This Astral Plane - 09.03.09

Student Comment: I’ve been reading about the afterlife and what, potentially, is there in this great cosmic, astral plane. And it seems like what we’re learning here, with the ascension of the ego, in the physical plane, the third dimensional plane, is similar to what is there in the astral world as far as how the existence might be with souls that are in the non-physical world. “We’re in the afterlife right now,” as Shunyamurti, the director and founder of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, explains, “You think this is a physical world but this is no more physical than any other astral plane.” And as the ego is transcended, this “physical plane” becomes quite different “and the more layers of illusion get dissolved, the more this world becomes realized as the Kingdom of Heaven, an astral plane that is far more beautiful than the one that you think you're in right now.” What we perceive with our senses is nothing more than the veils of Maya, the cosmic illusion. “The very idea of physicality is an illusion.” Just as when you are in a dream, the dream feels very real; thus is the nature of Maya. And as the ego dissolves and consciousness rises, the world becomes a much more interesting place. Recorded on the Evening of Thursday, September 3, 2009.