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The South of Heaven

Guide to

Theosophy

Devachan

Devachan is a state (not a place) that one attains after

death and before the next life. The concept is often

mistaken for Heaven. But there’s no need be

disappointed, Devachan is still something to look

forward to.

To get some idea of what to expect and to

help you deal with it, please read on

Devachan

How you get there

Actually you are almost certain to get there anyway, it’s what you might have to go through on the way that can be a problem and that can depend on the life you’ve lived

First you have to die

(Sorry, there’s no free lunch)

Please note that we are talking here about physical death and that you as an individual entity will be carrying on. There will be some changes however. You’ll feel the same at first except you won’t have a physical body which is a drag if you’re desperate for a cigarette or a pint. Cravings will continue in the part of you that survives death but do dissolve away after a while.

Death involves the withdrawal of your life energy (Prana) or energy body, a review of your life (free film show) and a brief period of unconsciousness. When you wake up, you have to break free of the shell of your energy body in which your non-physical principles are enclosed for the purpose of making the break with the physical body.

The review of your life is honest and objective and you can’t delude yourself about the sort of person you’ve been. It is said that one sees one’s life from the point of view of the effect it has had on the world.

Some Theosophists suggests that the review at the end of physical life acts a video record and that when people

recall past life experiences either as a matter of course

or through regression techniques, they are actually

recalling an end of life review

You then find yourself in the spirit realms (Kama Loka) which is sometimes referred to as the Astral Plane and this has seven main levels from close to physical at the lower end becoming progressively more spiritual as you move up.

This is how William Quan Judge describes the moment of death in The Ocean of Theosophy;

The breath leaves the body and we say the man is dead, but that is only the beginning of death; it proceeds on other planes. When the frame is cold and eyes closed, all the forces of the body and mind rush through the brain, and by a series of pictures the whole life just ended is imprinted indelibly on the inner man not only in a general outline but down to the smallest detail of even the most minute and fleeting impression. At this moment, though every indication leads the physician to pronounce for death and though to all intents and purposes the person is dead to this life, the real man is busy in the brain, and not until his work there is ended is the person gone. When this solemn work is over the astral body detaches itself from the physical, and, life energy having departed, the remaining five principles are in the plane of kama loka.

Judge uses the term Astral Body, which refers to the emotional or desire principle in man and the operation of your desire faculty, if very strong and combined with attachment to your previous life, can try to hold you close to the physical plane.

Some people are held up by an inappropriate

level of attachment to the life they have just left

and the consequent inability to let go

You go into a realm of your own creation and if you’ve lived a pretty mean life then you can find your spirit realm a pretty mean unpleasant place as you will be held on the lower levels of the Astral Plane. You can be stuck there for a long time.

Spiritually advanced people and all round good people will move through Kama Loka fairly quickly and easily and will not notice the lower levels.

Attachment to your last physical life can slow your progress as it is all baggage to get rid off and which you no longer need. Excessive grief, resulting from an inability to let go by those left behind, can also hold you back like a magnet pulling on you although you will eventually progress beyond reach of this.

Prayers for the dead are beneficial and if you have a religion, you can request some before you go. All religions seem to have prayers for the dead which wish a safe passage and therefore accept that the person has moved on.

The lower levels of the spirit realms are somewhere

you want to zip through without noticing.

Some people are inconveniently detained there

in a Hell of their own making.

Kama Loka (Can be Hell, but not eternal)

For people who have lived evil lives, Kama Loka is probably the closest thing that Theosophy has to the concept of hell. It can last a long time but not forever.

As you go through Kama Loka you will lose all your earthly characteristics and attachments as the personality is dissolved. An essence of experience is distilled from the life just lived and the individual experiences another life review. You now experience a second death as you go into Devachan

Devachan

Now You’re Here

Heaven is reported to be a place where lots of people go whereas with Devachan, you get your own but you won’t be lonely.

Devachan is really a subjective state but a great state to be in. The individual is surrounded by loved ones in ideal circumstances and positive aspirations of the past life are fulfilled.

You might think this is Heaven and it’s the closest thing available to the average punter. There are higher possibilities when you evolve beyond the need to live more lives and although that will come, it takes some doing.

To make the most of your time here, you will need to have worked on some positive aspirations when you were alive to give yourself something to develop now.

Sorry,

It’s Not Forever

Unfortunately Devachan can’t last. You have to leave and be born into another incarnation. There is some choice about your new life based on what you need to learn but you can’t be too choosy and have to take the most appropriate of what is available.