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Part 1. Structure of the Universe

The soul is immortal; the body is born and dies. Yet the word “spirit” has no single meaning – it shifts across contexts and traditions.

This is true of many religious terms: words in spiritual texts often carry multiple meanings. Sometimes the same word appears in different sources but signifies different ideas. At other times, different words point to the very same meaning. How can we untangle this web of overlapping senses?

To clarify these distinctions, we need a clear mental image. For this purpose, we will use a model – a simple tool that acts like scissors. Just as scissors separate fabric, this model will help us separate one meaning from another in spiritual literature.

In the model that follows, we will arrange meanings as if on shelves:

● Different meanings will go on different shelves.

● Words with the same meaning will be placed on the same shelf.

This method allows us to see both the diversity and the hidden unity of spiritual language.

In this book, the concept of the “Universe” will encompass and systematically delineate both the material and mental domains of what we might term “absolutely everything”.

It will be useful to clarify the structure of the entire book. The second part of this book, devoted to the Apocalypse, is the system‑forming element in relation to all the other parts. The first part, in turn, serves as a preliminary introduction. Just as the alphabet precedes a dictionary, this first part precedes the second, main section. Without mastering the “alphabet” – that is, without grasping the foundations laid out in the first part – it is difficult to understand what is presented in the second part.

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Unified Religious Structure

Physical. The world of phenomena is the world in which we live. The physical dimension. The bodily dimension. The material universe. Reality. In Buddhism: Kāmaloka (the world of Desires).

Astral. The astral world (astral) is the world we enter during sleep. The astral dimension. The soul dimension. In Buddhism: Rūpaloka (the world of Forms). The astral world is divided into lower and upper. The lower astral overlaps the world of phenomena. The upper astral has no direct projection onto the world of phenomena. The astral governs physical through the mechanism of image projection. Any phenomenon or object, before manifesting in our physical world, first appears in the astral as an image. A person who has attained a spiritual level allowing them to be freely reborn in the upper astral or higher in the next life is called a “saint”.

Causal. The causal world (causal) is the realm that governs the astral world and the world of phenomena. The causal dimension. The spiritual dimension. In Buddhism: Arūpaloka (the Formless Realm). The causal world is divided into upper, middle, and lower. The lower causal overlaps the lower astral and the world of phenomena. The middle causal overlaps the upper astral. The upper causal has no direct projection onto the astral. The causal governs the astral through the mechanism of idea projection. That is, an astral image, before manifesting in the astral, first appears in the causal as an idea. The causal world is the world of causes.

In the three-dimensional diagrams of the Universe’s structure used in this (first) part, the vertical axis can be interpreted as the “axis of merit”, while the axis receding inward, in the direction of nirvana, can be interpreted as the “axis of tranquility”.

Typical Division of the Levels of Nirvana

Nirvana is a state of the highest Absolute. «Nirvana» translates as «absence of agitation». It is a state of liberation, a state of absolute peace. In the sutras, nirvana is described as the destruction of worldly desires. Nirvana is contrasted with samsara – that is, the physical world, the astral plane, and the causal realm constitute samsara, while nirvana is not samsara. There are distinctions between small nirvana, nirvana with residue, anupadhishesha nirvana, bodhinirvana, mahanirvana, and parinirvana.

The level of simple nirvana. Small nirvana. Just nirvana. Individual nirvana. In the illustration: Nirvana. An individual who has attained the level of small nirvana reaches this attainment of nirvana (the first attainment of liberation) through an individual path. Such a person is called an arhat or an individually awakened one. Small nirvana can be theoretically divided into causal nirvana, astral nirvana, and nirvana of the world of phenomena, depending on the spiritual level the liberated individual has attained and, accordingly, which worlds experience in the horizontal projection they cease (discard).

Nirvana with residue (sopadhishesa). This is the level of the same simple nirvana. The residue in this term refers to life, which the arhat has not yet discarded.

The level of anupadhishesha nirvana. Anupadhishesha nirvana is a term created to denote the alternative to the aforementioned nirvana with residue, and it literally translates as nirvana without residue. If an arhat discards life immediately after attaining nirvana, they will enter anupadhishesha nirvana. The level of anupadhishesha nirvana does not correspond to any of the worlds of samsara. If in the previous case life is still preserved, then at the anupadhishesha level life is also discarded. For simplicity, anupadhishesha nirvana is marked in the illustration as Parinirvana.

The level of Bodhinirvana. After attaining nirvana, an arhat does not stop there but expands their attainment by leading other individuals to the attainment of nirvana and thus overcoming the bonds of other worlds and other delusions they did not previously have. Such an individual is called a bodhisattva. Bodhi translates as awakening, enlightenment, and sattva translates as being – a being aspiring towards awakening. A bodhisattva performs a shuttle movement: nirvana – samsara – nirvana again – samsara again – nirvana – samsara – and so on. Repeating the path of liberation doubles this individuals experience. Then it triples it. Then it quadruples it. And so on. Thus, the individual gains a broader and broader experience of liberation than simple individual nirvana. This state of expanded nirvana experience is called bodhinirvana. Within the levels of bodhinirvana, in relation to the levels of simple nirvana, one can distinguish an upper level: bodhi-anupadhishesha-nirvana (in the illustration: Bodhiparinirvana), to which a bodhisattva can transition after death; and a lower one. The lower bodhinirvana can also be conceptually divided into three levels depending on which worlds experience is being discarded: causal bodhinirvana, astral bodhinirvana, and bodhinirvana of the world of phenomena.

The level of Mahanirvana. When a bodhisattva gains experience of liberation from all possible delusions – in the world of phenomena, in the astral, and in the causal – they find themselves in a state where there is nothing more to attain, having overcome all possible experience. This state is called buddha, and it corresponds to mahanirvana. Maha translates as great. If a person has already attained the state of buddha in a past life, then in the next life their individual liberation will simultaneously become great liberation. Since mahanirvana corresponds to liberation from all worlds altogether, it is divided into only two levels: mahanirvana and mahaparinirvana.

Mahaparinirvana is decoded as the great final destruction of worldly desires. Buddha Gautama entered mahaparinirvana after his death. Sources often discuss the question of whether a Buddhas personality can return from mahaparinirvana as the same personality. Yes. Since a Buddhas personality is free, they are free to choose whether to return from mahaparinirvana or never to return from mahaparinirvana again.

Levels of Consciousness

A person consists of several bodies: Physical, Astral, Causal, and the True Ego.

Physical body. This is the ordinary human body. The physical body has its own consciousness.

Astral body. The astral body can be described as something akin to a reflection of the body in a mirror. That is, it is not a body in the material sense, but merely a reflection – it exists, and at the same time, it does not. To see the astral body, one must possess astral vision. The physical body is structured in such a way that when a person uses their physical eyes, they automatically suppress their astral vision due to a specific mechanism linking the astral and physical bodies. However, the ability to perceive through astral vision is not unattainable. It can be developed through meditation. The astral body has its own consciousness. This astral consciousness corresponds to what science calls the subconscious (the unconscious). The astral body, when separated from the physical body, is also known as the body of apparition. There are beings that possess only an astral body and no physical body. Such beings are simply called apparitions. When it is said that a demon has possessed a person, this may mean that a being from the lower astral (an apparition), which lacks its own physical body, has overlaid itself upon the person’s astral body or has taken the place of (replaced) the person’s astral body.

Causal body. Externally, the causal body may appear as a sphere composed of plasma, similar to a ball lightning – or, more precisely, simply as a sphere of light, pure light in spherical form. The causal body also possesses its own consciousness. This causal consciousness corresponds to what science refers to as the superconscious (deep unconscious, pre-conscious). The nature of causal consciousness can be understood through the following experience: recall a moment when you had completely forgotten something – for example, the last name of a long-ago acquaintance – to such an extent that nothing at all came to mind. You strain to remember, exert mental effort – and suddenly, a faint, distant spark flashes in your mind: “I know!” You haven’t recalled the name yet, but you already know that the information exists in your memory and that it will soon emerge from the depths. That spark is precisely the causal consciousness. What psychology calls the “collective unconscious” corresponds to the entire lower causal world as a whole.

True Ego. True Self. True I. In the world of Nirvana (in all realms of Nirvana), body and consciousness are unified as one. This unified body-consciousness in Nirvana is called the True Ego.

The causal body together with the True Ego is also called the human spirit. The astral body together with the spirit is also called the human soul. The essence of a human being is their soul. The essence of the soul is its spirit. And the essence of the spirit is the True Ego. The physical body is governed by the soul. The soul is governed by the spirit. And the spirit is governed by the True Ego. A person’s “I” and the True Ego are, in essence, one and the same.

Besides the aforementioned case of the causal body, the word “spirit” is also often used to refer to any vital, mental, or mystical energy. Additionally, the word “spirit” is sometimes used to denote mystical ascending energy: kundalini (the Holy Spirit).

The Matter of the Universe

What philosophy calls matter, and the three gunas, are essentially one and the same. The three gunas are the three primordial dimensions: causal, astral, and physical.

Physical world. What science (physics) understands as matter is the matter of the world of phenomena. The guna rajas.

Astral world. Just as there is matter in the physical world, so too there is matter in the astral world. Astral matter in Hinduism is sometimes called dradhma, vibrations of dradhma, or dradhma-vibrations. The guna tamas.

Causal world. Similarly, just as there is physical matter, there is also causal matter. Causal matter is mystical light. The guna sattva. The causal plane holds information about everything. Information in the causal exists in the form of mystical light.

Nirvana world. Nirvana, by definition, is “indivisible”, so it is not customary to distinguish any of its components. Nirvana is traditionally studied from the standpoint of unknowability, universality, indivisibility, constancy, eternity, and absoluteness. The Absolute is placed within the world of nirvana. There is also a clarification that the Absolute and the world of nirvana are identical – that the Absolute and the world of nirvana are one and the same.

According to the law of conservation of matter and energy, neither energy nor substance can flow from one dimension to another. Therefore, the astral or causal planes cannot be detected by any physical instruments. Information about the astral or causal can only be obtained through introspection. The causal, the astral, and the world of phenomena interact with each other through the mechanism of identification. Finer physical matter, from which devas and asuras are composed, does exist within the world of phenomena – and therefore, asuras and devas could theoretically be detected by physical instruments

Time does not exist in nirvana.

Anthropomorphism

Homo created himself in his own image and likeness

The population of the phenomenal and astral worlds is overwhelmingly anthropomorphic.

This means that beings of many realms, wherever form exists, are structurally close to the human form. This is the universal form.

