23. The Planes In The Godworlds Of Eckankar © 2023 – Matt Sharpe

Kathleen Farago May 2012 – Visionary Light www.Paul Chefurka.ca/Kathy May

 

Herein will be found a cosmological explanation of the various inner planes, or the “Mansions of God” as the idea is termed in the Bible. Also the differences and similarities as well as an overall key to them and some tips about how to identify them or to discern one from another. Sometimes this is not so easily done, so a basic explanation of some of the details can be helpful. The details I’ll share here are not necessarily all that exist but ought to enable at least a basic understanding of the planes and some of the ways that we interact with and within them.

 

The Physical Plane is first. The chela is known as the Acolyte. Each plane has a ruler, and also a Sound that can be heard inwardly, although I can give one example, that hardly means that it is the only one. This is true for each of the planes. On the lower planes these Sounds are the echo of the True Sound that is diluted by the lower planes, and this is called the Varnatmik. On the higher planes the Sound heard is direct and is the ECK Itself, which ECKists call the Dhunatmik. On the Physical plane the Sound of ECK is thunder. The ruler is Elam and the mantra or chant is Alayi. We associate the color green with the Physical plane although on each plane, the color used there is never the only color, it merely serves as a way for us to identify the planes.

 

The Soul appears to the outer awareness to be trapped on the Physical Plane by the five passions of the mind, which are vanity, greed, anger, attachment, and lust. It must be remembered that there are also five virtues that balance the passions, these are  discrimination, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, detachment, and humility and they help to protect us from Maya or illusion. The Physical is also where we experience time, space, energy and matter that all help to forge in our awareness the idea that these are reality.  An experience of conscious awareness out-of-body proves this not to be the case, but not everyone is able to easily gain those experiences so they must be sought after which is what we use the Spiritual Exercises of ECK to accomplish on a daily basis. L. Ron Hubbard used the acronym “the M.E.S.T. worlds,” (matter, energy, space and time) to describe the lower planes and that was where Paul Twitchell got the term and used it in his early writings. 

 

The Astral Plane is second on our journey inward and upward but it is at this point that another factor must be understood about the term “plane.” In most cases there are numerous planes in each grouping I list here, different only by having a slightly different vibratory rate that tends to be associated with different levels of consciousness. The Physical Plane has thousands of planes included with it, though the others are non-physical to the awareness and are closer to the Astral in that they can be accessed by dream travel or out-of-body travel. By this I mean they’re supra-physical, above or better or bigger than the physical, but not yet a part of the Astral Plane, which in and of itself also has thousands of separate planes or levels that differ by rate of vibration. The “Sun and Moon worlds” are a term that Paul Twitchell used to describe one such plane, but there are also others.

 

We use the plane names to mean a grouping of planes that are vibrationally very close or similar, but not an exact match, but also groupings that are bound by the same laws, which differ from plane to plane, or plane grouping. I suggest that this be used as part of the basic outlook or point-of-view regarding the planes. For the Astral Plane, we associate the color of rose with it as this is often seen in the sky, but it is not the only color available and will not always be seen. The name Astral means “pertaining to the stars” and its etymology is associated with stars. This name was given to the plane because many who travel there see skies filled with billions of stars, even to the extent that it makes the physical night sky pale by comparison.

 

The student after Second initiation is known as the Arahata which means teacher. The mantra for the Astral is Kala and its ruler is Jot Niranjan. This plane is the source of emotion but despite that one finds that emotions accompany the individual everywhere, until they reach the second grand division beyond which is the entry to the pure spiritual planes. The Astral is the source of all psychic phenomena, although psychic ability also remains with the individual on each of the lower planes, that being because the awareness of Soul is present on all lower planes. The Sound on the Astral is the roar of the sea.

 

The third plane is the Causal Plane, this being the lowest of the mental realms and is associated with memory and the skies here are a yellow or ochre color, some may even think it rather orangish. the Third Initiate is named the Ahrat. The Sound here is the tinkling of bells. The ruler of this plane is Ramkar. The Causal body is by some called the seed body as this body is at the root of all of the lifetimes that occur below this plane. For the same reason the Akashic records are found here, the filing of every lifetime on Earth is kept here and can be viewed as sort of animated cards that come to life and play out like a movie being watched on a screen, which is the “card” in the filing system. Akasha is the Astral Light, but as we see these records are not made of that and exist beyond it, but here are records of every physical incarnation, which become important as we climb ever higher and find the opportunity to deal with our karma and all that is entailed in the rebalancing and burning off of it.

