The Astral Body and Inner Senses

From Seth Early Sessions Book 5, Session 202

The Astral Body and Inner Senses

As you know, the inner senses belong to that part of human personality that is not physically materialized.  At various times I have spoken concerning the reality of what you refer to as the astral body.  You must remember that over a year ago we discussed tissue capsules.  The astral body is of this nature.  It is composed of electromagnetic components.  It is simply the unseen self.

(Seth began discussing the inner senses in the 20^th session; by the 50^th session he had gone into some detail on nine of them, with more to come.  By the 59^th session he had also included eleven basic laws of the inner universe, plus three properties of physical material.

(The 7^th inner sense is: Expansion or Contraction of the Tissue Capsule.  In Volumes 1 and 2 see the 39^th, 40^th and 43^rd sessions among many others.)

This does not mean that it cannot be seen on occasion, but it cannot be perceived through use of the unaided physical senses.  It is that indeed which contains the memories and experiences, in codified units, of the present individual.  It is that part which survives physical death.  It is that part which in physical life is intertwined with the physical image.

The basic consciousness is never physical.  Yet within your system it must collect experience within the physical system, hence the physical body.  But experience itself is not physical, and cannot be contained within physical matter.  Therefore this experience, collected within the physical field, is held in codified form by this inner self or astral identity.  It is only by understanding the connection between the physical and nonphysical self, and the communication systems that operate here, that the true nature of human personality can be studied.

While we are dealing now with your own species, it should be realized that all consciousness also possesses its own astral identity.  The inner senses are part of this nonphysical self.  They allow the personality to retain its relationship with nonphysical reality, permitting the material self to focus within its earthly environment.

The inner senses collect information of which the conscious self may not be aware.  The astral identity of course is aware of communications from both the inner and outer environment.  The astral identity is therefore actually a more complete representation of the whole personality, and its abilities are far-reaching.  The inner ego of which we have spoken is the director of this astral identity.  You should see now how this fits in with some of our older material.

(Seth began discussing the inner ego along with the inner senses, so material on it is woven through the sessions.  A few recent sessions dealing with the inner ego are:  94, 151, 162, 173.  See Volumes 3 and 4.)

When the physical self sleeps the astral image may indeed wander.  It always returns to the physical body during physical life.  Its telepathic and clairvoyant abilities are not hampered in any way by the ego when that self sleeps.  In waking hours the communications system is more or less closed on the ego’s side, but in sleep the barriers are lifted and knowledge from the inner self has a freer flow.

Obviously then so-called astral projection occurs frequently in the sleeping state.  It also occurs however in the waking state, although the ego is not aware of such projection as a rule.  When through training there is greater communication between the inner and outer selves, then it is possible for the ego to realize what has happened.

I have told you that dreams are a continuing process, whether or not the ego wakes or sleeps, and whether or not it has, or retains, any knowledge of the dreaming.  So also the astral self journeys often, whether the ego wakes or sleeps.

The inner ego is then the “I” of the astral body.

The inner ego is then this inner identity.  It is closely allied with the entity, and connects a reality that is purely psychic, the reality of the entity, with the reality that is mainly physical, the reality of the physical self.

The inner senses perceive the psychic reality and transmit messages from it.  We speak of these as separate, again, only for convenience, for we have but various abilities and various aspects of a self.  The divisions are arbitrary.  This is very important.

Now.  Regard the inner senses in connection with the nature of action and electromagnetic reality, for the perceptions of the inner senses are themselves action, and as such they change both the perceiver and the thing perceived.  You can see then that even this astral image is always in motion and never static, and its condition alters the physical self even as the physical self acts upon the astral image.

Any dream is experienced differently by these various aspects of the self.  There is not one objective dream that is merely perceived in various fashions.  The various levels of the self create their own dreams, which do have meanings to all layers of the personality.  But you cannot think of a dream as a concrete block that is for example chipped off in pieces that then applied to these imaginary levels.  All of these aspects of the self are so intertwined that arbitrary distinctions must be made for you simply to explain them.

Incidentally, suggestions will reach many aspects of the self, and some which are very distant from the ego, for you are setting into motion psychic action, which is behind all realities.  Suggestion will reach portions of the self of which the ego is entirely unfamiliar.  Suggestion can indeed change experience which has already passed.

It can change the individual’s present reaction to the past event, and alter the original implications and meanings that were once connected with such an event.  Suggestions can shape future events because any action changes that which existed before it, and that which shall exist after it within your system.