It turns out that the human form is used not only by beings resembling humans – gods, asuras, pretas, beings of hell – but even by those who, at first glance, are not at all like humans: dragons, animals, insects, fish, and birds.

Every being holds in its consciousness an image of its own body. That is, any being, perceiving the world, also perceives itself within that world. And this self-perception is, for nearly all beings, anthropomorphic. In other words, every being feels itself to be a human.

For example, a dog running on four legs feels itself to be a human. It simply finds it more convenient, at this moment, due to a slightly unclear physiological state, to run on four legs rather than two – it’s just faster right now. But when it is not in a hurry, it can easily stand and move on its hind legs, just like an ordinary person. It perceives other people as normal, equal beings – as friends. Other dogs, however, it perceives as dogs.

A dolphin swimming in water also perceives itself as a human who is in the water only because it swims well and simply enjoys swimming. It sees the other dolphins around it as dolphins – beings to which, as a supposedly swimming human, it feels a friendly connection. It helps them whenever possible, simply because it can. It sees people as close friends – as equals. During a storm, it does not come ashore because it fears the surf. The high waves near the shore could dash it against something, and there is a danger of drowning. Therefore, it is safer to wait out the storm in deeper waters.

This inner self-image as a human leads to the fact that, in the course of Darwinian evolution, many animals acquire traits unique to humans earlier than necessary from the standpoint of their lifestyle. For example, rear and front fin limbs in fish, and the pentadactyl bone structure of fish fins.

Why Did God Create the Devil?

And Why Permit the Existence of Evil?

● If something about the afterlife is asserted in the name of religion, this does not necessarily mean it is true.

● If certain religious claims are correct – for example, that God exists – this does not mean everything else the religion teaches is also true.

● The Creator is not the Almighty God. And the Almighty God is not the Creator. These are different beings.

● The omnipresent, omnipotent God is the Absolute – He has created nothing. He is entirely indifferent to all things. It makes no difference to Him what happens in the world or how anyone lives.

● The God who created the world is the Creator, the Maker. The Creator is not absolute. He is a soul, just like all human souls. Therefore, like any other conscious being, He can make mistakes.

● The Creator God is a powerful deity, but not omnipotent.

● No one created human beings or their souls.

● People, their souls, and all other souls – are free. Souls themselves decide who they will be and what they will become: angels or devils, good or evil.

● No one created the devil or his soul – just as no one created human souls. No one created great or small gods. No one created evil dragons. No one created good wizards. All of them created themselves.

● The physical body – particularly the human physical body – does have a created origin. The primary creator, however, is the human being himself. More precisely, the main mental creator of the human physical body is the collective mind of humanity. Women work more intensively on male bodies, and men on female bodies.

● The soul that enters a body and temporarily lives within it exists eternally. One can only conditionally speak of a single way a soul may come into being: when the soul creates itself (the emergence of a soul), or when it destroys itself. There are no other ways for a soul to appear – and there cannot be.

● When the Creator God (the Maker God or Father God) supposedly "breathes" a soul into a body, in reality He merely invites an already existing soul to inhabit that body. To outside observers, it appears as if a new soul has just come into existence.

● The same occurs at the birth of a child. At birth, a new soul is not born. Only the body is born. The soul simply chooses and enters the body – if it likes that body, and if it likes those particular parents.

● The above can be easily proven as follows. If we assume that the human soul was created by God, then it follows that it was God who implanted such flaws into these souls – flaws that lead these souls, whether they belong to the righteous or to evildoers, to suffering. And if such a thing is possible, then this can only be explained by the Sadism of God the Father Himself, and by nothing else.

● In truth, there is no evil in the world. The world is neutral by its very nature. Good and evil arise in the human mind when a person evaluates what is happening. If something is pleasant, one calls it good. If something is unpleasant, one calls it evil.

● The good and evil encountered by a soul follow the law of karma. If you do good, good returns. If you do evil, evil returns. Therefore, any soul’s complaints against creators must be returned directly to itself.

● The devil is within us. In every person exists both the absolute and the destructive. It is important to understand what is destructive and what is uplifting. Usually, the devil is understood simply as everything bad encountered in life – everything we dislike. But this is a mistaken understanding. The devil within us is our worldly desires.

● Samsara was not created by the Absolute, but by True Egos that have fallen out of the Absolute state.

● Each True Ego, each personality, after its fall (after separation from the Absolute), created the world that surrounds it. Therefore, each individual is fully and solely responsible for everything that happens to them.

● In truth, there is no evil in the world. The world is neutral by its nature. Yet, God Shiva (the Lord of Lords) exists within this world. Shiva does not leave – He remains in the world in order to save. And so, for Shiva, the world – neutral in essence – ceases to be neutral. With the decision to save, Shiva acquires goals and values, tasks and rules, desires and fears, motivation and experience. With the decision to save, for Shiva, everything that leads souls toward salvation becomes good, and everything that leads souls toward downfall becomes evil.

Emergence of the Soul

● Absolute state. Originally, all True Egos were merged with the Absolute and existed in this absolute state. The absolute state means that the True Ego could create anything it desired – manifest any body it wished, experience any state it chose. However, the absolute state did not imply that this True Ego was absolutely mature or wise.

● Movement. At the moment when the True Ego actually performed what it could do by virtue of its absolute state and absolute freedom – when it realized its free state – it automatically became a True Ego possessing motion. This movement occurred within the three primordial dimensions (the three gunas). After completing free movement, the True Ego returned to its original absolute state.

● Three gunas. Guna is translated as rope. The three primordial dimensions and the three gunas are one and the same. Matter and the three gunas are one and the same. Without the influence of the True Ego, all primordial dimensions (the three gunas) were in a state of transparent, silent equilibrium. The dimension in which it was easy to move came to be called the causal. The dimension in which movement was moderate came to be called the astral. The dimension in which it was difficult to move came to be called the manifest. The manifest dimension is structured in such a way that the emergence of physical space and time is possible within it, by the will of the True Ego. The Three Gunas are sattva, tamas, and rajas. Light, sound, and heat. The causal is conditioned by sattva. The astral is conditioned by tamas. The manifest is conditioned by rajas. The Three Gunas and the Absolute are parallel to each other and exist eternally.

● Antimystical force. The True Ego engaged in movement to confirm, affirm, and prove to itself its absolutely free state. This doubt in its own absoluteness is an illusion – and thus, the first step on the path of subsequent descent.

● Accumulated experience. Due to this anti-mystical force, the True Ego increasingly sought to confirm that the original state was the best, the most suitable for itself. For this purpose – to compare one state with another – the True Ego ceased discarding the experience of its free movement immediately after its cessation, as it had done before. Instead, it began to accumulate the experience of its movements.

● Motivation. By comparing various experiences to understand what suited it and what did not, the True Ego established criteria for evaluating experience. The criterion of evaluation became habit: that which in past accumulated experience led back to the original state of happiness, joy, and freedom became the standard for assessing new experience.

● Elements of the spirit. To maintain adequacy between experience and space, the True Ego formed the causal body – an external causal object identical to itself – and merged with, identified itself with, this external object. The True Ego began to think: “This is not an external object – this is I myself”. With repeated occurrence of this experience, the True Ego became bound by this obscuration. This moment can be regarded as the emergence of the spirit. The spirit can also be understood as the totality of the True Ego, anti-mystical force, accumulated experience, motivation, and causal body. The spirit, as a causal body, appears as a concentrated cluster of light.

● Elements of the soul. In order to understand more deeply, see more clearly, distinguish more precisely, and firmly retain what was seen and understood, the spirit formed the astral body (in some sources: the “subtle body”, “etheric body”, or a particular variant of “form” or “external appearance”) – an external astral object identical to the spirit – and merged with, identified itself with, this external object. The True Ego began to think: “This is not an external object – this is I myself”. With repeated occurrence of this experience, the True Ego became bound by this obscuration. This moment can be regarded as the emergence of the soul. The soul, as an astral body, appears as a blurred reflection in a mirror – without a physical form.

● Elements of sensations. To perceive all other external objects, the soul formed primary, elementary sense organs: the capacity to see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and sense motion.

● Consciousness. To better understand what the sense organs perceive, and to synthesize various sensations into a unified whole, the soul acquired the ability to form images and to think in terms of these images.

● Touch. Contact. The meeting of sense organs with external objects. These external objects were created by the same soul, as well as by other souls. The three gunas serve as the building material for forming external objects.

● Sensation. As a result of contact between sense organs and external objects, the soul receives sensations. Sensations may vary in intensity (strong or weak) and valence (pleasant or unpleasant).

● Perception. The integration of individual sensations into a unified image.

● Feeling. The evaluation of the image formed through perception. The criterion for evaluation is what was established at the stage of motivation. Thus, when details of past and new experience coincide, an illusion arises of approaching the original absolute state of the True Ego – and the new experience, new sensations, and new images are also evaluated as pleasant.

● Thirst. Craving. Pleasant experience inevitably leads to a strong desire to repeat it – to passion.

● Attachment. "Clinging". Strong attachment both to objects of pleasant feelings and to one’s own internal factors associated with them. For example, clinging to memories of a beloved person.

● Appropriation. Possession. Holding onto objects of craving, objects of pleasant feelings and thoughts, close to oneself.

● Formation of existence. Becoming. The creation of a physical body.

● Internalization. An external object (object of attachment) crosses the boundary between outer and inner, becoming part of the physical body and forming internal metabolism – thus becoming part of metabolism. This creates an inner need for the external, the similar. For example, internal alcohol present in the blood creates a need for more external alcohol.

● Birth. If internalization is not interrupted, the further development of the process leads the soul to form increasingly coarser, more inert bodies. Eventually, the soul finds itself in a human body within this phenomenal world. At the moment of birth, the True Ego forgets what occurred before – and due to this, a mistaken view arises: “This body is I”. Repeated cycles of birth reinforce this obscuration. Understanding this stage as a single event is erroneous. It must be understood as the soul’s descent into a state of continuous birth and death, continuous rebirth – an experience of infinite previous births.

● Suffering. If a person is born, death is inevitable. If the soul, through will and correct thinking, interrupts any element of this chain, the process of conditionally forming existence ceases.

The Buddhist teaching on the Twelve Stages (links, conditions) of the arising of samsara (the Twelve-Nidana Chain, or the Twelvefold Formula of Existence) and the above described procedure of the soul's arising are one and the same. The assertion that the process of forming the conditions of arising exists permanently and immanently is correct. The claim that the last link in the process of forming the conditions of arising leads back to the first link is a misconception, an error, a confusion. In reality, the last link of arising leads to the first link of liberation: to faith.

