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Planes of Existence
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• The planes are inter-dimensional and exist inside
  of each other. The physical plane is the outside
  dimension. Therefore, there is the tendency to
  look outside for support. The greatest support,
  however, comes from within. The planes are all in
  existence at once, and we can access the planes
  all the time. It is a matter of tuning your focus
  to the energy of the planes. All of the planes
  are contained within the Tao. Likewise, your
  Essence or Soul exists on all the planes
  simultaneously.
• There are seven different planes of existence,
  and sentient creatures follow a certain order of
  movement from one plane of existence to the next.
  The planes are layered on top of one another as
  if you were looking through many different layers
  of clear cellophane with some print on each
  different page that all makes one picture. They
  are all taking up the same space, the same time,
  and yet they are different layers and different
  experiences of being.
• There is the all-encompassing plane that we might
  call the seventh level, which is the Tao. The Tao
  is the All-That-Is, the universal consciousness.
  That is the place of all vision and all wisdom.
  That is at the very top, whereas the physical
  plane is at the other end of the spectrum. If you
  were to layer all of the planes together, the one
  at the bottom would be the physical plane. The
  plane next to that is the astral plane and then
  there follows the causal plane, the akashic, the
  mental, the messianic and the buddhic planes, all
  of which have different levels of existence and
  different types of lessons to be learned.

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The Physical Plane
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• While you are occupying a physical body, your
  primary awareness is focused in the physical
  plane. However, a part of you exists
  simultaneously in all of the other planes of
  existence, including the universal consciousness.
  In other words, there is a part of you that is
  the Tao. Otherwise, you would not have
  consciousness.
• Once you have learned how to bring higher degrees
  of essence through your chakras and into your
  body, you have developed the ability to work with
  the higher planes. One of the best ways to access
  the energy of the planes while you occupy a
  physical body is through meditation. To contact
  the higher planes for healing, all you need to do
  is to acknowledge them and then ask to feel the
  energy of that plane.
• It is helpful to have some understanding of the
  energy of the planes in order to work with them
  more effectively. This discussion will focus
  primarily on the astral plane.
• The physical plane is the outermost plane. It is
  the most isolated one, by virtue of its
  properties of space and time. On the physical
  plane, energy vibrates so slowly that it appears
  to be solid matter. Bumping into things is a good
  reminder that you and the object are separate. In
  the higher planes, energies can merge and
  separate at will.

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The Astral Body
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• The "double" of the human body, usually regarded
  by occultists as its animating force, providing
  the body with "consciousness".
• The astral body has a luminous, shining
  appearance, and is capable of passing through
  physical matter.
• The act of willed separation of the astral body
  from the physical is known as astral travel.
  Occultists believe that at death the astral body
  leaves its physical counterpart and finds a new
  existence on the astral plane, Some
  parapsychologists believe that ghostly
  apparitions are astral communications between
  persons who have just died and those who are dear
  to them.
• The astral body is often depicted as being
  joined to the physical body by a silver cord
  etheric umbilical cord and some subjects who
  undergo out-of-body experiences report seeing
  this cord.

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The Astral Plane

• The plane just inside the physical plane is the
  astral. This would be the place you access in
  dreams, in meditation, and between lives. Things
  are more fluid on the astral plane. It often
  feels unreal. Your body may feel strange or big.
  These are signs that you are existing in the
  astral. Flowers, birds, and butterflies are
  mostly of the astral plane. These could be
  referred to as "bleed-throughs" between the
  planes. There is a lot of "bleed-through" between
  the physical plane and the astral plane.
• Since flowers are birds are more astral based,
  they do not conform to the laws of the physical.
  Flowers are used in funerals and weddings to
  prepare for the shift of energy to a higher
  level. Certain types of music are also
  supportive. When you connect with nature, you are
  more connected with astral plane activity.

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• The astral plane is the place of most guidance.
  You receive astral guidance through dreams,
  through spiritual guides on the astral who are
  usually members of your entity between lives, and
  through power animals and devas. So channeling
  and guidance and spiritual support and guardians
  that people feel they are in touch with come from
  the astral plane of existence. Astral plane
  guidance is also the least effective. The astral
  plane is very emotional. That is why you usually
  experience your spiritual guides in the form of
  moral support, cheering, inspiration, and so on.
  Astral guides can influence your pendulum, tarot
  cards, rune stones, and so forth. They will use
  whatever tools are available. When using these
  types of tools, repetition helps with accuracy.
  The astral plane corresponds with the emotional
  center. When connecting with the astral plane
  through meditation, it can be seen as a
  turquoise/green/blue light. It is foggy and
  dreamlike. It sort of feels like a jungle with
  high humidity

