In this article, I am going to summarize the explanation given by the
Masters of Wisdom about what happens after death. But for better understand it,
you must first know:
Why do humans come to Earth?
And the answer given by the Masters is because humans are in a process
of cosmic evolution that will allow them to become divine beings.
At the beginning, humans are like “seeds”, with all the potential to
become divine beings but with nothing yet developed in them.
And at the end of that cycle of evolution, humans will become fully
developed divine beings, and then they will take over a part of the Creation.
But to be able to realize this evolution, humans are going to have to
be alternating their development between two worlds:
- The first world, you already know it: it is the Terrestrial World.
- But there is also a Divine World that for the moment is beyond our
ability to perceive, Christians call it “the Paradise” (and the Theosophists
call it “the Devachan”).
- And there is also an intermediate zone that serves as a bridge between
those two worlds, and this zone, the Christians call it “the Purgatory” (and
the Theosophists call it “the Kama-Loka”).
The physical plane is only the visible part of the Terrestrial World. But
as the matter is “condensed energy”, the matter needs a mold that condenses
that energy, a mold that gives shape to that energy (and that sustains that
form). And therefore, in order for the physical plane to exist, it also needs a
subtle counterpart to play that molding role and that is the function of the
astral plane.
And at the same time, the physical plane also needs another subtle
counterpart that brings life to it. Because otherwise, the matter would only
remain inert. And that function of vitalizing the matter is carried out by the
energetic (or etheric) plane.
Therefore, we see that the Terrestrial World is composed of three planes
of existence:
- A physical plane
- An astral plane that is the matrix of that physical plane and
- An energetic plane that brings life to that physical plane
And the Divine World is also composed of three higher planes of
existence:
- A mental plane that is where most humans remain when they are in the Divine
World.
- But those who have transcended concrete desires and who, for example,
no longer love only one person in particular, but love all the humanity, these
humans already ascend to the buddhic plane.
- And the most evolved spiritually ascend even to the atmic plane,
which is the most divine plane of existence in which “normal” humans can be.
Therefore, we can divide those two worlds where humans interact in seven
planes of existence:
A) A higher Triad that
corresponds to the Divine World.
B) A lower Triad that
corresponds to the Terrestrial World.
C) And an intermediate zone that
serves as a bridge between the two worlds.
AND THE SAME STRUCTURE IS IN THE HUMAN
Because the law of correspondence that says "as it is above, it
is below". So humans are constituted under the same septenary structure.
The imperishable part of your being is composed of the three superior
components which are:
-
Atma, which is your divine nature
-
Buddhi which is your spiritual nature and
-
Manas which is your human nature.
But in order for the higher Triad to function in the Terrestrial World, he
needs a “vehicle” and this is formed by the three inferior components, which
are:
-
The physical body
-
The astral body that serves to give form to the
physical body and
-
The energetic body that serves to keep the physical body
alive.
And in the middle of these two triads (the higher Triad and the lower Triad)
there is an intermediate component (Kama) that serves as a connection between
the imperishable part of the human and its terrestrial vehicle.
(Here I put the names
in Sanskrit that uses the Original Theosophy with its equivalent in English)
Usually Manas is called “the mental body” and Kama is called “the
emotional body” or “the body of desires.” But these denominations do not please
me because they make people believe that Manas only thinks and that Kama only
feels and desires. But that is incorrect. And that is why I prefer to call
Manas as the emotional and mental principle that humans identify as “I” and
Kama as their animal nature in the human.
Therefore a more accurate illustration would be to imagine:
- Manas as the person you identify with.
- Buddhi as the spiritual part of your being that seeks to meke you evolve and to do what is right and
good.
- And Kama as the bestial part of your being that seeks to satisfy your
desires in a selfish way and is dominated by his low instincts.
At the beginning, humans mainly develop their animal principle (Kama)
and it is thus that men at the beginning behave in a bestial way, acting in a
selfish and rude way without caring about the consequences that their actions
have on others. And it is an unpleasant stage, but as you can see, necessary in
the evolutionary process so that your higher principles can connect more and
more with your earthly vehicle.
At a greater evolution, humans will develop especially their human principle
(Manas) and that is where most of humanity is currently. And it is at this
stage that men begin to think and discern before acting by simple impulse.
Then to further evolution, humans will develop mainly their spiritual principle
(Buddhi) and then reach a high degree of enlightenment as great masters such as
Jesus or Buddha have achieved.
And finally in its last stage of evolution, humans will develop
particularly their divine principle (Atma) and that is when they will become
fully developed divine beings.