Atman

Atman translates from Sanskrit as 'self', or simply 'I'. The word Atman is typically used in other languages to denote the Wise True Ego, which returns to the state of the Absolute, as an alternative to the ignorant True Ego, which, conversely, falls away from the state of the Absolute. Atman is an analog to one of the understandings of the Holy Ghost.

The belief widely held among Buddhist scholars that Buddhism denies the existence of the soul is mistaken. Buddhism does not deny the existence of the soul itself, but merely the Christian approach to understanding its properties and meanings. Buddhism teaches that one should discard any sense of 'I'. However, this does not mean that this sense of 'I' itself supposedly does not exist, or that this 'I' itself supposedly does not exist. Yes, Buddha says in one place: "If, Ananda, when asked by the wanderer Vacchagotta, 'Is there a self? I had answered, 'There is a self,' would that have been consistent with the arising of the knowledge that 'all phenomena are nonself'?" Yes, this text indicates that the Buddha possesses a spiritual level at which all his internal phenomena are detached from his personality. However, on the other hand, it is unacceptable to interpret this text as meaning that the Buddha is thereby inwardly, tacitly, and specifically for his disciple Ananda, giving a flatly negative answer about the existence of the 'I'. This was not stated in the text. Structurally, it is impermissible to stretch this text to imply such a meaning.

Nowhere in the Buddhist sutras is it stated that Atman does not exist. Yes, in one of the sutras, the Buddha gives an admonition that the affirmation "Atman exists eternally" is not recommended for monks to practice. But a discussion about an affirmation cannot be interpreted as a discussion about ontology.

The Buddha set a direction–"everything that is changeable is not the 'I'; liberation lies through the erasing of egocentrism". Based on this, some followers who call themselves supposedly true Buddhists, or supposedly true Theravada Buddhists, simply took this direction to its absolute logical and practical conclusion: since Atman is nowhere to be found in experience, it is most effective for practice to assume that it does not exist at all.

Buddhism does not recognize the Absolute as a Creator God (Ishvara or Brahman). Yet, Buddhism has its own Absolute–Nirvana (the unconditioned state of freedom) and Vajrakaya (the Absolute Body of Truth). This is not a "supersoul", but the very nature of reality, purified of all illusions. The "spark of the Buddha" (Tathagatagarbha / Buddha-nature) is a foundational concept in Mahayana Buddhism. It is crucial to understand: this is NOT an individual soul living within the body. Buddha-nature is the fundamental potential of every living being to become enlightened. It is not an "eternal spark" that belongs to you personally. It is a metaphor for the purity of the mind. Like gold hidden in the mud, or the sun behind the clouds–the clouds (ego, thoughts, passions) are temporary, while the clear sky (Buddha-nature) is always present.

In later Mahayana texts (such as the Mahaparinirvana Sutra), Buddhist masters took an even bolder step. To explain Buddha-nature to ordinary people, they used the word "Atman", but in a completely new sense: "Buddha-nature is the True Atman (Mahatman) because it is changeless. But this Atman has nothing in common with the egoistic 'I' of a person." At the most fundamental level, the 'I' and Buddha-nature are one and the same. There is nothing "else" inside us. There is no separate "dirty ego" that needs to be physically destroyed, and there is no separate "holy Buddha" that must be brought in from the outside. That very living spark that is reading this text right now and perceives itself as 'I'–that is the starting point. The entire fabric of reality is woven from this single "yarn"–pure awareness. Aside from this living presence, nothing else exists for all beings. The difference lies not in substance, but in state. Mahayana Buddhism explains this through the metaphor of a gold statue covered in mud: The ordinary 'I' is gold that is completely entangled in its own mud. It has identified itself with thoughts, fears, a name, social status, and the body. It has shrunk to the size of a tiny, frightened ego that is forced to defend itself against the outside world. Buddha-nature is that exact same gold, but purified and aware of its true, boundless nature. When the ordinary 'I' says, "I am the Buddha-nature!", a dangerous mental substitution often occurs. A person begins to think that their usual whims, their egoistic desires, and their limited personality are the Absolute. But the catch is that Buddha-nature is not our personality, but our pure, unconditioned Consciousness, which exists PRIOR to any thoughts of personality.

Nowhere in the Buddhist sutras is it stated that at the moment of physical death, the 'I', the personality, or the soul is discarded or disappears. Phrases like, "The logic of the sutras dictates that for a certain entity (a soul or an 'I') to be able to 'disappear' or 'be discarded' at the moment of death, it must first exist during life..." are precisely a classic commentary argument (in the style of the Abhidharma or Nagarjuna) that attempts to retrospectively and logically justify what the Buddha himself remained silent about in the sutras. In the earliest sutras themselves (the Pali Canon), there is no text that says: "The soul cannot disappear at death because it did not exist during life". If we return to the strict letter of the sutras and strip away all later philosophical superstructures, we discover an astonishing thing. The Buddha fundamentally refused to answer the question of what happens to the 'I' or the personality at the moment of death altogether.

When you look into your most ordinary 'I' as deeply as possible, if you concentrate on your 'I' and try to observe it carefully, you will indeed, in accordance with the Buddhas insight, discover the following. Your 'I' appears as a point on the internal plane that has no dimension and no modality. Yet, this point is the center of the entire universe, both internal and external. And at the same time, it is indeed possible to anchor the body to this point, or choose not to. It is possible to anchor consciousness, or choose not to. It is possible to anchor desires, or choose not to. It is possible to anchor emotions, or choose not to. It is possible to anchor thoughts, or choose not to. And yet, unequivocally, the liberation of this point from any or all possible attachments does not result in this point supposedly disappearing. The most crucial modality of this point is that it is catastrophically afraid of ceasing to exist. It is afraid to die, and it does everything to avoid dying. It is ready to go to any length just to survive. For this very reason, the reasoning of Buddhist scholars that "absence implies nonexistence" is mistaken. The absence of a geometric point's dimension does not result, as a consequence, in its nonexistence.

In reality, the most ordinary 'I' and the spark of the Buddha are one and the same. Nothing else exists besides the 'I', which absolutely every soul possesses, and which is absolutely identical in every soul.

Refutation of the Social Theory of the Origin of the "I"

In modern academic science–psychology, sociology, and linguistics–the dogma that the human "I" is exclusively a product of socialization has become deeply entrenched. Positivist scientists have naively equated the moment a child masters the personal pronoun "I" with the moment of inception of this "I" itself. From the standpoint of materialism, until society provides a human being with language, culture, and the mirror of social relations, no "I" exists within the human entity.

This is a fundamental misconception. Science commits a gross methodological error by confusing the instrument used to perceive an object with the factual existence of the object itself.

The sun does not come into being the moment humanity invents the concept of "the sun". The sun exists as an objective reality prior to any sign or name. In exactly the same way, the deep human "I"–the True Subject, the Witness, the Center of Presence–is innately predetermined for a human being. It is ontologically primary.

Substitution of Concepts: The Real "I" Versus the Social Biography

To preserve its materialistic worldview, official science resorts to a trick. It divides the psyche into a "biological proto-I" (proprioception, body schema, animal instincts) and a "real, higher I" (social, narrative). And it declares: that which is given by nature is merely physiology, while only society makes you a person and a human being.

The main spiritual deception lies at this very point. Science uses the word "I" to describe the Autobiographical I (Narrative Self)–that is, the social mask, the story about oneself, the conglomerate of habits, roles, titles, and externally imposed values. But none of this is the "I". This is the Personality.

The Personality is indeed constructed by society (including the society of past lives). It is changeable, plural, and conditioned. But the Personality is merely the clothing worn by the True Subject, or the cargo carried by the Ship. Equating the Observer with that which he observes (his social roles) is a sign of spiritual blindness.

Three Arguments Against the Theories of the Dictate of Socialization

For a spiritual practitioner, it is crucial to clearly see the invalidity of scientific dogmas. Our True "I" does not owe its existence to society for three reasons:

1. Essence precedes the sign. Even materialistic science itself recognizes the presence of a pre-verbal "I" in infants (the sense of agency, body boundaries). The fact that a hypothetical feral child raised outside of society cannot speak about themselves in human language does not mean that there is no center of perception inside them. Their "I" is present as a pure fact of being, as a point where the signals of the senses converge. Society does not create this center out of nothing; it merely provides it with a mirror and a language.

2. Language is a tool of fixation, not a creator of reality. When a child begins to speak of themselves as "I" instead of "Misha wants to play," what occurs is not the birth of the Subject, but its formatting. Language allows the "I" to conceptualize itself for the convenience of social interaction. However, the source of consciousness existed in the body long before the first spoken word. A telescope does not create a planet; it merely makes it visible.

3. Continuity of Consciousness. Social roles (personalities) can shatter, change, or be completely erased during amnesia. A person can forget their name, status, and their entire biography received from society. Yet, despite this, the deep sense of presence–the pure "I AM"–remains unchanged. This proves that the Subject is autonomous and does not depend on social constructs.

Conclusion for the practitioner:

Materialistic science tries to convince a human being that they are merely a consequence of external causes, a product of a factory called "society". This deprives a person of their true anchor. By understanding that your fundamental "I" precedes any socialization, any word, and any opinion about you, you reclaim your status as the True Subject. Society did not create your "I"–it merely gave it a name. But He Who bears this name has always remained, and remains, free.

Conclusion for the scientist:

It is precisely the presence of a proto-I in both animals and humans that proves the existence of the soul. It is precisely the proto-I that explains and demonstrates the introspective mechanism through which any living being exercises self-preservation. This proto-I is, above all, terrified of ceasing to exist. And the organism involuntarily binds the existence of its own self and the existence of the physical body into a single, inseparable experience. This constitutes a scientific discovery, insofar as it serves as proof of the soul's existence.

Materialistic science has always considered the fear of death and the protective reflexes of animals to be blind automatisms–biochemical algorithms developed for the survival of the species. It overlooked the internal, introspective flip side of this process.

1. The mechanism of self-preservation is not chemistry; it is an experience. Any defense (fleeing from a predator, fighting for life, licking wounds) is driven by more than just nerve impulses. At its core lies an introspective mechanism. This means that inside any living being (whether human or animal), there is One Who experiences the threat. This center of experience is precisely the proto-I.

2. This is the metaphysics of existential fear. The primary modality of this dimensionless point (the proto-I) is a catastrophic fear of the cessation of its existence. An animal is not afraid merely of tissue damage. It is terrified by the prospect of the disappearance of its "Presence." This total, absolute fear of non-being proves that within the organism, there is already a predetermined ontological unit–the Soul, which is aware of the fact of its being and desperately clings to it.

