The Subtle World is the exalted sublimation of the earthly sphere.
(H, 159)
One must conceive the Subtle World as the most perfected state of our worthiest feelings. (FW I, 391)
Many desire to know details of the Subtle World. But many will be sorely perplexed. The entire perceptibility of the Subtle World is relative, varying according to the development of the consciousness. One may be transported by the Light, or one may find oneself in fog. One may build by will power beautiful structures, or one may remain deaf and dumb. To each in accordance with his deeds. Each perceives in accordance with his consciousness. The Subtle World is a condition of great justice. One may observe that a consciousness, even though simple, progresses if illumined by love. The bazaar-colored emotions of earth-dwellers bear little resemblance to love. Love often remains unrealized. But in the Subtle World love is the key to all locks. For many people imagination is an unattainable abstraction, but in the Subtle World each grain of accumulation of imagination is a particle of the path of possibilities. For earth-dwellers offense, bitterness and vengeance constitute the basis of the bile and liver; but for the Subtle World, even in an average consciousness, these infamies fall away as useless husks. Therefore, We emphatically insist upon the fiery consciousness, in order that one be directed immediately into higher spheres. One should indeed strive by all possible means towards the fiery consciousness. (FW I, 322)
Is it possible for a most worthy inhabitant of the Subtle World to rise thence into the Fiery World? It is, and his transformation will be beautiful. Through the process of purification, the subtle body begins to shine. Fire begins to spread, and finally the shell falls away like a light layer of ash. Since the fiery essence cannot remain in its former stratum it ascends into the Fiery World. That which was in the Subtle World an insufferable effulgence becomes in the Fiery World the dimmest—such is the ladder. One must become accustomed to imagining many strata of the Subtle World. From deep red flame to the most beautiful radiance of the rainbow, like an agitated sea, these facets are effused and weave all possible combinations. But for the darkness, for the lower abysses, this radiance will be as distant as heat-lightning. Let him who longs for Light not fear to be fiery. A burning on Earth is a symbol of superb transformation. (FW III, 564)
Often disputes take place about the length of stay in the Subtle World. Long periods have been mentioned, but also there can be noted some very brief ones. How to reconcile this difference? Yet in the great multiform Universe all is possible. The inhabitants of the Subtle World can be divided into several kinds: some try to prolong their sojourn from a desire to develop the utmost usefulness—they are the hardest workers. Others try to remain longer in order not to take on the earthly trial. A third group stay on because of their love for the Subtle World. A fourth exert every effort to return more quickly to the earthly experience. It is true, children often incarnate quickly, but they can be observed to be striving toward many different tasks. It is touching to see children who wish to do better and who are afraid of former conditions; they should be particularly helped. Of course such strivings do not resemble those of a pauper who, because of the loss of his earthly treasures in a former life, wishes to become a rich man. But the chief happiness in the Subtle World is to preserve the purity and clarity of one’s thinking. One must know precisely what one desires. (FW III, 566)
The number of people who preserve vivid continuity of consciousness when passing into the Subtle World, even into its middle strata, is not so overwhelmingly large. Upon arriving there, many fall asleep or drag out a semi-conscious, miserable existence. Variations in the degrees of consciousness are infinite. There are as many stages of consciousness as there are steps in Infinity. There is complete consciousness in the Subtle World only for those who created the bond with the higher worlds while still living, by reason of the aspirations of the heart toward evolution, and by persistent attempts to preserve such consciousness. Thus, even though he possesses an intellect developed to its utmost, a materialist who denounces spirituality and the possibility of existence in the higher worlds may remain without a conscious life in the higher spheres of the Subtle World; for, having not created or affirmed the higher attractions, he will be drawn almost immediately into the whirl of the attraction of Earth, and in a semi-conscious or unconscious state he will await a new incarnation. Of course, one can well imagine what kind of incarnation it will be. Such immediate returns to Earth, with the exception of those of very high spirits, are not desirable. As you know, the stay in the Subtle World has a great significance in the way of nourishment and intensification, and toward transmutation of the accumulated energies into spiritual forces. Therefore, one can well imagine what a deterioration of the spiritual substance takes place in the cases of long deprivation of such nourishment. (LHR I, p 375)

Agni Yoga Encyclopedia

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