On Angels and Other Subtle Beings – Part 1 of 2

On Angels and Other Subtle Beings – Part 1 of 2

A recent discussion in a spiritual forum made it clear there is a lot of noise about subtle beings out there, even among people who are teaching this stuff. If we don’t know how to differentiate the kind of beings we’re experiencing, we can get ourselves in a bit of trouble or delusion.

One issue is people confusing belief in concepts with direct experience. Lots of people teach fanciful ideas. Ideas are wonderful but direct experience is how we actually know. We can collect cards and books and beliefs but will they serve us when experience comes? Do they actually serve us in practical ways now?

What I’m describing is not about belief. That would be like me asking if you believe in apples. I’m not a person who came to this subject very willingly. My younger self would be appalled to see me writing like this. The first experiences came when I was young but I found them fearful, partly because of what was showing up. Not dangerous but heavy, unknown and spooky. I was encouraged to see them as just my imagination. When they returned at a different level as an adult, I thrashed around for several years, not sure what to do with it. Fascinating but discombobulating. The woman behind Fire the Grid was more comfortable with “space aliens” than angels, even after she and her son had been pulled from a sinking car by them. I’ve seen people interpret old stories in similar ways. Angels are not extraterrestrials.

I can also note that I’m no expert on the subject. This is just a summary of what I’ve run into. The point of this article is to bring some general clarity and discrimination.

Another issue is what I call personalization. Subtle beings do not have fixed forms. On their level, thought-forms or intentions are objects. What we expect of them and what they choose to present is how we experience them. Change your mind and you may change the appearance. If you don’t recognize what you are adding to the experience, you may confuse their nature with their appearance. Or you may see a classic description or picture and wonder why you don’t experience them the same way. It’s not a mistake.

To understand what I mean here, it’s useful to understand that there are 2 perceptual modes we can use for perceiving the world. The impersonal is the one we’re most familiar with. This is seeing through the mind and observing principles as laws of nature. This is the mode of science.

The other mode is the personal, seeing through the heart. In this mode, all of those laws of nature are personified. They are recognized as beings doing. Everything that happens is perceived as being done. The wind on your face, the growing flowers, the starting car, the fermenting beer – all are effects of direct action by beings or devas. In these examples, elementals.

This is not an imaginary or mystical state but rather a recognition that we are surrounded by life and activity at almost every level of our being. Every level of life or the koshas has types of beings that live there. (lokas or worlds are subsets, communities within a layer)

The Impersonal has the advantage of being much simpler and thus much more straightforward. It is a normal mode of functioning for the average person moving through physical life. We live and act in the physical so that’s where most of our attention should be.

The Personal brings much greater complexity. But it also brings direct perception of the profundity of all life, divinity, and the ability to interact directly with what is creating our world. That can at times be advantageous. Perhaps you’d like to smooth out the turbulence on your plane flight. Or find the plant that will heal your ailment. It also brings us the direct recognition of our impact on everything around us.

Most of the time, we need to be present with what we’re doing and be focused on those tasks. Hanging around too much with other kinds of beings rather than with people is neither very healthy nor good for personal growth. It tends to leave us spacey and ungrounded from spending too much time in the upper chakras.

Also, there’s a basic rule out of India: Capture the Fort. The idea is we can go after the diamond mine or the gold mine or silver mine but if we instead capture the fort (or castle) then all the mines come with it. Translated, we want to ground in source, in our being beyond all forms of experience. Awakening is the goal. Then we won’t get caught by experiences, even the divine ones. The last thing anyone needs is something else to crave.

Our thoughts and emotions create an energetic tone which we broadcast in the living space of subtle beings. We support or get in the way of their work on our behalf and in general by what we “offer”.

This is the secret of ideas like “natures support” or synchronicity and the value of things like culturing gratitude. When we upgrade our internal energy, we upgrade our relationship with energy beings, conscious or not. The more in sync we are, the smoother life is and the easier it is for them to support us. The more baggage we carry, the more difficult their job is.