3. This is the psychosomatic fusion (the Grand Illusion of the organism). The organism makes an inevitable and involuntary mental error (a fusion): it binds into a single and indivisible experience two absolutely distinct phenomena: the existence of its own self (the pure, changeless, dimensionless point of awareness) and the existence of the physical body (the changing, mortal biological shell). It is because of this fusion that the fear of the body's death is perceived by the proto-I as the fear of the final destruction of the very Source of Consciousness.

Absolute

The Absolute is known by many names across traditions, but only when understood in their most profound sense: Adi-Buddha (the Primordial Buddha), Brahman-Absolute, The Lord (only in the most accurate, non-anthropomorphic understanding), Allah (only when correctly understood – since “Allah” literally means “the Highest God”).

The Absolute is the primordial state of all True Egos. It is absolute freedom, absolute joy, and absolute bliss.

The Absolute exists eternally. Matter exists eternally, just as the Absolute does. Samsara, however, is not eternal. Samsara arises when a large number of True Egos begin to fall out of the Absolute. The building material of samsara is matter – the three gunas.

The Absolute is in a state of absolute potentiality. Before samsara arises, and after it dissolves, matter remains in this state of absolute potentiality.

Samsara means the cycle of existence. Existence and samsara are one and the same.

The Misconception of “First Cause”. In philosophy, when referring to the highest spiritual or divine principle, the term “first cause” is often used – implying the cause of existence. This is an error. And so is the belief held by most religions. Nearly all religions claim that the Highest of the High God created existence. But this is not true. On the contrary, certain schools of Buddhism are correct in asserting that the Highest Principle – the Absolute – created nothing. The emergence of existence and the entire universe was not by design, but by mistake, by misunderstanding – the misunderstanding of fragments of the Absolute. The Absolute itself did not create existence and is absolutely indifferent to it. This world and the Absolute exist in parallel and do not intersect. To be precise. The Absolute is not the absence of existence, but rather exists where existence is absent. The Absolute has no forms, no modifications, and no states – meaning, it has only one unchanging state.

Nirvana and the Absolute are the same. The state of nirvana is the state of the Absolute. It is more accurate to understand nirvana not as a place in space, but simply as a state – the state of liberation, the state of absolute peace. In the sutras, nirvana is described as: the destruction of worldly desires, the eradication of knowledge and experience (as binding). As a result of destroying worldly desires, liberation arises – freedom from suffering.

The True Ego. The True Ego is the very “Buddha-nature” present in every living being – the one spoken of in Buddhism. Originally, the human True Ego is a part of the Absolute. This is why scriptures say: “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven”. Here, the “Holy Spirit” refers precisely to the Absolute. And it is easy to understand why: since the True Ego is the fundamental component of the soul’s structure, blasphemy against the Absolute – and thus against the True Ego – means a person severs themselves from their own True Self, effectively destroying the most essential and highest part within. They turn their own soul away from liberation, directing it against salvation.

The Absolute is indifferent to samsara. Since the Absolute resides in nirvana, and since reaching the state of the Absolute (and nirvana) occurs through: – pratyahara (withdrawal from the senses), – meditation that denies all samsaric worlds, and since nirvana is defined as “not samsara”, and since “not samsara” and “creator of samsara” are mutually exclusive, and since complete indifference to samsara is what allows the disciple to progress, while the belief that the Absolute created samsara blocks all progress – therefore, it can be firmly stated: the Absolute is indifferent to samsara. The claim made by many schools of Hinduism (and Abrahamic religions) that Brahman-Absolute created samsara is false.

This widespread misconception can be explained by samsara’s nature: It actively tries to keep souls trapped within itself, weaving cunning nets – the “bonds of samsara” – from which souls struggle to free themselves. This mistaken view of the Absolute is one such bond. Though, of course, we must never forget: these “bonds of samsara” are ultimately woven by ourselves.

The Bhagavan (in the strictest Hindu sense) does not exist.

The Ishvara (in all variations of this meaning) does not exist.

That is, it is not possible for any being to be both God and the Absolute at the same time.

God – this term we use to denote a conscious being dwelling in the heavens.

The Absolute and God are entirely different. God is an ordinary astral living being. God has only one True Ego. The Absolute is a conglomerate of infinite True Egos.

Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma are not aspects of the Absolute. They are simply gods. Like all of us, they fell from the Absolute state. Each has only one True Ego.

God is not omnipotent – even if written with a capital letter, even if believed to be one, singular, and unique, even if called the Father or the Creator. But the Absolute is omnipotent. It could create anything – but chooses not to. The Absolute does not create the universe. The universe is created by fragments of the Absolute that have fallen from it.

“God created man in His image and likeness” – this is not true. There is a resemblance – but not because man was created by God. Rather, because God and man are essentially the same kind of being. The Bible lied about cause and effect. Humans, gods, and deities – all created themselves. God is simply another living being, like us: possessing a True Ego, possessing a soul, having fallen from the Absolute state. Some stronger gods do not have physical bodies – only astral (soul) bodies.

To whom should one pray and worship? Since God and the Absolute are different – one should pray and worship the Absolute. Because: the Absolute is our true essence, the Absolute is our highest goal, the Absolute responds to our calls and prayers more powerfully than any god, our Self (“I”) and the Absolute are, in essence, one and the same.

The Absolute is indifferent to samsara – but not to us (as individual selves), because all our "I"s are parts of the Absolute.

We all fell from the Absolute. The Absolute is our original state. In the Absolute, we were merged with all other "I"s. There, we were absolutely happy. Therefore, any connection with another “I” feels pleasant – it is a memory of the original state. Coming closer to another person, to another soul – this is a reflection of the Absolute, where all "I"s were united.

How to visualize the Absolute? As a transparent emptiness – where nothing exists. Its yantra (symbol) can be: a diamond, a vajra, a vajra-bell, or a transparent glass sphere.

Typical Classification of Realms

Realms of existence and niches of habitation come in different levels. If we list these levels in descending order from top to bottom, it would look approximately like this (in parentheses, we will indicate the approximate number of days after death, according to authoritative sources, when a person is reborn into a given realm).

⦿ Absolute. The original, highest instance. (0).

⦿ Heavens of the Upper Causal World:

● gods who have transcended cognition (knowledge) (eighth dhyana) (1)

● gods who have transcended existence (seventh dhyana) (2)

● gods who have transcended space (sixth dhyana) (3)

● gods of infinite spaces (fifth dhyana) (4)

⦿ Heavens of the Upper Astral World:

● Pure Heavens , formed by immovable stillness (shanti), where Shiva resides – the head of the Trinity (Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva), Mahadeva, and the Almighty from the “Revelation of John the Divine”; (fourth dhyana) (5);

● Beauty Heavens , formed by praise (prashansa), where Vishnu resides; (third dhyana) (8);

● Light Heavens , formed by compassion (karuna), appearing as brilliantly silvery upon rebirth; (second dhyana) (12);

● Holy Heavens , formed by divine love (maitri), where archangels dwell, appearing as brilliantly golden upon rebirth. The Holy Heavens are governed by the Creator. The Creator, the Father God of the New Testament, Yahweh, Brahma, Ahura Mazda – all are one and the same. The early Vedic Brahma does not always perceive gods above him, just as humans, for example, are unable to perceive any gods at all. Due to this ignorance, Brahma and his entourage develop the illusion that Brahma is the highest god in the entire universe. This delusion influenced followers of Abrahamic religions (with limited clarity) to attribute the qualities of the Absolute to Brahma and worship him as the Absolute. The same, in principle, applies to Allah in Islam. The idea of monotheism – that one should worship the single highest God – is undoubtedly correct and progressive. However, the consequence drawn from this idea, that no other gods exist besides the highest one, is an error, a sad misconception. (the first dhyana) (20).

⦿ Physical world

● Heavens of the Physical world (earthly heavens, material heavens, heavens of fulfilled desires, heavens of the world of manifestation, paradise) formed by satisfaction. Here dwell angels, guardians, fairies, devas, elves. On the material heavens, most devas consider the fulfillment of desires the meaning of life. The realm is linked to the ajna-chakra. Tamas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears white, slightly tinted with various hues. The socio-economic system here is communism. In sutras, the material heavens are often divided into six levels. – The First Heavens (first level) are the highest. Above all others on the First Material Heavens resides Vasavartin (Zeus, Ra, the Sole Ruler or the One God of the Old Testament, Svarog, Indra – all may be equated with him), who lives the longest, is the most powerful, joyful, and exalted among all other devas. By worshipping Vasavartin and making offerings to him, other devas accumulate merit; (40). – On the Second Heavens, the ruler is Sunirmata. The Second Heavens are the realm of devas who delight in their magical creations; they can manifest anything for their own pleasure; (41). – The Third Heavens – the Heavens of Tushita. These heavens are distinguished by profound knowledge of the Truth; (42). – The Fourth Heavens – the Heavens of Metempsychosis or the Heavens of the god Yama. Some religions mistakenly elevate Yama too highly, even equating him with the Devil. The word “Yama” may mean death, but the essence of this god is entirely different. Yama (Yamaraja, Emma, Imir, Suyama, Varuna) is a judge who ensures that the rebirth of souls occurs in accordance with their accumulated karma; (43). – The Fifth Heavens – the Heavens of the Thirty-Three Gods. The ruler of this realm is Shakra (Sakka). Due to his great skill in governance, he is also called the Capable God; (44). – The Sixth Heavens – the Heavens of the Four Heavenly Kings. The Four Kings correspond to the four cardinal directions. In particular, on the eastern side, there exists a heaven where guardian angels of various nations reside. Currently, the soul of Russia’s former leader – Vladimir Lenin – serves as the protector of Russia. The Sixth Heavens (sixth level) are the lowest of the material heavens; (45).