 

Fourth we come to the Mental Plane which has the color of blue to it, that being found widely here. The Inittae of this plane is the Chiad. The ruler of this plane is Omkar and the mantra is Aum. The Sound of the Eck here is that of running water. This plane is where most of the usual conceptions of God are from, as well as philosophies, aesthetics, and mental teachings. This is also where cosmic consciousness is experienced, which can sometimes be mistaken for God realization. 

 

The higher regions of the Mental Plane we in Eckankar call the Etheric Plane despite that it isn’t a plane of its own. Just as the four lower regions are directly associated with various aspects of consciousness, the emotion, memory and mental activity, this region is the area of the sub-conscious and intuition. It’s ruler is Sohang and the color here is violet or purple. The Sound here is the buzzing of bees and the mantra is Baju. This is the final area before the great void that lies between the lower planes and the pure spiritual planes. Sant Mat names the void Maha Sunn but in Eckankar we don’t pay it much mind because despite its appearing to be an endless blackness, it isn’t at all endless and can be traversed with the aid of a Spiritual Traveler, a term that Paul Twitchell used to describe the ECK Masters to the public in his early books. The Etheric Plane is the last barrier between the lower planes and Sat Nam, the first manifestation of the Godhead that we call Sugmad. It is also the final area of duality and the highest that negative entities can exist.

The fifth plane is the Atma Lok, the Soul Plane. This region is without duality and the first of the purely spiritual planes. The ruler is Sat Nam and the mantra is Sugmad. The color is of the brightest light but is an almost yellow or golden color when compared to the planes beyond this. The Sound of ECK here is the single note of a flute. This is where Soul always is, It never goes lower but instead uses Its awareness to participate in the various bodies on the lower planes, despite the fact that as we climb spiritually, things seem quite the opposite as the journey of awareness expands and grows ever deeper with a greater degree of understanding that accompanies it as we go from the worm’s eye view where we began, to the eagle’s, Soul’s eye view which is also the true beginning in the spiritual sense when one begins to grow into ever greater degrees of purely spiritual awareness and experience. This is where one meets Sat Nam, and also gains the experience of true Self Realization. The initiate at this level is known as the Madhi, a term from Islam that describes that religion’s end times savior that is meant to rid the world of evil and injustice. We use this term with a different meaning however.

 

Sixth is the Alakh Lok, which is ruled by Alakh Purusha. The iniate is called the Shraddha. The mantra for this plane is Shanti and the Sound is the wind. Here the color is a white-gold that is both brighter than the Soul Plane, but also lighter and more whitish. It is hard to describe these areas as they’re completely beyond the mind which is why the Sufis most often used poetry to describe experiences of this level because although words are used, it is the descriptive and poetic way of the verses that is able to give the reader the inner intimation of a deeper wisdom.

 

Seventh is the Alaya Lok, which is ruled by the Alaya Purusha and the Sound here is a very powerful humming sound that one both hears and feels go throughout their entire being as the Soul vibrates in harmony with the Sound. The initiate here is called the Bhakti, which is Sanskrit for devotion. At this stage one comes to frealize that they, Soul, being an “atom” of God. Before it was told and known mentally, but here is where the actual understanding begins to occur of all of the bvarious ways of interpretation, and beyond thise the truth of the principle, its reality. This is an important initiation for that reason.

 

Eighth we arrive at the Hukikat Lok, which is ruled by Hukikat Purusha. Here the initiate is called the Gyanee. The chant for this plane is Hum, and the Sound heard here is a thousand violins all playing at once. One may have noticed the term Purusha being repeated. It is a Sanskrit word that has a complex meaning with many levels, among which are Spirit, person, Self, or consciousness. In Eckankar’s usage it means all of those things but in reference to the various emanations of Sugmad ITSELF, but on these planes ascending toward what we consider the top. Each ruler of these higher God worlds IS God literally, but in a way that the individual can handle the knowledge of as they ascend via initiation to ever higher and deeper levels of conscious realization and inward travel as the individual’s consciosness is literally stretched to ever greater levels. This process is never an easy or necessarily comfortable one and for this reason, only a very few ever make it this far. However, we know that eventually every Soul will make it this far and achieve God Realization. That means each individual will do the work to attain these higher states at some point.

