Planes of Existence

by Michael Lewis

As shown in this diagram, planes of existence should not, as they commonly are, be thought of as discreet states but rather as a continuous scale.

As we distinguish between body, mind and soul, we must equally distinguish between physical, mental, and spiritual. In this way we can see our bodies, our minds, and our souls as the states in which we exist in each of the respective planes of existence. The body is our physical form, the mind is our mental form, and the soul is our spiritual form. However, we should not think of the physical, mental and spiritual planes as discreet states, rather we should think of them as bands along a continuous scale of infinite divisions (planes).

The intermediary states, astral and ethereal, are most easily explained in relation to their neighbour states. The astral shares properties of the physical and the mental, and the ethereal shares properties of the mental and the spiritual. However, as should already be clear, these are not discreet states, and so any given thing may exist at any point, or between any points, on the scale. An 'ordinary' object exists only in the physical plane (or more accurately, the physical band of planes), a thought-form exists in the mental plane, and depending on the nature of the thought-form, its existence may also reach partially into the astral or ethereal planes, a person exists across the entire spectrum, and so on. Everything has its place on the scale, existing within a range of planes.

This suggests that it is possible that ghosts, demons, or other controversial entities do exist, occupying planes that are not normally used by people. Imagine that you are driving on a colossal roadway (marked into an infinite number of lanes) and that you can only see straight ahead of you. Imagine what you must pass without ever realising. Let us imagine a thought-form existing within a particular narrow band of planes in the mental band of planes. It is a malicious thought-form, a demon. It is entirely impossible for a person to encounter it physically, since it does not exist on the physical plane. It may only be encountered within the narrow band of mental planes within which it exists. A person may only encounter this demon, therefore, as a thought, and it will appear to the person just as any other thought in their mind would appear. Although it will be a malicious thought, there may be nothing to clearly identify it as a foreign body within the mind, something that the mind has picked up, rather like a radio scanner, scanning specific frequencies (planes). The person will never realise that they have encountered a demon, and they will not be aware of its effect upon them, which may be permanent, although it is unlikely to be significant. We may encounter such loose thoughts every day, and each one may influence our thoughts. This would explain inspiration, both positive and negative, the 'voices' heard by schizophrenics and other 'mentally ill' people. This also has implications for the way we understand the mind and the nature and process of thought, and the way we monitor and evaluate our own thoughts.

This theory of a continuous scale of planes of existence has one very significant implication. Physical dimensions (height, width, and depth) apply in the physical plane but not in the spiritual plane - where everything exists in one point with no spatial dimensions. The mental plane has spatial dimensions in its lower band (near the astral) but not in its higher band (near the ethereal). This means that at different levels of thought, different spatial rules apply. At the lower levels, thoughts are restricted within the mind of the thinker, but at the higher levels, thoughts exist regardless of spatial dimensions, and may therefore be shared by any number of minds that are on the same plane, and therefore on the same mental frequency. This would explain telepathic abilities and contribute to an explanation of the psychological phenomenon known as 'contagion', where a crowd of people all reach the same mental state. This also has profound implications for the way we understand the mind and the nature and process of thought.

Recently I have found it useful to think of the planes of existence in a tri-form as depicted in the above image. This image shows how the planes can be thought of as equal and balanced forms emanating from a central point, rather than as a linear scale. In this model, the focal point can be thought of as God/Chaos/Reality - the central focus point of reality where existence is pure, whereas in the perceived world, which is created from this focal point as matter, thought and spirit, existence is impure. The fractal boundaries created using Newton's Method show, in this context, how each plane overlaps with the others. Between any two planes is the third.