AND WHY DO HUMANS NEED TO DESCEND ON EARTH?
People may wonder that if all
this process of evolution is so that in the end humans live as divine beings in
the Divine World, then it would be better to evolve directly in the Divine
World and not to complicate so much in descending to evolve on Earth.
But the reason of that is because the physical plane is where the divine
power is more concentrated, and humans need to descend to the matter to take a
portion of this divine power that will allow humans to shine as “radiant suns”
and have great power throughout their lives as divine beings.
And this is one of the misconceptions that people have: they believe
that the divine power is “up” when in reality the divine power is mostly “down”.
And that is because the largest amount of energy is condensed into the
matter. But this energy is “asleep.” and that is the reason why people do not
realize all the power that the matter contains, but physics has already shown
that huge amounts of energy can be generated when atoms disintegrate and return
to their original essence.
And that is why humans have to descend on Earth, to take their portion
of matter, and then learn to control it, and finally transform it into energy,
which will serve as “fuel” throughout their existence as divine beings.
But that process is not easy to carry out because when you descend to the
matter, your consciousness atrophies, your consciousness fall asleep and
temporarily darkens. And consequently, is required an entire evolutionary
process to reawaken and elevate your consciousness to the Divine World. And
that process is done through the cycle of reincarnations.
THE PROCESS OF REINCARNATION
As we saw, the awakening of consciousness is done from down to up. This
implies that the higher principles of humans are still in the process of
development.
Which brings us to the second misconception that people have to believe
that humans are already as awake and active in the Divine World as they are
currently on Earth.
And that is false because in reality the Masters explain that the vast
majority of humans are currently in the Divine World as babies in the process
of being born.
But the higher Triad is “very light,” which prevents it from descending on Earth. The most that the higher Triad can do is project a ray of Manas. And
this ray is going to enthrone with Kama in order to control his terrestrial
vehicle.
Usually that ray of Manas is called “the lower mind” and the part of
Manas that remains in the Divine World is called “the higher mind.” But
personally I do not like those names because they make people believe that they
are two different entities: “the lower self” that descends on Earth and “the
higher self” that remains sleeping in the Divine World. When in fact THEY ARE THE
SAME BEING.
Therefore, it would be more appropriate to compare the “lower mind” as
the hand of your body that you descend through a hole (because you cannot pass
your whole body through that hole) to reach what is in the background.
And here ask you:
Are you going to say that your hand
is an entity different from your body?
NO
Your hand is an integral part of you. But because the hand (in our
example) is going to be more active, is also the hand that is going to develop
more of your whole being. And that is why today, the part that humans have most
developed and activated are their Kama and Manas principles (that is, their animal
and human nature).
Let us summarize all this
The human is a consciousness that has seven principles which are:
- Atma, which is his divine
nature
- Bhuddi which is his spiritual nature
- Manas which is his human nature
- Kama which is his animal nature
- His energy body
- His astral body and
- His physical body
The three superior principles are permanent, while the lower four are
mortal and therefore it is necessary to reconstruct them with each new
reincarnation. And as the higher Triad cannot descend to the Terrestrial World,
Manas projects a ray of its essence, which is going to enthrone with the lower Quaternary.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DYING?
Well, in broad strokes, the inverse process of the reincarnation
will take place.
And this reverse process can be divided into four periods:
A) The period on the Astral
Plane
B) The period on the Kama-Loka
C) The period on the Divine
World and
D) The process for a new
reincarnation
A) THE PERIOD ON THE ASTRAL PLANE
Here is the third misconception that people have to believe that when humans die, they remain awake and active on the astral plane. But that is not
true and the Masters are very categorical on that point: most humans lose their
consciousness after death and spend sleeping during their stay in the astral
plane.
In this regard Master Kuthumi says:
« Every human recently disembodied, whether he died in
a calm or violent death, whether he died in
a natural death or accident death, whether he was mentally sane or
crazy, young or old, good or bad, etc. Every person at the instant of death loses all memory, he is mentally annihilated
[falls into unconsciousness], and he sleeps his Akasic sleep [first on the astral
plane and then] on the Kama-Loka.
This state lasts for a few hours (rarely less), days, weeks, months and
sometimes for several years. All this according to every human, at his mind
level at the time of death, to the character of his death, etc.
