Short answer is: I do not use a firm model at all. I did, but eventually I pushed the boundaries of such models in so many directions that I found them all lacking,
Think about how big the planet earth is. You could spend the rest of your life wandering and not see every inch of it. Now think about how small earth is in the solar system. Now think of how small it is in the galaxy. In the Universe.
When you blow out your concept of reality to include other planes of existence accessed through different bodies and shifts in consciousness I just cannot accept a multi-verse that is explained completely. I think that these models are excellent as tools, and I have used them myself. If however they are treated as a finished product, they loose all meaning.
To twist a phrase that I heard from some astrophysicist whose name I cannot remember: Reality is not only more than we know, but more than we can know,
For the record, I do not treat the planetary levels as being in the lower astral. The spheres model used in Hermetics, is a type of vertical travel through planes of existence/consciousness. I do not see these as having anything to do with the literal planets and consider it a metaphor.
That said, the levels marked as planets exist in the astral levels. The lowest of them (luna) is above (more subtle than) the very low astral which more or less mirrors the physical world. To get past the Solar sphere your astral body undergoes a shift into what I call the Soul Body,. As you vibrate higher, you experience less ego clinging, more compassion and noble feelings. The reason for this is that consciousness itself is an integral part of all manifestation, and the further you get from the dense material world, the more this consciousness becomes refined. After Saturn is what can be called an Abyss, but not what I refer to as the abyss. It is however where you shift from the Soul Body (higher astral) into the mental body and enter the eighth and ninth spheres. This is roughly equivalent to the celestial triad on the tree of life.
The eighth and ninth spheres that Hermes Trismegistus wrote about in his discourse and which Frater RO is writing a lot about currently are in what I call the Mental Levels. You travel as consciousness only. You do however experience space and other beings at this level. Platonic forms and very subtle structures as well as beatific visions of angels and saints emanate from here. The Silent Hymns that Hermes wrote of are silent because they are the expressions of the Mind. In the Hermetic system you reveal the 9th sphere by singing these hyms. In the 9th sphere there is only you and God, or as I see it, you and everything else.
I know that some who like the Tree of Life model will disagree with this, but to me, the real Crossing of the Abyss happens after this point, not earlier.
Beyond this are what I call the Causal levels. These are areas of consciousness and awareness with no spatial dimensions or separation. Upper Causal Levels also have no meaningful dimension of time. Even here though there is room for movement in terms of experience of emptiness of form, experience of bliss, experience of light, experience of vastness, experience of fullness.
Beyond this are the perfection levels, that are pretty well meaningless to write about.
There may be things yet beyond that. I am only 37 after all.
All this however just speaks of VERTICAL travel from gross to subtle.
At each of these levels there is a, infinite plurality of experience. Those that experience the solar level for instance, have not experienced the entire level any more than you have experienced the entire earth. If you ask Michael to initiate you into the consciousness of the Solar sphere, you are going to get a very different experience than if you use the Necronomicon gate to walk the same levels. It is worth doing both.
It is in the Horizontal traveling that you can make a great deal of interesting discovery that is relevant to practical magic. There are for instance entire planes of specific types of force that have been set up by Wizards (a term I do not use lightly) that have stabilized awareness of the causal levels. Some of these are the Buddhist Pure lands designed to make tantric practice easier. Others are heavens set up to hold the consciousness of devotees of specific religions. Some are universe wide engines of healing force that can be tapped into. Others are places where ....
Well, you get the idea. The world is big, The universe is big, The multiverse is even bigger. The whole of reality is WAY to big to think that you have a firm grasp on.
Think about how big the planet earth is. You could spend the rest of your life wandering and not see every inch of it. Now think about how small earth is in the solar system. Now think of how small it is in the galaxy. In the Universe.
When you blow out your concept of reality to include other planes of existence accessed through different bodies and shifts in consciousness I just cannot accept a multi-verse that is explained completely. I think that these models are excellent as tools, and I have used them myself. If however they are treated as a finished product, they loose all meaning.
To twist a phrase that I heard from some astrophysicist whose name I cannot remember: Reality is not only more than we know, but more than we can know,
For the record, I do not treat the planetary levels as being in the lower astral. The spheres model used in Hermetics, is a type of vertical travel through planes of existence/consciousness. I do not see these as having anything to do with the literal planets and consider it a metaphor.
That said, the levels marked as planets exist in the astral levels. The lowest of them (luna) is above (more subtle than) the very low astral which more or less mirrors the physical world. To get past the Solar sphere your astral body undergoes a shift into what I call the Soul Body,. As you vibrate higher, you experience less ego clinging, more compassion and noble feelings. The reason for this is that consciousness itself is an integral part of all manifestation, and the further you get from the dense material world, the more this consciousness becomes refined. After Saturn is what can be called an Abyss, but not what I refer to as the abyss. It is however where you shift from the Soul Body (higher astral) into the mental body and enter the eighth and ninth spheres. This is roughly equivalent to the celestial triad on the tree of life.
The eighth and ninth spheres that Hermes Trismegistus wrote about in his discourse and which Frater RO is writing a lot about currently are in what I call the Mental Levels. You travel as consciousness only. You do however experience space and other beings at this level. Platonic forms and very subtle structures as well as beatific visions of angels and saints emanate from here. The Silent Hymns that Hermes wrote of are silent because they are the expressions of the Mind. In the Hermetic system you reveal the 9th sphere by singing these hyms. In the 9th sphere there is only you and God, or as I see it, you and everything else.
I know that some who like the Tree of Life model will disagree with this, but to me, the real Crossing of the Abyss happens after this point, not earlier.
Beyond this are what I call the Causal levels. These are areas of consciousness and awareness with no spatial dimensions or separation. Upper Causal Levels also have no meaningful dimension of time. Even here though there is room for movement in terms of experience of emptiness of form, experience of bliss, experience of light, experience of vastness, experience of fullness.
Beyond this are the perfection levels, that are pretty well meaningless to write about.
There may be things yet beyond that. I am only 37 after all.
All this however just speaks of VERTICAL travel from gross to subtle.
At each of these levels there is a, infinite plurality of experience. Those that experience the solar level for instance, have not experienced the entire level any more than you have experienced the entire earth. If you ask Michael to initiate you into the consciousness of the Solar sphere, you are going to get a very different experience than if you use the Necronomicon gate to walk the same levels. It is worth doing both.
It is in the Horizontal traveling that you can make a great deal of interesting discovery that is relevant to practical magic. There are for instance entire planes of specific types of force that have been set up by Wizards (a term I do not use lightly) that have stabilized awareness of the causal levels. Some of these are the Buddhist Pure lands designed to make tantric practice easier. Others are heavens set up to hold the consciousness of devotees of specific religions. Some are universe wide engines of healing force that can be tapped into. Others are places where ....
Well, you get the idea. The world is big, The universe is big, The multiverse is even bigger. The whole of reality is WAY to big to think that you have a firm grasp on.
2 comments:
I am really beginning to think that either I owe you for a decade or so's worth of classes given/taken on one of the more subtle levels, or that astral temple thing was only one of our common way stations.
"I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine. Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose." - J.B.S. Haldane, geneticist and evolutionary biologist.
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