Life In 4D (The Astral Realms)

The following description of life in the astral realms is excerpted from "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramhansa Yogananda.

[QUOTING]

“God encased the human soul successively in three bodies – the idea, or causal, body; the subtle astral body, seat of man’s mental and emotional natures; and the gross physical body.

On earth a man is equipped with his physical sense. An astral being works with his consciousness and feelings and a body made of lifetrons.* A causal-bodied being remains in the blissful realm of ideas.

* The Hindu scriptures refer to... prana, "creative lifetronic force". Atoms and electrons are blind forces; prana is inherently intelligent. The pranic lifetrons in the spermatozoa and ova, guide the embryonic development according to a karmic design.

“There are many astral planets, teeming with astral beings. The inhabitants use astral planes, or masses of light, to travel from one planet to another, faster than electricity and radioactive energies.

“The astral universe, made of various subtle vibrations of light and color, is hundreds of times larger than the material cosmos. The entire physical creation hangs like a little solid basket under the huge luminous balloon of the astral sphere. Just as many physical suns and stars roam in space, so there are also countless astral solar and stellar systems. Their planets have astral suns and moons, more beautiful than the physical ones. The astral luminaries resemble the aurora borealis - the sunny astral aurora being more dazzling than the mild-rayed moon-aurora. The astral day and night are longer than those of earth.

“The astral world is infinitely beautiful, clean, pure, and orderly. There are no dead planets or barren lands. The terrestrial blemishes, weeds, bacteria, insects, snakes – are absent. Unlike the variable climates and seasons of the earth, the astral planets maintain the even temperatures of an eternal spring, with occasional luminous white snow and rain of many-colored lights. Astral planets abound in opal lakes and bright seas and rivers.

“The ordinary astral universe … is peopled with millions of astral beings who have come, more or less recently, from the earth, and also with myriads of fairies, mermaids, fishes, animals, goblins, gnomes, demigods and spirits, all residing on different astral planets in accordance with karmic qualifications. Various spheric mansions or vibratory regions are provided for good and evil spirits. Good ones can travel freely, but the evil spirits are confined to limited zones. In the same way that human beings live on the surface of the earth, worms inside the soil, fish in water, and birds in the air, so astral beings of different grades are assigned to suitable vibratory quarters.

“Among the fallen dark angels expelled from other worlds, friction and war take place with lifetronic bombs or mental mantric* vibratory rays. These beings dwell in the gloom-drenched regions of the lower astral cosmos, working out their evil karma.

*Adjective of mantra, chanted seed sounds discharged by the mental gun of concentration. The Puranas describe these mantric wars between devas and asuras (gods and demons). An asura once tried to slay a deva with a potent chant. But due to mispronunciation the mental bomb acted as a boomerang and killed the demon.

“In the vast realms above the dark astral prison, all is shining and beautiful. The astral cosmos is more naturally attuned than the earth to the divine will and plan of perfection. Every astral object is manifested primarily by the will of God, and partially by the will-call of astral beings. They possess the power of modifying or enhancing the grace and form of anything already created by the Lord. He has given His astral children the freedom and privilege of changing or improving at will the astral cosmos. On earth a solid must be transformed into a liquid or other form through natural or chemical processes, but astral solids are changed into astral liquids, gases, or energy solely and instantly by the will of the inhabitants".

[END QUOTING]

End of Part I

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