Karma – Beyond the Veil of Negative Existence and the Process of Rebirth
What’s portrayed in Esoteric texts as the “Veil of Negative Existence” can be a very elusive idea in the most basic sense because it deals with another realm of life on a higher plane of existence that’s hidden, and therefore unknown to us while living in this realm. Yet, like all things of a spiritual (invisible) nature, it can be comprehended and therefore understood in the practical sense through an understanding of universal laws and archetypal principles, which provide us with the means for working with it in an intuitive and intelligent manner. There are many different interpretations on the nature and purpose of Karma, along with personal descriptions of what we call the life after death experience that are clearly based on a belief and hopeful thinking, some of which can seem to render the process of living and dying to be meaningless in the most basic sense, and that were clearly formed out of whatever belief, insecurity, and fear of the unknown that was motivating it.
I’ve also heard numerous accounts described by those who worked through hypnotic regression, not only in tuning into and recollecting the memory of past lives, but also the process that occurs between lives that’s often portrayed as a planning stage, where we supposedly choose the conditions, dramas, and souls of our next incarnation in terms of what lessons we want to learn and what type of life experiences we need to go through in order to grow ourselves in a specific way. While I don’t care to comment on those in terms of a psychological evaluation of the methods used (I’m very experienced in hypnosis and past life regression), which in many cases were obviously flawed and the results obtained therefore equally flawed, I will break it down into scientific terms which will not only bring an understanding of what happens in the afterlife, but more importantly, provide clear instruction on how to work with your own soul’s evolution while living in this realm.
Behind the Veil of Negative Existence
The hidden aspect of our own higher nature is symbolized by a semi-transparent veil that hangs between two pillars, known as Jakin and Boaz (masculine and feminine aspects of our mind), and symbolizes the basis of reality (vibration that organizes essence into a living model) as being of both a conscious and unconscious nature. This same idea is also symbolized by an equal armed cross as two sides of reality, formed by an upper and lower plane (vertical line) and an inner and outer one (horizontal line), which exist as a mirror image or reflection of each other. Symbolically speaking, a horizontal straight line nearly always represents a single plane of existence that connects two points or places on the same plane, whereas a vertical line represents two planes that are complementary in nature, and join together in forming a single plane as mirror images of each other. A line is commonly used to represent the connection of complementary opposites, which are polarized aspects of the same thing. While we tend to think of this as our subconscious and self-conscious mind on the material plane, this same principle also operates between what we can think of as parallel planes where our higher consciousness exists on a higher plane and acts to project the reality formed on the lower plane as a mirror image of itself. It accomplishes this through a “medium” or middle plane that connects the higher plane with the lower plane, called the astral plane of Formation, where it form a mental image of itself out of subtle energy, known in esoteric sciences as the astral body or etheric double. The etheric double forms what can be thought of as a holographic blueprint (spatial model) for constructing, animating, and sustaining the lower plane of the material world, providing it with the means for experiencing itself through it’s own mental creation.
What’s referred to symbolically as the Ancient of Days, represented as an mature bearded man sitting on a throne, is the Primordial Spark (electrical charge) as the Monad (cosmic mind), which is the seed that contains within it all the other universal principles and emanates them in succession. This Fatherly figure is always shown as a face (countenance) in profile as the right side, while the left side remains hidden. What this represents is symmetry as a mirror image that operates as the fundamental principle of polarity, and the algebraic system, which basically states that you can know the unknown aspects of anything based on how it exists in relationship with the known factors. We can know what the left side of the face looks like because it’s a mirror image (reverse) of the right side. Polar aspects of the same whole are represented by the left and right sides of the body, which are complementary opposites of each other and directly reflect each other as a reverse (mirror) image. So, while we can say that the left side is hidden, and therefore unknown and mysterious, we can also say the right side is the outward reflection of the left side, and that by knowing the right we can also know the left. Polar opposites are always mirror images of each other, not only as an inner and outer, but also as an upper and lower in terms of moving between parallel planes that are different aspects of a greater whole (multitude of interlaced planes) that exists in a coherent state being looked at and experienced from different levels and perspectives.
