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 appeal 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 the 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 the
individual atoms or their groups, which
have formed the individual body, and as
the physical body disintegrates 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 the 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 invisible 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 before 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 development
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 the
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 the
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 the higher
planes, before reincarnating. In some
cases where they have advanced far beyond
their race, they spend thousands of years
in the 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 the 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, amid 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 the 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 the 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 planes
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.