● Asuras ; superhumans, demons, rakshas, devils (the word "bes" in Russian can mean both a devil and a precognition). The realm is formed by pride. In the world of asuras, pride is revered as a virtue. The realm is linked to the vishuddha-chakra. Rajas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears red. The socio-economic system here is socialism. In European culture, little is known about the levels of asuras and pretas, so when describing various spiritual experiences, they are often lumped together into a single realm – hell. This is a significant error. Asuras come to hell only as part of their duty, not because they belong to that level. For comparison: humans enter a forest – essentially the animal realm – but do not belong to the animal world. Another illustration: prison guards in the human world are ordinary, capable citizens, despite being physically present in a prison, unlike the imprisoned inmates. Similarly, certain asuras and material gods, including Yama and Mara, visit hell as wardens, not because they are bound to hell, but because they perform an essential public service: they help purify the karma of fallen souls. Various extraterrestrials who appear on flying saucers are also asuras. The supreme ruler of the asura realm is the Devil. The Devil, Mara, King Mara, the Prince of Darkness – all are one and the same. The Devil is not the highest ruler of the material world (Vasavartin), as mistakenly believed in some religions. Nor is the Devil, as most sources claim, a deva from either the higher or lower material heavens. This misconception arises because Mara, when appearing in visions to people, prefers to exaggerate his true level, pretending to be the ruler of the entire world (a complete lie, deception, bluff, falsehood). Mara’s uncontrollable pride and vanity compel him to dazzle others and pretend to be higher gods. Mara is the greatest liar in the entire universe. No wonder he is also called Satan. Satan means “slanderer of the Truth” – one who claims the Truth is not Truth, and falsehood is Truth. Mara may even pretend to be the Almighty or the Absolute. It should also be noted that the evil Devil, reveling in the suffering of souls, is a fictional character invented by people – having nothing to do with reality. In truth, Mara merely cares that souls cleanse their bad karma as quickly as possible. Usually, when a person dies, Mara is the first visitor – suddenly appearing, startling the person, and offering them the chance to become ruler of the world. Therefore, a person should be ready at the moment of death with the phrase: “no” (46).

● People. Humans. The realm is formed by emotional attachment. In the human world, emotional attachment is regarded as a virtue. The realm is linked to the anahata-chakra. Sattva energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears blue; (47).

● Pretas. Hungry ghosts. The realm is formed by greed. In the preta world, avarice is regarded as a virtue. The realm is linked to the manipura-chakra. Sattva energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears yellow, like sand. This realm is well described in Yulia Voznesenskaya’s book My Posthumous Adventures. European authors, when describing the preta realm, often confuse it and label it as hell. How does the preta realm differ from hell? Hell is pain – either from cold, heat, cuts, blows, or other causes – in all cases, it is physical pain. In the preta realm, such intense pain does not exist. The preta realm is called the world of hungry spirits. It would be more accurate to call it the world of global dissatisfaction. If hell is a terrible realm, the preta realm is merely a gloomy one. The preta realm resembles the world of homeless people on a garbage dump. Often, sources place the preta realm below the animal realm. This is an error, stemming from the confusion between geographical and spiritual hierarchy. In this classification, realms are arranged not by geography but by spiritual level. Therefore, pretas are placed above animals because, unlike animals, pretas possess primitive speech, basic consciousness, and rudimentary reasoning. Moreover, descriptions indicate that pretas even have organized labor. In one account, overseers forced groups of pretas to build a road with a special surface, then immediately dismantle it – a seemingly absurd cycle justified as a solution to unemployment. Despite their lower spiritual level compared to humans, pretas possess illusion-based technologies, including hypnosis and magic; (48).

● Animals. The realm is formed by ignorance. In the animal world, the law of survival prevails. The realm is linked to the svadisthana-chakra. Tamas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears green. Some spiritual and philosophical schools regard the animal world as a model of harmony, the highest perfection of creation. However, closer examination reveals this view is flawed. The main dissonance, for example, is that the souls of animals killed for food are forced to suffer. In Abrahamic religions, it is believed that fish and insects have no souls and therefore do not suffer when slaughtered, making their killing no sin, no accumulation of killing karma. This is a deeply tragic misconception; (49).

● Hell. The realm is formed by hatred. The realm is linked to the muladhara-chakra. Rajas energy predominates here. Upon rebirth, this world appears black. If a person likes the color black, prefers to wear black, or unconsciously notices black objects first, this indicates their next rebirth will be in hell. Hell beings endure intense and prolonged physical suffering. Unlike humans, they do not lose consciousness even under unbearable pain. In hell, beings fear the destruction of hell itself and hate death most of all – a paradox that, upon sober reflection, reveals a striking similarity among all beings of the world of manifestation; (50).

The classification of the middle causal realms resembles that of the upper astral realms. The classification of the lower causal and lower astral realms resembles that of the world of manifestation.

Law of Karma

The word karma is translated as action or deed.

Every deed a person performs carries consequences. If your action causes suffering to another being, you will inevitably experience that same suffering yourself. If your action brings joy to someone, you will also experience that same joy. Neutral actions lead to neutral outcomes. With rare exceptions, karma returns in exact proportion – one to one.

From this law follows the principle of the pendulum: every pleasure is balanced by an equal measure of future suffering. The greater the pleasure one indulges in, the stronger the suffering that will later come. This is sometimes called the “Zebra Principle” – after every white stripe of happiness in life, a black stripe of pain is bound to follow.

Merit, or punya, is accumulated through good deeds performed toward beings who are spiritually or morally superior. The highest merit comes from devotion to the Highest God or the Absolute. Spiritual practice is the most powerful way to accumulate such merit. A person who becomes a monk and lives a sincere monastic life generates great merit – so much so that the lifespan of their parents increases by an average of 20 percent.

Most people live ordinary lives and gradually waste their stored merit. This is why many are unusually lucky and successful in youth, but lose that fortune in later years. Luck is not random – it is the fruit of past merit. The main ways people deplete their merit are through sexual pleasure and the indulgence of taste. Any enjoyment – of food, of sensations, of life itself – consumes merit. The more one delights in worldly experiences, the faster one’s spiritual reserves are spent.

All animals – beasts, birds, fish, and insects – possess souls. When they are harmed or killed, they suffer and try to escape. They cry out if they can, twist away, struggle. This very reaction – the instinct to avoid pain – is the clearest sign of a living soul. It is by this criterion that animals must be distinguished from plants.

Plants, including trees and fungi, do not possess souls and therefore do not experience suffering. They do not flee, do not cry, do not resist harm. Yet, both humans and plants are living organisms, and so harming a plant still creates a karmic imprint – specifically, the karma of damaging one’s own body or organism. Moreover, certain trees and plants serve as homes for devas or nature spirits. Destroying such beings may therefore also generate the karma of destroying a dwelling.

Stones have no soul and are not alive. They do not react to harm, for they are not sentient.

Nearly all diseases are the result of karma. Each illness corresponds to a specific type of past action. Cancer, for instance, arises from the karma of greed – the location of the tumor depending on the nature of that greed. Toothache is often the result of slander or harsh speech. Allergies and asthma may stem from the use of chemicals to kill insects – a subtle but real karmic debt.

In war, a soldier accumulates full karmic responsibility for every life he takes. The idea that a commander or national leader can take on that karma, freeing the soldier from guilt, is a falsehood – a dangerous manipulation. The only merit a soldier may gain in such a situation is from serving someone who himself possesses great merit.

A woman who refrains from seeking pleasure in sex will experience little or no pain during childbirth. Her suffering is directly linked to past indulgence.

The exceptional beauty of Russian women is said to result from the vast merit accumulated by their ancestors. Much of this was earned during the Soviet era, through sacrifice, discipline, and collective labor – actions that, though not always recognized as spiritual, still carried deep karmic weight.

Vegetarianism

Within Buddhism, there has long been a debate about whether buying meat constitutes the karma of killing. Some schools have answered this question in the affirmative. However, a considerable number of schools have answered it in the negative. In particular, Tibetan Buddhism has taken a fairly firm stance in favour of the latter view. From the perspective of the second point of view, the following argument is typically put forward.

Imagine a pig. Suppose this pig is wandering somewhere in the mountains, and suddenly a large boulder falls from a cliff and kills it. Now imagine that a monk is travelling in the same mountains and comes across this fresh carcass. The monk, so that nothing goes to waste, prepares and eats the pig. Does the monk accumulate the karma of killing through this action? All schools unanimously answer this specific question with a no: the monk does not accumulate the karma of killing, since he does nothing that could have influenced the animal’s death. And if one asks what caused the animal’s death, everyone logically explains that it was simply the manifestation of the animal’s own karma.

Now imagine that a certain homeowner invites a monk to visit, intending to treat him to whatever God provides. Suppose the monk accepts but promises to come not today but the next day. The homeowner, for such an occasion, slaughters a pig and prepares pork for the monk’s arrival the following day. The question arises: does the monk in this case accumulate the karma of killing? All schools unanimously answer this question in this second scenario with a yes: the monk accumulates the karma of killing, since in this case the animal was killed for his sake. And therefore, when a monk is offered an animal that was killed for his benefit, the monk must refuse the meat – and by doing so, he will thus avoid accumulating the karma of killing.

Next, let us consider the original controversial case – the third scenario: the case where a butcher kills a pig in order to later deliver the meat to a store for sale.

Here is the reasoning of Tibetan Buddhism. Why does this pig die? Just as in the case of the boulder, the pig encounters circumstances of irresistible force. And just as in the boulder case, it dies due to its own karma. The only difference is what or who manifests the karma for this animal: in the first case it was a boulder, in the third case it is the butcher. Of course, the butcher himself in this case does accumulate the karma of killing. But what about the karma of the buyer in this third scenario? He walks through the store, sees already‑dead meat, and buys it. Whether he buys this meat or not, nothing will change for this particular pig: it was already dead, and it will remain dead. That is, it is exactly the same as in the first case with the boulder. Thus, the case of buying meat in a store is identical to the boulder case; consequently, just as in the boulder scenario, the buyer does not accumulate the karma of killing. This is how Tibetan Buddhism reasons.

However, this reasoning is flawed. In reality, the opposite is true: the case of buying meat is identical to the second scenario, where the homeowner killed the pig for the guest. The homeowner kills the pig for the monk. If the monk were not expected to come, the pig would have remained alive. It is exactly the same in the case of the store. The butcher kills the pig for the buyer: if the buyer were not expected to come, the pig would have remained alive. The difference between these two cases lies only in the fact that in the store scenario, the actor is not a specific individual but a community. That is, the global community of all butchers kills pigs for the global community of all those who buy and eat this meat. If there were no such consumers of pork, then butchers would not kill pigs.

Therefore, when a buyer walks through a store, sees meat, and buys it, they automatically become part of this community – the community of meat consumers. And accordingly, since through their purchase they automatically join this community for whose sake these pigs are killed, they naturally accumulate some karma of killing these animals. To put it even more simply: when a buyer purchases a chicken in a store, they reduce the store’s stock of chickens by one. This information is automatically transmitted from the store to the butcher. And the butcher, upon learning that a shortage of chickens has appeared in the store, kills the next chicken. Thus, by buying a chicken in the store, the buyer automatically triggers the mechanism of killing the next chicken. That is, the buyer is not the cause of death for the very chicken they bought, but for the next one.

