Each rests until the highest point
of unfoldment has manifested itself. But before going on further,
let us stop a moment to say that both the sinking into the
restful state, and the soundness and continuance of it may be
interfered with by those left in the earth life. A soul which has
"something on its mind" to communicate, or which is grieved by
the pain of those who have been left behind (especially if it
hears the lamentations and constant call for its return) will
fight off the dreamy state creeping over it, and will make
desperate efforts to return. And, likewise, the mental calls of
those who have been left behind, will disturb the slumber, when
it has been once entered into, and will cause the sleeping soul
to rouse itself and endeavor to answer the calls, or at least
will partially awaken it and retard its unfoldment. These
half-awake souls often manifest in spiritualistic circles. Our
selfish grief and demands often cause our loved ones who have
passed much pain and sorrow and unrest, unless they have learned
the true state of affairs before they have passed out, and refuse
to be called back to earth even by those they love. Cases are
known to occultists where souls have fought off the slumber for
years in order to be around their loved ones on earth, but this
course was unwise as it caused unnecessary sorrow and pain to
both the one who had passed on, and those who had remained on
earth. We should avoid delaying the process of those who have
passed on - let them sleep on and rest, awaiting the hour of
their transformation. It is like making them die their death
several times in succession - those who truly love and
understand avoid this - their love and understanding bids
them let the soul depart in peace and take its well earned rest
and gain its full development. This period of soul-slumber is
like the existence of the babe in its mother's womb - it
sleeps that it may awaken into life and strength.
Before passing on to the awakening, however, we think it
proper to state that it is only the soul of the person who has
died a natural death which sinks at once (if not disturbed) into
the soul-slumber. Those who die by "accident," or who are
killed - in other words, those who pass out of the body
suddenly, find themselves wide-awake and in full possession of
the mental faculties for some time. They often are not aware that
they have "died," and cannot understand what is the matter with
them. They are often fully conscious (for a short time) of life
on earth, and can see and hear all that is going on around them,
by means of their astral faculties. They cannot imagine that they
have passed out of the body, and are sorely perplexed. Their lot
would be most unhappy for a few days, until the sleep overtook
them were it not for the Astral Helpers, who are souls from the
higher states of existence, who gather around them and gently
break to them the news of their real condition - offer them
words of comfort and advice, and "take care" of them until they
sink into the soul-slumber just as a tired child sinks to sleep
at night. These helpers never fail in their duty, and no one who
passes out suddenly is neglected, be he or she "good" or "bad,"
for these Helpers know that all are God's children and their own
brothers and sisters. Men of high spiritual development and
powers have been known to pass out of their physical bodies
temporarily (by means of their Astral Bodies) for the purpose of
giving aid and advice in times of great catastrophes, or after a
great battle, when immediate assistance and advice are needed. At
such times, also, some of the higher intelligences in the scale
of spiritual evolution descend from their lofty states and
appearing as men give words of encouragement and the benefit of
their wisdom. This not only in civilized countries but in all
parts of the world, for all are akin. Many who have reached the
high stages of spiritual development9 and who have advanced far
beyond the rest of the particular race-group to which they
belong, and who have earned a longer stay in the higher states,
awaiting the progress of their brothers, devote themselves to
this and similar tasks, voluntarily relinquishing their earned
rest and happiness for the good of their less fortunate brethren.
Persons dying in the way of which we have spoken, of course,
gradually fall into the slumber of the soul, and the process of
the casting off of the confining sheaths goes on just as in cases
of those dying a "natural" death.
When the soul has cast off the confining sheaths, and has
reached the state for which it is prepared by its earth-lives,
including that gained by development in the last earth-life, it
passes immediately to the plane in the Astral World for which it
is fitted, and to which it is drawn by the Law of Attraction. Now
the Astral World, in all of its stages and planes, is not a
"place" but a state, as we have before stated. These planes
interpenetrate and those dwelling on one plane are not conscious
of those dwelling on another, nor can they pass from one plane to
another, with this exception - those dwelling on a higher
plane are able to see (if they desire) the planes below them in
the order of development, and may also visit the lower planes, if
they desire to do so. But those on the lower planes are not able
to either see or visit the higher planes. This is not because
there is a "watchman at the gate," or anything of that sort (for
there can be no "gate" to a plane or state) but from the same
reason that a fish is not able to soar above the water into the
air like a bird - its nature does not permit it to do so. A
soul having another soul toward which it is attached by some old
tie, and finding that soul on a lower plane than itself, is able
to visit the less developed soul and aid it in its development by
advice and instruction, and to thus prepare it for its next
incarnation so that when the two shall meet again in earth-life
the less developed soul will have grown far nearer to its higher
brother- or sister-soul, and may thereafter go hand in hand
throughout life, or lives. This, of course, providing the less
developed soul is willing to be instructed. Souls after reaching
a certain degree of development are quite willing to be
instructed when out of the body (as above stated) as they are
freed from the distracting influences of earth-life, and are more
open to the help of the Spirit. The Yogi teaching goes so far as
to state that in rare cases, the helping soul may even bring his
lower brother to such a state that he is enabled to throw off
some of the lower mental principles which have clung to him after
his awakening, and which kept him in a certain plane, and thus
enable him to pass on to the next higher plane. But this is rare,
and can only happen when the soul has been nearly but not quite
able to throw off the confining sheath, unaided.
