"The Longest Story Ever Told"
Still another new dimension that is established by the Kalki Avatar is an affirmative spirituality. For too long a time in the spiritual traditions of the world there was a negative tendency, an effort to escape from life, turning to the higher consciousness while abandoning the external life. But Sri Aurobindo takes up the divinisation of life as the goal. It is an affirmative spirituality which includes every aspect of life in the scope of the Integral Yoga.
Our story continues from here, for it is a very long story and it will go on for a very long time still. We do not know what surprising turns it will take. But it is certainly the most interesting story that has ever been written. The script of the story from this point onward has already been written out by Sri Aurobindo. It is only left to us to follow that script, to enact this drama and play our part on the vast stage of the whole cosmos.
At this point of the story I have to pause. The story will go on, perhaps somebody will recount the rest of the story one day, a hundred years from now, perhaps a thousand years from now, who knows. But we will pause here to look back at what we have discussed. The scope is very wide, we have literally surveyed the whole universe. So you are free to ask any questions which you may have with a very wide scope: spanning the whole process of evolution across plants, animals, human beings and still higher. Any questions?
Q: Could you elaborate on the different planes of the universe?
A: We discussed seven planes, within each plane seven sub-planes, and within each of them seven sub-sub-planes. When seen closely, within each of these sub-planes there are worlds. On the physical plane alone there are so many worlds around us. There are worlds in terms of scale: look at the world of ants, or at the level of human beings, at the level of giant planets, stars and galaxies. These are worlds in scale.
Then there are worlds in terms of distance: countries here, countries there, planets nearby, other civilisations. Then there are worlds within worlds in sub-groups: there are countries, within them you have states, then communities, associations, families.
Just as we have such a wide range of worlds on the physical plane, there are also worlds on the subtler planes. The levels just above the physical plane, which we call the vital worlds, have their own gradations, sub-planes and worlds. They are fascinating worlds, where you find practically everything that you can imagine. In fact what you imagine by thoughts creates worlds in the mental planes. All you imagine exists somewhere on the mental plane. You cannot imagine something which does not exist there. And when we imagine something and visualise it, we give it energy and it takes on a stronger form on the mental plane. This thought-form lives independently of you. It moves about and tries to actualise itself through the vital plane onto the physical plane in some form or other. That is why we are told that we have to be very careful of what we think and imagine, because thought has energy and form which tries to effectuate itself.
On the vital plane there are fascinating worlds, and the Mother has recounted quite a few adventures on the subtle planes.
Each one of us has a body corresponding to each plane of existence. Just as we have a physical body, we have a vital body, a mental body, and other subtler bodies. Between the vital and the physical, there is a borderline, which Mother calls the subtle-physical. And there is a subtle-physical envelope or a nervous envelope which normally extends by about an inch or two around the body, depending on your state of health. It protects us from diseases. When you are in depression, the nervous envelope thins and weakens, allowing you to become susceptible to infections. Scientists would like to believe that if a bacteria gets into your lungs, then you have an infection and you have a cold. But it is not so simple. So many of us sit and work with people who have a cold and yet we are not infected. We are told that our resistance is higher. What do they mean by that? The nervous envelope is strong and it protects from infection by neutralising the bacteria. But an emotional disturbance weakens the envelope and makes us susceptible to diseases and infections.