The above reasoning, of course, does not mean that all the karma of killing a chicken shifts from the butcher to the buyer. No. The butcher still bears nearly all the karma for killing the animals they slaughter. The above reasoning merely indicates that the buyer of this meat also bears some portion of the karma of this killing.

Worldly Desires

Everything that directs a person away from their true self, from their True Ego, from the Absolute, and towards the external world, towards samsara, is called worldly desires. Worldly desires are the cause of all suffering. Worldly desires are opposite to the desire for spiritual growth.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the more beautiful their appearance.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the higher their overall level of health.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the longer they live.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the fewer stresses they experience and the lower their overall stress level.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the fewer stresses they have, and as a result, the less they need food – which, for the most part, serves as a way to cope with stress through eating.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the calmer they are.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the calmer they are, and the better their reaction time – which gives them greater chances of survival in unforeseen circumstances. Also, a good reaction is a key factor that enables a person to win in a fight or in martial arts.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the more successful they are in their professional, scientific, or athletic pursuits.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the more adequately they perceive reality.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the shorter their sleep.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the stronger their willpower.

The stronger a person’s willpower, the fewer worldly desires they have.

The ability to endure pain varies. Some people have a low pain threshold, while others have a high one. One of the main factors influencing the level of a person’s pain threshold is the level of their worldly desires. The fewer worldly desires a person has, the higher their pain threshold.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the greater their merit.

The fewer worldly desires a person has, the higher their spiritual level.

The desire to accumulate merit, the desire for spiritual growth, the desire to engage in spiritual practice, the desire to observe the precepts, the desire to follow the Dharma, the desire to live according to conscience, the desire to save others – all these are not worldly desires.

Any music – Bach (whether dull pieces or popular ones), Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, pop music, classical music, variety music, church music, spiritual music, even a church choir, even spiritual songs, even mantras performed to music – all of this is created for the sake of pleasure. Spas, pulp fiction, tourism, travel, adventures, extreme sports, sunsets and sunrises, watching animals, the sound of rain, birdsong, poetry, ballet, opera, any forms of entertainment, any spectacles, fireworks, parades, holidays, festive demonstrations, amusement rides, dancing, puzzles, crosswords, any sport, any games, socializing – all of these are either pleasure itself or created for the sake of pleasure. Any art serves the purpose of providing pleasure, not culture. Any visual art – with the exception of theatre and literature – serves solely and exclusively the purpose of providing pleasure. Theatre and literature, while relying on a persons inclination towards this kind of pleasure, can in principle sometimes perform not only a pleasurable function but also an educational one. Similarly, any game-based or theatre-based teaching methods use students inclination to seek pleasure for educational purposes. A person eats for the sake of pleasure. If a person ate not for pleasure but merely to sustain life, they would eat much less frequently and in far smaller quantities. Pleasure permeates all spheres of human life: from basic bodily sensations to complex spiritual experiences. The craving for pleasure is one of the strongest worldly desires a person has.

Meaning of Life

The meaning of life lies in spiritual growth.

A person is born, lives, grows up, and dies. Then their soul is reborn in a new body – and this continues almost endlessly. This is called the cycle of samsara. If a person strives for spiritual liberation in each of their lives, they will eventually be able to break free from the cycle of samsara. If a person does not seek spiritual liberation, with each subsequent life they come closer and closer to the world of hell.

In Buddhism, the collective of all people who seek spiritual liberation is usually called the “stream of Truth” or the “ascending stream”. The collective of all those who do not seek liberation and spend their lives pursuing false goals is called the “descending stream”. The descending stream consists of people who mistakenly believe that the purpose of life is supposedly to obtain pleasures, that one should simply live and enjoy life. In our time (the early 21st century), the ratio between the ascending stream and the descending stream is approximately one to a thousand.

In Hinduism and Buddhism there exists the concept of Dharma – the universal law of existence. In the East, it is more common to follow Dharma rather than the Law of Karma. The saying goes: “Dharma protects those who protect Dharma”.

The vast majority of people both in the East and around the world try to build their lives in a way that, as much as possible, aligns with Dharma – or, in ordinary terms, does not go against conscience. However, unfortunately, few people understand what Dharma truly is. Few understand what is truly harmful.

The vast majority consider Dharma to be whatever is commonly accepted as Dharma. Most people take as life guideposts whatever is commonly accepted as such. Few realise that what is commonly accepted is in fact erroneous. Few understand that what is commonly accepted is in fact harmful.

On the contrary, the First Right Law of Dharma is the Law of Liberation from Worldly Desires: “Worldly desires are the cause of all suffering”. The Second Right Law of Dharma is the Law of Karma. As for further Right Laws of Dharma, one may consider the Eight Karunas (see the chapter “Message to the Seven Churches”).

Dharma is not limited to just these ten laws. This entire book should be regarded as a “School of Right Dharma”.

To live freely and unbound, one must attain liberation.

Law of Projection

Every thought has power. Every image manifests in reality.

A weak, isolated image manifests as subtle consequences.

A strong image manifests as a tangible reality.

A special case of a strong image manifesting is when a person conceives of creating something and then brings that idea to life. This is commonly called creation.

Becoming meditation is precisely one of the ways to make one's thought strong and recurring.

The images of the gods are always exceptionally strong. Therefore, their images are life-giving.

A highly potent thought can spark life. This is exactly how the origin of life occurred. This is exactly how the favorable conditions for the emergence and sustenance of life were established. This is exactly how highly improbable factors arose (on both micro- and macrocosmic levels), the impossibility of which scientists still debate today. The creators and keepers of life on Earth are the devas. To some extent, human souls also assist them.

A strong, recurring collective image manifests as a real, inevitable event.

The law of karma and the law of projection are interconnected. The more merit a person has, the greater the degree to which their consciousness manifests.

Law of Resonance

People, when near or touching one another, experience the exact same emotion and feel the exact same feeling. Another name for this law is interpersonal identification. This law is also sometimes interpreted as the crowd effect. The crowd effect is a specific instance of the law of resonance. This law operates during any human interaction, even if people are far apart, and even if their communication takes place over the phone, through mail, or via the internet.

This is the precise mechanism by which animals learn from one another.

Touching another person transmits a state of being, but not karma. Due to the law of resonance, it might seem that by touching someone, you can transfer your karma to them, or, conversely, take their karma upon yourself. However, this is not the case. Karma cannot be transmitted this way. Karma cannot be transmitted at all. No one can take on another person's karma. Occasionally, as an extremely rare exception, individuals like Buddhas, who are fundamentally free from all karma, can take on the karma of others.

The Question of Primacy

Being determines consciousness – and consciousness determines being. These are two sides of a single dialectical principle.

Illustration of the first: Being determines consciousness. A person has an innate desire to live. To survive, a person carefully studies the things on which their life depends. One such thing is their mother. A person studies their mother very closely, striving to understand what their mother is thinking and what their mother wants from them. As a result, the person develops an internal image – an image of their mother. In seeking to understand their mother more deeply, the person tries to imitate their mother’s actions and repeats what their mother says. Through this, the person learns to speak. And by mastering speech, they also master the thinking that underlies it. That is – being determines consciousness.

Illustration of the second: Consciousness determines being. For example, a person notices that it would be more convenient to sit not on the ground but on something higher. They form within their consciousness an image of something that could help them with this. The person creates the idea of a stool. Then they draw this image on paper and, by examining the drawing, check whether what they have imagined matches what they need. After confirming that the drawing fully matches the idea and the idea fully matches the desire, the person takes wood and tools and makes the stool. So, first there was no stool; then came the idea of the stool; then the stool appeared in reality. That is – consciousness determines being.

Materialism asserts that matter is primary and consciousness is secondary. Idealism, on the contrary, asserts that consciousness is primary and matter is secondary. On what basis do people take one side or the other? Anyone wishing to understand the essence of this debate would do well to first grapple with the “Law of Disappearance”.

“The Law of Disappearance”:

Everything that has a beginning also has an end

From this law follows a natural corollary:

Everything that has no beginning also has no end

This law is easily proven by the absence of any real‑life examples where something has a beginning but no ending. This dialectical law must be taken into account by any philosopher, regardless of whether they are a materialist, an idealist, or something else. That is, a thinker who rejects this principle should be considered an ignorant thinker, a layperson. All Abrahamic religions should also be considered such laypersons. In contrast, most Buddhist and Hindu schools recognise this principle. Science also acknowledges it.

As for the question of what is primary – matter or consciousness – most Buddhist schools hold that both matter and consciousness exist eternally and therefore have no moment of origin. Consequently, there is no need to ask “what came first”, since both were present from the very beginning.

In science, the most widespread view is that matter exists eternally, while consciousness is secondary – that is, consciousness emerges at a certain stage of the evolution of matter and disappears at a certain evolutionary stage.

Buddhism asserts that physical matter can transition from a state of global vacuum, global empty space, global absence of motion, and global absence of time into a state with motion and time. We all provide the beginning of this motion: we are souls who have chosen to live in this physical universe. This, in principle, can manifest in the physical world as a Big Bang (though not necessarily). The universe expands, stabilises, exists, then contracts, collapses, and returns to the state of global vacuum. And this pulsation repeats endlessly.

The philosophy of Buddhism recognises science and accepts Darwin’s theory – and this is correct.

The theory of predestination (fate, fatalism) is not true.

The past cannot be changed. A time machine cannot be created. The past cannot be altered due to the Law of Cause and Effect (and also because the Law of Cause and Effect is correct).

The Question of God’s Knowability

This world is given to a human through sensations and through sensations alone. However, scientists have agreed to assume that the world which is given to us through sensations – and only through sensations – actually exists. Although it is practically impossible to prove this.

In the same way, it is impossible to prove the existence of dreams. No instrument can directly register a person’s dream. Instruments can only detect various electromagnetic oscillations of the brain. Scientists have discovered that when a sleeping brain emits a strictly defined pattern of electromagnetic oscillations, and if the person is woken up at that very moment, they will say they just had a dream. There is no other way to prove the existence of dreams. Nevertheless, scientists have agreed to recognise that dreams exist and are an objective reality.

That is, for almost everything that is or is not considered objective reality, scientists reach an agreement.

Regarding the existence of God, the global scientific community has agreed to consider Him unknowable and His existence impossible to prove.