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The Absolute Law of Karma – Mortality, Immortality, and the Nature of Destiny
The concept as a working model for understanding how something functions as two pillars set apart from each other with a veil or sheer curtain hung between them, can easily be thought of as the basis for vibration as the movement of energy between 2 aspects of the same thing that are polarized to each other as complementary opposites. The veil represents the light essence as a phosphene-like structure that forms between them due to the friction generated. So, we have a positive pole and a negative pole, one is electric and expanding, the other magnetic and receptive. These poles have been produced by the division and regeneration of the Monad, and each one contains both aspects within them, which alternate between an active and passive state. The electromagnetic pulsation between two poles that are complementary aspects of the same thing creates the illusion of dimension (light body) as a space-time continuum, and becomes a semi-closed system that’s self-generating, self-perpetuating, and self-sustaining. We can know what’s on the hidden side of the veil because it’s a symmetrical aspect of what’s on the outward side. There’s no difference between them because they’re the expansion and activity of the same thing, born out of the same seed of potential. If we were to pull the curtain aside and walk through it, it would be a continuation of the same reality on the other side.
This same principle is carried through in every single aspect of what exists as a greater whole, not only within the lower plane of manifestation in the linear sense, but also within the hierarchical planes of pure mind, consciousness, and the soul. The Monad, which exists on what we can call the highest plane or level of manifestation in it’s purely potential and unformed state, is what we can think of as the seed that contains all the information as memory within it for growing a living reality on the lower planes. An easy way to think of negative existence as the hidden realm behind the veil of conscious awareness, is to think of a seed. Hidden within the seed is all the memory in a dormant state that contains the potential of that living organism within it. The seed of a tree, for example, contains all the information necessary for growing the tree along with its life span as an allotted amount of life-force. The seed contains its genetic and spiritual (energetic) make-up, which, when planted, grows and matures through natural stages of development by consistently activating and actualizing latent potential until it becomes a fully mature tree with a designated life-span. This is the same principle that operates in all life-forms as what we call Divine Providence, as a master plan or blueprint for the entire lifetime of an organism.
This same principle naturally operates through what we experience as our subconscious and conscious mind, which function harmoniously to produce an inner and outer awareness of a greater whole in which both aspects are complementary to each other. Our subconscious functions in an unconscious and automatic manner, which means we lack direct awareness of it, and is what we call our hidden nature. This aspect of our material mind is what forms our whole outer reality as an energetic matrix or substrata of dynamic tension, that we then view with our conscious mind as awareness of the outer world, can be thought of as the unknown aspect of our self that exists behind the veil. It can’t be seen and therefore known in the direct sense, but it can be felt as a fundamental part of our emotions, feelings, and intuition. While we may not recognize the elements and activities of our outer world as revealing the hidden aspects of our subconscious, we still form a pronounced reaction to them, and through our reaction, think about them and form them into realities in our mind.
We can come to recognize our own hidden nature by realizing that it forms the fundamental structure of our outer reality as a mirror image. The reason we notice certain things outside of us and form a reaction to them is because of how and what they’re stimulating inside of us. The reason you’re being stimulated by it is because you have a complementary correspondence of it in its latent (inactive) state which acts as an energetic receptor for it. Once the latent aspect within is brought into an active state as an equivalent vibration, together, they work on each other to form a single reality within the imagination that connects and unites the inner and outer as a single idea or thematic pattern. Things that have been fully integrated into our make-up are no longer unknown aspects and appear ordinary and natural to us. Once we realize that the outer is a mirror image of the inner, we can use this as the means of being able to see into our own psychological make-up and work on our self to bring awareness around fragmented and repressed aspects of our self that remain hidden within us, and we can work through this awareness to facilitate our own spiritual healing.
Karma as the Seed for Life
What we refer to as karma can be understood in the most basic sense as the Law of Cause and Effect, which comes as an interaction between complementary opposites of the same pattern as a dynamic. Every action and behavior, whether we’re aware of it or not, causes an equal or greater reaction of the same kind and type. The effect always contains and expresses the essence of the cause. A law means there are no exceptions to this rule because it forms the very basis of reality itself as vibration, which comes as the interaction of opposite aspects of the same idea working together to create a coherent pattern. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, constructive or destructive, whatever we think and do creates the very structure and activity of our outer reality. Our entire reality, which is formed through our perception of it, is something we’re always creating with our mind, not as fragmented aspects of intention, attitude, emotional state, preferences, beliefs, and so on, but through how all aspects work together in forming a single whole which provides us with the means for experiencing ourselves.