Note that I use “seeing” words because that’s my dominant sense and mode. But we can relate to them with any of the senses. Some will discover them through feeling, some through sound, and some by seeing. Others report odours and tastes or intuitive knowing or some combination. At first, subtle is vague and uncertain. But as we purify and integrate the levels of our being, this stuff will eventually become as real and normal as anything physical. Or we’ll ignore them altogether and reap the rewards of energy upgrades anyway.

Also please note – just because it’s subtle does not make it divine. Just like the physical, there are good neighbourhoods and bad, those to seek advice from, those to ignore and those who will ignore you.

The point of this article is also not to make this important or a “spiritual” goal. Just to be aware of what is here and may arise in experience.

Types of Beings
Various traditions describe some of the complex hierarchy of light beings or devas. The point of this article is a general overview.

Humans
These are the ones we’re most likely to run into first.

Deceased humans – for typically a few days after death, we hang around a bit to wind things down and say goodbye. After that we move to a higher plane, depending on our next role and  spiritual development.

Stuck humans – some resist the death process or are too caught in their experience/ drama and get stuck in the transition zone. Popularly called ghosts, they’re basically stuck until either they let it go or someone with that task helps them. They’re not dangerous but may choose annoying ways to get attention or be downers. Don’t feed the pests.

Once transitioned, we may return to a new physical body quickly but many are assigned a role which is useful for us and those we have the skills to support. It may be briefly or for a long time. The roles vary quite widely but are usually about other humans. Some take a little holiday or some instruction, especially after a difficult life.

Rabble – there are a few humans who don’t follow though and end up as drifters, looking for attention. Not willing to do what they need to do for making progress. Not worthy of your attention. Basically astral beings slightly more conscious than ghosts and about as stuck. Don’t mistake them for divine. Subtle or astral does not mean divine.

Guides – some take on a direct role supporting those of us who are physical. A friend of mine who passed had anger issues so she’s helping others with same as a way to work that out. Some are assigned to a group or community, some to an individual for a time, some for our lifetime. I doubt a former family member would be a formal guide but they can certainly be supportive. Everyone has at least one lifetime Guide. If you’re interested in connecting it’s useful to learn how to do it properly so you don’t connect with some random rabble wanting attention.

It’s good to think of this in terms of self-empowerment. Your team is here to support you. It’s a big red flag if a being is happy to take your power or make your choices for you. Your real team would never do that. In fact, because they know learning comes from discovering for yourself, they may annoyingly withhold information until you get it. 😉
I’ll come back to your team once we review the other types.

Saints & Sages – once fully enlightened, our purpose as a soul is complete and we can either remerge with the divine at death or continue in a supporting role. The second are the saints and sages, many of whom have been around for millennia. A number of the most illustrious Vedic sages are still with us, for example. Buddha, Jesus, Quan Yin – the list is large. A few are in the physical but most function from a higher plane. These beings are very diverse with rich personalities. They have all kinds of roles, from supporting people’s spiritual journeys in a specialization, to sitting in groups that manage the planet or the universe, and so forth. Some are always available, others focused on a task, some mostly in deep samadhi.

Humans have a distinct evolutionary path that does not include becoming an angel. However, some angels have “fallen” to become human for evolutionary purposes and/or for messing up.  Humans can evolve faster than light beings but it’s a harder path that’s easy to get lost in. Such beings may tend to have a larger support team because of their history. They may have the eventual option to rejoin angels, but I suspect most bypass that for faster enlightenment.
Davidya

Light Beings, Part 2 >

Last Updated on November 8, 2014 by

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10 Comments

  1. Pingback: On Angels and Other Subtle Beings – Part 2 of 2 - Davidya.ca

  2. Pingback: Healing Everything – Part 3 of 3 - Davidya.ca

  3. zen pig

    Hi Davidya! good post. I wrote you about an experience my brother and I had when we were very young, with a “monster” hand appearing on my bed.

    quick question. does this seeing run in families? my mother was always a very conservative christen, and did not believe in ghost or anything other than god and angles and demons. so she would see things, and say, “someone is bringing demons into the house”. even as a kid, I started to think, “Hay, why is it that you are the only one seeing these things, and yet, you think that someone else is responsible for them” LOL.

