(17) In the soul sleep a strange process occurs, namely, the preparation for the sloughing off of the lower sheaths of the soul, leaving it free to enter the life on the Astral Plane clad only in the garments of its highest stage of spiritual attainment reached by it. Each soul awakens on the Astral Plane prepared to dwell on the plane of its highest and best, leaving the rest behind it. It awakens on the plane in which the highest and best in itself is given a chance to develop and expand, and to make progress, for the soul may, and does, make great progress in these between-births sojourns on the Astral Plane.

(15) Reaching the vibrations of the Astral Plane, the Newly disembodied soul falls into a deep sleep, or state of coma, resembling the condition of the unborn child for several months before its birth. This condition is necessary in order to prepare the soul for its life on the new plane. The soul which has left the earth scene with calmness and peaceful mental attitude soon drops into a dreamless slumber; but those whose minds have been filled with strong desires connected with earth life often experience what are called "astral dreams" in which they revisit the scenes of earth life, and if possible may indulge in more or less distorted and dreamy communications through "mediums" and others. The strong desires and grief on the part of those left behind on the earth scenes, also, sometimes act to set up a "rapport" condition, and thus disturb the sleeping soul and interfere with its needed preparatory rest. In this slumber state the disembodied soul is fully protected from the influence or presence of other beings, and is as secure as is the child in its mother's womb.

(7) Now the rational soul in man abounds in marvels, both of knowledge and power. By means of it he masters arts and sciences, can pass in a flash from earth to heaven and back again, can map out the skies and measure the distances between the stars. By it also he can draw the fish from the sea and the birds from the air, and can subdue to his service animals like the elephant, the camel, and the horse. His five senses are like five doors opening on the external world; but, more wonderful than this, his heart has a window which opens on the unseen world of spirits. In the state of sleep, when the avenues of the senses are closed, this window is opened and man receives impressions from the unseen world and sometimes fore-shadowings of the future. His heart is then like a mirror which reflects what is pictured in the Tablet of Fate. But, even in sleep, thoughts of worldly things dull this mirror, so that the impression it receives are not clear. After death, however, such thoughts vanish and things are seen in their naked reality, and the saying

(7) A writer well says of this particular state of newly awakened consciousness: "Although this feeling of separateness and apartness grows less acute as the man grows older, yet it is always present to a greater or less degree until a still higher stage is reached, when it disappears. And this self-conscious stage is painful to many. Many find themselves entangled in a mass of mental states which one thinks is himself, or inextricably bound up with himself, and the struggle between the awakening Ego and its confining sheaths is very painful in some cases. And this becomes more painful as the individual advances in self-consciousness and nears the end at which he is to find deliverance. Man eats of the Tree of Knowledge and begins to suffer, and is driven out of the garden of Eden of the child consciousness in which the individual has lived like the birds, concerning not himself about the affairs of his higher nature. Man pays dearly for the gift of Self-Consciousness—yet it is worth it all, for finally he reaches heights of higher consciousness and is delivered from his burden." With the dawning awareness of one's own mental states, one comes to the realization that other human beings possess similar states, and one begins to speculate and reason about the working of these states in others. Then comes the desire to communicate one's ideas to the mind of the others, and to appeal to his feelings or reason. All this promotes the development of Intellect and logical thought, which is a marked characteristic of evolving human consciousness. Man begins to seek for an answer to the many "whys" which are presenting themselves to him, and he seeks to reason from the known to the unknown. He proceeds to invent appliances conducive to the accomplishment of things which lie desires. He harnesses his Intellect to the chariot of his Desires, and drives it along by command of Will, the chariot-driver.

(21) And then he will laugh at his own former state Saying, " What mattered my experiences when asleep? When I had forgotten my prosperous condition, And knew not that the grief and ills I experienced Were the effect of sleep and illusion and fancy? In like manner this world, which is only a dream. Seems to the sleeper as a thing enduring for ever But when the morn of the last day shall dawn, The sleeper will escape from the cloud of illusion; Laughter will overpower him at his own fancied grieves