We are always the one creating our life, not so much in the objective sense of a neutral reality that exists apart from us, out there, but in the subjective sense of “out there” and “in here” being the same thing as a mirror image of each other. What we find as we move up the hierarchical planes of existence is that the lower is a reflection of the higher as the reality grown from our karmic seed of accumulated memory built up over time through several life-times. While we live our life from the perception of being separate from everything else while in material form, as we move up the planes into what you might call our Primordial Consciousness, we become one with life as reality itself in a single form. On this level there is no one else but us. There are no committees, no different rooms as different categories where a planning process takes place and we make decisions for our next life based on an awareness of only fragmented parts of ourselves, but where we are programmed with the memory we formed of our own creation of our self as a whole reality and type of experience.
As we express energetically, we perceive our self as a greater whole that sets the stage for us to create our self as a particular type of person. As we create our reality as an interaction with ourselves in another, we associate with our own projections, building our sense of self out of them as our identity. Our identity is who we are based on how we shape our self through our own creation and is what forms the memory of our self that becomes the programming as a frequency for the seed of our next incarnation. The seed of our karma is the “I” (I Am) of our higher soul formed out of the memory we created of ourselves. It’s what forms the I of the Tetragrammaton (4 letter name of God – IHVH), which is represented by the triangle formed by drawing lines that connect the two physical eyes and the third eye, located in the center of the forehead. Our third eye is a single eye formed by uniting the two physical into a single reality. The H is the regeneration of the I, formed by connecting two I’s at the center, forming a new letter as One comprised of dual parts that exist in harmony as mirror images of each other. The third letter, V is the straight line divided and spread apart creating dimension as an inverted triangle where polar opposites interact to form a single reality as a material formation. This is also symbolized as a cup or chalice that becomes the light-body as a shell for spirit to inhabit and express through as a living being. The material reality only serves as the vessel or vehicle for the spirit-soul to have it’s being in order to experience Itself. The final H is the manifestation of the first one on the lower arc of the material plane as a mirror image or complementary opposite of the seed formed on the higher plane of pure potential. What existed in a latent and potential state on the higher plane of pure mind, has now manifested in form on the lower material plane as a mirror image.
7 Parallel Planes of Existence
What’s referred to as planes of existence form a hierarchical structure as a kind of gradient or scale of vibration that moves between a positive and negative pole of the same thing. This idea can be conceptualized as a musical scale comprised of 7 notes that make up an octave, where the lower note builds as a progression until it reaches its fullness as an amplification, forming the 7th note as the culmination of that level. Once it reaches an exalted level within that scale, it functions through what’s called the threshold effect, where it moves into the next higher octave as the lowest, base note of that scale. It forms the same note on a higher plane (frequency) and begins the same progression again on a higher level. This scale of 7 planes is beautifully illustrated in the Qabalah Tree of Life as states of consciousness that naturally perform particular functions as an essential part of a greater whole.
These 7 levels are formed out of Triads that are reflections of each other where 2 levels also form a single level as polar opposites that form a coherent whole on either a higher or lower arc of the same plane. The Triad that represents a single level symbolizes the process of division and unification, where the One divides into complementary aspects of Itself, where one interacts with the other to form a single 3-dimensional reality. When these levels are broken down into Triads formed out of a pair of opposites, we get 3 levels that are all formed as Triads, and manifest in the 4th level of the Quaternary as a single reality. This shows the constant process of the mind separating from itself to form dual aspects as counterparts and then reuniting them back into a single idea, where we then divide again as the means of either descending or ascending through the same scale from a higher vibration that’s all-inclusive to a lower one that’s singular in nature.
