Theosophicai. Manuals. No. 6 the Devachanic Plane
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T 6 HEOSO PH I CAI . MANU ALS . No . T HE DEVAC HANIC PLANE THE HEAVEN W ORLD I TS CHARACTERI STI CS AND I NHABITANTS W. C. LEADBEATER S ECOND EDlTION REVIS ED AND ENLARGED TH E THEOSOP HI CAL PU BLISH ING SOCI ET! LO ND O N AND BE NAR E S ’ NO E AU T HO R S T . enquiry itas slzow n tltat tlze word D evaclza n is etymol ogicaily inaccurate and mis l ead n tlze au lzor would r er to omit it al to et/ie r i g, t p ef g , a nd to issue tlzis manual under t/ze simpl er and more ! descri ti e titl e o T ental P l ane Tb e ub p v f lte M . p l is/zers in orm bim lzowever t/zat tlzis alteration o f , , f titl e would cause d cul ties in t/ze matter o co r t ifi f py n , a nd roduce con usion in various wa s so be de ers p f y , f to tlzeir wislzes . C NT E NT O S . PA G E n —The ac o f the m tal lane v ut I ntroductio . pl e en p in e ol ion Difiic ul tie s o fexpression risti A b aut ful sc r t G e ne ral Characte cs . e i de ip ion The -W r —I ts t n v a — b liss o f the Heav en o ld in e se it lity A ne w method — — — o f c ognition Surroundings The se a o f light The c olour — — language o f the angels The great waves The lo wer and the — — higher heaven -worlds The ac tion o f thought The form ation — — - - — o f artificial elementals Thought forms The sub planes The records o fthe past i nts I nhab ta . H u man —The mb —A ts and th r I . e odied dep ei pupils Those in sleep o r tranc e — — The disemb odied Their c onsc iousness The qual ities — nec essary fo r the heav en - life Ho w a m an first gains The w r h av s w th xam s fr m ach lo e e en , i e ple o e The reality o fthe heav en-life The renunc iation o fheav en The higher heavens -H u m an —T m ta — Non . he s W ele en l es enc e hat it is — The veiling o f the Spirit The elemental kingdoms Ho w the essenc e evolv es The a m a k m ni l—ingdo The Devas Thei r c lasse s n l sion —The s l h h r a s Co c u . til ig e pl ne T HE D EVAC HANIC PLANE . I NT RO DU C T IO N . I N the p e ious manual an attempt was made to desc ibe r v — r to some extent the astral plane the lower part o f the vast u nseen world in the midst o f which we live and move u the nheeding. In this little book must be undertaken still harder task of trying to give some idea o f the stage — n - next above that the me tal plane or the heaven world, often spoken of in our Theosophical literature as that of ukhavati Devachan or S . a - we ~ Although , in calling this pl ne the heaven world, dis tinctly intend to imply that it contains the reality which underlies all the best and most spiritual ideas o f heaven ha n which ve been propou ded in various religions, yet it must by no means be considered from that point o f vie w i a m of n only . It s real ofnature which is exceedi g import — ance to us a vast and splendid world o fvivid life in which we are living now as well as in the periods intervening a o f between physic l incarnations . It is only our lack n developme t, only the limitation imposed upon us by this o f f f z robe flesh, that prevents us rom ully reali ing that o f e all the glory the highest h aven is about us here and now, k 2 and that influences flowing from that wo rld are ever playing if and Im upon us we will only understand receive them . possible as this may seem to the man of the world , it is the plainest o frealities to the occultist and to those who have not yet grasped this fundamental truth we can but repeat the advice given by the Buddhist teacher Do not com s plain and cry and pray, but open your eye and see . The if a light is all about you, you would only cast the band ge fr f l f om your eyes and look . I t is so wonder u , so beauti ul , far o f r fo r so beyond what any man has dreamt or p ayed , ! fo r . T/ze Soul a P eo le and it for ever and ever ! of p , 1 6 p. 3 . )is It is absolutely necessary fo r the student o f Theosophy re z s a s in a to ali e thi gre t truth , that there exi t n ture various i e a o f r planes or div sions, ach with its own m tter an app o riate c h a p degree of density , which in ea c se interpenetrates the matter of the plane next below it . It should also be clearly understood that the use o f the words higher and ! ! lower with reference to th e se planes does not refer in any way to their position !since they all occupy the same space) , but only to the degree o frarity o fthe matter o f which they v t are respecti ely composed , or !in—other words) the ex ent to which their matter is subdivided for all matter ofwhich we e l m iff know anything is ess ntial y the sa e, and d ers only in the t n o f and o f ex e t its subdivision the rapidity its vibration . f a of as i It ollows, therefore, th t to speak a man pass ng from one o f these pl anes to another does not in the least i i s gn fy any kind of movement in space, but simply a change r has i f a of consciousness . For eve y man with n himsel m tter i o f a belong ng to every one these planes , vehicle corre s o ndin h can f p g to each , in w ich he unction upon it when he a s f learns how this may be done . So th t to pa s rom one plane to another is to change the focus o fthe consciousness fo r im th e form one of the vehicles to another, to use the t e 3 a a astral or the mental body inste d of the physic l . For naturally each of these bodies responds only to the vibrations ’ o fits own plane ; and so whil e the man s consciousness is f his a i a ocussed in stral body, he will perce ve the stral c u n world only, just as while our onscio sness is using o ly the physical sens es we perceive nothing but this physical wo ld — r though both these worlds !and many others) are in exist and a ence full ctivity all round us all the while. Indeed , all these planes together co nstitute in reality one mighty i as fe a o f liv ng whole, though yet our eble powers are c pable a o f s at a i observing only very small part thi t me. When considering this question o f locality and inter penetration we must be on our guard against possible mis It o f the conceptions . should be understood that none three lower planes of the solar system is coe xtensive with it except as regards a particular condition of the highest or o f e a i atomic subdivision ach . E ch phys cal globe has its h sieal p y plane !including its atmosphere), its astral plane, and its mental plane, all interpenetrating one another, and f all there ore occupying the same position in space, but quite apart from and not communicating with the corresponding o f to planes any other globe. I t is only when we rise the lofty levels o f the buddhic plane that we find a condition f o . common to, at any rate, all the planets our chain Notwithstanding this, there is, as stated above, a con dition o f the atomic m atter o feach o fthese planes which is cosmic in its extent ; so that the seven atomic sub plane s m of our system , taken apart fro the rest, may be said to con stitute a — e one cosmic pl ne the lowest, sometim s called the m - f r . The o cos ic prakritic interplanetary ether, —example, which appe ars to extend through the whole o fspace indeed a fa must do so, at le st to the rthest visible —star, otherwise our physical eyes could not perceive that star is composed o fphysical ultimate atoms in their normal and uncom pre sse d 4 f condition .