Trying to understand the 7 planes

[lilcory]

I was reading up on the seven planes of existence, and I have to say (though I'm not the only one I'm sure) that this subject confuses my limited human understanding. Can someone explain this concept to me? I would really love to understand the knowledge that created this life, and universe. I wish I could understand how this all works.

[Xanth]

http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2010/09/01/my-view-on-the-wider-reality/

This is just my opinion, obviously. 

In the end, this knowledge doesn't help anyone actually project.  It's best to first have your experiences THEN worry about how they fit in the grand scheme of things... if that what floats your boat. 

My belief of how the wider reality is setup comes about from a mixture of Robert Monroe, Frank Kepple and my own experiences.

Robert Monroe devised the "Focus Level" model of reality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_level
# Focus 1 – Physical Waking Consciousness. The level of awareness in which people spend most of their daily, waking lives.
# Focus 3 – Basic Hemi-Sync. The first level where Hemi-Sync starts to have an effect on the person.
# Focus 10 – Mind Awake / Body Asleep. The physical body sleeps and the mind is awake.
# Focus 11 – Auto-suggestion state.
# Focus 12 – Expanded Awareness. The awareness is expanded beyond the physical body.
etc...

Frank Kepple came along later, following in Robert Monroe's footsteps, in an attempt to duplicate his work.  Later, he further refined Monroe's Focus Model to compile associated "Focus Levels" into a more concise model.
http://www.astralpulse.com/frankkepple.html
# Focus 1 oC = Monroe Focus C1, 3 & 10
# Focus 2 oC = Monroe Focus 12, 15, 21 & 22
# Focus 3 oC = Monroe Focus 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27
# Focus 4 oC Here the comparison ends, as his Focus 4 oC has no Monroe counterpart.

His differentiates from Monroe's model by the use of "oC" or "of Consciousness" suffix.

Focus 1 oC is this physical reality.  However, Focus 1 also extends to what some people refer to as the RTZ (Real Time Zone).  He refers to both of these sections collectively as the "Wider Physical".

Focus 2 oC is the area of consciousness where we do our Dreaming, Lucid Dreaming and what people refer to as Astral Projection.  This is the area called the imagination, the subconscious, or some even refer to it as "the astral".  This is your own personal area of consciousness, that people can not directly visit, they can however influence it by means of telepathy and other forms of communication.  I have projected here many times fully consciously aware.  To me, this is personal truth.

Focus 3 oC is the area of consciousness which is described more as a Collective area.  On the lower branches of this Focus levels you'll find people of similar Earth Belief Systems congregate and live in their self created expectations of their afterlife.  The upper branches are the "transition areas", where you'll live while trying to remember what it's like to live in a subjective reality once again.  Then, when you're ready, you have the choice to either return to Earth for another go around at being human, or move back to Focus 4.  I personally haven't consciously explored this area of consciousness as of yet, but I feel like I'm close.  So this is a belief to me.

Focus 4 oC... well, there's not too much I can tell you about this as it's way beyond anything I've seen/done.  Frank describes it as a loss of individuality.  He describes it as plugging your mind into a sea of minds.  It's an area of COMPLETELY subjectivity.

Anyways, those are the Four main Focus levels as per Mr. Kepple.

Now, I'm going to relate these levels to the more occult versions of them.

Physical, Astral, Mental, Buddhic, Atmic (I'll stop there, as I have no knowledge past it).
# The Physical Plane = Focus 1 oC, Obviously equates to this physical reality we're in now.
# The Astral and Mental Planes = Focus 2 oC, I believe these two planes are misinterpreted by many, and I believe that they are one in the same.
# The Buddhic Plane = Focus 3 oC
# The Atmic Plane = Focus 4 oC

So that's my view of the modern model of the Wider Reality and how it fits into the classical, or old world mystical reality system.

[CFTraveler]

I was reading up on the seven planes of existence, and I have to say (though I'm not the only one I'm sure) that this subject confuses my limited human understanding. Can someone explain this concept to me? I would really love to understand the knowledge that created this life, and universe. I wish I could understand how this all works.

The idea of seven planes comes from ancient Hindu mythology in which environments were described by their characteristics.  The term 'plane' was derived from the Indian term  (was it loka?) which translates as planet or locale.  The planes are supposed to be seven (I think they subdivided them as seven because of the seven chakras) but can be divided differently.
They go 'up' or 'out' depending on how far they get from physical reality, like chakras.
They can be divided as such: Physical (which is what it means) and etheric, which is an energetic version of the physical, and considered 'physical' by some.
Then comes 'astral' with a few subdivisions (lower, middle and upper)
Then comes 'mental' which is not physical at all, and very conceptual, and  then comes buddhic, atmic, etc. which really is where 'gods' and 'avatars' 'reside', which IMO is just a very 'high' mental plane.
So even though the number seven is 'official' you see really three categories of planes,
physical (etheric)
astral (which is full of ideas mixed with fantasy-type locales and sometimes natural looking) and
mental- which is fully conceptual, and can take any form, depending on what the concept is supposed to be. 

I described the environmental 'planes' as they are usually experienced, while Xanth showed you the Monroe and Frank models, which are based on the percipient's brainstates (focus of consciousness) as they are having the experiences.

One is based on the experience and the nonphysical inner senses used to perceive it, the other is based on the brainstate of the experiencer.


Cheers.

[Xanth]

Also, the last bit of my post shows "my interpretation" of how the Focus levels (Monroes and Kepples) relate to the "old world" 7 planes. 

CF did a wonderful job describing everything too, might I add. 

[lilcory]

I should have stated this before. I have had astral projections many times in the past, but with a limited understanding of what exactly was happening. I posted this to have a better understanding for the future projections. Thanks your responses were very useful.