However, this is a mistake on the part of scientists. They have not noticed that the method of studying God is identical to the method of studying dreams. There are people called saints. Saints testify that they have experienced communion with God. They say this communion occurs in a particularly deep meditative state. As a rule, the testimonies about God from various saints are similar. The similarity of reports from a large number of saints strongly suggests that they are dealing with the same reality. It is quite easy to distinguish holy people from non‑holy ones using the same electroencephalography. When a holy person enters the required meditative state, their brain begins to emmit waves with a strictly defined pattern – one that can be objectively recorded by a physical instrument. The similarity and repeatability of physical indicators, together with the similarity and repeatability of the meditative experience described by saints, should be interpreted as proof of an objective factor: the existence of God.

There is another scientific proof of God’s existence: the biblical writing Apocalypse. This work was written two thousand years ago, yet it describes events that are unfolding in our time – especially at the beginning of the 21st century. Apocalypse describes current events with remarkable accuracy. Most predictions by various seers suffer from one flaw: excessive metaphoricality. Because of this, nearly all prophetic predictions have no practical value – it is nearly impossible to learn anything in advance from them. Apocalypse, however, differs fundamentally from such predictions. It provides clear answers to key questions:

● Will there be a Third World War?

● Will America perish?

● Will communism triumph throughout the world?

To have such a distant and highly accurate foresight, one must be truly God. That is, the existence of a writing such as Apocalypse, and the real‑world confirmation of everything it predicts, constitutes a real and fully scientific proof of God’s existence. Apocalypse is a real text, and the whole world knows it almost by heart. In this writing, God transmits through John the Theologian information about what will happen on Earth two millennia later. For example, He transmits that a Third World War will occur on Earth. And indeed, at the beginning of the 21st century, a Third World War is unfolding. If there exists a sufficiently accurate real prediction of the events of the Third World War, then there must also exist a source of these accurate predictions. And the source of these real predictions is God. What more real proof of God’s existence could you need?

What is Truth?

If a person does not have a clear enough understanding of what is right and what is wrong. If a person's life is going completely sideways. If a person feels that their life is not worth a single dime. If a person cannot understand what matters in this life and what does not. If a person does not understand what is worth spending energy on and what is not. If a person has a feeling that they are missing something very important in this life. All of this means that the person does not know the "Truth."

One should be able to tell the difference between "philosophical absolute truth," "spiritual absolute Truth," and the "Truth to which a buddha awakens" and after which a buddha receives their title. One should also be able to distinguish between the concept of "Truth" with a capital T and the concept of "truth" with a lowercase t.

Truth with a lowercase t refers to the content of a thought about the essence of the object of knowledge that has moved beyond the status of a hypothesis through verification procedures; it is the alignment of thought and reality as opposed to a misconception (a contradiction between thought and reality). This truth is also called scientific truth. The criterion for scientific truth is practice.

Truth with a lowercase t also refers to a person's statement when it corresponds to reality (honesty as opposed to a lie).

The concept of truth is also used in logic when a given logical statement is free of contradictions.

The concept of absolute truth (with a lowercase t) is used in philosophy. In philosophy, absolute truth is a true statement (philosophical or scientific) whose content requires no questioning or correction. In other words, if a statement can be questioned and subsequently corrected based on any criterion, then this truth is not absolute. Since the complete absence of any questioning or correction of any true statement is impossible (unless the content of that statement is equal to zero), absolute truth does not exist. Based on this, one can conclude that the essence of the original philosophical absolute truth lies in its absence. In Buddhist philosophical schools, this principle is called the principle of emptiness: "truth is emptiness." "Nothing inherently exists." Everything we think about a given phenomenon as an essence is merely our own thoughts that we "extract" from things or phenomena. Yet these thoughts themselves were never inherently present in any things or phenomena to begin with.

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Truth with a capital T is usually understood as spiritual absolute Truth.

The essence of spiritual absolute Truth lies not in the existence of a One God, nor in the structure (or universal interconnectedness) of the Universe, nor in the existence of the afterlife, nor in the existence of the law of karma, but rather in the eradication of worldly desires.

The eradication of worldly desires means the same as freedom from addictions, from samsara, from the fetters of samsara, from suffering, from illusions, from bonds, from karma, and from other similar things; it means the same as the attainment of nirvana, the absence of agitation, the state of the Absolute, and the state of absolute peace. Since the state of nirvana is described as a transparent emptiness in which there is nothing, the principle of emptiness in Buddhist philosophy, "Truth is emptiness," applies to "spiritual absolute Truth" as well.

In essence, then, there is no difference between "spiritual absolute Truth" and the "Truth to which a buddha awakens." They are one and the same. However, it is very important here to understand the difference between two interconnected things that are touched upon. The "Truth to which a buddha awakens" is the state of mahanirvana, the experience of this state, and what remains with a buddha as a result of this experience. All of this is personal experience. Therefore, all of this material cannot be transmitted in a verbal or logical form. Yet, on the other hand, all of this material can, to some extent, be transmitted in a verbal or logical form. It is precisely that part which can be transmitted in a verbal or logical form that is conveyed by the concept of "spiritual absolute Truth." The experience of a buddha is reflected by this concept, but it is not reduced to it in its full completeness.

Experience cannot be transmitted through words. Words can only transmit knowledge. Knowledge and experience are different things. When a teacher in a school explains something to students, they are transmitting knowledge to the students. When the teacher assigns the students a problem, and the students solve this problem, the students acquire experience–the experience of solving this problem. There is no other way to transmit experience. Experience is a thousand times more informative than knowledge. It is for this very reason that it is impossible to verbally transmit knowledge about nirvana or the experience of awakening like ordinary knowledge. The only thing that can be transmitted through words is instructions–instructions on the methods through which practitioners can enter the correct meditative state themselves and experience nirvana, liberation, awakening, or any other required experience. This is why understanding "spiritual absolute Truth" as merely knowledge of the result of a spiritual practice, rather than the result itself, is always a mistake. Because the result of a spiritual practice itself can only be presented in the form of personal experience and in no other way.

This is precisely why preserving authentic Buddhist sutras makes no sense if these sutras are not backed by a real, living system of authentic spiritual practice. This applies to the Pali Canon and to any other scriptures. This is why the authentic Dharma (literally, the Law) can only refer to those sutras that are backed by a real, living system of spiritual practice. "To purify the eye of the Dharma through ten virtuous deeds and three kinds of right actions." This is exactly why the Eightfold Noble Path is not a path of knowledge, but a path of gaining personal experience. And it is no coincidence, and for this very reason, that Gautama said–and his words remain true to this day–that after his departure, the authentic Dharma would exist for only five hundred years. That is exactly what happened. Exactly five hundred years later, Buddhist arhats wrote down the text of the Pali Canon for the first time, claiming that they had supposedly saved the Dharma. Authentic Dharma arises from direct realization, not from reading.

Ontology and affirmation are different things. They are very often confused. In his discourses, Gautama almost always articulated affirmations rather than ontology. The Four Noble Truths are the Four Noble Affirmations.

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Practice, practice, practice! Practice spiritual cultivation. Do it yourself, do it yourself, do it yourself! There is no such thing as someone else's experience. Someone else's experience is not experience. Without one's own real engagement in the spiritual practice that accompanies the Law, this Law ceases to be the Law. Without real practice, the Law (Dharma) becomes nothing more than useless wastepaper, a museum exhibit.

That to which a buddha awakens is mahanirvana. In this sense, the experience of mahanirvana is what is called "spiritual absolute Truth." When, for example, in the movie Little Buddha, the Buddha sits in the lotus position, begins to meditate, and the devil begins to beset him in various ways, this refers exclusively to the inner devil that is inside the Buddha. It is simply imagery. The movie presents an externalized and artistically rendered image of those inner obstacles that arise before the Buddha just prior to his attainment. These are the obstacles that appear before achieving Great Liberation. All of these obstacles have a specific name. They are "worldly desires."

Sometimes one might hear the opinion: "There is no need to look for Truth. Truth is Jesus Christ." However, if an element such as "trust" is used to substantiate what Truth is, then this will be an erroneous substantiation of Truth. The line of reasoning for the correct Truth must not have "trust" as an intermediate link. If the substantiation of the true Truth relies on "trust" as an element of this proof, then such Truth becomes doubtful. This is because it is not suitable for everyone. It is suitable only for those who are in this state of "trust"; it suits only those who believe in this particular instance of alleged Truth.

Sometimes one might hear another opinion: "Truth is love." And yes. And no. It all depends on what is considered love. If the word "love" is understood as the Absolute, then yes: "the primordial unity of us all." If, however, the word "love" is understood as some other kind of love–sensual attachment, the love of Sita and Rama, parental, human, familial, sexual, or something similar–then no. Such love is not the Truth. Such love is not the Truth primarily because it is not eternal. Sooner or later, such love will end, fade away, or disappear. Moreover, in the absence of reciprocity, such love brings rather intense suffering, can lead to psychological trauma, or can even lead to obsession.

Buddhism asserts that all problems stem from ignorance. And ignorance is, first and foremost, not knowing the Truth. There are no people who initially decide to be evil. There is no such person who suddenly thought, "Well, since I was born as Hitler, that means I am on the team of evil. So now I will harm everyone. I will now kill and torture everyone." No. There are no such people. Inherently evil people do not exist. All evil people are merely those who lacked the intelligence to understand that they are evil. And if a person suddenly understands that they are evil, that they are committing a crime, they do not always have the intelligence to understand that their actions will lead them to hell. All of this is elementary human foolishness. How can this be proven? It is proven very simply. Look inside yourself and ask yourself: Have there been instances, specifically for you personally, when you suddenly and for no reason at all started to think to yourself, "I want to be evil. I want to bring people suffering and harm. I am inherently a malicious and evil person"?

Levels of Achievement

● Hatha Yogi – purification of the right, left and central channels. The Awakening of kundalini.

Tha Yogi – eradication of rajas. Rajas manifests in a person as an involuntary impulse toward anger, wrath, or harsh speech. Kempo.

● Raja Yogi – ability to transcend attachment to any of the three gunas, and specifically, attachment to the energy of tamas. Tamas manifests in a person as laziness and an involuntary obsession with pleasures. That is why tamas is the very first thing any practitioner should get rid of. Therefore, when a practitioner conquers their tamas, an exceptionally high willpower awakens within them. Lama. Realized practitioner. An Achieved One. In meditation, the brain emits alpha waves.

Semi-Sleep Yogi – ability to consistently enter a state of meditative semi-sleep. In meditation, the brain emits sigma waves.