The lower planes of the Astral World are filled with souls of
a gross, undeveloped type, who live lives very similar to those
lived on earth. In fact they are so closely connected with the
material plane, and are so attracted to it, that they are so
conscious of much that goes on in it, that they may be said to he
living on the material plane, and only prevented from active
participation in it by a thin veil which separates them from
their own kind in the body. These souls hang around time old
scenes of their earthly degradation, and often influence one of
their kind who is under the influence of liquor and who is
thereby open to influences of this nature. They live their old
lives over again in this way, and add to the brutality and
degradation of the living by their influences and association.
There are quite a number of these lower planes, as well as the
higher planes, each containing disembodied souls of the
particular class belonging to it. These lower plane souls are in
very close contact with the material plane, and are consequently
the ones often attracted to seances, where the medium and sitters
are - on a low plane. They masquerade as the "spirits" of
friends of visitors, and others, often claiming to be some well
known and celebrated personages. They play the silly pranks so
often seen at seances, and take a particular delight in such
things, and "general devilment," if permitted to do so. They are
not fit company for people on the higher plane, whether they be
embodied or disembodied.
These lower plane souls spend but little time in the
disembodied state, and are strongly attracted by the material
life, the consequence being that they are filled with a great
desire to reincarnate, and generally spend but little time
between two incarnations. Of course, when they are reborn they
are attracted to, and attracted by, parents of the same
tendencies, so that the surroundings in their new earth-life will
correspond very closely to those of their old one. These crude
and undeveloped souls, as well as the souls of the savage races,
progress but slowly, making but a trifling advance in each life,
and having to undergo repeated and frequent incarnations in order
to make even a little progress. Their desires are strong for the
material, and they are attracted to and by it - the Spirit's
influences exerting but a comparatively slight attraction upon
them. But even these make some progress - all are moving
forward if even but a little.
The souls on each of the succeeding higher planes, of course,
make more rapid progress each earth-life, and have fewer
incarnations, and a much longer time between them. Their
inclinations and tastes being of a higher order, they prefer to
dwell on in the higher places of disembodied life, thinking of
and contemplating time higher teachings, aided as they are by the
absence from material things and encouraged by the rays of the
Spiritual Mind beating down upon them, helping their unfoldment.
They are able to prepare themselves for great progress in this
way, and often spend centuries on time higher planes, before
reincarnating. In some eases where they have advanced far beyond
their race, they spend thousands of years in time higher planes,
waiting until the race grows up to render their rebirth
attractive, and in the meantime they find much helpful work to do
for less developed souls.
But sooner or later, the souls feel a desire to gain new
experiences, and to manifest in earth-life some of time
advancement which has come to them since "death," and for these
reasons, and from the attraction of desires which have been
smoldering there, not lived out or cast off, or, possibly
influenced by the fact that some loved soul, on a lower plane, is
ready to incarnate and wishing to be incarnated at the same time
in order to be with it (which is also a desire) the souls fall
into the current sweeping toward rebirth, arid the selection of
proper parents and advantageous circumstances and surroundings,
and in consequence again fall into a soul-slumber, gradually, and
so when their time comes they "die" to time plane upon which they
have been existing and are "born" into a new physical life and
body. A soul does not fully awaken from its sleep immediately at
birth, but exists in a dream-like state during the days of
infancy, its gradual awakening being evidenced by the growing
intelligence of the babe, the brain of the child keeping pace
with the demands made upon it. In some case the awakening is
premature, and we see cases of prodigies, child-genius, etc., but
such cases are more or less abnormal, and unhealthy. Occasionally
the dreaming soul in time child half-awakes, and startles us by
some profound observation, or mature remark or conduct.
Much of this process of preparing for reincarnation is
performed by the soul unconsciously, in obedience to its
inspirations, and desires, as it really has not grown to
understand what it all means, and what is before it, and is being
swept along by the Law of Attraction almost unconsciously. But
after souls attain a certain degree of development, they become
conscious of the process of reincarnation, and are thereafter
conscious of past lives, and preceding a rebirth may take a
conscious part in selecting the environments and surroundings.
The higher they rise in the scale, the greater their conscious
power, and choice.
It will readily be seen that there are planes upon panes of
disembodied existence. The Yogi Philosophy teaches that there are
Seven Great Planes (sometimes spoken of by uneducated Hindus as
the "seven heavens"), but each great plane has seven
sub-divisions, and each sub-division has seven minor divisions,
and so on.
It is impossible for us to begin to describe the nature of the
higher astral life. We have no words to describe it, and no minds
to comprehend it. Life on the lower planes is very similar to
earth-life, many of the inhabitants seeming to think that it is a
part of the earth, and, not realizing that they are freed from
earthly limitations, imagine that fire can burn them, water can
drown them, etc. They live practically on the earth amidst its
scenes. Above these are planes whose inhabitants have higher
ideas and lives - and so on and on and on, until the bliss of
the higher planes cannot be comprehended by man today. In some of
the intermediate planes, those who are fond of music indulge to
the utmost their love for it - artists their love for their
art - intellectual workers pursue their studies - and so
on, along these lines. Above these are those who have awakened
spiritually and have opportunities for developing themselves, and
gaining knowledge. Above these are states of which we cannot
dream. And, yet remember this, even these highest planes are but
parts of the high Astral Plane, which plane is but one of the
lower ones of the Universe, and above that comes plane after
plane of existence. But why speak of this, friends - we
cannot undertake to master the problem of higher mathematics,
when we scarcely know how to add two figures together. But all
this is for us - all for us - and we cannot be robbed of
our inheritance.