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A Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga906
suffer agonies from their delirium arising from their former crimes, and
the belief in the punishment therefor which has been inculcated in them
through earth teachings. And these mental agonies, although terrible, really
are for their benefit, for by reason of them the soul becomes so sickened
with the thought and idea of crime that when it is finally re-born it manifests
a marked repulsion to it, and flies to the opposite. In this connection we
would say that the teaching is that although the depraved soul apparently
experiences ages of this torment, yet, in reality, there is but the passage of
but a short time, the illusion arising from the self-hypnotization of the soul,
just as arises the illusion of the punishment itself.
In the same way the soul often experiences a “heaven” in accordance
with its hopes, beliefs and longings of earth-life. The “heaven” that it has
longed for and believed in during its earth-life is very apt to be at least
partially reproduced on the Astral plane, and the pious soul of any and all
religious denominations finds itself in a “heaven” corresponding to that in
which it believed during its earth-life. The Mohammedan finds his paradise;
the Christian finds his; the Indian finds his—but the impression is merely an
illusion created by the Mental Pictures of the soul. But the illusion tends to
give pleasure to the soul, and to satisfy certain longings which in time fade
away, leaving the soul free to reach out after higher conceptions and ideals.
We cannot devote more space to this subject at this time, and must content
ourselves with the above statements and explanations. The principal point
that we desire to impress upon your minds is the fact that the “heaven-world”
is not a place or state of permanent rest and abode for the disembodied
soul, but is merely a place or temporary sojourn between incarnations, and
thus serves as a place of rest wherein the soul may gather together its forces,
energies, desires and attractions preparatory to re-birth. In this answer
we have merely limited ourselves to a general statement of the states and
conditions of the Astral World, or rather of certain planes of that world. The
subject itself requires far more extensive treatment.