This is different however from cause and effect for basically a specific action will not give a specific effect, only.  Within your system, you only perceive certain actions out of an endless variety of actions.  So you take these few as inevitable results of a given cause.

Suggestions then can shape the future.  Expectation enters in here particularly of course.  Suggestion can shape dreams, and the dreams themselves then operate as action.  A strong dream can be a more significant psychic action than any physical experience, and it can change the course of the personality completely.

The inner senses will also react to suggestion.  If you therefore suggest that you become more aware of their activities, then so you shall.  You are giving suggestions, whether or not you realize it, constantly.  You are forming your own physical image with all its strengths and weaknesses whether or not you are aware of it.

Suggestion, well used, with training and knowledge, will therefore allow you to alter the very cells of your body.  The inner senses can be requested to operate in such a way that the ego will accept their communications.  For the astral body is not some distant and alien other self, but it is even now that portion of yourself that you know but cannot see, that you feel but cannot touch.

Karma and Causation

From Chapter 31 of Each Moment is the Universe by Dainin Katagiri

“A being is an event in time and space.  All beings interconnect with each other in emptiness.  Then, according to causes and conditions, something happens and many elements come together to form a being.  In terms of origination, samskara becomes bhava.  That is interdependent co-origination, or pratitya-samutpada.  In Sanskrit, pratitya means “dependently”, sam means “together”, and utpada is “to originate or occur”.  So it means “originating dependent on conditions”.  In terms of destruction, bhava becomes samskara.  All sentient beings return to emptiness and are interconnected in peace and harmony.  Then all sentient beings become the next moment of existence and there is change.

“From moment to moment your individual life is constantly created anew.  So don’t accept the idea that there is a certain unchangeable life pattern controlled by something or someone.  Buddhism teaches how your life is going through the past, present, and future.  Watch your life carefully.  In daily living your past life comes up like a jack-in-the-box.  Pop!  You don’t feel good, but this is okay.  You still have the freedom to make a choice of how to manifest your life now.  Then your actions in the present create causes and conditions for your life in the future.

“Strictly speaking, karma is at the basis of human life.  But it is not inside life; it is not outside life.  No matter how long your try to peel the skin, take out the bones, and peek into the marrow, you cannot find something called karma.  You cannot find anything at all.

“So how can you know karma?  We don’t know how to know karma, but karma is closely related to the human world through your body and mind.  That is the whole body and mind, connected with consciousness, name and form, six sense consciousnesses, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, and being.  Through your human body and mind you can know what karma is, what the basis of human existence is.  That means stand up in your life, calm your body and mind, and just be present right now, right here.  Do zazen, and then you can understand.  There is really no other better way, because karma is not something you can fully understand intellectually.

“Karma is nothing but energy, the mainspring of creating vitality.  If you see this original nature of karma, if you really understand this, that is called freedom.  Freedom means that in the next moment you can manifest your life in a new way.”

Dream Images

From Session 191 of "Seth Early Sessions Book 4

"Dream images are in a most vital manner extensions of the self.  They are projected from the self, extending outward indeed like branches from a tree.  Yet they are individual, and have an amount of freedoms as even leaves do.  And as branches are composed of all those elements that make up the whole tree, so indeed dream images are composed of those elements that make up the personality.

“It is obvious that dream images are not responsible to the ego, however.  While they contain within them compositions that are also seen in the physical self, these properties appear in different percentages.  As leaves bring vital nutrients to the tree trunk, so also do dream images bring nourishment to the personality.

“As leaves drop from the tree, so finally do dream images depart from close connection with the personality.  Yet a psychic connection is always maintained to some degree.  Dream images are often images which cannot be created for various reasons within physical reality at any particular time.  Dream images may appear later however as physical images.

“There are seasonal variations, temperature variations, electromagnetic and chemical reactions that all influence the production and efficiency of dream images, and that also influence the effect of dream images upon the individual.  There is also, as I mentioned, a close relationship existing between dream images and other materializations, that are not ordinarily regular physical occurrences.

“Since the individual creates his own physical image to begin with, then there is nothing so strange about his creation of a pseudophysical body which is not so closely dependent upon the physical system.  Again, however, such a pseudobody has electromagnetic and chemical connections that originate in the more usual physical image.  In your field of activity this sort of connection must always exist.

“The field that connects the personality to this kind of pseudoimage is actually formed by extensions of psychic energy.  Imagine it, the field, if you will, as a thin but sturdy thread that connects the pseudoimage with the original image.  There are some limitations here then as to range.  These are not basic limitations, but have to do with the individual’s ability to so extend himself.  Many dreams involve such roamings on the part of the personality while it is within this sort of pseudo image.

