The Complete Works of Yogy Ramacharaka. William Walker Atkinson
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is fully learned, and the soul yearns for that further advancement that can only come from the experience and action of another earth-life, and through the force of its desires (never against its will, remember) the soul is gradually caught in the current sweeping on toward rebirth, and becoming drowsy, is helped toward the plane of the room of slumber and, then falling into the soul-slumber it gradually "dies" to the Astral World, and is reborn into a new earth-life in accordance to its desires and tastes, and for which it is fit at that particular stage of its development. It does not fully awaken upon physical birth, but exists in a dreamy state of gradual awakening during the years of early childhood, its awakening being evidenced by the gradual dawning of intelligence in the child whose brain keeps pace with the demands made upon it. We will go more into detail regarding this matter, in the succeeding chapters.
All of these things, your guide has pointed out to you, and he has shown you examples of all the things we have just mentioned. You have met and talked with friends and loved ones who have passed out of the body and occupy some of the planes through which you have passed. You have noticed with wonder that these souls acted and spoke as if their life was the only natural one, and in fact seemed to think that you had come to them from some outside world. You also noticed that while those on each plane were more or less acquainted with the planes beneath them, they often seemed in total ignorance of those above them - except in the case of those on the higher planes who had awakened to a conscious realization of what it all meant, and knew that they were merely in a class working their way upward. Those on the lower planes seemed more or less unconscious of the real meaning of their existence, not having awakened to the conscious spiritual stage. You also noticed how few changes these souls seemed to have undergone, how very little more they seemed to know about things spiritual and occult than when on earth. You also noticed on the lower planes an old friend, who in earth-life, was a pronounced materialist, who did not seem to realize that he was "dead" and who believed that, by some catastrophe of nature, he had been transported to some other planet or physical world, and who was as keen as ever for his argument that "death ended all," and who flew into a rage with the visitors from the higher spheres who told him whom they were and from whence they came, calling them rogues and imposters, and demanding that they show him something of their claimed "higher spheres" if they were realities. He claimed that their sudden appearances and disappearances were simply the physical phenomena of the new planet upon which they were living. Passing away from him in the midst of his railing at you for agreeing with the "imposters" and "visionaries," who, to use his expression, were "little better than the spiritualists of the old world," you sadly asked your guide to take you to the highest spheres. Your guide smiled and said, "I will take you as far as you can go," and then took you to a plane which so fitted in with your desires, aspirations, tastes, and development, that you begged him to allow you to remain there, instead of taking you back to earth, as you felt that you had reached the "seventh heaven" of the Astral World. He insisted upon your return, but before starting told you that you were still in one of the sub-planes of the comparatively lower planes. You seemed to doubt his words, and like the materialist asked to be shown the greater things. He replied, "No, my son, you have progressed just as far as your limitations will allow - you have reached that part of the 'other life' which will be yours when you part with the body, unless you manage to develop still more and thus pass into a higher grade thus far you may go but no farther. You have your limitations, just as I have mine, still farther on. No soul may travel beyond its spiritual boundaries."
"But," continued your guide, "beyond your plane and beyond mine are plane after plane, connected with our earth, the splendors of which man cannot conceive. And there are likewise many planes around the other planets of our chain - and there are millions of other worlds - and there are chains of universes just as there are chains of planets - and then greater groups of these chains - and so on greater and grander, beyond the power of man to imagine - on and on and on and on, higher and higher to inconceivable heights. An infinity of infinities of worlds are before us. Our world and our planetary chain and our system of suns, and our systems of solar systems, are but as grains of sand on the beach."
"Then what am I - poor mortal thing - lost among all this inconceivable greatness," you cried. "You are the most precious thing - a living soul," replied your guide, "and if you were destroyed the whole system of universes would crumble, for you are as necessary as the greatest part of it - it cannot do without you - you cannot be lost or destroyed - you are part of it all, and are eternal.
"And beyond all of this of which you have told me," you cried, "what is there, and what is the center of it all?" Your guide's face took on a rapt expression. "THE ABSOLUTE," he replied.
And when you reached your physical body again - just before your guide faded away - you asked him, "How many million miles away from Earth have we been, and how long were we gone?" He replied, "You never left the Earth at all - and your body was left alone but a moment of time - time and space belong not to the Astral world."
THE ELEVENTH LESSON.
BEYOND THE BORDER.
In these lessons we have not attempted to force upon the student any conception of the truth which did not appeal to him, or which did not harmonize with his own conception. We grant to all the liberty of their own convictions, preferring that they should accept only such of the Yogi teachings as may appeal to them, letting the rest pass by as not being needed just at that time. We merely state the Yogi's conception of the matter, as simply and plainly as we are able, that the student may understand the theory - whether or not it appeals to him as truth is a matter with which we have no concern. If it is true, then it is true, no matter what the student may think of it, and his belief or unbelief does not change matters. But, the Yogis do not hold to the idea that anyone is to be punished for unbelief, nor is one to be rewarded for belief - they hold that belief and unbelief are not matters of the will, but of the growth of understanding, therefore it is not consistent with justice to suppose that one is rewarded or punished for belief or unbelief. The Yogis are the most tolerant of people. They see good, and truth, in all forms of belief, and conceptions of truth, and never blame any for not agreeing with them. They have no set creeds, and do not ask their followers to accept as a matter of course all that they teach. Their advice to students is: "Take what appeals to you, and leave the rest - tomorrow come back and take some of what you have rejected today, and so on, until you receive all we have to give you - do not force yourself to accept unpalatable truths, for when the time comes for you to receive them they will be pleasant to your mental taste - take what you please, and leave what you please - our idea of hospitality does not consist in forcing unpalatable things upon you, insisting that you must eat them to gain our favor, or that you will be punished for not liking them - take your own wherever you find it; but take nothing that is not yours by right of understanding; and fear not that anything that belongs to you may be withheld." With this understanding we proceed with our lesson - a most important one
When the Ego leaves the body, at the moment of what we call Death, it leaves behind it the lower principles, and passes onward to states which will be considered by us presently. It leaves behind, first, the physical body. This physical body, as we have told you in the First Lesson, is composed of millions of tiny cells - little lives having a bit of mind or intelligence, under control of the central mind of the man; having also a supply of prana, or vital force, and a material casing or body, the sum of which little bodies makes the whole body of the man. We have devoted a chapter of our book upon "Hatha Yoga" to the consideration of these little lives, and we must refer the student to that book for fuller particulars of their life and work. When the death of the man occurs - when the Ego leaves its material sheath which it has used for the period of that particular "life," the cells separate and scatter, and that which we call decay sets in. The force which has held these cells together is withdrawn, and they are free to go their own way and form new combinations. Some are absorbed into the bodies of the plants in the vicinity, and eventually find themselves forming parts of the body of some animal which has eaten the plant, or a part of some other man who has eaten the plant or the meat of the animal which had eaten the plant. You will, of course, understand that these little cell - lives have nothing to do with the real soul or Ego of the man