Editing Astral plane (section)

== Astral experience ==

According to various occult teachings, the astral plane can be visited consciously through [[astral projection]], [[meditation]] and [[mantra]], [[Near-death experience|near death experience]], [[Lucid dream|lucid dreaming]], [[hypnosis]], or other means. Individuals that are trained in the use of the astral vehicle can separate their consciousness in the astral vehicle from the physical body at will.<ref>J. H. Brennan, ''Astral Doorways'', Thoth Publications 1996 {{ISBN|978-1-870450-21-8}}; Robert Monroe, "Journeys out of the Body,"</ref> The first stage in development, according to [[William Walker Atkinson]] (also known as Yogi Ramacharaka), is "mastery of the physical body and its care and attention", which pertains not only to the physical body but also to its double in the astral.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, one must spend time tuning the "instinctive mind".<ref name=":0" /> The first three subdivisions of the instinctive mind are passions, desires, and lusts. The second stage is the intellect, otherwise known as the sharpening of the mind. Someone operating largely out of the instinctive mind would "have only a glimmering of intellect", similarly those who are centered in the intellect would only have an inkling of the third, 'spiritual' stage of development. Once both earlier stages are completed the spiritual mind can be awakened.<ref name=":0" />

In early [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophical]] literature the term "astral" may refer to the [[aether (classical element)|aether]]. Later theosophical authors such as [[Annie Besant]] and [[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] make the astral finer{{clarify|date=September 2024}} than the [[etheric plane]] but "denser" than the mental plane.  In order to create a unified view of seven bodies and remove earlier [[Sanskrit]] terms, an [[etheric plane]] was introduced and the term "astral body" was used to replace the former [[kamarupa]] - sometimes termed the ''body of emotion, illusion or desire''.<ref name="G.R.S. Mead, 1919" /> Some of those propounding such claims explain their belief that letting go of desires is spiritual progress by noting that, the more one lets go of earthly 'desire' feelings, the less tied down to the physical world, a world of illusion, and the more connected to the astral, where all is visible and known.<ref>Frank Lester, The Eternal Verities, 1962, Sedona, Az, pp. 31-35</ref>

According to [[Max Heindel]]'s [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian]] writings, ''desire-stuff'' may be described as a type of force-matter, in incessant motion, responsive to the slightest ''feeling''. The desire world is also said to be the abode of the dead for some time subsequent to death. It is also the home  of the [[Archangel|archangels]]. In the higher regions of the desire world thoughts take a definite form and color perceptible to all, all is light and there is but one long day.

In his book ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', [[Paramahansa Yogananda]] provides details about the astral planes learned from his guru.<ref name="Paramahansa Yogananda 1946">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iN6fdZR6rXkC&pg=PA400|title=Autobiography of a Yogi|author=Paramahansa Yogananda|year=1946|publisher=The Philosophical Library, Inc|isbn=9788120725249}}</ref> Yogananda claims that nearly all individuals enter the astral planes after death. There they work out the seeds of past [[Karma in Hinduism|karma]] through astral incarnations, or (if their karma requires) they return to earthly incarnations for further refinement. Once an individual has attained the meditative state of [[nirvikalpa|nirvikalpa samadhi]] in an earthy or astral incarnation, the soul may progress upward to the "illumined astral planet" of Hiranyaloka.<ref name="Paramahansa Yogananda 1946"/> After this transitional stage, the soul may then move upward to the more subtle causal spheres where many more incarnations allow them to further refine before [[Satcitananda|final unification]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reluctant-messenger.com/yogananda/chapter_43.htm|title=Autobiography of a Yogi|author=Paramahansa Yogananda|year=1946|access-date=20 July 2011}}</ref>