Luminous worlds and other dimensions, written 2001-2003

September 2001 Dear brothers and sisters, Namaskar. I hope that this letter finds you in the best health and spirits. Most of us are sincerely trying to improve the situation on planet Earth and spread the philosophy of Taraka Brahma. Unfortunately we are not as successful as we wish. There are certainly reasons for this lack of success. They can either be found within our minds or within the present human society whose members have little to do with spirituality. In the course of my studies of the last years I found out that one very important aspect of existence has been widely neglected by the members of Ananda Marga. This aspect is closely related to spirituality: Most people survive their physical death and find themselves in a luminous world afterwards, a world that consists of the three physical factors light, air and ether (sound). Those luminous worlds exist parallel to our universe. They either exist in the atmosphere of a planet or within its solid structure. In "Microvitum in a Nutshell" Baba describes 14 types of luminous beings (pp.13-17, 100-101,113-117). These 14 types of luminous beings correspond to 14 basic types of luminous worlds (negative worlds=pretayonii, positive=devayonii). Baba mentions the names of these worlds (lokas) on page 108 of "Microvitum in a Nutshell". The type of microvita that dominates a person's mind at the time of death gives the luminous body a specific vibration that fits only to the respective loka (and makes it visible only there). People of all ages and all cultures have been in contact with these worlds and their members. Most religions on our planet were and are greatly influenced by such contacts. The existing spiritual traditions must be seen in the same way. And there are many other possibilities to look behind the gate of death (near-death experiences, death-bed visions, communication with deceased relatives or friends, spiritistic activities etc). My research led me to the conclusion that a (perhaps vast) majority of all people experience the above mentioned fate and do not directly reincarnate on this level of existence (there are accounts for immediate returns also). If we really want to help our worldly brothers and sisters we will have to explain them the consequences of the various good and bad activities and the possible good or bad fate in a luminous world after death: *A person whose mind is dominated by hate, anger or aversion towards others will find him/herself in a very uncomfortable luminous world (durmukha pretayonii) after death. *Someone who achieves his/her goals (power, money) at the cost of killing many others or by doing similar harm may even lose his\her human form and become a demonic creature in a luminous world inhabited only by other demonic (human) beings. *A good person who mostly spends his\her time in meditation to get occult powers or mystical experiences and helps others to progress spiritually will enter the blissful realm of a siddha devayonii world. The Ananda Marga way of life is the only safe method to either immediately go to your next incarnation (something that will happen to most members of the present A.M. generation) or to get liberation. THIS IS A FIRST ATTEMPT. INCREASED MEDITATION AND STUDY WILL BRING MORE LIGHT INTO THE SUBJECT. The translation of Baba’s discourses does not always seem to be correct. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ The many contacts to luminous beings in past and present have led to a nowadays vast number of publications comprising several thousand books and magazines. I will give you now a list of books and some internet links so that everyone who is interested in it may be able to study the subject. I. GENERAL BOOKS ON LIFE AFTER DEATH (MENTIONING MANY SOURCES) *Currie, Ian: "Visions of Immortality"; one of the best English introductions that exists. *Holzer,Hans: "Life Beyond, Compelling Evidence for Past Lives and Existence after Death"; the author is an expert who wrote many books on the subject. *Osis,Karlis & Haraldsson,Erlendur: "At the Hour of Death" *Osis,Karlis: "Deathbed Observations by Physicians and Nurses" *Ring,Kenneth: "Heading Towards Omega, in Search of the Meaning of the Near-Death Experience" *Moody,Raymond: "Reflections on Life after Life"; "Life after Life" *Kubler-Ross,Elisabeth: "On Death and Dying"; "Questions and Answers on Death and Dying" R.Moody and E.Kubler-Ross are two of the most prominent researchers on life after death. *Brennan,James H.: "The Astral Projection Workbook"; good introduction into theory and practice of astral projection (temporary separation of physical and luminous bodies). *Guggenheim, Bill&Judy: "Hello from Heaven" (after-death communication with deceased relatives or