Devachan, Dream Realm Where Pure Souls Are Rewarded

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Constitution of Man Series · 26 pages

Arranged as a western objection followed by three replies, and the objection is stated without softening: that Devachan is a paradise of the uneducated rabble in eastern dress. The first reply sets out the principle the whole defence rests on — that occultism postulates an ascending scale of subjectivity which grows continually more real as it gets further from illusionary earthly objectivity, towards its ultimate reality in Parabrahman. On that view Devachan is not less real than waking life but more.

The supporting argument runs through sleep and memory. The molecules which, begotten by sensation, remain behind when the sensation has passed constitute the physical foundation of memory and so of all dreams; and during sleep, volition being rendered passive by the temporary inactivity of the sensory centres, Manas is free to act consciously and perceives the reality of the subjective world hidden from it in waking hours. From which the second reply concludes that the waking hours are more of a dream and a delusion than dreamful sleep, and far more so than the devachanic experience. The third reply concerns gradation — that there are states and states, and degrees upon degrees, in Devachan. One consolation is stated plainly: death is powerless to sever a strong psychic association between individuals bonded by pure spiritual love on earth.

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