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• The word astral means "of the stars." In our
  culture, we've been imprinted with the notion
  that heaven is above and that when we die, our
  souls leave our bodies and float up into the
  stars. In some ways, that is a correct
  assumption, except the astral plane is not "up."
  The astral plane exists everywhere that the
  physical plane exists, except that it is in
  another dimension.
• When you die, your spirit floats out of your body
  and moves to the astral plane. The astral plane
  provides the objective space to review what has
  been learned on the physical plane. It provides
  the needed rest break and the overview that is
  needed in order to move to the next step of the
  learning experience which is the next lifetime.
  The astral plane is also a space where sentient
  life explores the physical plane before taking on
  physical form. Likewise, when a soul fragment
  completes its cycle of lifetimes on the physical
  plane, that essence moves to the next level of
  existence which is the astral level. So the
  astral plane is a place to complete and
  assimilate everything that has been learned
  throughout the entire physical plane existence in
  order to rise through the other levels of
  existence and back to the Tao. The astral plane
  is also a place for individual soul fragments to
  recombine into the combined consciousness of its
  entity or soul family.

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• So the astral plane serves as very multi-use
  plane of existence. There are many different
  things that can happen there. Some people enjoy
  their experiences on the astral plane more than
  others do because the movement is very, very
  fast. Your spirit moves at such an incredibly
  rapid speed on the astral plane that light itself
  appears as solid. Think of something moving at
  the speed of light being so slow that it becomes
  solidified, so of course someone who is solid
  cannot see someone who is astral. They can image
  it with their psychic abilities. They can imagine
  what that person might be like and sometimes it
  comes as a vision to them to see how that person
  may have looked in a past lifetime.
• But they are not literally seeing that energy,
  and it is incredibly difficult to measure. In
  fact, there is no technology on this planet that
  is advanced enough for that type of energy to be
  measured.

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• Because of the fact that the astral energy is so
  fast, your spirit when it leaves the body or
  before it enters a body is vibrating at such an
  incredible speed that it is beyond the solidity
  of the physical plane. Thus, it can actually go
  from place to place, from timeframe to timeframe,
  and see what has happened in various parallels of
  existence. Between lives, you can also explore
  what has happened in the past and in the future.
  You rise above the timeline so to speak. This is
  difficult to comprehend from the physical plane
  because we are living at such a slower pace. The
  truth is that because of the fact that light is a
  solid, you can walk back and forth across it so
  to speak.
• So on the astral plane, you have a much more
  objective perspective about life, what it meant
  for you, where you are going, who you are, who
  you've been, your different parallel selves, and
  so on. You can explore your parallel selves that
  have branched off and gone off into different
  parallel universes of perspective to see how they
  have come back together again.

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• All of the various "you's" that have gone off
  onto different tangents during your lifetime
  recombine and become part of one self again. You
  also have a chance to decide where you are going
  next. All of these important questions take place
  between lifetimes. Older souls are much more
  comfortable with the astral plane experience than
  younger souls. Souls who are very, very young
  spend very little time on the astral plane
  between lives whereas older souls will take the
  opportunity to fully re-evaluate their lives and
  their parallel selves. They will even take the
  opportunity to serve as spiritual guides for
  their friends on the physical plane while they
  are between lives.
• The universe is extremely flexible. It has many
  different parallel perspectives and can move in
  any direction that is necessary. If you can
  imagine something, it probably can exist in the
  universe because after all, you are a piece of
  the universal consciousness. Anything that you
  can imagine being in the universe, the universe
  has imagined and therefore has put into place
  somewhere because it want to learn from it and
  grow from it.

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• Astral Tip If you usually have trouble waking up
  and feel scattered in the morning, it's possible
  you're leaving some of your energy "out there,"
  and not bringing all of yourself home each
  morning! So, if you manage to think about it when
  you're just waking up, imagine a huge astral hand
  just going back to wherever you were, gathering
  your energy up, and bringing it back to you as
  you snuggle warm and toasty in your bed!

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• Astral Travel is different to normal dreaming. It
  is an extraordinary experience. All who have
  experienced it can testify to its lucidity and
  magical quality.
• Conscious Astral Travel is experienced as clearly
  as we experience our daily life. It is even
  experienced more clearly at times our senses
  seem sharper and the environment somehow more
  real. But Astral Travel is a natural possibility
  that anyone can develop through practice.
• The Gnostic Movement teaches how to Astral
  Project (to pass consciously from the Physical
  Plane to the Astral Plane) with successful
  results. One such practice of Astral Projection
  allows us to become aware of the natural process
  of going to sleep. If we manage to be aware of
  this, then we become aware of our departure into
  the Astral Plane as well.
• So when we are Astral Traveling, we are aware of
  the fact that we are physically asleep and that
  our physical body is at home in bed. We know we
  are actually in this other plane, as opposed to
  the dreamer who only realizes they were not in
  the physical plane upon waking the next morning.
  While Astral Traveling we make conscious
  decisions like where to go, what to do, or who
  to meet.

