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The '''Akashic Records''' (from the [[Sanskrit]] ''ākāśa'', "sky", "space", or 'æther') are sometimes described as the "memory of nature". The subtle [[matter]] that composes the different [[plane]]s of the cosmos has the ability to receive and record "impressions" of everything that happens on the [[Plane#Terrestrial_planes|terrestrial plane]]. These records, which can be seen by some [[Clairvoyance|clairvoyants]], exist on several planes. The records on the [[Astral Plane|astral plane]] (or [[Astral Light|astral light]]) are said to be fragmentary and unreliable. The ones preserved on the mental plane, though more difficult to access, are said to be accurate. The latter are the true "akashic" records.
<br>
 
<br>
== General description ==
<br>
 
== Mental plane ==
The akashic records were first mentioned in 1881, in [[Henry Steel Olcott|Col. Olcott]]'s book [[The Buddhist Catechism (book)|''The Buddhist Catechism'']]. There, he talks about "a permanency of records in the Akasha, and the potential capacity of man to read the same when he has evolved to the stage of true individual enlightenment."
 
An example of this ability can be found in one of the [[Mahatma Letter No. 130#Page 10|letters]] from [[Koot Hoomi|Mahatma K.H.]] Referring to an accusation of plagiarism the [[Masters of Wisdom|Master]] received, he explained the following to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|A. P. Sinnett]]:
 
<blockquote>I have a habit of often quoting, minus quotation marks — from the maze of what I get in the countless folios of our Akasic libraries, so to say — with eyes shut. Sometimes I may give out thoughts that will see light years later; at other times what an orator, a Cicero may have pronounced ages earlier, and at others, what was not only pronounced by modern lips but already either written or printed — as in the [[Henry Kiddle#The Kiddle Incident|Kiddle case]].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 130 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 433.</ref></blockquote>
 
===Formation of the records===
[[File:Planes and Principles.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Principles and Planes according to H. P. Blavatsky]]
Clairvoyant [[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] explained that "every object undoubtedly is throwing off radiations in all directions, and it is precisely in this way . . . that the âkâshic records seem to be formed.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 69.</ref>
 
The term "[[Ākāśa|akasha]]" is used in [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature to refer to the [[matter]] of the third plane (counting from the subtler to the denser kind). In our Earth, it corresponds with the mental or manasic plane.
 
Although we talk of these records as being on the akasha, [[Theosophist]] C. W. Leadbeater explained that they are really formed "on planes far beyond any that we can possibly know at present".<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 119.</ref> The true records are not within any of the [[Plane#Terrestrial_planes|terrestrial planes]], but on the [[Plane#Macrocosmic or Solar planes|macrocosmic ones]]:
 
<blockquote>Whatever happens within our system happens absolutely within the consciousness of its [[Logos]], and so we at once see that the true record must be His memory; and furthermore, it is obvious that on whatever plane that wondrous memory exists, it cannot but be far above anything that we know, and consequently whatever records we may find ourselves able to read must be only a reflection of that great dominant fact, mirrored in the denser media of the lower planes.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 123-124.</ref></blockquote>
 
Thus, a clairvoyant sees the reflections of the true records on the mental matter or on the [[Astral Light|astral light]]. Again, in C. W. Leadbeater's words:
 
<blockquote>The word ["akashic record"] is in truth somewhat of a misnomer, for though the records are undoubtedly read from the âkâsha, or matter of the mental plane, yet it is not to it that they really belong. Still worse is the alternative title, "records of the astral light", which has sometimes been employed, for these records lie far beyond the astral plane, and all that can be obtained on it are only broken glimpses of a kind of double reflection of them, as will presently be explained.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 118.</ref></blockquote>


[[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] wrote:
== Astral Plane ==


<blockquote>In speaking of the general characteristics of the plane we must not omit to mention the ever-present background formed by the records of the past — the memory of nature, the only really reliable history of the world. While what we have on this plane is not yet the absolute record itself, but merely a reflection of something higher still, it is at any rate clear, accurate, and continuous, differing therein from the disconnected and spasmodic manifestation which is all that represents it in the astral world. It is, therefore, only when a clairvoyant possesses the vision of this mental plane that his pictures of the past can be relied upon; and even then, unless he has the power of passing in full consciousness from that plane to the physical, we have to allow for the possibility of errors in bringing back the recollection of what he has seen.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''The Devachanic Plane'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1909), 28.</ref></blockquote>
When a person develops [[clairvoyance]] the plane that opens up to his or her perception is the one that is immediately "above" the physical--the [[Astral Plane|astral plane]] (also called [[Astral Light|astral light]]). [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H. P. Blavatsky]] explained that on this plane we can find a record of everything that happened in the past:


As an example of this, [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] wrote in [[Mahatma Letter No. 130#Page 10|one of his letters]]:
<blockquote>According to [[Occultism|Occult]] teaching the Astral light is . . . the recorder of every thought; the universal mirror which reflects every event and thought as every being and thing, animate or inanimate. We call it the great Sea of Illusion, [[Māyā|Maya]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1918), 35.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>I have a habit of often quoting, minus quotation marks — from the maze of what I get in the countless folios of our Akasic libraries, so to say — with eyes shut. Sometimes I may give out thoughts that will see light years later; at other times what an orator, a Cicero may have pronounced ages earlier, and at others, what was not only pronounced by modern lips but already either written or printed — as in the [[Henry Kiddle|Kiddle case]].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 130 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 433.</ref></blockquote>
As can be seen in the quote, Mme. Blavatsky regards the astral light as illusory. In her writings she warns that "unless the [[Clairvoyance|Clairvoyant]] or Seer can get beyond this plane of illusion, he can never see the Truth, but will be drowned in an ocean of self-deception and hallucinations.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 361.</ref>


Geoffrey Farthing writes:
Clairvoyant [[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] explained why the records seen on this plane are unreliable. He wrote:


<blockquote>The higher levels of [[Ākāśa|Akasa]] concern the spiritual triad of man, his [[Ego]]. It is in this way that the Ego can be regarded as omniscient. It has access, in the Akasa, to the noumena of all phenomena. This is properly the seeing into the Akashic records we hear about. Often, however, this expression is used to describe what is really psychic vision, personal clairvoyance, in the [[Astral Light]].  
<blockquote>On the astral plane it is at once evident . . . that what we are dealing with is only a reflection of a reflection, and an exceedingly imperfect one, for such records as can be reached there are fragmentary in the extreme, and often seriously distorted. We know how universally water is used as a symbol of the astral light, and in this particular case it is a remarkably apt one. From the surface of still water we may get a clear reflection of the surrounding objects, just as from a mirror; but at the best it is only a reflection - a representation in two dimensions of three-dimensional objects, and therefore differing in all its qualities, except colour, from that which it represents; and in addition to this, it is always reversed.
<br>
<br>
This is far from Egoic omniscience, an important difference that should be noted. Only a high initiate can see into the spiritual levels of Akasa.<ref>Geoffrey Farthing, ''Exploring the Great Beyond'', (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 90-91.</ref></blockquote>
But let the surface of the water be ruffled by the wind and what do we find then? A reflection still, certainly, but so broken up and distorted as to be quite useless or even misleading as a guide to the shape and real appearance of the objects reflected. Here and there for a moment we might happen to get a clear reflection of some minute part of the scene - of a single leaf from a tree, for example; but it would need long labour and considerable knowledge of natural laws to build up anything like a true conception of the object reflected by putting together even a large number of such isolated fragments of an image of it.
<br>
Now in the astral plane we can never have anything approaching to what we have imaged as a still surface, but on the contrary we have always to deal with one in rapid and bewildering motion; judge, therefore, how little we can depend upon getting a clear and definite reflection. Thus a clairvoyant who possesses only the faculty of astral sight can never rely upon any picture of the past that comes before him as being accurate and perfect; here and there some part of it may be so, but he has no means of knowing which it is.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 124-125.</ref></blockquote>


== Astral Light ==
For this and other reasons, unless a person is especially trained for the purpose, it is not possible to read the records accurately on this plane. In Mme. Blavatsky's words:


The Astral Light has the ability to receive and store "impressions", and therefore. Thus, it retains a record of everything that happens. [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] explained:
<blockquote>Seeing in the astral light is not done through [[Manas]], but through the [psychic] senses, and hence has to do entirely with sense-perception removed to a plane different from this, but more illusionary. The final perceiver or judge of perception is in Manas, in the Self; and therefore the final tribunal is clouded by the astral perception if one is not so far trained or [[Initiation|initiated]] as to know the difference and able to tell the true from the false.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 400-G.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>The Astral Light . . . reflects on its lower individual plane the life of our Earth, recording it on its “tablets.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 357.</ref></blockquote>
== Mental plane ==
As [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] stated in the previous quote, direct perception takes place on the manasic or mental plane, which is the plane of [[Ākāśa|akasha]]. It is on this spiritual plane that the truth behind appearances can be perceived. Theosophist [[Geoffrey Farthing]] writes:


<blockquote>The records of past events, of every minutest action, and of passing thoughts, in fact, are really impressed on the imperishable waves of the ASTRAL LIGHT, around us and everywhere, not in the brain alone; and these mental pictures, images, and sounds, pass from these waves via the consciousness of the [[Ego#Lower ego|personal Ego]] or Mind (the [[Manas#Lower manas|lower Manas]]) whose grosser essence is [[astral]], into the “cerebral reflectors,” so to say, of our brain, whence they are delivered by the psychic to the sensuous [[consciousness]]. This at every moment of the day, and even during sleep.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 407.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>The higher levels of Akasa concern the [[Triad#Human triad|spiritual triad]] of man, his [higher] [[Ego]]. It is in this way that the Ego can be regarded as omniscient. It has access, in the Akasa, to the noumena of all phenomena. This is properly the seeing into the Akashic records we hear about. Often, however, this expression is used to describe what is really [[Psychism|psychic vision]], personal clairvoyance, in the [[Astral Light]]. This is far from Egoic omniscience, an important difference that should be noted. Only a high [[Initiation|initiate]] can see into the spiritual levels of Akasa.<ref>Geoffrey Farthing, ''Exploring the Great Beyond'', (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 90-91.</ref></blockquote>


This record takes place not only on a global level, but also at the level of personal experience:
Clairvoyant [[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] agrees on the idea that only on this level can the records be read accurately. In speaking of the general characteristics of the mental plane he explained:


<blockquote>Nothing that takes place, no manifestation however rapid or weak, can ever be lost from the Skandhic record of a man’s life. Not the smallest sensation, the most trifling action, impulse, thought, impression, or deed, can fade or go out from, or in the Universe. We may think it unregistered by our memory unperceived by our consciousness, yet it will still be recorded on the tablets of the astral light.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 130 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 415.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>We must not omit to mention the ever-present background formed by the records of the past — the memory of nature, the only really reliable history of the world. While what we have on this plane is not yet the absolute record itself, but merely a reflection of something higher still, it is at any rate clear, accurate, and continuous, differing therein from the disconnected and spasmodic manifestation which is all that represents it in the astral world. It is, therefore, only when a clairvoyant possesses the vision of this mental plane that his pictures of the past can be relied upon; and even then, unless he has the power of passing in full consciousness from that plane to the physical, we have to allow for the possibility of errors in bringing back the recollection of what he has seen.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''The Devachanic Plane'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1909), 28.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>According to Occult teaching the Astral light is . . . the recorder of every thought; the universal mirror which reflects every event and thought as every being and thing, animate or inanimate. We call it the great Sea of Illusion, Maya.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1918), 35.</ref></blockquote>
At this point in [[evolution]] relatively few people are conscious on the mental plane when the body is in trance or sleeping. The ability to be aware on this plane while remaining in the waking state is even more rare, and cannot be attained without a systematic training guided by those who have already developed this ability. Again, in C. W. Leadbeater's words:


The [[Adept]]s can access the "tablets" of the Astral Light as a source of information. Mme. Blavatsky stated:
<blockquote>The accurate reading of the records, whether of one's own past lives or those of others, must not, however, be thought of as an achievement possible to anyone without careful previous training. As has been already remarked, though occasional reflections may be had upon the astral plane, the power to use the mental sense is necessary before any reliable reading can be done. Indeed, to minimise the possibility of error, that sense ought to be fully at the command of the investigator while awake in the physical body; and to acquire that faculty needs years of ceaseless labour and rigid self-discipline.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 148-149.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>All things that ever were, that are, or that will be, having their record upon the astral light, or tablet of the unseen universe, the [[Initiation|initiated]] adept, by using the vision of his own spirit, can know all that has been known or can be known.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Isis Unveiled'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 588.</ref></blockquote>
== Buddhic plane ==