    I have been doing Soto Zen sitting in the forest , every day, hours a day for years, and although I do get some odd experiences in meditation, like most folks who sit for long periods, (such as creas, and hearing voices, etc) , I only started really seeing very clear “beings” a few weeks ago.

    It was raining, and I was waiting in the car, and looking at a pool of rain water, just doing nothing, and all at once I started to see the most amazing creatures. many of them coming and going. some of there eyes were so amazing, and full of life, many were kind of animal/human/other, that I cannot begin to describe. most were either unaware of me, or just ignored me. only about 3 of them actually took notice of me, and looked back.

    If I told this to a doctor, they would put me on meds! I have had so-called openings into our true nature, or kenshō, and compared to the utter simplicity of seeing life as it is, looking at these other creatures are no big thing. in other words, they do not draw me to them. if I see them, I see them, but I have a gut feeling to not try to draw them to me. so your post strikes very true to me. thanks. (your are the first person who has given some real practical explanations for this experience). zp

  4. Hi ZP
    For various reasons, it can run in families and is often more prevalent in women. Because of personalization, we filter both what and how we see this stuff. Simply allowing them to be as they are is best.

    Typically, nature beings will ignore people and will generally see us as ignorant. They can be surprised if they realize you can see them but may have a lot of attitude. Many beings of all types have very full lives and will not be much interested in interacting. But yes, it is remarkable.

    And yes, you have the right attitude. We are here in the physical to have a physical life. Its fascinating to know what else is here but we don’t want to get caught up in it.

  5. Hi davidya, thanks for another intriguing post.
    You mention that if one wants to connect with spirit guides it is important to learn to do it properly. Do you have any guidance to offer on that process, or pointers on where to look?
    Best wishes, Martin

    1. Hi Martin
      Good question and one not easily answered in a comment.

      The big issue with going after astral connections too soon is the tendency to get lost in it or to get involved with the manipulators.

      Developing good energetic literary would allow you to discriminate better and know the difference between a guide and something just wanting attention or trouble.

      And being clear energetically means cleaning house emotionally, resolving some of that backlog of unresolved experiences aka healing.

      In the tradition I was “raised” in, they spoke of “capture the fort”, mentioned in the article. In that analogy, they recommend you first focus on developing self-awareness in transcendence or pure consciousness/being. From that stable platform, we’re less inclined to get mislead.

      In other words, first priority is developing that inner centre, then awareness of subtle beings will unfold naturally, without effort, and you’ll be much less inclined to run into problems with it.

      Near the end of part 2, I also warn about channeling and related practices I don’t recommend. The good guys would never take your self-authority.

    1. Hi Daniel
      Some people talk about it as like an ocean with waves. The waves are not separate from the ocean but may experience themselves as such.
      .
      More directly, consciousness is aware of itself both globally and at every point. Some of those points express as forms of life. The point value is the jiva or soul. It is not separate from the one consciousness but has a distinctive perspective. We experience from here and not from random other bodies. The soul isn’t “individual” per se.
      .
      As that soul expresses into form, the intellect arises and distinguishes self from other, this point from others. This is where the sense of “individuality” arises, ahamkara or I sense.
      .
      If we’re not aware of our nature as universal consciousness or even jiva, we become identified with that ego sense, leading to various kinds of issues and trouble. 🙂
      .
      We can take the perspective that only “one consciousness” is true or that only what I can experience now is real. But really, it’s all of it at once. Unity and diversity. But to find that overview, we usually have to go within and discover our deeper nature. Only then can we bring that forward into our daily experience and know this directly.
      .
      Make sense?

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