friends). *Zaleski, Carol: "Otherworld Journeys" (accounts of medieval experiences). *Many more good books and other information you will find at the internet web sites of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS): www.iands.org; more good books at: www.seattleiands.org There is also a London Society for Psychical Research. It was founded in 1880 and has records of thousands of cases of near- and after-death experiences. II. BOOKS CONTAINING CHANNELED REPORTS OR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES BY THE AUTHORS *Borgia, Anthony: "Life in the World Unseen"; channeled report of a priest about his life after death. *Monroe, Robert A.: "Journeys out of the Body"; the author is the founder of a research institute for astral journeys and writes about his own experiences. *Leen, Jason: "Peace at Last, the After Death Experiences of John Lennon"; authentic book; there is a further book by the author with more channeled reports of John Lennon. *Lees, Robert James: "Through the Mists"(I), "The Life of Elylian"(II), "The Gate of Heaven"(III); the author, one of the greatest psychics of his time, was personally known to the British royal family and Arthur Conan Doyle ("Sherlock Holmes"). *Sherwood, Jane: "Post-Mortem-Journal, Communications from Lawrence of Arabia through the Mediumship of J.Sherwood"; she is also author of "The Country beyond the Psychic Bridge". *Brown, Rosemary: "Immortals at my Elbow"; report about contacts to several famous composers of the past. *Greaves, Helen: "Testimony of Light"; telepathic contact between two close friends on either side of the veil. *Steiner, Rudolf: "Life beyond Death", "How to Know the Higher Worlds", "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds"; the founder of the Anthroposophical Society (Waldorf schools) wrote numerous books on the subject and had many personal experiences. *Snell, Joy: "The Ministry of Angels here and beyond"; experiences of a nurse in hospital. *Wickland, Carl: "Thirty Years among the Dead"; on cases of people being obsessed by ghosts (some pretayoniis remain in our sphere for some time). *Onec, Omnec: "From Venus I Came"; autobiography of a woman who has full memory of her previous life in a luminous world at Venus (gandharva devayoniis); excellent book; there are more sources on luminous worlds at planet Venus. *Bardon, Franz: "The Practice of Magical Evocation"; the work of a white magician (1909-58) who was in contact with luminous beings throughout our solar system. *Kardec, Allan: "Spirits' Book"; A.Kardec (1803-69), one of the pioneers of modern spiritism, was in contact with higher devayoniis. III. SIDDHA DEVAYONIIS, WHITE BROTHERHOOD, ASCENDED MASTERS “…..A siddha is the highest state of devayonii. They help spiritual aspirants in various ways; their roles are primarily those of aids and guardians. There are some people in the world who are regarded as great personalities, and in the past there were also some great personalities, but no one knew about their gurus. It is said that these great personalities were initiated by the siddhas. That is, these personalities used to follow spiritual practices according to the knowledge they had acquired. Suddenly the Ista Mantra of their previous life was conveyed to them by the siddhas, hence these types of people were called siddha diiksita or siddha initiated. These siddhas are highly evolved sadhakas, but they derived from the path of spirituality to attain occult powers.” (from the discourse “Disembodied Souls and Microvita”) The positive luminous worlds have a particular social structure. They are guided by the members of the higher worlds (siddha, vidyadhara and gandharva devayoniis). For their organisation they use the name "White Brotherhood". The leading siddha devayoniis get instructions from Parama Purusa. You will find luminous worlds at all planets of our solar system. Jesus of Nazareth is the leading siddha devayonii of a luminous world at planet Venus. This world is several thousand years old. Its members had the main responsibility for our planet until recently. Their knowledge on spirituality is little, one of the causes for the lack of spirituality on Earth. * "The Bridge (to Spiritual Freedom) Journal" Address: P.O.Box 333, Kings Park, Long Island, New York 11754, U.S.A. Official publication (quarterly) of the Great White Brotherhood; first published in 1952; contains mostly channeled discourses of leading siddha devayoniis ("Ascended Masters"). *Courtenay, Edwin: "Ascended Masters Book of Ritual and Prayer"; the author, born in1971, has been in contact with higher devayoniis since 1993. *Spalding, Baird T.: "Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East", Vol.I-V; compilation of experiences with and instructions by masters of the