And the remembrance of his life [conscious memory of the life he had on
Earth] will return slowly and gradually towards the end of the gestational
stage at the moment of his entrance into the Devachan [the Divine World]. »
(Mahatma Letter 24B, p186-187)
But the Masters also point out that every rule has its exceptions and
the humans who remain awake (or semi awake) on the astral plane after dying can
regroup in two categories:
1) Humans who, by having acquired a more advanced development, are able
to remain awake and conscious after their dead. And among them are the adepts,
the black magicians, the shamans and their respective advanced disciples.
2) And common humans that for various reasons they cannot fall into akasic sleep. And some of these reasons are:
-
Because they have a great addiction to a drug (cigar,
alcohol, cocaine, etc.) which prevents them from being able to rest and
continuously those disembodied souls are looking for living people through whom
they can satisfy their addiction.
-
There are also people who are obsessed with some
activity (lust, perversion, etc.) and also they search for living people
through whom they can be satisfied.
-
There are also people who die very brutally (murder,
traffic or air accident, etc.) and this trauma prevents them from being able to
rest.
-
There are also suicides whose their deep depression
prevents them from being able to find rest in their sleep.
-
Etc.
How long do people remain in the astral after they die?
They remain on the astral plane the time their life would normally have
lasted on Earth. That is, for example, if a person was destined to live ninety
years on Earth, but by an accident she died at fifty. Then that person will
still be forty years in the astral plane.
Why?
Because Manas is very light. So in order to descend on Earth, you have
to tie yourself to your terrestrial vehicle through Kama. But remember that the
terrestrial vehicle is composed of three elements. And when the physical body
dies, its subtle counterpart (the astral body and the energy body) still exists.
And they will continue to exist until the useful life of the energy body is
over.
And the astral body and the energetic body are also subject to the law
of gravity, and that's the
reason why until those subtle bodies do not also die, the person cannot
ascend to the Kama-Loka.
B) THE PERIOD ON THE KAMA-LOKA
The Kama-Loka is like a sort of garbage dump where the whole lower part
of the person who cannot ascend to the Divine World remains. And this is
because the vibration of the Divine World is so high that in this zone can only
vibrate the most noble and sublime vibrations of existence.
In other words, in the Divine World there is only place for all that is
good. There cannot be low thoughts or low emotions. And that is why all those
low vibrations are left in the Kama-Loka.
What implies therefore, that during his stay in the Kama-Loka, the
person will be divided in two:
- All the qualities that she developed, all the knowledge that she
acquired and all the good vibrations that she generated during his stay on
Earth, will ascend to the Divine World.
- While everything bad in that person: all her faults, all her vices,
etc. All this will remain as a waste on the Kama-Loka, where it will gradually
disintegrate.
To this waste, the Theosophists call it "an elementary" and
you can imagine that the more evil a person was, the more the elementary will
keep most of the personality and only a small part of their being will ascend
to the Divine World.
And conversely, the more the person has been good or elevated, the more
her whole being will enter fully into the Divine World, leaving only a tiny
portion in the Kama-Loka.
The elementary usually remain unconscious, but can be revitalized by the
energy flow generated by Spiritist circles when invoking them. And once
awakened, they will do everything possible to try not to disappear and
therefore they will seek to energetically vampirize the humans that are in the
physical plane.
How long is this separation process on the Kama-Loka?
Master Kuthumi mentioned: "from a few hours to several years." Everything depends on each person. And in the
Kama-Loka, only humans who have reached a high degree of occult initiation
(adepts or black magicians) can remain conscious and awake (and temporarily the
elementaries that have been revitalized).
C) THE PERIOD IN THE DIVINE WORLD
The good part of the person returns to reintegrate into the “cosmic
baby” and during his stay in the Devachan, he will assimilate all the
experiences he brought with him and acquired during his stay on Earth.
And at the same time he will also enjoy a period of immense happiness
where the person will experience everything that makes her happier.
The detail is that he will experience it in his dreams because, as we
saw, the vast majority of people still do not have enough development to be
awake in the Divine World. However, that dream will be experienced in such an
intense and detailed form, that people will feel it more real than if they
lived it on Earth. And without anything negative that can disturb them.
And when I explain this to people, the question they usually ask me is:
Then we will not be able to be together with our loved ones?
And the answer is that they will be there, since the souls are grouped
according to their similarities, only that they will be sleeping. And when
dreams resemble each other, they tune into each other. So it would be more
accurate to say that they will be dreaming together.
The stay in the Devachan is a period of immense bliss that also serves
as a restful repose, since if humans had to continually be reincarnated without
rest, quickly they finish exhausted.