This same principle as a concept can be used in understanding the function of our 3 eyes, one of which is internal, single, and hidden, and 2 of which are external and used to perceive the outer world of manifestation. When we place this same triangle over our forehead with the horizontal base line connecting our two physical eyes, and the higher single point forming our 3rd eye in the center of our forehead, we can gain a working concept of how we receive communication from the higher, subtle planes of coalesced essence. An idea from the higher plane comes as a whole idea in its potential state (seed for reality) that’s planted in our subconscious as pictures and symbols that are grown internally into possibilities for producing as outer realities that provide us with particular types of experience. All communication from our higher self originates on a higher level that’s unified and comes in seed form as an archetype that’s grown within our own subconscious by integrating it naturally into our existing reality through a process of adaptation.
We conceive of an archetypal idea as an image that’s reflected in our mind’s eye, and as we focus on and begin thinking about it, it unfolds and begins taking shape by synthesizing it into our mental paradigm which serves to define and modify into a correspondence. As a symbolic representation of a universal idea, it can be used to create numerous variations of the same basic concept, and once built into our paradigm, becomes a natural part of our everyday reality as our perception. It’s conceived as an archetype (metaphor and theme) that’s energetic in nature and represents a general concept for producing a particular type of experience based how it’s combined with other elements where it acts as the organizing principle that follows a general theme. It’s not given to us as a fixed idea that’s already formed but acts more like a suggestion that’s interjected into our subconscious that we then use as the means for building equivalent ideas as an outer experience. We create our experiences of any situation or circumstance by how we build them into our story as an interpretation, which is formed out of a theme.
This can be easily understood by realizing that anger, which is a quality of being as a vibratory frequency not only displays all the physical attributes and appearance of being angry, and acting angry, but also acts to stimulate and infuse everything around it into the same energetic state, forming the larger pattern of activity. A person being outwardly angry causes everyone around them to become angry or scared and together they create a shared experience born out of anger. While we tend to think of life in separative terms of self and another, where we only play one role in acting out a greater pattern as a co-creation, the fact is we’re acting to facilitate the whole pattern as a behavioral dynamic where we can, and do, play every role necessary to produce the experience that pattern renders.
For example, a person who was physically abused as a child, and initially experiences being a helpless victim of the abuse, isn’t just being imprinted with that role in the pattern, but is imprinted with the pattern itself. While they may relate to the child’s role as a child, as they grow older, will begin moving into the adult role in that same pattern and will have a tendency to become the one doing the abusing. A child who’s abused at home, where they’re clearly the victim, will develop a tendency to lash out in a similar manner within their own peer group and start fights, bully others, and pick on those who can’t or won’t fight back. In one situation they’re the victim, and in another they’re the one victimizing another in the same way through the same tendency played out from both ends, producing the same type of experience.
This is the way karma works. It’s not produced from a fragmented, one-sided perspective within a whole, but as a natural tendency that acts out every role in that same pattern under different circumstances. So when we say that a child is physically abused as their karma carried forward from their previous life, it’s not referring to them getting back what they deserve and put forward necessarily, but as experiencing the same pattern as a behavioral dynamic from different perspectives and roles within that same pattern. If they’re not the one being abused, they’re the one instigating it or doing it to another. They continue to unknowingly display the same behaviors that led to them being abused that serve to provoke others to abuse them in the same way. We’re often fooled by our own tendencies, because when we do the same behavior as an action towards another, we make it out to be different through the reasons we have for doing it that justify it as being right and appropriate. This is what it means to act out the same idea from different perspectives. When I’m giving it out, I’m telling myself a story about why I’m doing it that makes it seem different than when I’m on the receiving end of the same action and behavior. As a result, I can’t see how it is that I’m getting back what I put out, or how others are doing the same thing to me that I’m also doing to them.
The reason we have for doing it may be different, but the action itself is the same, and forms a cause and effect relationship. All our actions cause an equivalent reaction in others, and the reaction we produce that’s mirrored back to us, stimulates us with the same reaction, amplifying it, and a back-and-forth movement ensues that creates the same type of experience over and over in different situations and with different people. As we create experiences through our actions and how we interact with others, we simultaneously create our self by how we identify with our own experiences. We create our experiences by how we interpret the events and activities of our life as a story we’re always telling ourselves about things, and we identify with our own story. As we create our experiences, we accumulate them as memories of our self that are built up over time as various aspects of the same overall idea. We create and build up memories throughout our lifetime as an accumulative process that forms our inner nature as our personality and character, and this same inner nature is carried forward into the next incarnation as our predisposition and temperament. One life is the continuation of the previous life, where we experience our own creation from a different perspective and through a new life situation.
