Plane (cosmology)? |
Did you mean | Travel | Economics | Finance | Marketing | Business | Culture | Geography | History | Life | Mathematics | Science | Society | Technology | New site added |
| Add a link on the top of this Plane (cosmology) page Express submission by secure payment ! |
- For other uses of the word plane, see plane.
| Planes of existence |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Theosophy | |
|
Causal plane: Causal body |
|
| Rosicrucian | |
|
The 7 Worlds & the 7 Cosmic Planes |
|
| Surat Shabda Yoga | |
| Sufism | |
|
Sufi cosmology |
|
| Hinduism | |
| Lokas | |
| Buddhism | |
| Deva lokas | |
| Kabbalah | |
| Olam | |
| Fourth Way | |
|
Ray of Creation |
|
| Popular culture | |
|
Plane (Dungeons & Dragons) |
|
In metaphysics and esoteric cosmology, a plane of existence (sometimes called simply a plane, dimension, vibrating plane, or an inner, invisible, spiritual, or supraphysical world) is a theoretical region of space and/or consciousness beyond the known physical universe, or the region containing the universe itself. Many esoteric teachings (e.g. theosophy and rosicrucianism) propound the idea of a whole series of subtle planes or worlds or dimensions which, from a center, interpenetrate themselves and the physical planet in which we live, the solar systems, and all the physical structures of the universe. This interpenetration of planes culminates in the universe itself as a physical structured, dynamic and evolutive expression emanated - through a series of stages, becoming progressively more material and embodied - fromThe Supreme Being: which allows from Itself the irruption of auto-Singularities, as the Big Bang, originated from Its unintelligible Chaos.
The concept of planes of existence might be seen as deriving from shamanic and traditional mythological ideas of a vertical world-axis — e.g. a cosmic mountain, tree, or pole (such as Yggdrasil or Mount Meru) — or a philosophical conception of a Great Chain of Being, arranged metaphorically from God down to inanimate matter.
However the original source of the word "plane" in this context is the late Neoplatonist Proclus, who refers to to platos, "breadth", which was the equivalent of the 19th century theosophical use. An example is the phrase en to psuchiko platei Dodds, cited in Poortman, 1978, vol II, p.54.
Directly equivalent concepts in Indian thought are lokas and bhuvanas. In Hindu cosmology, there are traditionally seven lokas or worlds, while Buddhist cosmology has a much larger number of "deva lokas", identified with both traditional cosmology and states of mation. Later, in the medieval West and Middle East, one finds reference to four worlds (olam) in Kabbalah, or five in Sufism (where they are also called tanazzulut; "descents"), and also in Lurianic Kabbalah. In Kabbalah, each of the four or five worlds are themselves divided into ten sefirot, or else divided in other ways.
In the late 19th century, the metaphysical term "planes" was popularised by the theosophy of H.P. Blavatsky, who in The Secret Doctrine and other writings propounded a complex cosmology consisting of seven planes and subplanes, based on a synthesis of Eastern and Western ideas. From theosophy the term made its way to later esoteric systems such as that of Alice Bailey, who was very influentual in shaping the worldview of the New Age movement. The term is also found in some Eastern teachings that have some Western influence, such as the cosmology of Sri Aurobindo and some of the later Sant Mat, and also in some descriptions of Buddhist cosmology. The teachings of Surat Shabd Yoga also include several planes of the creation within both the macrocosm and microcosm.
See also
- epigenesis
- esoteric cosmology
- esoteric knowledge
- involution
- spiritual density
- spiritual evolution
- plane (Dungeons & Dragons)
References
- Blavatsky, H.P. (1888) The Secret Doctrine, Theosophiphal Publishing House,
- Poortman, J.J., (1978) Vehicles of Consciousness. The Concept of Hylic Pluralism, The Theosophical Society in Netherlands
- Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter III, The Visible and the Invisible Worlds), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3, www
- António de Macedo, A Cosmologia dos Rosacruzes (The Cosmology of the Rosicrucians), Lecture, April 2001, Lisbon www
Links
- Vedic cosmology - planetarium
- Planes of Existence - Kheper website
- The Thirty-one Planes of Existence - according to Buddhist cosmology
- - Genesis, Planes of Creation, Positive & Negative Powers
- - The creation according to Sant Mat
- - The inner planes of creation (pdf)
- The Great Continuum Of Consciousness according to George A. Boyd
- The Material World a Reverse Reflection of the Spiritual Worlds according to Rosicrucian cosmology:
