Spiritual Practice School

Part 1. Structure of the Universe

The soul is immortal; the body is born and dies. Yet the word “spirit” has no single meaning – it shifts across contexts and traditions.

This is true of many religious terms: words in spiritual texts often carry multiple meanings. Sometimes the same word appears in different sources but signifies different ideas. At other times, different words point to the very same meaning. How can we untangle this web of overlapping senses?

To clarify these distinctions, we need a clear mental image. For this purpose, we will use a model – a simple tool that acts like scissors. Just as scissors separate fabric, this model will help us separate one meaning from another in spiritual literature.

In the model that follows, we will arrange meanings as if on shelves:

● Different meanings will go on different shelves.

● Words with the same meaning will be placed on the same shelf.

This method allows us to see both the diversity and the hidden unity of spiritual language.

In this book, the concept of the “Universe” will encompass and systematically delineate both the material and mental domains of what we might term “absolutely everything”.

It will be useful to clarify the structure of the entire book. The second part of this book, devoted to the Apocalypse, is the system‑forming element in relation to all the other parts. The first part, in turn, serves as a preliminary introduction. Just as the alphabet precedes a dictionary, this first part precedes the second, main section. Without mastering the “alphabet” – that is, without grasping the foundations laid out in the first part – it is difficult to understand what is presented in the second part.

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Unified Religious Structure

Physical. The world of phenomena is the world in which we live. The physical dimension. The bodily dimension. The material universe. Reality. In Buddhism: Kāmaloka (the world of Desires).

Astral. The astral world (astral) is the world we enter during sleep. The astral dimension. The soul dimension. In Buddhism: Rūpaloka (the world of Forms). The astral world is divided into lower and upper. The lower astral overlaps the world of phenomena. The upper astral has no direct projection onto the world of phenomena. The astral governs physical through the mechanism of image projection. Any phenomenon or object, before manifesting in our physical world, first appears in the astral as an image. A person who has attained a spiritual level allowing them to be freely reborn in the upper astral or higher in the next life is called a “saint”.

Causal. The causal world (causal) is the realm that governs the astral world and the world of phenomena. The causal dimension. The spiritual dimension. In Buddhism: Arūpaloka (the Formless Realm). The causal world is divided into upper, middle, and lower. The lower causal overlaps the lower astral and the world of phenomena. The middle causal overlaps the upper astral. The upper causal has no direct projection onto the astral. The causal governs the astral through the mechanism of idea projection. That is, an astral image, before manifesting in the astral, first appears in the causal as an idea. The causal world is the world of causes.

In the three-dimensional diagrams of the Universe’s structure used in this (first) part, the vertical axis can be interpreted as the “axis of merit”, while the axis receding inward, in the direction of nirvana, can be interpreted as the “axis of tranquility”.

Typical Divisions of Nirvana

The world of Nirvana is the realm of the highest Absolute. “Nirvana” translates as “absence of disturbance”. It is a state of liberation, a state of absolute peace. In the sutras, nirvana is described as the destruction of worldly desires. Nirvana is opposed to samsara – that is, the physical, the astral, and the causal are samsara, while nirvana is not samsara. The following types are distinguished: minor nirvana, nirvana with remainder, parinirvana, bodhinirvana, and mahanirvana.

It should be clarified from the outset to avoid misunderstanding: Nirvana, in itself, has no parts. Therefore, Nirvana as an essence cannot be divided in any way. Here we are not examining divisions of Nirvana itself, but only the division of the concepts used to describe it.

Nirvana. Minor nirvana. Also known simply as nirvana or individual nirvana. A person who attains minor nirvana achieves this liberation (the first attainment of release) through their own individual path. Such a person is called an arhat or a “solitary realizer”. Minor nirvana can conditionally be divided into causal nirvana, astral nirvana, and nirvana of the world of phenomena, depending on the spiritual level of the “liberated one” and the corresponding experience of the world they cease to engage with (discard) in horizontal projection.

Nirvana with remainder. The term “remainder” here refers to “life” – the fact that the arhat has not yet discarded physical existence.

Parinirvana. This is the highest level of nirvana – “nirvana without remainder”, the fully independent existence of the True Ego. “Pari” translates as “final”. More precisely, the prefix “pari” applies only to the final departure of the Conqueror of Truth into nirvana. For lower-level cases of release, the term “anupādhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa” (anupadhisesha) is used, literally meaning “nirvana without remainder”. However, since there is no direct equivalent in the English language, for simplicity's sake, all such cases are referred to uniformly as “pari”. Parinirvana is not associated with any of the samsaric worlds; therefore, it is impossible to simultaneously exist in parinirvana and live. If an arhat discards life immediately after attaining nirvana, they enter parinirvana. “Parinirvana” and “nirvana with remainder” are antonyms.

Bodhinirvana. An arhat, having attained nirvana, does not stop there, but expands their attainment by guiding other beings toward liberation, thereby overcoming the bonds of other worlds and delusions previously unknown to them. Such a being is called a “bodhisattva”. “Bodhi” means “awakening, enlightenment”, and “sattva” means “being” – a being directed toward awakening. The bodhisattva moves in a shuttle-like manner: nirvana – samsara – nirvana again – samsara again – and so on. Each repetition of the path of liberation doubles the being’s experience. Then triples it. Then quadruples it. And so on. Thus, the being gains an ever-expanding experience of liberation, far surpassing mere individual nirvana. This expanded state of liberation is called bodhinirvana. Within the world of bodhinirvana, relative to the world of nirvana, an upper level can be distinguished: bodhiparinirvana, where the bodhisattva may pass after death – and a lower level. The lower bodhinirvana can also be conditionally divided into three levels, depending on which world’s experience is dissolved: causal bodhinirvana, astral bodhinirvana, and bodhinirvana of the world of phenomena.

Mahanirvana. When a bodhisattva attains liberation from absolutely all delusions – those that may exist in the world of phenomena, in the astral, and in the causal – they reach a state in which there is nothing left to attain, having overcome all possible experience. This state is called “buddha”, and it corresponds to mahanirvana. “Maha” translates as “great”. If a person has already attained the state of buddha in a past life, then in the next life, their individual liberation simultaneously becomes great liberation. Since mahanirvana corresponds to liberation from all worlds, it is divided into only two levels: mahanirvana and mahaparinirvana.

Mahaparinirvana. This means the great final destruction of worldly desires. After his death, Buddha Shakyamuni entered mahaparinirvana. Sources often discuss the question: “Can a buddha return from mahaparinirvana as the same individual?” – Yes. Since the Buddha's being is free, they are free to choose whether to return from mahaparinirvana or never return again.

Levels of Consciousness

A person consists of several bodies: Physical, Astral, Causal, and the True Ego.

Physical body. This is the ordinary human body. The physical body has its own consciousness.

Astral body. The astral body can be described as something akin to a reflection of the body in a mirror. That is, it is not a body in the material sense, but merely a reflection – it exists, and at the same time, it does not. To see the astral body, one must possess astral vision. The physical body is structured in such a way that when a person uses their physical eyes, they automatically suppress their astral vision due to a specific mechanism linking the astral and physical bodies. However, the ability to perceive through astral vision is not unattainable. It can be developed through meditation. The astral body has its own consciousness. This astral consciousness corresponds to what science calls the subconscious (the unconscious). The astral body, when separated from the physical body, is also known as the body of apparition. There are beings that possess only an astral body and no physical body. Such beings are simply called apparitions. When it is said that a demon has possessed a person, this may mean that a being from the lower astral (an apparition), which lacks its own physical body, has overlaid itself upon the person’s astral body or has taken the place of (replaced) the person’s astral body.

Causal body. Externally, the causal body may appear as a sphere composed of plasma, similar to a ball lightning – or, more precisely, simply as a sphere of light, pure light in spherical form. The causal body also possesses its own consciousness. This causal consciousness corresponds to what science refers to as the superconscious (deep unconscious, pre-conscious). The nature of causal consciousness can be understood through the following experience: recall a moment when you had completely forgotten something – for example, the last name of a long-ago acquaintance – to such an extent that nothing at all came to mind. You strain to remember, exert mental effort – and suddenly, a faint, distant spark flashes in your mind: “I know!” You haven’t recalled the name yet, but you already know that the information exists in your memory and that it will soon emerge from the depths. That spark is precisely the causal consciousness. What psychology calls the “collective unconscious” corresponds to the entire lower causal world as a whole.

True Ego. True Self. True I. In the world of Nirvana (in all realms of Nirvana), body and consciousness are unified as one. This unified body-consciousness in Nirvana is called the True Ego.

The causal body together with the True Ego is also called the human spirit. The astral body together with the spirit is also called the human soul. The essence of a human being is their soul. The essence of the soul is its spirit. And the essence of the spirit is the True Ego. The physical body is governed by the soul. The soul is governed by the spirit. And the spirit is governed by the True Ego. A person’s “I” and the True Ego are, in essence, one and the same.

Besides the aforementioned case of the causal body, the word “spirit” is also often used to refer to any vital, mental, or mystical energy. Additionally, the word “spirit” is sometimes used to denote mystical ascending energy: kundalini (the Holy Spirit).

Matter of the Universe

What philosophy calls matter, and the three gunas, are essentially one and the same. The three gunas are the three primordial dimensions: causal, astral, and physical.

Physical world. What science (physics) understands as matter is the matter of the world of phenomena. The guna rajas.

Astral world. Just as there is matter in the physical world, so too there is matter in the astral world. Astral matter in Hinduism is sometimes called dradhma, vibrations of dradhma, or dradhma-vibrations. The guna tamas.

Causal world. Similarly, just as there is physical matter, there is also causal matter. Causal matter is mystical light. The guna sattva. The causal plane holds information about everything. Information in the causal exists in the form of mystical light.

Nirvana world. Nirvana, by definition, is “indivisible”, so it is not customary to distinguish any of its components. Nirvana is traditionally studied from the standpoint of unknowability, universality, indivisibility, constancy, eternity, and absoluteness. The Absolute is placed within the world of nirvana. There is also a clarification that the Absolute and the world of nirvana are identical – that the Absolute and the world of nirvana are one and the same.

According to the law of conservation of matter and energy, neither energy nor substance can flow from one dimension to another. Therefore, the astral or causal planes cannot be detected by any physical instruments. Information about the astral or causal can only be obtained through introspection. The causal, the astral, and the world of phenomena interact with each other through the mechanism of identification. Finer physical matter, from which devas and asuras are composed, does exist within the world of phenomena – and therefore, asuras and devas could theoretically be detected by physical instruments

Time does not exist in nirvana.

Anthropomorphism

Homo created himself in his own image and likeness

The population of the phenomenal and astral worlds is overwhelmingly anthropomorphic.

This means that beings of many realms, wherever form exists, are structurally close to the human form. This is the universal form.

It turns out that the human form is used not only by beings resembling humans – gods, asuras, pretas, beings of hell – but even by those who, at first glance, are not at all like humans: dragons, animals, insects, fish, and birds.

Every being holds in its consciousness an image of its own body. That is, any being, perceiving the world, also perceives itself within that world. And this self-perception is, for nearly all beings, anthropomorphic. In other words, every being feels itself to be a human.

For example, a dog running on four legs feels itself to be a human. It simply finds it more convenient, at this moment, due to a slightly unclear physiological state, to run on four legs rather than two – it’s just faster right now. But when it is not in a hurry, it can easily stand and move on its hind legs, just like an ordinary person. It perceives other people as normal, equal beings – as friends. Other dogs, however, it perceives as dogs.

A dolphin swimming in water also perceives itself as a human who is in the water only because it swims well and simply enjoys swimming. It sees the other dolphins around it as dolphins – beings to which, as a supposedly swimming human, it feels a friendly connection. It helps them whenever possible, simply because it can. It sees people as close friends – as equals. During a storm, it does not come ashore because it fears the surf. The high waves near the shore could dash it against something, and there is a danger of drowning. Therefore, it is safer to wait out the storm in deeper waters.

This inner self-image as a human leads to the fact that, in the course of Darwinian evolution, many animals acquire traits unique to humans earlier than necessary from the standpoint of their lifestyle. For example, rear and front fin limbs in fish, and the pentadactyl bone structure of fish fins.

Why Did God Create the Devil?

● If something about the afterlife is asserted in the name of religion, this does not necessarily mean it is true.

● If certain religious claims are correct – for example, that God exists – this does not mean everything else the religion teaches is also true.

● The Creator is not the Almighty God. And the Almighty God is not the Creator. These are different beings.

● The omnipresent, omnipotent God is the Absolute – He has created nothing. He is entirely indifferent to all things. It makes no difference to Him what happens in the world or how anyone lives.

● The God who created the world is the Creator, the Maker. The Creator is not absolute. He is a soul, just like all human souls. Therefore, like any other conscious being, He can make mistakes.

● The Creator God is a powerful deity, but not omnipotent.

● No one created human beings or their souls.

● People, their souls, and all other souls – are free. Souls themselves decide who they will be and what they will become: angels or devils, good or evil.

● No one created the devil or his soul – just as no one created human souls. No one created great or small gods. No one created evil dragons. No one created good wizards. All of them created themselves.

