The Rules of the Inner Worlds

Each of the inner dimensions is vast and complete on its own, and you can have many kinds of experiences in the Astral World, the Mental World, the Buddhic World and the Nirvāṇic World. Buddha would describe Nirvāṇa in one way and the Christ would describe it in another way, and you would think that they were talking about two different things. So you have to expand yourself and understand the vastness of Creation, the vast possibilities of experience within the different realms of Creation, and then you will be able to interpret your own experience correctly. Otherwise, like the psychics, you will be deluded.

Every spiritual technique you practise is a bridge into one of the Inner Worlds, and you will get the corresponding results. Therefore you have to know what world you are entering and you also have to know the other worlds in case you do not make it and end up somewhere else. Nowadays people meditate and think they are in a mystical state of awareness whereas in fact they are only experiencing the Astral World. Remember, on the three upper dimensions of the Astral World there are some very beautiful realms, states and feelings—great joy, beauty, light and grace—so people experiencing that think they have reached the Heaven World.

When you are in a deeper state of meditation and reach the next level above the Astral World, what we call the Mental World or the Heaven World, you might meet a dazzling, shining angelic being—a real angel. An angel is not going to deceive you, but because the radiance of the Heaven Worlds is even stronger than that of the Astral World you may think that it is the Christ Himself or the Buddha. That being never wanted to appear as Jesus or the Buddha, but because its presence is so overpowering and you are not familiar with that world you misinterpret the experience. You do not see that it is simply an entity that is brighter than you and lives in a brighter world that is natural to that entity. Another rule of the Inner Worlds is that if a being appears to you, whether it is a discarnate human being, an angel or some other being, and that being enhances your ego—it tells you telepathically or verbally that you have attained a high level of consciousness, that you are the chosen one for the next generation or the like—that being is on the Negative side and you should not pay any attention to it. That is the power of glamour, the negative power that tries to entrap you, to take you away from the Spiritual Path.

Glamour is not limited to the Astral World; there is also glamour in the Mental World—glamour dependent on the power of the mind, which is another source of possible delusion. Mind power can be just as glamorous as emotional power. A lot of people develop their mind and think they understand everything and there is nothing more that can be known. That is glamour of the mind. In the nineteenth century the materialistic scientists decided that there was no God. But does that mean that there is no God? In their minds it was totally clear that there is no God, so they were deceived by the glamour of the mind.

So you need to be careful of both astral glamour and mental glamour. There is also spiritual glamour, which is even more subtle; in fact, it is the subtlest form of glamour of them all. Spiritual glamour occurs when you have a mystical insight and believe that you are the Buddha or the greatest Master who has ever lived. This means that you have reached the Buddhic dimension and have experienced the sensation of Unity, the sensation that you are one with the world, with everybody and everything. This is the subtlest form of glamour because you feel at that moment that you have reached the end of the Path—beyond Oneness what else could be known? This is the glamour of the Buddhic dimension and many Mystics reached that stage and thought they had attained the ultimate possibility of being, so they didn’t even try to go beyond it or think that there could be something beyond it.

This does not mean that the Buddhic World itself is glamorous; the glamour is in your handling of your experience, your interpretation of it. Remember, the worlds themselves are what they are. It is our judgment, our perception, our understanding and our explanation of them that is glamorous. Buddha reached Nirvāṇa but his attainment of Nirvāṇa did not make his ego grow any larger. No truly enlightened person would say, “I am it, beyond and above all else, and you must all listen to me.” That is the glamour of Enlightenment and it has no place on the Spiritual Path. The Path is simple, direct and straight like an arrow. You either know or you do not know. If you know, you say; if you do not know, you do not say; but there is no glamour in it.

The Buddha is still learning about Nirvāṇa, the Christ is still learning about the Kingdom of God, and they will go on learning forever. You cannot say that you know the answer to everything. You have answers according to the bridge you have built and the world to which you have built it—and that is all. This keeps things in perspective and it keeps you humble. Whatever you experience in meditation is your experience at that time. You should not get stuck there because the next time you may experience something else, a newer revelation.

On the Spiritual Path there is always growth, there is always moving ahead, having deeper experiences, reaching deeper states of Enlightenment. Enlightenment is not something that happens to you once in a lifetime; it is ongoing. One of the great moments of Enlightenment is Buddhic Consciousness; after you stabilize yourself in that consciousness you enter Nirvāṇic Consciousness, a greater moment of Enlightenment; after you stabilize yourself on that level you enter Paranirvāṇa, an even greater moment of Enlightenment; and so on. Enlightenment is breaking through to a new level of Awareness, growing on that level until you reach the total possibility of that condition, and then making an effort to break through to the next level.

So your path is never finished and you have to put everything you experience in the right context. Then you will be safe on the Spiritual Path and be able to guard yourself from astral glamour, from mental glamour and even from the glamour of being spiritual. If you understand the true way of spiritual life then you will be able to walk steadily, with spiritual integrity. You walk in the Light of your Soul and the Light of your Soul is the only reality that guides you. You won’t listen to astral entities that tell you how great and wonderful you are. The key is humility, humility, humility—at all times and in all situations. Then you can progress on the Spiritual Path.

Excerpt from The Way of the Spiritual Warrior (Pages 187-191)