Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. There are now robot bees that can pollinate plants, and AI emotion recognition for job interviews. Anything that previously required human intelligence is now being challenged.
In 2023 approximately 35% of all businesses used Artificial Intelligence. It’s hard to believe that AI was actually first created in 1950, before many of us were born.
From a spiritual perspective, AI is helping our planet evolve quicker towards full Dwapara Yuga, the age of energy. It’s helping us to understand the material world as it truly is—condensed energy.
I once asked Dr. Amit Goswami, the quantum theoretical physicist and author who appeared in the film, What the Bleep Do We Know?, if he thought artificial intelligence and robots would ever take over our planet. He laughed and laughed. He said there is no way that Artificial Intelligence could create consciousness.
The architectures of present-day AI algorithms are missing key features of the thalamocortical system linked to conscious awareness in mammals. Besides, the science of consciousness is the deepest and most important of all.
Everything is Consciousness
According to Yogananda and the great rishis of India, everything is consciousness. It’s out of this consciousness that the universe was created. This consciousness, by vibrating, became a little denser, and thoughts formed. This is called the “causal universe”. The thought-world vibrated a little more densely and another, more solid layer of creation appeared: the world of energy, also called the “astral” universe. The astral world is nothing but thoughts becoming even more dense.
The astral energy world in turn became even more dense, and matter appeared—our physical world was born. Everything material is nothing but “condensed” energy, which in turn is condensed thought, which in turn is condensed Consciousness.
Your Astral Body
Likewise, we all have an astral body. We may not be able to see it, but sometimes we can feel it. This astral body is who we really are in a spiritual sense. If your physical body was to fall down and die, your astral body would continue to live. It is right there inside your own body, hidden in its astral form.
This inner astral body includes an astral brain, and an astral spine that holds all the vrittis or ripples from our past lives. This astral body is made of lifetrons. If you, like Yogananda says, have lived for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, your very own unique astral body has experienced a lot.
What is the astral body of a saint like?
Those beings that we call saints, like Buddha, Jesus Christ, Yogananda, Krishna, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Clare or Saint Catherine of Siena, all have one thing in common: over many lifetimes, their astral bodies retained lessons, experiences and abilities that allowed them to become one with God, and extremely magnetic. They became so magnetic that they could perform miracles, heal the sick, levitate, and in some cases, change the course of our planet for the good.
I would say these saint’s astral bodies had very highly developed heart chakras, the love center of the astral body. Their heart chakras would be able to “hold the whole world” within their consciousness. Their deeply-honed compassion for all life would allow them to understand intimately what each being was experiencing throughout all time.
If these saints changed this physical world for the better, they would have left the vibrations of their magnificent souls in the very ether where they lived. Thousands of years later, places inhabited by saints still carry their magnetic memories. Meditating near the tomb of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy, one can still feel the saint’s blissful spiritual personality. Despite the harrows of time, the purity of saints is far more powerful.
Are departed saints still in their astral form?
Yes, they are. In the Autobiography of a Yogi alone there are numerous accounts of saints appearing in both their astral and real bodies. Likewise, saints have been known to frequent the places they once inhabited on earth.
One way to attune to the consciousness of saints is to visit the places they inhabited on a sacred journey. With a group of like-minded souls traveling together, a magnetism is created that can help deepen your own spiritual experience.
Italy 2024: Sacred Travel to Italy with the Yuga Cycles of Time
We’ll visit Rome, Assisi, La Verna, Ananda Europa and the hill towns of Umbria, and we’ll stay 4 nights in Florence, within walking distance of the Arno River. We’ll visit nearby Siena, take an optional tour to the Italian coast, see an Italian opera by Mozart, and more. Learn More
6 ways to Nurture your Astral Body
- Spend one or ½ day in total silence. No speaking to anyone, no phones, no texting, no watching the news, especially. Read uplifting books, books about saints, or listen to spiritual chanting, or music that will calm your mind and bring you inward.
- Try, if possible, throughout each day, to keep your focus at the spiritual eye, known in Sanskrit as the Kutastha Chaitanya, the center of Christ Consciousness, a reflection of the cosmic energy entering the body and sustaining it. When through concentration, you see and penetrate through the spiritual eye, you will enter the Spirit beyond creation. Close your eyes, then turn them upwards towards the spiritual eye. Visualize gazing into the light, your inner astral eye.
- Take walks in nature by yourself, enjoying the beauty without headphones, and without talking. Listen to the sounds of nature.
- Meditate more.
- Do things that will help keep your heart open—help someone you know in need, pray for world peace, thank God for your life, write cards to prisoners and pray for them, letting them know they are loved too.
- Read Chapter 47 in Autobiography of a Yogi, entitled “The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar” here https://www.sriyukteswar.com/sri-yukteswar-discusses-nature-astral-causal-worlds/
During this holiday season, we are appreciative of our spiritual connections with each one of you. May the light of the saints come into your hearts and bring you into deeper states of consciousness and peace. And may you share your peace with this world, which desperately needs your light
Nayaswami Nischala,
Ananda College of Living Wisdom
Join Us in Italy Sept. 9-24, 2024
https://anandacollege.org/italy-2024/
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Our Holiday Gift
“I am a child of eternity,
I am ageless, I am deathless,
I am the changeless spirit
At the heart of all mutation.”
Affirmations for Self-Healing by Swami Kriyananda