(23) Finally, after the longer or short period of sojourn of the soul upon the Astral Plane—the duration of which depends upon the degree of spiritual development of the soul—there comes to it the first dawn of a new state or condition, known to occultists as "the second soul-sleep," or slumber, in which the soul is prepared for its new birth on earth which is coming to it. A writer has well described this state as follows: "The second soul-sleep is preceded by a transition state of gradually declining activity and consciousness, and a corresponding desire for rest on the part of the soul. The natural processes of the Astral Plane nearing their close, the soul begins to experience a feeling of lassitude and weariness, and instinctively longs for rest and repose. It finds that it has lived out the greater part of its desires, ambitions, and ideals, and in many cases has also outlived them. There comes to it a wistful feeling of having fulfilled the purpose of its destiny, and a premonition of the coming of some newer phase of existence. The soul does not feel pain at the approach of the second soul-sleep, but, on the contrary, experiences satisfaction and happiness at the coming of something which promises rest and recuperation. Like the weary traveller who has climbed the mountain paths, and has delighted in the experiences of the journey, the soul feels that it has well earned a restful repose, and, like that traveller, it looks forward to the same with longing and desire." The same writer says: "The soul may have passed by a few years, or perhaps a hundred or a thousand years, of earth-time, on the Astral Plane, according to its degree of development and unfoldment. But, be its stay short or long, the feeling of weariness reaches it at last, and, like many aged persons in earth-life, it feels that 'my work is over—let me pass on.' So sooner or later the soul feels a desire to gain new experience, and to manifest in a new life some of the advancement which has come to it by reason of its unfoldment on the Astral Plane. And, from these reasons, and also from the attraction of the desires which have been smouldering there, not lived out or cast off; or, possibly influenced by the fact that some loved soul, on a lower plane, is ready to reincarnate, and wishing to be with that soul (which is also a form of desire) the soul falls into a current sweeping toward rebirth and the selection of proper parents and advantageous environment. In consequence whereof it again falls into a state of soul-slumber, gradually, and so when its time comes it 'dies' on the Astral Plane, as it did before on the material plane, and passes forward toward rebirth on earth." There is another fact concerned with the awakening of the soul at rebirth, however, which is seldom mentioned by writers upon the subject, and which is consequently not known to many persons familiar with the other facts concerning rebirth. This fact is as follows: Strictly speaking, the soul continues in a condition of partial slumber even after it has been re-born in earth life. It does not fully awaken at once in the body of the new-born child in which it has been reincarnated, but on the contrary it awakens only gradually during the early childhood and youth of the child.

(2) The entrance of this spirit, also, is accompanied with a noise, and he diffuses himself on all sides without any contact, and effects admirable works conducive to the liberation of the passions of the soul and body. But sometimes a bright and tranquil light shines forth, by which the sight of the eyes is detained, and which occasions them to become closed, though they were before open. The other senses, however, are in a vigilant state, and in a certain respect have a cosensation of the light unfolded by the Gods; and the recumbents hear what the Gods say, and know, by a consecutive perception, what is then done by them. This, however, is beheld in a still more perfect manner, when the sight perceives, when intellect, being corroborated, follows what is performed, and this is accompanied with the motion of the spectators. Such, therefore, and so many being the differences of these dreams, no one of them is similar to human dreams. But wakefulness, a detention of the eyes, a similar oppression of the head, a condition between sleeping and waking, an instantaneous excitation, or perfect vigilance, are all of them divine indications, and are adapted to the reception of the Gods. They are also sent by the Gods, and a part of divine appearances antecedes according to things of this kind.

(3) Take away, therefore, from divine dreams, among which also divination is contained, “ the being asleep ,” and also the assertion, “ that we do not apprehend what we see in sleep, in the same clear manner as when we are awake .” For the Gods are no less clearly present with us in these dreams than when we are awake. And, if it be requisite to speak the truth, the presence of the Gods, in the former case, is necessarily clearer and more accurate, and produces a more perfect perception than in the latter. Some, therefore, not knowing these indications of prophetic dreams, and conceiving that they have something in common with human dreams, rarely and casually obtain a foreknowledge of futurity, and in consequence of this, reasonably doubt how dreams contain any truth. And this, also, appears to me to disturb you, in consequence of your not knowing the true indications of dreams. It is necessary, however, that, admitting these to be the elements of the true knowledge of dreams, you should attend to the whole of the discussion concerning divination in sleep.

(5) As is right, then, knowledge itself loves and teaches the ignorant, and instructs the whole creation to honour God Almighty. And if such an one teaches to love God, he will not hold virtue as a thing to be lost in any case, either awake or in a dream, or in any vision; since the habit never goes out of itself by falling from being a habit. Whether, then, knowledge be said to be habit or disposition; on account of diverse sentiments never obtaining access, the guiding faculty, remaining unaltered, admits no alteration of appearances by framing in dreams visionary conceptions out of its movements by day. Wherefore also the Lord enjoins "to watch," so that our soul may never be perturbed with passion, even in dreams; but also to keep the life of the night pure and stainless, as if spent in the day. For assimilation to God, as far as we can, is preserving the mind in its relation to the same things. And this is the relation of mind as mind.

(44) It is a great folly when a man, or any creature, dreameth that he knoweth or can accomplish aught of himself, and above all when he dreameth that he knoweth or can fulfil any good thing, whereby he may deserve much at God’s hands, and prevail with Him. If he understood rightly, he would see that this is to put a great affront upon God. But the True and Perfect Goodness hath compassion on the foolish simple man who knoweth no better, and ordereth things for the best for him, and giveth him as much of the good things of God as he is able to receive. But as we have said afore, he findeth and receiveth not the True Good so long as he remaineth unchanged; for unless Self and Me depart, he will never find or receive it.