White Brotherhood, written at the end of the 19th century. *Blavatsky, Helena (1831-91) was the founder of the Theosophical Society. Her works were written under the guidance of the perhaps most progressive siddha devayoniis of the solar system and have influenced millions of people. To this day Kuthumi, Saint Germain, El Morya and Djwal Khul have been working for the spiritual welfare of the human society. *Stone, Joshua David: “Ascended Masters Light the Way: Beacons of Ascension” *Kenneip, Brian C.: "Operation Earth Light, a Glimpse into the World of the Ascended Masters” *Klein, Eric: "Jewels on the Path, Transformational Teachings of the Ascended Masters". *Prophet, Elizabeth Clare: "The Great White Brotherhood (in the culture, history and religion of America)"; author of many more books; she is a medium for leading siddha devayoniis. *Jennings, Hanneke: "Conversations with the Ascended Masters"; ISBN-0909223912, publ. in Australia. *Jarrett, Kinsley: "Visions of the Ascended Masters"; ISBN-0949679119, publ. in Australia More books you can find in online bookshops like www.amazon.com. under the keywords "White Brotherhood" and "Ascended Masters". Reading books on the White Brotherhood you may come across extraterrestrial groups or individuals that are members of the brotherhood. Many ufo-sightings and books are related to the activities of those spiritual sisters and brothers from other solar systems. You will meet names like Ramtha or Ashtar Sheran. Ramtha, a siddha devayonii, claims to have lived on Earth during his last incarnation (probably true). Afterwards he came to the solar system of the Pleiades where he became a spiritual leader. He channeled several books through J.Z.Knight. Ashtar Sheran is the commander of a fleet of space ships whose crews are helping to spread spiritual values in our society. More information under: www.amazon.com. /books/keyw. "Spirit Writings“, „Channeling". BETTER THAN THE BOOKS ON THE WHITE BROTHERHOOD ARE THE INNUMERABLE WEBPAGES ANDLINKS OF WWW.ASCENSION-RESEARCH.ORG. IV. OLD RELIGIOUS AND SPRIRTUAL TRADITIONS Valuable information on life after death can be found in the following scriptures: * "The Tibetan Book of the Dead"; editor: W.Y.Evans-Wentz * "The Egyptian Book of the Dead" * the Jewish "Sohar" * the Gnostic "Pistis Sophia" * the writings of Plato and Paracelsus Indian scriptures contain much knowledge about life after death and the luminous worlds. They are sometimes more precise and comprehensive than other scriptures. I have read highly interesting excerpts from the following books: * "Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Series", Vol.12-36, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass (publisher), 1984. * "Matsya Purana", Delhi, Oriental Books, 1980. * "Cultural History from the Vayu Purana", Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1973. Human beings of the past were cruder than the people of today. As a consequence a vast majority came to negative luminous worlds after death. Such worlds exist exclusively in the interior of a planet. Books like the Tibetan or the Egyptian Books of the Dead were written under the influence of negative luminous beings (pretayoniis). The scriptures of Greek, Germanic and Celtic mythologies have partly a real background. It is probably similar in other cultures. Other historic sources: *Emanuel Swedenborg: "Heaven and Hell"; the Swedish seer and scientist (1688-1772) was known throughout Europe during his lifetime. He visited luminous worlds himself; very interesting. *Other Christian mystics like Origenes (188-254 A.D.) or Katherine of Genoa (1447-1510) also saw some luminous worlds with their own eyes. V. NEGATIVE LUMINOUS WORLDS Now we come to the most difficult chapter of this writing. It is not easy to obtain comprehensive information about negative luminous worlds. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of rational and benevolent communication between our level of existence and the negative worlds. Pretayoniis are not interested in any real cooperation or help. A second reason is that usually only spiritually developed persons get a chance to see what happens after this life; and they usually have experiences with positive worlds. It is necessary to analyze many books as most literature contains a limited number of negative experiences. I have few English books that deal mainly with pretayoniis and their lives (I have several non-English books). The following works partly describe negative experiences: * Dr.Carl Wickland(op.cit.); Bill&Judy Guggenheim(op. cit.); R.Moody:"Reflections on Life after Life"); Omnec Onec(op.cit.); Anthony Borgia (op.cit.); E.Swedenborg (op.cit.); Robert A.Monroe (op.cit.); Franz Bardon (op.cit.); R.J.Lees (op.cit.); Jane Sherwood (op.cit.); Rudolf