And the Masters say that currently the average duration of humans in the
Divine World is 1’500 years. Although obviously there are big differences: from
those who stay only for a short time, until those who live for many millennia.
Everything depends on the degree of development that the person has acquired,
the positive karma that she has generated and the experiences she has obtained
during her stay on Earth.
D) THE PROCESS FOR A NEW
REINCARNATION
When all these mental and psychic forces that kept the Ego on the Divine
World have been exhausted. Manas prepares to send a new ray of its essence to
Earth to live a new reincarnation and therefore a new period of development.
And so the cycle repeats itself.
And by this way the human is developing more and more with each new
reincarnation that he makes. Until one day “the cosmic baby” becomes a fully
developed cosmic being.
Then that highly evolved human will sublimate its four lower bodies and
transform them into energy. And no need to reincarnate more (since all the
development that could bring Earth, has already obtained). This human is
going to begin his cosmic life in the Divine World.
But (and this is another misconception that people have), the Divine
World is NOT a region where everyone lives in the same place.
The three planes that I mentioned you (the mental plane, the buddhic
plane and the atmic plane) are only a small part of the whole Divine World.
Because in fact the Divine World is constituted by numerous other planes
of existence and as humans evolve (but this time at a cosmic level and not only
at a planetary level), those very advanced humans will go accessing at planes
of existence more and more superior until reaching the Divine Consciousness
that directs the whole Creation.
However, they will not do this as humans, because although their
existence as “divine humans” is huge (the Masters speak of millions of years),
this divine existence also has an end. And then they will have to regenerate
again in a new evolutionary cycle.
But this new evolutionary cycle, they will do that in a higher realm
than the human kingdom. Catholics call them the angelic Hierarchy and the Theosophists
call them the Hierarchy of the Dhyani-Chohans (who are the higher intelligences
charged with supervising the Universe).
Observations:
Humans are going to be able to be aware and conscious
in increasingly higher planes of existence as they evolve.
And here I summarized the explanation given by the
Transhimalayan Masters, but you can read the articles where I detail this
subject in the theme “Death and the Afterlife.” (link)
RECAPITULATION
And having explained all above, now I do a summary of the stages through
which humans pass between life and death to make it clearer. And this process, I
divided into five stages:
1. Stay in the Physical Plane
2. Physical Death
3. Stay in the Astral Plane
4. Stay
at the Kama-Loka
5. Stay in the Divine World
6. Return to Earth
1) Stay in the Physical
Plane
When humans are incarnated on Earth, all his seven principles are
present.
But his higher Triad (composed of his divine spirit, his spiritual soul
and his superior human nature) remains in the Divine World. While it is only
his lower Quaternary (composed of his reincarnated human nature, his animal
nature, his energetic body, his astral body and his physical body) that is found
in the Terrestrial World.
The higher Triad and the lower Quaternary remain connected by an energy
loop known as the Antahkarana. And
currently, the higher Triad in most humans is still very unconscious and in the
process of formation. While his lower Quaternary is more developed, but he is still in the process to become in a true and civilized human being, from the bestial man he is initially.
2) Physical Death
At the moment that the person is dying, she sees her whole life in her
mind because her dying brain is projecting all her conscious and unconscious memories
into her inner being.
And when that process ends the person loses consciousness.
However, just before losing consciousness, humans have a moment of deep
lucidity where they perceive the karmic and evolutionary causes that led them
to have that life on Earth, and they also perceive the aspects that still need
to be developed and the defects that still need to be controlled.
And that moment in which the human is detached from physical life is
very important for esotericists and Buddhists because it is a time where you
could achieve great evolutionary and initiatory leaps. And that is why Master
Pasteur recommends to perform a technique at the moment of your passing away (see link) [later I will put] and also certain Buddhist
Schools teach a procedure that must be done at the moment when the human is
dying.
3) Stay in the Astral
Plane
The physical body having died, disembodied persons enter the astral
plane.
The vast majority of humans will remain asleep in what Master Kuthumi
calls “the Akasic sleep” Those who were good persons are going to have
sweet dreams, those who were bad persons are going to have nightmares and those
who are materialistic, they will not dream but they will simply remain sleeping
unconsciously.
And on the other hand, a small percentage of humans and for various
reasons will wake up. And usually this is because:
-
they have already reached enough development to be
able to remain awake in the astral,
-
or because there is something in them that allows them
to remain asleep.