 

Ninth we arrive at the Agam Lok.The ruler here is Agam Purusha and the chant is Huk. The Sound heard here is the rushing of woodwinds which is both an uplifting and overwhelming Sound that directly affects the individual’s vibrations. The ninth plane is where the beginning lessons of what will become God Realization begin, but it will take more effort to proceed beyond this state and this individual is not yet God realized, nor are they a Master, but these initiates are called the Maulani.

 

The tenth plane has at times been descirbed as the final on the journey and the abode of Sugmad, but this is true only in a certain manner of speaking because here one becomes closer to the God Realized state, but they are not quite there just yet, and even after attaining God Realization, they are not yet finished as there is more to go beyond that, on into Mahantaship. The initiates here are called the Adepiseka. From this state we tend to describe more the initiations and the states of consciousness themselves rather than to describe planes, because these planes are so far beyond and outside of the understanding of the human mind that the mind cannot fully understand all that is being implied without actually going there and having the direct experience themselves.

 

The tenth plane is called the Anami Lok and the ruler is Anami Purusha, or sometimes called just Anami (Nameless in Sanskrit though Google Translate disagrees). The mantra here is Hu and the Sound is that of a whirlpool. The initiation on this plane is generally God Realization in the first of its stages, meaning that it is actual God Realization, but not the end of it or the furthest step possible in that state of consciousness.

 

The eleventh plane is the SUGMAD World, and there is no chant because the mantra is an Unspoken Word, if one can imagine that. The ruler is Sugmad, but this is not the Godhead ITSELF just yet. The ECK on this plane is the Music of Universe only in the Divine sense far beyond what we think of as the universe in the physical sense. In my opinion this is just a way of describing the indescribable, Sound that the mind cannot understand or conceive of at all.

 

The twelfth plane is where the first state of the Mahanta occurs. This initiation is called the Maharaji Mahanta and this is what a Living ECK Master must be to wear the mantle. The mantra is described the same way as Unspoken Word, and the Sound here is described as Music of God. This is because this is SUGMAD Living Reality which is the literal Source of the ECK, or the Voice of God directly issuing from IT to all else and every area or place or state of being. Beyond this plane is the Akshar Consciousness which means “imperishable,” “unalterable,” “undestroyable,” both Eternal and Unchanging. This is Purushottama which means higher than, beyond, or foremost, often used to describe the highest God, the Absolute. This is the truest and fullest God Realization, but still not the highest or end of where consciousness can develop. Not the final stage despite being so hard to understand or relate to.

 

For the thirteenth initiation one becomes the Mahanta Maharai, which is to say the individual can work even more closely with the Mahanta consciousness and spend more of their time inhabiting this state. There is a thirteenth plane involved but we don’t name it and are unable to describe it, but even this is not the final step or stage possible. For the fourteenth plane and initiation, one becomes the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master not only in name, but fully which enables this individual to inhabit the Mahanta consciousness for an even longer stretch at a time if they so wish, and also to act as a direct representative of the Absolute on Earth. This is no small feat as one must be able to remain in balance between the inner spiritual states, and their physical selves and life. This is where we stop naming initiations, but even this is not the highest nmor furthest that one can go or attain.

 

Beyond these states are the Nine Unknown ECK Masters who never show their faces to anyone, and they administrate the Vairagi Order helping to choose the next Master as the time comes, but they also perform functions on all of the planes that maintain the functions of each. This in and of itself is no small task either. These are known as the Nine Silent Ones and are the highest of ECK Masters overall. But even this is not the end.

 

To go to what might be considered the ultimate end state, one can, by doing the work eventually develop into becoming a Mahavakyi, a true Silent One. This is the ultimate state of what humans often refer to as angels only these are not the angels reported in Christianity or Islam, or even in Zarathustraism (Zoroastrianism). These beings are indistinguishable from SUGMAD ITSELF to any human that might be blessed enough to be placed near their path so as to be able to become aware of one as IT performs whichever duty it might have. These Mahavakyi also provide aid and comfort to SUGMAD at ITS level, directly. I am unable to describe anything about this other than what I’ve said here as so little is known other than that generality about this indescribably deepest spiritual plane/state of consciousness.