“Much training and practice would be necessary before it would be possible for the personality to be aware of such journeys on a conscious, egotistical level.  For like a man walking a tightrope in his sleep, sudden awareness of such a feat could be disastrous, for the delicate balance necessary is not dependent upon egotistical awareness; and such awareness, without warning, could be highly detrimental.”

WHIRLPOOLS IN THE RIVER

This quote is from Charlotte Joko Beck in Jack Kornfield's book "The Buddha Is Still Teaching":

WHIRLPOOLS IN THE RIVER

We are rather like whirlpools in the river of life. In flowing forward, a river or stream may hit rocks, branches, or irregularities in the ground, causing whirlpools to spring up spontaneously here and there. Water entering one whirlpool quickly passes through and rejoins the river, eventually joining another whirlpool and moving on. Though for short periods it seems to be distinguishable as a separate event, the water in the whirlpools is just the river itself. The stability of a whirlpool is only temporary. The energy of the river of life forms living things—a human being, a cat or dog, trees and plants—then what held the whirlpool in place is itself altered, and the whirlpool is swept away, reentering the larger flow. The energy that was a particular whirlpool fades out and the water passes on, perhaps to be caught again and turned for a moment into another whirlpool.

We’d rather not think of our lives in this way, however. We don’t want to see ourselves as simply a temporary formation, a whirlpool in the river of life. The fact is, we take form for a while; then when conditions are appropriate, we fade out. There’s nothing wrong with fading out; it’s a natural part of the process. However, we want to think that this little whirlpool that we are isn’t part of the stream. We want to see ourselves as permanent and stable. Our whole energy goes into trying to protect our supposed separateness. To protect the separateness, we set up artificial, fixed boundaries; as a consequence, we accumulate excess baggage, stuff that slips into our whirlpool and can’t flow out again. So, things clog up our whirlpool and the process gets messy. The stream needs to flow naturally and freely….We serve other whirlpools best if the water that enters ours is free to rush through and move on easily and quickly to whatever else needs to be stirred. The energy of life seeks rapid transformation. If we can see life this way and not cling to anything, life simply comes and goes.

The Power of the Word GOD and the Meaning of the Crucifixion

More from Volume 3 of "Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East":

Chapter XV (Location 1375)

(The following is a quote from Jesus appearing to the group in Hardwar)

“I will talk to you just as I wish you to talk to yourself.  If you will make these statements true or make them a part of yourself, you will need no other.  These statements are in no wise to be used as formulas.  Students can use them to bring their thoughts in accord with Divine Principle or, as many say, ‘to train their thoughts to the one point’.  We use the word GOD as often as possible, repeating it many times.

“It is a well known fact that the oftener you say or use the word GOD, knowing it to be the highest principle in-dwelling and flowing through you, the greater benefit you will derive from it.  Allow me to repeat, - our thought is, ‘You cannot say GOD or use the name too much’.

“See God as Creative Principle flowing through you; concentrate and energize that principle, and send it out with more dynamic influence.  Because of the fact that it always flows through you as well as around you, you are able to give it a greater impetus by sending it out with the whole force of your being, impelling it outward.  Man’s body is the medium through which this force is transformed and added impetus is given it, in order to do a greater work and be sent forth in greater form.

“Thus, there is far greater force added to this principle through the fact that millions are magnifying its radiations and sending them out; yet one man standing forth in full dominion can conquer the world.  Thus, see what millions could accomplish.

“The more you use this name, knowing that it is the in-dwelling God Principle that you are establishing within you, the higher the rate of vibration of your body.  These vibrations become correlated and respond to the Divine vibrations which the word God means and gives forth.  Should you say GOD once, meaningly, your body will never return to the same vibratory rate that it was giving off at the time you used the word GOD.  With this thought in mind, make these statements your very own; put them in your own language if you so desire.  They are from you and not from any outside source.  Just try for a time and see what it will do for you.  Recall that every time you think GOD, you are God’s Divine Plan.  These are not my words, they are your words coming from the Christ of God, yourself.  Bear in mind that Jesus, the man, became the Christ as He expressed light, which is pure life of God.

“God, my Father, the Divine Principle flowing through me, is all; and all that God is, I AM.  I am the Christ of God, God-man.

“All that God my Father is, is for God-man to use; thus I AM is entitled to use all substance.  In fact, God my Father is pressing out all substance to God-man in unlimited measure.

“God Principle is my Father; I AM the Christ of God; both in whole and complete union.  All that God has, the Christ of God is.

