return to metaphysics
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We frequently make reference to the inner planes or to individual planes such as the physical, astral, mental or soul planes. For those who do not share this frame of reference some clarification might be in order.
The premise is that existence occurs on multiple and different planes or levels from the densest or physical plane up through the highest spiritual planes. A rough outline may be seen below.
| Plane | Experienced via the |
|
| Spirit Planes | 10th through 12th planes | Spirit Body |
| Soul Plane | 7th through 9th planes, the future is created here | Soul Body |
| Causal Plane | Connections which bring about causes in manefestation on lower levels such as karma | Causal Body |
| Mental Plane | The level of ideas, concepts, thoughts | Mental Body |
| Astral Plane | Feeling, emotion | Astral Body |
| Physical Plane | Densest level of physical manifestation , bound by time and space | Physical Body |
We experience each of these levels from their appropriate bodies which are separate and distinct vehicles for experience and expression on those levels. When we experience feelings, we do so from our astral body. Ideas, logic and the constructs of the mental plane are experienced from the mental body. We roam the halls of wisdom and other regions of the soul planes in the soul body and so on. Each of us has experienced this in numerous ways. We have the experience of our mental body taking off on a tangent only to be jarred back to consciousness a few moments later to realize that we had been "elsewhere," or we will be talking with someone and watch their eyes glaze over as their "mind wanders." Finally, you may recall the experience of a smell or an image triggering an emotional experience which sent you into your astral body.
Each of these bodies is active experiencing or expressing in its own realm, though we may or may not have awareness of those processes in our normal waking consciousness. Many intellectual types are so comfortable in their mental bodies that they seldom are centered elsewhere. When you ask them how they feel, they will answer with what they think, and be completely oblivious to the feelings they are experiencing. Someone who was predominently centered in their astral body might be so absorbed in their feelings that they could not use their mental body to see the logic of another position or calculate consequenses. One would move to the soul body to experience the overview, the morality, the ideals which came with that perspective.
None of these planes or bodies is "better" than another any more than a convertible is a better vehicle than a pickup truck. They are simply the appropriate vehicle for their realm. The astral body is how we experience our desires and express our feelings. The mental body allows us to calculate, invent, decipher, understand and process ideas. The soul and spirit allow us to move beyond the self and touch the divine. An effective strategy is to be comfortable and able to center your consciousness in each of your bodies. Thus you can center in the most appropriate place to conduct the business at hand, aware of how you feel, what you think and what you know.
Exercise for building awareness and facility with the various bodies.