(Buddhist map of consciousness: three worlds, 31 planes)
In Buddhism, three main Levels of Energy and Consciousness are discerned: Kama-Loka (“Sensuous World”) which contains 11 planes Rupa-Loka (“World of Form”) which contains 16 planes Arupa-Loka (“Formless World”) which contains 4 planes Kama-Loka contains the worlds described in 90% of metaphysical and religious literature, yet it makes up less than 1% of a souls potential experience.
There is some really expert psycho-therapeutic advice contained in these ancient teachings. In early childhood there are no Ego-Boundaries. So when a child has a tummy-ache, it thinks the whole world has a tummy-ache. It also thinks it is the center of the Universe and always taken care of. As its individuation grows it develops an Ego, which reaches its high-point in teenage-hood where everything that was respected and followed in the parents until — around the age of 11 or 12 — is reversed and the individual begins to rebel.
These are all very necessary stages in ones growth as a human. The natural progression would be again to go from Individuality back to Oneness and Community again… but not the Oneness one had as a child, but a new kind of Oneness which includes the Individuality that has been accumulated throughout life.
While you take all of your previous incarnations and soul-selves “with you”, you are now so expanded that these many lives only make up a small part of your overall being.
(Formless realms and the illusion of a final enlightenment)
- Sphere of Nothingness This is the most vast and mysterious space which is mistaken by many to be the “final” state of Enlightenment. There is still perception here, even if subtle, so it cannot be the final state, for you can only perceive what you are separate from.
The last four realms have no physical attributes and can therefore not easily be described in our terms. Suffice it to say that even the grandest states of Enlightenment ever experienced by any human is not the “final” or “highest” state. There is always something more Awesome. In terms of the linear LOE scale, Arupa Loka would be 1000 to 1 Million.
Furthermore, the “Grace of God” can intervene and cause a soul to go to various regions regardless of the Karma that was collected. Brahma (God) is the only aspect that can suspend karmic debt or merit. This is as if the whole game board was created to function automatically, by “law-of-attraction” without God having to manually control every aspect, but he sometimes intervenes for one purpose or another.
One of the more interesting concepts of certain strands of Hinduism is that heaven and hell are akin to a good dream or a bad dream and that above both there is enlightenment (Moksha), which is total reality, beyond the dream.
(Three modes of being: Tamasic, Rajaic, Sattvic)
In general, the Sattvic person has 100% control over their actions and words and 50% control over their thoughts. The Rajaic person has 75% control over their words and actions and 20% control over their thoughts. The Tamasic person has 50% control over their words and actions and 10% control over their thoughts. The main goal of the Tamasic person is survival, food, narcotic substances and sex. These are considered the highest pleasures and sources of relief. The main goal of the Rajaic person is to gain approval, worldly acknowledgement, material goods and wish fulfillment. The main goal of the Sattvic person is to be of service and radiate Love.
The central question is: Do you have it, or does it have you? If you have these pleasures, that’s great. But if it dominates your entire thought-process, then “it has you”.
Descriptions of Christian Heaven are remarkably similar to the Buddhist “Pure Land” which is where “good people go” but not quite the highest state (Nirvana).
I view Christianity and Islam as a means of salvation for “the common folk” or “the salt of the earth” who are not yogic masters, sages, saints or wizards.
(Difficulties as spiritual weights, not conspiracies)
is so very challenging and full of pitfalls. Rather than a conspiracy I invite you to see it as a game that is meant to make you more loving in spite of the difficulty. The difficulties are like weights in the gym that are put there not as a plot to undermine the soul but as means of exercise. Life works much better if you let go of fear-based variations of the religions. Error in emphasis is where many religious movements fail. It’s not like conspiracies do not exist, but emphasizing them as the basis of life is false. It’s not like demonic forces don’t exist, but emphasizing them as something to pay attention to, and protect against every day, is a path to trouble.
what I have learned throughout my studies, namely that overcoming the Ego is pure joy.
The philosophy of military training in general appears to be that “if you take more pain now, you will have less pain later” or, as I teach, “You can experience your problem intensely for a few minutes or experience it lukewarm for many weeks”. These men are taught not to procrastinate but take on the burden now. The same attitude is demonstrated by Jesus who took a lot of pain on the cross and sacrificed himself for humanity. I am not implying that you need to become as tough and self-sacrificing as Jesus, or as those who make it into elite squads of the military, but there is certainly something to learn from these traditions.
On a higher level of Consciousness things do manifest merely by thinking about them, but 99% of humanity is not on a level where this will always work. They reside in physical reality in order to undertake physical action and invest physical effort, not to have everything manifest with the snap of a finger.
art. Try seeing it from the eyes of the artist. It is in this manner that you can take the chaos and difficulty that life sometimes represents, as part of a larger and more beautiful context.
no suffering”? It is true that there are Realms of Consciousness where “there is no suffering” and that this is the ultimate nature of reality, but this should not be taken as an absolute statement that applies to life on Earth.
(Demons and angels as levels of energy; gravity of each direction)
My own view is that “demons” and “angels” are words for souls on different levels of energy. It is also my view that one can go up and down the levels of energy but that the lower one goes, the more difficult it is to get back up… and the higher one goes, the more unlikely it is to go back down. This is reflected on earth itself, where the worse or better it gets, the worse or better it gets. You attract more and more and more of what you are already attuned with.
(Agents sent from above to steer humanity’s consciousness)
In my view Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed were under the influence of “interventions from above”, meant to steer the History of Earth into better directions than they were heading at the time. Up above it is seen that this planet is a very dense place and that humankind has some real difficulty steering the ship out of troubled water. My conclusion from all the research over the years is that “agents” are sent in to elevate humanities level of consciousness.
After they sent Archangel Gabriel in to instruct Mohammed, the whole Muslim world flourished scientifically and socially for a few hundred years. After they sent in Jesus, who sacrificed himself for humanity and then demonstrated resurrection to all of us, the entire western civilization and its values were born. After they sent in Moses, the “Ten Commandments” to civilize humanity was born.