“Let us take the word GOD.  Why is it that this word has so much power?  It is because of the vibrations that are released when the word is spoken – they are of the very highest, they are the Cosmos, the most effective vibration.  They come in on the Cosmic Ray and set up the highest field of radiation.  This field is all-inclusive, all-penetrating, all-existing, and rules all mass.  They are the ruling elements of all energy and this vibration is the vehicle that carries light and life.

“The ruling intelligence back of this radiation is what we term GOD and, through its radiation, the intelligence pervades everything.  From this radiation field both light and life emanate.  When man accepts these, he unites them in his body; they are one.  This body responds immediately to the light vibration and he is God vibration; his body radiates light.  Thus, one standing forth as God is often invisible to one functioning in a lower vibratory field.  This is the reason that the word GOD is so powerful.

“Because of this sustaining word GOD, your Bible has maintained such influence and longevity.  Think of the number of times the word is written and thus, spoken, in that great book.  See the different lines of radiation of light and therefore, life and energy that go out from each word wither written or spoken.  Each word carries its vibrations to the very soul of all who speak, hear, or see the word GOD; and as the soul responds to that vibration, the book from which the radiations come forth is lifted and exalted correspondingly as the soul is exalted by the vibrations.  Thus, the book is given life, power, and immortality.  It is in reality the word GOD that has accomplished this.  Thus, you can say that the book is the word of GOD in the spiritual sense and not in the literal sense of the word.

“Too many take the Bible literally, instead of giving attention to its true spiritual value.  This lack of consciousness matters little, as the spiritual vibrations set aside those set up by this attitude of thought.  When they think or say GOD once, those vibrations far outweigh their lack of understanding.

“It is the survival of the Bible that has proved such a stumbling-block to the scoffer and critic.  The atheist fails utterly to explain why the word GOD supersedes and has complete dominion over the word Evil.

“Repeat God thoughtfully for a time, then try to set up a vibration in your body with the word Evil.  If you have not already experienced this, it will be a revelation to you.  Many scientists proclaim that the theistic hypothesis is impossible.  Do not mind them, for the things which they pronounced impossible yesterday are being accomplished today.

“Do you not know that it is high time to go within your house, put it in order, and find out what the Word GOD will do for you?  Think attentively for a moment, try it and see if it will not cause you to drop all differences and bickerings.  Speak GOD with your whole soul and feel the exhilaration that causes you to treat your brother more kindly and deal with him more justly.  Place God before you and the mist of the long-forgotten ages will be dispelled as a wisp of smoke.  The intellect may frown upon this.  Don’t mind the intellect; it has erred many times.  Stand forth with the word GOD dominant within you and a whole world of strife and confusion cannot touch you.

“When you know positively that GOD or supreme vibration does exist and that it is ALL POWER, you can use it to accomplish ALL THINGS.  With it you can transport yourself from place to place.  If you are in one place and the need is for you to be elsewhere, recall it is the self that is holding you stationary, not GOD.  You are using God power in limitation if you remain where you are.  Let go of self, erase limitation, put forth the command that you are the Christ of God, one with the God vibration and power.  The instant you make it definite that you are God vibration, you will be at your destination.  Just thinking a thing does not accomplish that thing.  YOU MUST KNOW AND DO; then love and worship the source principle enough to do it.

“Faith shows the way through thought; but it takes the actual command of the Christ of God, that you are that vibration.  The instant you allow that vibration to take full command, you GET UP AND DO IT.  The KNOWING through love and worship becomes the accomplishment.  That you are unconscious of their radiations does not set aside the fact of their existence.  Through faith in their existence, then knowing that they do exist, you become conscious of their existence; then you can use them.

“When you express a vibration and are in tune with that vibratory field, you are invisible to things that express in a lower vibratory field.  Thus, if your body vibrates with the speed of light, you are invisible to those that cannot see light.  Light is Life; thus, if you live wholly in the vibrations of light, your body is pure life.  Light, and Life, is God.  Thus all are GOD when they live in the God vibration.

“’The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall by unto thee an everlasting light and thy God, thy glory’. [Isa. 60:19]  The Lord Christ of God has no more need of light when his body vibrations are in unison with God vibrations.  His body is light, purer than that of the noonday sun.  The Lord (or law of) God, expressing pure life (light) through Jesus or man, becomes the Christ upon earth.  Each man becomes the Christ when the Lord (law) or law of God is understood and actually lived.

“’I AM the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life’.