For example: a very strong anxiety towards some vice (cigar, alcohol,
etc.), or because they were extremely attached to someone or something they
left on Earth, or because at the time of death, they were suffering from a deep
depression, or because they died in a terrible accident that left them very
shocked, etc.
And in some cases (and when conditions allow) you can get the human to
resurrect again as I explain in this chapter (see
link).
[Later I will put]
Humans will remain in the astral until their energy body is exhausted
the energy with which it was created, and this usually corresponds to the
period of life that the person destined had to live during her incarnation on
Earth.
And so, for example, if the person was destined to live: one hundred
years, but unfortunately an accident happened that killed her when she was thirty
years old. That means that he will still remain on the astral plane for seventy
years.
And when the “stack” of the energy body is finished, the astral body
quickly begins to disintegrate and what remains of the lower Quaternary (which
is Kama and lower Manas) ascends to the Kama-Loka.
4) Stay at the Kama-Loka
There, the disembodied person will be divided into two:
Everything good that composes this person (and also everything good that
she has developed during her stay on Earth) will ascend to the Divine World.
While the bad part of her being will remain in the Kama-Loka as a waste
that will progressively disintegrate, unless it is revitalized by the Spiritist
sessions, in which case it will become an entity that will seek vampirize
humans to not disappear.
And it should be noted that some magicians having attained sufficient
knowledge and development, they manage to anchor either in the astral or in the
Kama-Loka. But this causes them to separate themselves from their higher Triad,
and since they no longer have the energy that the Antahkarana provided them with, nor the energy that their energy
body procured for them, those disembodied magicians will be able to exist only
as long as they can vampirize the energy of the humans that remain on Earth.
Most of these magicians are from the dark side and they anchored on the
astral plane to avoid being (temporally) destroyed, but there are also some
magicians who did that mistake simply out of ignorance, and the oldest magicians
are anchored on the astral plane since the time of Atlantis.
Note: the period in the Kama-Loka can last from a few hours to several
years, it all depends on the spiritual development that the person has, as well
as their earthly attachments. And this is one of the reasons why incineration
is recommended: because fire purifies the subtle bodies and helps a lot to free
souls from all those attachments.
5) Stay in the Divine
World
The vast majority of humans are not yet enough developing to stay awake
in the Divine World; hence they will enter in the “devachanic dream” where they
will spend dreaming of everything that makes them happier. And although it will only be a dream, the
person will experience it in such a real, intense and profound way that it will
be completely true for her.
But the stay in the Divine World is not only a period of reward to
humans for all the good and beneficial things they did on Earth. But it also
allows them to recover, because if humans were reincarnating and reincarnating
without being able to pause, they would quickly end up exhausted and could no
longer move forward.
And it is also a period in which the Higher Triad will integrate all the
learning and development achieved by the lower Quaternary during his stay on
Earth. And during that period, lower Manas and higher Manas rejoin and return
to be one.
The Masters say that humans currently remain in the Divine World an
average of 1’500 years, although obviously there are great differences: from
those who remain only a few months, to those who remain many millennia.
Everything depends on the Karma and development that the person has achieved
during her earthly stay.
6) Return to Earth
When the psychic, mental and emotional energies that the person brought
with her, have been integrated, and that positive karma has been compensated in
the Divine World (and still need to be compensated in the Terrestrial World),
and if there are on the planet the appropriate conditions for a new
evolutionary stage.
Then Manas returns to project a ray of his essence towards on Earth and
a new lower Quaternary is going to form again to restart a new reincarnation.
And Blavatsky points out that in that process, for a short moment,
humans again have a moment of profound lucidity, where they perceive in broad
strokes the new life they are going to have and the reasons why they were
destined for that life.
And it should be noted that during the post-mortem process, the negative
karma stop temporarily and this will have to be settled mainly during the stays
in the physical plane, with the exception of those that really were very, very
bad, and these individuals instead of having a period of happiness (Devachan)
they will have a period of suffering (Avitchi) during their post-mortem journey.
And it should also be noted that as humans evolve further, the separation
between the higher Triad and the lower Quaternary will diminish until the human
is able to be conscious in the different planes of existence.
And this is what the Masters achieve (even being incarnated on Earth)
since having developed in a very advanced way their seven principles; they can
travel to any of those planes consciously. Which means that for the Masters
death is a simple change of the “physical vehicle” (as if it were a change of
clothing) because they remain conscious throughout the post-mortem process
(except for a small period at the time of dying).
While for ordinary humans, death remains a reversal because we lose all our
consciousness and did not recover her until the next reincarnation and into a complete
amnesia with about what happened.