Steiner; *Holger Kalweit: "Dreamtime and Inner Space"; superb book on shamanism with reports from all corners of the planet. The author doesn't realize the difference between devayoniis and pretayoniis. For H.Kalweit all incidents that are of a transcendental nature are sacred. In this book one can clearly observe that some luminous beings live inside the Earth and some in parallel worlds in the atmosphere. It seems to be out of print at present. Try to get a used copy of this excellent and convincing book!!! The author wrote also "Shamans, Healers, and Medicine Men". I have not read it. *John Symonds: "The Great Beast"; biography of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), one of the leading satanists of the last century; reading this book you will get an idea how it is possible to come in contact with demonic spirits. The worst human beings get an ugly, sometimes demonic appearance after their demise. By performing crude rituals (killing of human beings or animals, or certain other crude activities) one may come in contact with the most negative types of pretayoniis. Satanism and some forms of voodoo aim at this. *Maclellan, Alec: "The Lost World of Agharti" "Hollow Earth Enigma (Mysteries of the Universe)" *Godwin, Joscelyn: "Arktos - The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival" Highly interesting books on historical contacts to worlds inside Earth. *In good Christian bookshops you will find material on negative worlds (real experiences). There are some pretayonii worlds where people suffer a lot. *The Indian books that I have mentioned contain details about pretayoniis. VI. NATURE SPIRITS Reading on devayoniis it is inevitable to find incidents with fairies, elves or gnomes. They are very small (20-80cm height), live inside mountains, lakes or other parts of nature, and usually work under the guidance of higher devayoniis. In my opinion these are prakrtiliina devayoniis. The nature spirits do clearly have a human mind and must be a part of Brahma Cakra that includes all beings. In contrast to other luminous beings they are unable to remember their previous physical life. The significant reduction in size may be responsible for the loss of memory. Luminous beings don't have the support of the brain for their memory and are entirely dependent on the quality of the manomaya kosa. This kosa is the first mental layer outside of the (quinquelemental) physical body. The little size of the nature spirits seems to impede the perception this kosa. *Van Gelder, Dora: "The Real World of Fairies" *Pogacnik, Marko: "Nature Spirits and Elemental Beings" *Newhouse, Flower A. & Isaac, Stephen: "Angels of Nature" *Todd, Lorna: "Working with Angels and Nature Spirits" The above books describe personal experiences of the authors. D.v.Gelder is a former president of the Theosophical Society. M.Pogacnik and his daughter are in contact with different devayoniis. F.Newhouse (1908-85) was a famous Christian and Theosophical psychic. L.Todd has links to the Findhorn Community in Scotland. VII. SOME GENERAL POINTS ON LUMINOUS WORLDS AND SPIRITUALITY > The physical laws of luminous worlds are quite different from those here. > The duration of stay of the inhabitants varies from a few months or years up to several thousand years. > Spiritually luminous beings grow relatively little as they don't have annamaya kosa and pranah which are needed for substantial mental progress. > Social changes take place as regular as in our world. > Some individuals move to a higher (rarely to a lower) luminous sphere before they reincarnate on our level of existence. > The members of the highest luminous worlds are very spiritual. Their understanding of spirituality, evolution etc. has limitations as they do not have a philosophy that comes from Taraka Brahma Himself. Some siddha devayoniis erroneously regard themselves as god(s). > There are about 5 or 6 siddha devayonii worlds in our solar system, with different degrees of spiritual development. The numbers of the other worlds are higher. > All members of negative worlds probably become animals in their next incarnation. As far as I can see are those 14 types of (mental) microvita the base of the 50 vrittis that Baba links to the cakras of the human being. It is possible to establish a connection of one or sometimes several types of microvita to each vritti. The cakras I-V are under the influence of the negative as well as the positive microvita. The cakras and upacakras on the head are mostly under the influence of the 7 types of positive microvita. There were always yogis, mystics or psychics who were able to perceive the different mental layers (kosas) of the human being: the luminous body that Baba mentions and the kamamaya kosa seem to be identical. It has the same