● The physical body – particularly the human physical body – does have a created origin. The primary creator, however, is the human being himself. More precisely, the main mental creator of the human physical body is the collective mind of humanity. Women work more intensively on male bodies, and men on female bodies.

● The soul that enters a body and temporarily lives within it exists eternally. One can only conditionally speak of a single way a soul may come into being: when the soul creates itself (the emergence of a soul), or when it destroys itself. There are no other ways for a soul to appear – and there cannot be.

● When the Creator God (the Maker God or Father God) supposedly "breathes" a soul into a body, in reality He merely invites an already existing soul to inhabit that body. To outside observers, it appears as if a new soul has just come into existence.

● The same occurs at the birth of a child. At birth, a new soul is not born. Only the body is born. The soul simply chooses and enters the body – if it likes that body, and if it likes those particular parents.

● The above can be easily proven as follows. If we assume that the human soul was created by God, then it follows that it was God who implanted such flaws into these souls – flaws that lead these souls, whether they belong to the righteous or to evildoers, to suffering. And if such a thing is possible, then this can only be explained by the Sadism of God the Father Himself, and by nothing else.

● In truth, there is no evil in the world. The world is neutral by its very nature. Good and evil arise in the human mind when a person evaluates what is happening. If something is pleasant, one calls it good. If something is unpleasant, one calls it evil.

● The good and evil encountered by a soul follow the law of karma. If you do good, good returns. If you do evil, evil returns. Therefore, any soul’s complaints against creators must be returned directly to itself.

● The devil is within us. In every person exists both the absolute and the destructive. It is important to understand what is destructive and what is uplifting. Usually, the devil is understood simply as everything bad encountered in life – everything we dislike. But this is a mistaken understanding. The devil within us is our worldly desires.

● Samsara was not created by the Absolute, but by True Egos that have fallen out of the Absolute state.

● Each True Ego, each personality, after its fall (after separation from the Absolute), created the world that surrounds it. Therefore, each individual is fully and solely responsible for everything that happens to them.

● In truth, there is no evil in the world. The world is neutral by its nature. Yet, God Shiva (the Lord of Lords) exists within this world. Shiva does not leave – He remains in the world in order to save. And so, for Shiva, the world – neutral in essence – ceases to be neutral. With the decision to save, Shiva acquires goals and values, tasks and rules, desires and fears, motivation and experience. With the decision to save, for Shiva, everything that leads souls toward salvation becomes good, and everything that leads souls toward downfall becomes evil.

Emergence of the Soul

● Absolute state. Originally, all True Egos were merged with the Absolute and existed in this absolute state. The absolute state means that the True Ego could create anything it desired – manifest any body it wished, experience any state it chose. However, the absolute state did not imply that this True Ego was absolutely mature or wise.

● Movement. At the moment when the True Ego actually performed what it could do by virtue of its absolute state and absolute freedom – when it realized its free state – it automatically became a True Ego possessing motion. This movement occurred within the three primordial dimensions (the three gunas). After completing free movement, the True Ego returned to its original absolute state.

● Three gunas. Guna translates as “cord” or “strand”. The three primordial dimensions and the three gunas are one and the same. Matter and the three gunas are identical. Without the influence of the True Ego, all primordial dimensions (the three gunas) existed in a state of transparent, silent equilibrium. The dimension in which movement was easy became known as causal. The dimension in which movement was moderate became known as astral. The dimension in which movement was difficult became known as phenomenal. The phenomenal dimension is structured such that physical space-time can arise within it at the will of the True Ego. The three gunas are sattva, tamas, and rajas. The causal is governed by sattva. The astral by tamas. The phenomenal world by rajas. The three gunas and the Absolute coexist eternally and in parallel.

● Antimystical force. The True Ego engaged in movement to confirm, affirm, and prove to itself its absolutely free state. This doubt in its own absoluteness is an illusion – and thus, the first step on the path of subsequent descent.

● Accumulated experience. Due to this anti-mystical force, the True Ego increasingly sought to confirm that the original state was the best, the most suitable for itself. For this purpose – to compare one state with another – the True Ego ceased discarding the experience of its free movement immediately after its cessation, as it had done before. Instead, it began to accumulate the experience of its movements.

● Motivation. By comparing various experiences to understand what suited it and what did not, the True Ego established criteria for evaluating experience. The criterion of evaluation became habit: that which in past accumulated experience led back to the original state of happiness, joy, and freedom became the standard for assessing new experience.