“’The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.  Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came and whither I go.  Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.  And yet, if I judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone but I and the Father that sent me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.  I am one that bears witness of myself and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

“’Then said they unto him.  Where is thy Father?  Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also’. [8:12-19]

“How can you walk in darkness if you walk hand in hand with God?  If you let God triumph, your works and accomplishments are eternal.  You came forth with this vibration and as long as you live true to this light, you will never perish or change – these vibrations go on forever.

“Many have lived noble lives and accomplished noble deeds, all accomplished through God vibrations.  Thus they have the power to create by lowering these vibrations and allowing the aqueous substance to consolidate into form.  Aqueous substance is that substance which contains all elements.  Scientists will discover that all elements can be resolved into this aqueous or vaporous condition.  In this state, all substance vibrates or radiates at the same rate of vibration.  Thus, by lowering the vibrations to the rate at which the particles of the element will coalesce or come together, you may produce the element desired.  Here the Cosmic radiations play an important part.  Here the transmutation takes place.

“Many great souls have lived and their works have passed with them, because they were unconscious of the power that sustained them.  They, as well as others, were unconscious of their works and thus were forgotten.  Had they recognized this power and then, through definite thought and action consolidated these deeds, their accomplishments would have stood forth as a mountain that could not be forgotten; the same as the great mountains of accomplishments that stand forth before humanity today, as, for example, the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

“Is it not much greater to live the Christ life?  Is it not worthwhile to make this your ideal?  Does this not completely erase the petty things of life?  Do you not see the accomplishments of the ones that dared to step forth and live the Christ Life?

“As you accomplish this, you stand on the Mount of Transfiguration.

“Man’s law and prophecy disappear and the triumphant Christ stands alone, but not lonely.  You can do this, all can do it, if they but will.

“Now you know that you and the Father are One.  This is the testimony of two standing together as one law and this testimony IS TRUE.  Thus, if you judge, your judgment is true.  If you bear record of this origin, your record is true.  As you know your origin with the Father, you never pass on, you always know the Father.  ‘If they had known one, that is my Father, they would have known me’, for our vibrations would have been in perfect accord.

“’Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in him and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

“’Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.  Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come’. [John 7:28-34]

“You know that the spiritual and material is merged within the Christ.  Spirit knows, ‘I come not of myself, I am of the Father’.  The temple (body) must become a pure channel through which the Christ shines forth.  When the Christ is risen in the individual, then will he do greater miracles than these which I have done.  As you seek, you will find the Christ in me and the Christ in you, brothers one and all.

“Your hour shall come when the Christ appears to each one of you as an individual; then will you be lifted up into the Christ consciousness and glorify the Father as I have glorified Him.

“It is written [in Matthew 27:46] that my last words on the cross were: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’  This is a complete mistranslation.  The words actually were: ‘My God, my God, thou has never forsaken me or any of thy children, for thy children can come to thee as I have come.  They can see my life as I have lived my life.  Thus, by living that life, they do incorporate the Christ and become One with you, God my Father’.

“There was never a thought of desertion or separation.  The Christ of God stood forth definitely, long before that hour.  Had they burned my body, I could have reassembled it from the same particles that were released in the seeming destruction.  Had they divided every particle of the body, it could have been reassembled instantly; there would have been no change.

“Man is so constituted that when he stands forth with the understanding of the Christ of God, he releases enough intelligent energy and that energy and intelligence so completely envelop him that, should the body be disintegrated and the life element become separated from the particles, this intelligent life principle could reassemble and consolidate those same particles in the same form in which it had expressed itself.  The mould or pattern is there; it is built of, and in, the substance which cannot be destroyed.  It would only be necessary to reassemble the substance and fill the mould, interpenetrated with the same life element, and you would have the perfect pattern or image as before.

“Thus, you can see that the crucifixion did not harm me; it harmed only those who attempted to harm the Christ Principle.  It was an example of the fulfilling law of the Great Principle, a pathway which all humanity may follow.  Thus following, they become the Christ of God, their ideal consolidated into imperishable form.  Not even this body was destroyed.  Its vibrations were so high that the mere act of fastening it to and raising it upon the cross was but a symbol that those who crucified me had finished all limitation which the mortal could put upon the body.  The necessity for the completion of the fulfillment of mortal limitation was to place the body in the tomb and roll a great stone thereon and completely seal the tomb.  Thus the cry: ‘It is finished.’

“When the mortal is finished, immortality is complete.  Thus it is impossible to confine the immortal body of man even in a rock-hewn tomb.  The rock could have been dissolved to release such a body, had such a necessity arisen.  Thus you see that the whole scene was a symbol of man’s heritage.”