size as the annamaya kosa and is what people see after death. They usually have the same appearance and some do not realize immediately that they have died. The manomaya kosa is outside of the annamaya kosa (between the skin and approximately 10cm above it). The kosas of the "Causal Mind" are beyond the manomaya kosa up to a distance of 150cm from the physical body. These 3 kosas cover the same space in different dimensions. It is possible to perceive the kamamaya and manomaya kosas by one's own effort. The causal mind can be only seen by the grace of Parama Purusa. Two Important Points at the End: > Those who study luminous worlds should regard it as compulsory to lead a sincere spiritual life (including regular kiirtan). I have read of many cases when non-spiritual people came under the influence of pretayoniis and finally committed suicide, ended up in psychiatric hospitals etc. Only activities like (sentient) meditation, kiirtan or prayer can prevent such things to happen. > Baba forbade acaryas to come in contact with devayoniis. I think He did this because He did not want to become popular on Earth during His lifetime. The higher devayonii worlds are in contact with each other and have communication with innumerable persons here. The knowledge that God has appeared in physical form on Earth would have spread like wildfire. No harm if this happens now. In future, unlike in the past, mostly devayoniis will incarnate in the human society. I hope that this writing will be helpful to you. With best wishes, In Him, Yogendra [ Madhu Karuna, Germany] A.M. should make maximum use of the literature on reincarnation. Today it is possible to prove that reincarnation is a fact. The book web sites of www.bookshop.co.uk. and www.amazon.com. show hundreds of book titles on the subject. A good start you will have with: "Lifecycles - Reincarnation and the Web of Life“ by Christopher M. Bache. AUGUST 2002, ACCORDING TO MY OPINION THE LOW STANDARD OF MORALITY IN ANANDA MARGA IS THE MAIN REASON WHY THE ABOVE MENTIONED SPIRTUAL INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS DON’T JOIN ANANDA MARGA. AS SOON AS A.M. BECOMES A PEACEFUL AND JUST ORGANISATION PARAMA PURUSA WILL INSTRUCT THE LEADERSHIP OF THE WHITE BROTHERHOOD TO TAKE STEPS TO BRING MANY SPIRITUAL PEOPLE TO A.M. THE ONLY WAY TO CHANGE THE PRESENT SITUATION IS THAT A MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MARGIIS AND ACARYAS ASK PARAMA PURUSA EVERY DAY TO BRING ABOUT THE NECESSARY CHANGES. PARAMA PURUSA IS MORE THAN A THEORETICAL CONCEPT. THROUGH THE SUBTLE LEVELS OF OUR CAUSAL MIND WE HAVE A DIRECT LINK TO PARAMA PURUSHA. BROTHERLY YOURS, YOGENDRA More information on the 14 basic types of luminous worlds (added in May 2003) Siddha Devayoniis: There are such worlds at Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. There may be 1 or 2 more in our solar system. In the area of Earth siddha devayoniis have several temple-like places in all continents (of course on a different level of existence). Like Jesus some siddha devayoniis become a few thousand years old before they return to this part of the universe for their often last incarnation. The other categories of luminous beings spend significantly less time in this state of existence. Vidyadhara Devayoniis: Intellectuals whose mind is not dominated by negative microvita come to such worlds. There are several smaller ones in the atmosphere of Earth. The major religions have their own vidyadhara worlds. Gandharva Devayoniis: Detailed information I have only about the world at Venus (see the books of Omnec Onec) and a world in the area of the sun. Kinnara Devayoniis: There are many such worlds in our solar system as this is one of the major mentalities on our planet. Yaksa Devayoniis: many such worlds; as the members are in contact with higher devayoniis they often realize the defects of their mentality. Really comfortable for their inhabitants are only the highest 3 categories of luminous worlds. Videhaliina Devayoniis: This is speculation. There are some devayoniis who clearly suffer from mental problems when they come to lower devayonii worlds. These persons are brought to a kind of sanatorium and spend there sometimes months or years before they can lead a normal life. Most of their time they are in a state of sleeping. These could be the videhaliina devayoniis that Baba talks about. Prakrtiliina Devayoniis: As mentioned above I think these are the so-called nature spirits. What else could they (the nature spirits) be? Pishaca Pretayoniis: The life of these people is usually a very miserable one. They are unable to fulfill their different worldly desires while the power of those desires has become much stronger. It is a general observation that the desires and attachments of a person increase