●Samadha Yogi – ability to consistently enter samadhi. Kundalini Yogi. Holiness. In meditation, the brain emits theta waves. Muhammad is a practitioner of at least the Samadha Yogi level, who manifested God's program in the dense world to save souls from falling (which in itself signifies Mahayana in its second sense).

● Arhat – entering the state of nirvana. Solitary awakening. Solitary liberation and enlightenment ("enlightenment" is the mental aspect of liberation). A soul worthy of offerings. Rinpoche. Mahamudra yogi. In a calm state, the brain emits alpha waves. In meditation, the brain emits delta waves.

● Bodhisattva – savior. Mahayana Yogi. This is the minimum level attained by Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

● Bodhisattva in astral – savior in the astral realm. Astral Mahayana Yogi.

● Bodhisattva in Causal – savior in the causal realm. Causal Mahayana Yogi.

● Buddha – attainment of mahanirvana. The Great Awakening to the Truth. Great liberation. The spiritual level of a buddha surpasses the spiritual level of many celestial beings. In meditation and in a calm state, the brain does not emit any waves.

● Victor in Truth – attainment of mahanirvana independently, without teachers.

● Departure of the Victor in Truth into Mahaparinirvana – attainment of the Absolute. The Great Ultimate Destruction of Worldly Desires. Adi-Buddha. The spiritual level of the Adi-Buddha surpasses the spiritual level of any god, including that of Shiva.

Awakened Bodies – Buddha Bodies

As yogis advance in meditative practice and master ever‑deeper stages, they awaken dormant bodies within. The awakening of a body of another dimension – and a controlled exit into this other body – is also called the formation of this other body.

● Physical body – associated with the muladhara chakra and operates in the world of phenomena. To exit the physical body in another body, a yogi must bring the physical body into an altered state – for example, by achieving extreme relaxation, entering a drowsy (meditative) state, falling asleep, or attaining a state of artificial anabiosis (samadhi).

● Body of Apparition – associated with the svadisthana chakra. Operates in the lower astral plane.

● Phenomenal body (nirmanakaya) – associated with the manipura chakra. Operates in the lower causal plane. It can manifest in the world of phenomena as the body of apparition, seperated from the real physical body.

● Body of the Law (dharmakaya) – associated with the anahata chakra. Operates in the upper astral plane.

● Body of Essence (svabavikakaya) – associated with the vishudha chakra. Operates in the middle causal.

● Body of Reward (sambhogakaya) – associated with the ajna chakra. Operates in the upper causal.

● Vajra body (vajrakaya) – associated with the sahasrara chakra. True Ego. It represents the Atman. Abides in the state of nirvana.

In the course of the Six Yogas of Naropa, yogis progress sequentially from the lower to the higher chakras and work with the awakened bodies corresponding to these chakras. The Six Yogas of Naropa – performed in the following order – are:

● Tummo Yoga (Yoga of Inner Heat), which focuses on generating inner warmth and energy, often linked with the lower chakras and the awakening of kundalini;

● Bardo Yoga, which deals with the intermediate states (bardo) between life and death and trains the practitioner to maintain awareness during transitions;

● Yoga of Dreams, which cultivates lucid dreaming and the ability to recognise dreams as illusory, using this insight to deepen spiritual awakening;

● Yoga of the Illusory Body, which trains the yogi to perceive all phenomena, including the body, as illusory and facilitates the formation and control of subtle bodies;

● Yoga of Light, which involves practices of visualisation and working with inner light and aims at realising the luminous nature of mind;

● Yoga of Transference of Consciousness (phowa), which teaches the method of consciously transferring one’s consciousness at the moment of death to a higher realm or state, ensuring a favourable rebirth or liberation.

Four Yanas

Yana. The path to achieving various spiritual levels proceeds through spiritual practice (sādhana). A wide range of interests is realised through spiritual practice. This may be simply love or attachment to the Supreme, or to some saint, or to a particular deity (or even just to its form). It may also be an attraction to saṃsāra, or it may be a material interest. Spiritual practice includes specific techniques such as asanas, special physical exercises, walking (standing or running), and pranayamas. In Christianity, standing is a very important gymnastic component of spiritual practice (though its significance is little understood; for this reason, church officials who refer to officials holding candles at ceremonies merely for show as “candle‑holders” are wrong). Spiritual practice also includes mental exercises such as meditations, mantras, prayers, and reading sutras. It also involves making changes to one’s lifestyle, as well as purification techniques and various ascetic abstentions – such as, for example, intermittent dry fasting. Spiritual practice further includes various ritual actions and the performance of ceremonies, as well as different ways of making offerings – of oneself, one’s actions, or one’s possessions. Spiritual practice is carried out either independently or under the guidance of various teachers, either individually or by joining like‑minded groups. The multitude of schools, approaches, paths, and methods of spiritual inquiry are traditionally systematised, categorised, and correlated with the four yanas. Each subsequent yana includes all the preceding ones.

● Hinayana (literally "lesser vehicle") is the path of individual, personal liberation. It has another name: Theravada. This path involves the adept leaving home, joining a monastic community, and becoming a monk by taking on the relevant monastic vows and precepts. Within this yana, the practice of retreat is also carried out – that is, when the adept abandons worldly life but lives outside the monastic community. Sometimes, retreat is carried out outside the community but under its supervision. If we compare the speed of spiritual growth within a community and outside it, progress within the community is an order of magnitude faster. Laypeople, meanwhile, should strive to become monks. If this is not possible, then a layperson should structure their life so that it is as close as possible to the monastic lifestyle. Among the recommended offerings that laypeople can make are donations to the monastic community. Through such an offering, a layperson accumulates karmic data so that in the next life there will be no more obstacles to monastic life. A marked feature of Hinayana is social seclusion, autistic tendencies, and self‑centredness. Since any interaction or social openness on the part of the adept brings their state back to the initial, worldly level – because in this case the adept becomes filled with data received from another person, and this foreign data is usually unbearable for them, causing them to fall back to the worldly level. The goal of Hinayana is small nirvana. One who attains small nirvana is called an Arhat. After personal attainment, having become an Arhat, the adept can choose what to do next: abandon life and enter small anupadhishesha nirvana, or take up the path of Mahayana.

● Mahayana (literally "great vehicle") – is, in the strict, original sense, the continuation of the path of spiritual growth after attaining the level of an Arhat. It is the path of the Bodhisattva – Bodhisattvayana. The main task of a Bodhisattva is to lead all souls to spiritual awakening. The goal of Mahayana is mahanirvana. One who ultimately attains mahanirvana is called a buddha.

However, there is another, broader meaning of the term Mahayana. It turned out that Mahayana can be practised even at the stage of Hinayana. Moreover, it turned out that if a person has not yet attaned the level of a Bodhisattva, but nevertheless practises what a Bodhisattva should do, their speed of spiritual progress increases by an order of magnitude. Thus, Mahayana in the broad sense is the path of saving all souls. Adepts of Mahayana initially strive to attain enlightenment for the sake of saving all souls. This approach is based on the development of bodhicitta. Bodhicitta (literally “awakened consciousness”) is the conscious choice and resolve of the adept – regardless of whether they are already an Arhat or not – to dedicate themself entirely to saving all souls.

Mahayana, in this broad sense, unites all the other vehicles. It is practised by both monks and laypeople. Within schools of Mahayana, there is often a mistaken belief that mahanirvana differs from small nirvana in that one enters small nirvana individually, while one enters mahanirvana collectively. This is not the case. Both are achieved individually (instances of simultaneous collective awakening are practically non‑existent). The difference between the two lies in the spiritual level. The practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa and the six Buddha bodies is also part of Mahayana.

● Tantrayana (literally "secret vehicle", tantra translates as "connection, thread, sequence") is a secret, esoteric vehicle. Tantrayana is included in both Mahayana and Vajrayana. In Tantrayana, non‑trivial means are used to achieve the goal: magic, borderline states (of life and death), psychotechniques, and sociotechniques. Tantra is understood as the practice of achieving the final result (“fruit”) – the state of Buddha – by any possible means. The word “tantra” is understood as the unbroken continuity of cause (basis), skillful means (path), and fruit. In tantra, rituals, mudras, meditations, and yantras are practised. All tantra practices are secret; one must not speak of them to anyone, otherwise there will be no effect from the practice. An important detail of tantra is the Bodhisattva vow: the adept, without fail – regardless of whether they are an Arhat or not – must take a vow to save all living beings. Also an important condition of tantra is taking a vow to attain the state of Buddha in order to later save all or as many souls as possible. Tantra is considered the shortest and at the same time the most dangerous path. For a tantra adept, it is very important to find a good teacher, who must also be thoroughly vetted.

Tantra transforms the adept into a divine being. Identification with a deity (or deities) occurs through mantras, mandalas, meditations, and rituals. Signs and symbols acquire special importance in practice, particularly words written in Sanskrit characters (which quite resonates with Orthodox discussions about the need to recite prayers in Church Slavonic, and which inevitably creates a special existential perception – although it is more than obvious that the lag of church language behind the modern one is a natural regularity). Tantra is characterised by an expansion of the list of practices, departing from traditional Buddhist meditations and rituals, and allowing borrowings from other religions – such as yoga, Christianity, Sufism, paganism, and Taoism. Physiology is studied as a subject of organism transformation. Techniques for activating sexual energy are used. A rule is introduced for the work of consciousness: there are no failures in practice – that is, any failure is not a failure but, on the contrary, a success, a necessary event for development, a lesson that must be studied in order to avoid repeating the mistake. A repentant sinner is higher in spiritual level than a righteous person. Moral and ethical norms are re‑examined.

It should be especially noted that there is a significant difference between genuine tantra and what amateurs commonly mistake it for. A large number of so‑called tantrists who have appeared recently (in the early 21st century), practising in the tradition of Rajneesh or Andrey Lapin, in fact have nothing to do with genuine tantra. They are merely engaged in highly sophisticated group sex, using esoteric, magical, and energetic techniques – all of which they practise for the sake of obtaining ever more sophisticated pleasure. As a rule, in these orgies there is not even any talk of what spiritual growth means.

● Vajrayana (literally "diamond vehicle") is the path of forming an indestructible consciousness. The main aspect of Vajrayana is unshakable devotion to the guru. “Indestructible consciousness cannot be formed; it can only be copied”. In Vajrayana, very high demands are placed on the spiritual level of the guru. In Vajrayana, the guru must be at least a Buddha or a Bodhisattva very close to supreme awakening. Vajrayana is considered the highest vehicle. It is not hard.