For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.William Shakespeare, Hamlet
So Hamlet wondered, as many of us do: he pictured death as a kind of sleep, and because no one could tell him what dreams might come in it, the thought gave him pause. The shuffling off of this mortal coil we call graduation, for the soul moves on to the next state of consciousness. It does not pass into oblivion or an endless sleep, nor is it sent to an eternal heaven or hell. As we noted in the discourse Reincarnation and the Wheel of Life, it enters the astral planes of existence, where it typically remains for approximately 150 to 300 years before reincarnating, and those years are as purposeful in their own way as the incarnation that follows them.
A few lines later, Hamlet calls death “the undiscover’d country from whose bourn no traveller returns.” But travelers do return; we reincarnate many times. In truth, we are but visitors upon the physical plane; our true home is the astral. We spend far more of our existence there than here, for a stay in the astral lasts much longer than a physical lifetime. Even now, each night as we sleep, we leave the physical body and return to the astral for a time. And when at last we have completed the Wheel of Life and no longer need to reincarnate, it is in the astral that we remain, continuing to grow.
Where we ultimately find ourselves in the astral and what we choose to work on there depend upon who we are becoming right now. The more understanding, compassionate, and giving we become in this life, the higher the plane of consciousness we rise to in the astral, and the reverse is also true. The acts and deeds we perform here precede us into the astral and prepare our place there.
What we send out, we receive back. This is the Law of Transmission and Reception. It operates on the physical plane and in the astral alike, whether or not we know of it or believe in it, just as the law of gravity does: the one who has never heard of gravity does not float away.
Upon graduation from the physical plane, each soul passes first to the Gray Plane of existence, the closest astral plane to the physical. It is a place for the soul to gather its senses before going on to the next level or degree of consciousness. Some souls move through it quickly; others remain the whole of their stay in the astral and leave only to reincarnate. Those who move on from the Gray Plane go unto their designated rightful place in the astral: some to the Celestial Kingdom, some to the Cosmic Consciousness, and some to the Realms of Immensity, each according to the degree to which the consciousness of the soul has unfolded.
Not everyone arrives ready to begin at once. For those who suffered through an extended illness, the Gray Plane provides a place of healing. They are brought to a place of rest, where they enter a deep, restorative sleep while their consciousness recovers from the ordeal of the illness. How long this rest lasts varies from person to person; some wake quickly, while others rest for a long while. Guides watch over them throughout.
On the physical plane we arrive as infants, and we are given years of childhood in which to learn where we are. In the astral we do not begin again as infants. We arrive as we were when we left, with the same personality, thoughts, and desires. Suppose you graduated at seventy years of age, whether suddenly or after a long illness and a time of rest. There you are, a full adult, standing in a brand-new place. Perhaps you have not the foggiest idea of where you are, or why you are there, or what plane it is. Perhaps you have some understanding of it. Either way, what is the first thing you should do? Sit down, and begin to transmit. That is to say, send your need out unto the universe in thought: “What do I do now? Bring that unto me.”
And so, in answer to that transmission, someone appears, who may be a teacher or one sent on a teacher’s behalf, to set you on the right path of study. This is the reception: what was sent out in thought is answered. The individual who comes will show you the direction and say, “This is a good path to follow,” yet the choice remains entirely your own. Many desire to elevate their consciousness and yet balk at the process, wanting the result without having to do the work. But no one can do this work for them; each must do it for themselves, and not even the most highly evolved soul is exempt.
What, then, must be studied? We must review our most previous incarnation. That is the first step to elevating our consciousness after graduating from the physical into the astral. And why review it? To see what errors we made, to see what we accomplished, and to see how much further along we now stand on the Wheel of Life.
We need not wait until graduation to begin. Review right now. Review every situation as we pass through it, to see where the mistakes were made and what was done well. If we review as we go along, we will find far less waiting for us in the Gray Plane.
Part of that review is releasing the excess baggage we carry: the gossip, the mean word, the argument left unresolved, and resentment, which is one of the greatest afflictions we suffer from. No one may say they have none; it may be nothing more than resenting having to be in the physical at all. Whatever it is, we must bring it into the open, examine it, make amends where they are due, and move beyond it. We know it has truly been put to rest when it no longer weighs upon our thoughts.
In this way the individual comes unto a consciousness of tranquility. Yet for some, this clearing alone may take the whole of their stay in the astral, and then the time to reincarnate has come. Those were years in which they could have been studying. They could have been becoming teachers in their own right. So we see how important it is to do this work now, and to put our house in order while we are still upon the physical plane.
When we have done this work, we depart the Gray Plane. For those still on the Wheel of Life, the Celestial Kingdom is a common destination and a beautiful one. One moment we are in the Gray Plane, and the next we are consumed by light and find ourselves in the Celestial Kingdom. We look around, and we have our own room, and an awareness of the Universal God Consciousness.
For those who are more spiritually aware, there is more. At some point between graduation and the next incarnation, their Soul Teacher will make contact, though not always at the moment of arrival. That contact, like every step forward in the astral, rests upon the work each of us has been willing to do.
Whichever plane of consciousness we rise to, the astral is a place of study, far beyond the review of the life just past. There are great temples and halls of higher learning, and libraries, and teachers, and study of every kind. There are plays and concerts, and whatever else may interest us. There is no need to eat, no bills to pay, and no need for money. The whole of that time belongs to us, and it is given to improving ourselves and preparing for the incarnation to come.
Beyond our spiritual studies, we may also study music, art, science, literature, or any field toward which the soul is drawn, and the abilities we develop there can come with us when we reincarnate. This is why some individuals seem born with extraordinary talent. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composing music at the age of five. Pablo Picasso was painting with the skill of a trained master while still in his early teens. Srinivasa Ramanujan, with almost no formal training in mathematics, arrived on his own at results that astonished the finest mathematicians of his day. No one could have taught any of them so much in a single lifetime. What looks like a gift is the fruit of study, in the astral and in many incarnations before.
Yet with all of these opportunities before them, some individuals do nothing at all. They remain in their room, content with what they have obtained, and the years pass. Doing nothing in this way is stagnation, and no growth comes of it. Before they know it, they are back on the physical plane, facing once again the same karmas. The astral is not meant to be a place where we only receive. We must be active there, just as we must be here.
And so we come to the secret: what we have received, we must give back. In the astral, we study. When we reincarnate, we come to demonstrate what we have learned. The physical plane is the proving ground of the astral life, and the only one we are proving anything to is ourselves, for it is only through the demonstration of discernment that wisdom is fully realized. Then, upon graduating once more, we carry that realized wisdom back into the astral, and there we share it. This is the rhythm of the consciousness of the soul. That sharing is the giving back, and it is how we move on in consciousness.
Grow in peace, and go in light.