after the loss of the annamaya kosa. This often creates serious difficulties for the lower astral beings. Kabandha Pretayoniis: Kabandha pretayoniis often incite others to commit suicide. Not all people committing suicide find themselves in this world. According to the samskaras of a person Parama Purusha sometimes sends higher devayoniis for help bringing a suicide victim to a positive world. Inhabitants of the less crude pretayonii worlds get regular visits from siddha devayoniis who try to convince them to do efforts to be able to move to a positive world. This is possible through prayer and similar exercises. It works only if someone has a certain minimum of consciousness. Durmukha Pretayoniis: As the anger and aversion against others has become stronger you find hardly any communication between the members of this world. Madhyakapala Pretyoniis: In literature I met these pretayoniis only through contacts of psychics with pretayoniis. I may have read reports about such worlds and not recognized them. Akashiipreta Pretayoniis: This realm of ordinary criminals. Regularly I observed that some of them work for demonic humans (from a still lower dimension). The mentally more developed akashiipretas have sometimes the capacity to change their look for a limited period of time and read the mind of others. They use this to appear to newly deceased persons in the form of previously deceased relatives. With the help of such deception they try to bring people to lower worlds. This is part of a silent war (for human beings) between the higher devayoniis and the lower pretayoniis. Brahmapishaca Pretayoniis: I regularly come across such a world in the interior of our planet. The inhabitants of this dimension have a certain racist mentality. Mahakapala Pretayoniis: As I have mentioned it, some of the worst human beings loose their human look and become demonic beings after their physical death. You will regularly meet them when you systematically study luminous worlds. Most of them or all seem to belong to the mahakapala pretayonii category. I remember, after the death of Indira Gandhi Baba said that she became one with the soil of the Earth. She did not loose her unit existence becoming a stone or soil. She became member of the demonic dimension inside the planet. I want to repeat it: the negative dimensions of pretayonii worlds are in the interior of a planet. This fact is related to the extremely static (tamasic) vibration down there. HUMAN MIND AND MICROVITA (this chapter has been added in April 2003) According to my understanding the human mind consists of the 14 types of mental microvita (see discourses on devayoniis and pretayoniis) that Baba describes in “Microvitum in a Nutshell”. This understanding developed during the last 5 years through much meditation and the study of the English books mentioned in this writing and many more books in German. It means that all vrittis of the individual mind have these microvita as their basis. Sometimes a vritti can be related to only one type of microvita, sometimes to more than one. All thoughts, words and actions of a person can be defined through these types of microvita. This knowledge helps much to make oneself aware of the do’s and don’ts in a spiritual aspirant’s life. The “scope” of each type of microvita is bigger than described in “Microvitum in a Nutshell”. In my opinion Baba gives only examples regarding their function. Without reading reports of the way of life in the different luminous worlds it is impossible to understand this subject fully. Each category of microvita is of course under the influence of the three gunas. The categories are getting less sentient and more tamasic in descending order. Really sattvic are only the top 3 types of microvita. SIDDHA MICROVITA< activities related to this type of mv: thoughts of God, spiritual thoughts and actions, meditation, occult powers, love for other beings, prayer, karma yoga partly; Vrittis related to siddha microvita: para (spiritual knowledge), dharma, moksa, cesta (effort to arouse one’s dormant potentiality), mamata (love), viveka, omn, hum, vasatha (welfare in the subtler sphere), svaha (pious resolve and universal welfare), namah (surrender to the Supreme), amrta (attraction), asha (hope), phat (fruition). I personally think that the “7 animals” of the vishuddha cakra are occult powers. VIDYADHARA MICROV.< activities related to this type of mv: thinking, intellectual pursuits, use of language, sciences, and memory; this type of microvita is one of the dominating or the dominating mv. type in the mind of vipras, Vrittis related to vidyadhara microvita: apara (mundane knowledge), cinta (deep thinking), vaosat (development of mundane knowledge), vasatha, ahamkara (egoism), artha (psychic longing) GANDHARVA MV.