What, then, is that which he wants such a one to think? “I am like the shadows and phantoms of the night.” When morning comes, this one knows that the fear that had been experienced was nothing. Thus they were ignorant of the father; he is the one whom they did not see. Since there had been fear and confusion and a lack of confidence and double-mindedness and division, there were many illusions that were conceived by them, as well as empty ignorance—as if they were fast asleep and found themselves a prey to troubled dreams. Either they are fleeing somewhere, or they lack strength to escape when pursued. They are involved in inflicting blows, or they themselves receive bruises. They are falling from high places, or they fly through the air with no wings at all. Other times, it is as if certain people were trying to kill them, even though there is no one pursuing them; or they themselves are killing those beside them, and they are stained by their blood. Until the moment when they who are passing through all these things—I mean they who have experienced all these confusions—awaken, they see nothing because the dreams were nothing. It is thus that they who cast ignorance from them like sleep do not consider it to be anything, nor regard its properties to be something real, but they renounce them like a dream in the night and they consider the knowledge of the father to be the dawn. It is thus that each one has acted, as if asleep, during the time of ignorance, and thus a person comes to understand, as if awakening. And happy is the one who comes to himself and awakens. Indeed, blessings on one who has opened the eyes of the blind. The spirit came to this person in haste when the person was awakened. Having given its hand to the one lying prone on the ground, it placed him firmly on his feet, for he had not yet stood up. This gave them the means of knowing the knowledge of the father and the revelation of his son. For when they saw it and listened to it, he permitted them to take a taste of and to smell and to grasp the beloved son.

(44) O now, when the Dream Bardo upon me is dawning! Abandoning the inordinate corpse-like sleeping of the sleep of stupidity, May the consciousness undistractedly be kept in its natural state; Grasping the [true nature of] dreams, [may I] train [myself] in the Clear Light of Miraculous Transformation: Acting not like the brutes in slothfulness, May the blending of the practicing of the sleep [state] and actual [or waking] experience be highly valued [by me].

(43) When that condition of consciousness is reached, which is far-reaching and not confined to the body, which is outside the body and not conditioned by it, then the veil which conceals the light is worn away.

(23) That the Eternal Parent rested in "Unconscious, dreamless sleep" is held by all advanced metaphysicians and philosophers to be a logical necessity, if we are to postulate the existence of a period or state of Unmanifestation. For, as all psychologists and philosophers know, consciousness (even in the form of dreams) is impossible without Change. A changeless state of consciousness can only be expressed as Unconsciousness. And yet, the student must not fall into the error of believing that this Infinite Unconsciousness implies "inferiority to consciousness"; for rather does it imply a state of "rising above" ordinary consciousness—a state of Infinite Super-Consciousness—a state of transcending consciousness, in which there is ever present the "possibility of consciousness" without the exercise thereof. Ordinary consciousness is a descent from this state of Unconsciousness, not an ascent . This distinction is important, and must not be lost sight of by the student.

(20) The "scenery" and environment of the various sub-planes of the Astral Plane correspond with the ideas and beliefs of the souls occupying them. The Indian may find his "happy hunting ground" much more truly than some people would have us think. The thoughts and ideals of the soul is reflected upon the receptive substance of the Astral Plane, and each soul, in a certain sense, is the creator of its own environment and world—by its thought forms it builds itself a congenial world.

(10) Sleep is the psychic condition which rests on mind states, all material things being absent.

(38) Or a pondering on the perceptions gained in dreams and dreamless sleep.

(181) Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight in the repose of retirement (from the world).

(16) We do not live in a world of dreams, but in an Universe which while relative, is real so far as our lives and actions are concerned. Our business in the Universe is not to deny its existence, but to LIVE, using the Laws to rise from lower to higher--living on, doing the best that we can under the circumstances arising each day, and living, so far as is possible, to our biggest ideas and ideals. The true Meaning of Life is not known to men on this plane .if, indeed, to any--but the highest authorities, and our own intuitions, teach us that we will make no mistake in living up to the best that is in us, so far as is possible, and realising the Universal tendency in the same direction in spite of apparent evidence to the contrary. We are all on The Path--and the road leads upward ever, with frequent resting places.

(24) As we shall presently discover, when Manifestation begins to dawn into appearance, then, and then only, the Eternal Parent may be said to begin to "dream"—to dream of an infinity of universes, succeeding each other in rhythmic sequence. And only when the Eternal Parent shall awaken fully from the dream, into the bright noon-tide of infinite self-consciousness, may It be thought of as being fully "awake" and conscious. These facts will unfold themselves as we proceed with the consideration of the Aphorisms.