Once we realize how this fundamental principle works, as a continuous process of first separating our inner from the outer, and then bringing it back into a unified state by how we interpret it to form an experience, we can use it as the means of being able to recognize and understand our own hidden nature. We can realize that the outer is providing us with a mirror into our own repressed and hidden nature. It’s showing us how it is that we’ve judged ourselves, denying and hiding parts of ourselves, and as a result, are judging and reacting to others in the same way. There’s a veil drawn between the inner and outer that prevents us from seeing what’s hidden deep inside of us, but we can come to recognize it by how it appears outside of us as our own projection. When we refrain from reacting and instead turn our attention inward to self-reflect on that same quality within us, we can follow it back to its root cause through a chain of associated memories. Once we can tune into the originating experience, we can then detach from our own judgments and view it instead from a rational state of reasoning. Once we connect the inner with the outer in a congruent and harmonious manner, we unify that aspect of ourselves hidden within our subconscious and no longer form a pronounced reaction to it or need to act it out from an unconscious state of denial. We can find a healthy and appropriate means of expressing it and as a result, integrate it through awareness where it no longer provokes us into an unconscious state as a reaction.
This same idea operates on the inner planes as a semi-closed circuit that moves between opposite poles of what seems like an inner and outer reality, that are actually a continuation of each other. We form an idea on the inner planes of our mind that serve as a metaphor for creating as an outer reality of the same idea, and we blend them back together as an experience, by using one as the means for interpreting the other so they tell the same story. The experience produced as a story is then absorbed and integrated as a memory which becomes a natural part of both the seed and the reality inherent in the seed. As we produce experiences they’re synthesized into an archetypal matrix as a single idea where it becomes the seed for generating more experiences of the same kind. A closed circuit is formed as a pulsation that continuously moves from the inner to the outer and from the upper to lower as a rhythmic cycle. We work with a cycle of creation by producing new variations that imbue it with new attributes and characteristics that changes how it expresses and the story it serves to tell as a modification. This process of evolution is greatly facilitated as a kind of quickening through the awareness that the inner and outer are direct reflections of each other, with one being a metaphor for constructing the other.
Once we become aware of our own fragmented parts by reuniting them into a coherent perception of ourselves, they no longer appear outside of us as the lessons we need to learn, and we resolve the patterns of our karma. Once we realize we’re the one creating our “self” as a reality, we can resume full responsibility for our own creation. We can mend the fragmented aspects of our mind born out of trauma of some kind and regain awareness of who we really are and our ability to create ourselves through our perception of reality. By returning separate aspects of our self back into a harmonious whole through a conscious awareness of them, we no longer create out of an unconscious state as the habitual tendencies born out of our formative conditioning, and we transcend this plane altogether, moving on to a new level of consciousness where we create ourselves and our reality in a self-aware and intentional manner. It’s our destiny as humans to exercise our creative abilities to a proficient level where we can stay fully awake and aware of our own creations and create ourselves in a more expressive and purposeful manner.
Transpersonal Psychologist, Personal Transformation Coach, and Spiritual Mentor
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About The Author
Dr. Linda Gadbois
Linda is a scholar in Esoteric Sciences and holds a doctorate in Spiritual Sciences, and a BS in Clinical Hypnotherapy, along with numerous specialty certifications in various healing modalities. She's a certified Health and Success Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, and Board Certified in Regression Therapy. She's professional writer, artist, educator and Mentor, and offers a wide variety of Mentoring and Consulting Services, along with professional training programs. Her specialties include Personal Transformation, Self-Mastery, Spiritual Sciences, Transpersonal Psychology, and Integrative Mind-Body Medicine. For more info visit our Personal and Professional Services pages in the top menu bar of this site, or email us at: [email protected]