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• In the Astral the sky is not the limit. One can
  fly way beyond the blue sky, into deep space
  exploring the planets. One can consciously
  project to any part of the world through
  concentration...
• We can fly through the air, having a birds eye
  view of what is below, traveling across the
  surface of our huge planet... Imagine being able
  to glide over the ocean like a seagull, or being
  able to penetrate into it and breath beneath it
  like a fish...
• We can meet enlightened beings, even of distant
  ancient traditions, who can help guide us along
  the Spiritual Path. Or we can even attend
  esoteric schools and temples to learn about the
  mysteries of life and death... There is all sorts
  of hidden knowledge one can acquire through
  Astral Projection, knowledge that cannot be
  acquired in every day life, from other people or
  books.
• This is the reason why many want to Astral Travel
  to acquire knowledge through experience about
  ourselves, the Earth, the Universe, or anything
  we want to. All of this is available to us
  through Astral Travel. It is something worth
  experiencing and verifying.

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• Late night TV is a definite no-no when you want
  to create a positive, enriching astral
  experience. Why? Because television fills your
  chakras with often-violent and emotional images
  that are not yours. When you go out onto the
  Astral Plane, you go out through those chakras,
  and you carry those images with you--creating
  Astral TV! (And you thought you watched enough of
  it in your waking hours!) This is one big reason
  why most people get stuck in the lower layers of
  the Astral.
• We recommend starting with one or two nights a
  week that are no-TV nights. If you're going to be
  home, play music instead, read a book, write in
  your journal, work on a craft or a project, play
  games with your children. This is commonly known
  as "quality time," by the way! An hour or so
  before you go to bed, stop whatever you're doing,
  get ready for bed, and take some time to meditate
  before you go to sleep. This can be just a few
  minutes, or longer if you are a dedicated
  meditator.
• Do your meditation sitting in a chair with your
  feet on the floor, rather than lying down.

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• Close your eyes, breathe slowly and deeply and
  imagine connecting a beam of light from the base
  of your spine to the center of the earth. You can
  use this grounding to release the cares of the
  day down to the center of the earth. Just breathe
  and notice what comes up an image of your boss,
  your mother, your children, a problem or project
  to solve. Just let them all release down to the
  center of the Earth for now. You don't need to
  take them with you in your dreams, too.
• Now, imagine creating a big ball of energy over
  your head. Imagine that it is a magnet for all of
  the life energy that you have given away or left
  behind during your busy day. Watch the ball fill
  up with your life essence, then imagine bringing
  the ball down through the top of your head and
  through your body. Let that energy fill in every
  cell, then radiate outward to fill in any gaps in
  your aura.

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• Now you're ready for bed. Make sure your sleep is
  comfortable an unhappy body will prevent the
  spirit from going out very far and decide
  before you fall asleep, exactly what you want to
  do on the Astral that night. Do you want to look
  up an old friend? Work on a book? Create a new
  job for yourself? Visit Gandhi or Buddha? Take a
  stroll on Mt. Olympus or go to a psychic class?
  There are a lot of fun things to do out there,
  but pick just one for now. As you fall asleep,
  just think quietly of where you want to go, or
  what you want to do on the astral.
• When you wake up the next morning, allow a little
  time to write down your dreams, or to meditate
  and let the images come to you. Write down any
  impressions you get. Don't be hard on yourself if
  you can't remember or if your dreams are
  different than you planned. Just note down
  anything that you do remember and go from there.
  As you pay more attention to your astral space,
  you will be more conscious of your experiences,
  and you will be more conscious "out there" as
  well--also known as lucid dreaming.

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• Above all, have fun and give yourself permission
  to play in your dream space.

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• We hope you have enjoyed this presentation. You
  can find a complete listing of our courses on our
  website at http//www.cms.edu/descrip.html
• The College of Metaphysical Studies (CMS),
  located in Clearwater, Florida, has been a leader
  in metaphysical and spiritual education since
  1986. CMS was formed after extensive evaluation
  of the educational needs of the Metaphysical, New
  Age, New Thought, Neo-Pagan and modern spiritual
  communities.
• We are authorized by the Commission for
  Independent Education, Independent Colleges and
  Universities, Florida Department of Education to
  operate as a private, non-secular college and to
  issue Associate, Bachelor, Master and Doctorate
  Degrees in metaphysics, religion, spiritual
  awareness, spiritual and holistic healing,
  esoteric studies, parapsychology, and the entire
  allied metaphysical field. CMS trains and
  certifies ministers, spiritual and holistic
  healers, teachers, pastoral counselors, mediums,
  intuitive practitioners, past-life regression
  facilitators and administrators. Certification is
  by the New Awareness Ministries, International
  (NAMI).
• (See the next slide for contact information)

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The College of Metaphysical Studies

• 18514 U.S. Hwy. 19 North Suite B
  Clearwater, Florida 33764
• Phone [phone] Fax 727 539-READ
  800 780 META E-mail meta_at_gte.net
• Visit our award-winning website at www.cms.edu
  
• When the student is ready, the teacher will
  appear