Another example based on personal experience is the help Mme. Blavatsky had from the Adepts in writing her book [[Isis Unveiled (book)|''Isis Unveiled'']]. She wrote:
[[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] briefly described the seeing these records on the [[buddhi]]c plane as follows:


<blockquote>It was neither a “spirit” nor “spirits” but living men who can draw before their eyes the picture of any book or manuscript wherever existing, and in case of need even that of any long forgotten and unrecorded event, who helped “Mme. Blavatsky.” The astral light is the store-house and the record book of all things, and deeds have no secrets for such men. And the proof of it may be found in the production of Isis Unveiled.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. VII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 250.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Great interest attaches to the experience of the clairvoyant with reference to these records when he stands upon the buddhic plane - the higher which his consciousness can reach even when away from the physical body until he attains the level of the [[Arhat]]s.
 
<br>
These records can also be accessed by the uninitiated. Because it follows the will of a person, it is possible to gather the Astral Light so that a [[Clairvoyance|clairvoyant]] can see its reflections:
Here time and space no longer limit him; he no longer needs, as on the mental plane, to pass a series of events in review, for past, present and future are all alike simultaneously present to him, meaningless as that sounds down here.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 132.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>If the Astral Light is collected in a cup or metal vessel by will-power, and the eyes fixed on some point in it with a strong will to see, a waking vision or “dream” is the result, if the person is at all sensitive. The reflections in the Astral Light are seen better with closed eyes, and, in sleep, still more distinctly.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 257.</ref></blockquote>
== Method ==


However, due to its nature, the visions seen by the uninitiated are often distorted reflections of the real:
Since these records contain the whole past of everything that happened, finding exactly what record to read requires a certain method. The untrained [[Psychism|psychic]] normally uses [[Psychometry]], which requires the presence of a physical object related to that record. [[Charles Webster Leadbeater|C. W. Leadbeater]] explained:


<blockquote>The Astral Light . . . reflects everything reversed in its treacherous wave (both from the upper planes and from its lower solid plane, the earth). Hence the confusion of its colors and sounds in the perception and clairaudience of the sensitive who trusts to its records––be that sensitive a Hatha-Yogi or a medium.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 613.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>How is it possible, amid the bewildering confusion of these records of the past, to find any particular picture when it is wanted? As a matter of fact, the untrained [[Clairvoyance|clairvoyant]] usually cannot do so without some special link to put him en rapport with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point, and it is quite probable that our ordinary [[memory]] is really only another presentment of the same idea. It seems as though there were a sort of magnetic attachment or affinity between any particle of matter and the record which contains its history - an affinity which enables it to act as a kind of conductor between that record and the faculties of anyone who can read it.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 139.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>The prototypes or ideas of things exist first on the plane of Divine eternal Consciousness and thence become reflected and reversed in the Astral Light, which also reflects on its lower individual plane the life of our Earth, recording it on its “tablets.” Therefore, is the Astral Light called illusion. It is from this that we, in our turn, get our prototypes. Consequently unless the Clairvoyant or Seer can get beyond this plane of illusion, he can never see the Truth, but will be drowned in an ocean of self-deception and hallucinations.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 361.</ref></blockquote>
In the case of a trained [[Occultism|occultist]], he can use the [[Kriyāśakti|power of his thought]] to recall the particular scene, or to search for it in the records:


For this and other reasons, trying to train oneself into seeing in the Astral Light is not recommended:
<blockquote>Even a trained clairvoyant needs some link to enable him to find the record of an event of which he has no previous knowledge. If, for example, he wished to observe the landing of Julius Caesar on the shores of England, there are several ways in which he might approach the subject. If he happened to have visited the scene of the occurrence, the simplest way would probably be to call up the image of that spot, and then run back through its records until he reached the period desired. If he had not seen the place, he might run back in time to the date of the event, and then search the Channel for a fleet of Roman galleys; or he might examine the records of Roman life at about that period, where he would have no difficulty in identifying so prominent a figure as Caesar, or in tracing him when found through all his Gallic wars until he set his foot upon British land.<ref>Charles Webster Leadbeater, ''Clairvoyance'', (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 139.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>Seeing in the astral light is not done through [[Manas]], but through the senses, and hence has to do entirely with sense-perception removed to a plane different from this, but more illusionary. The final perceiver or judge of perception is in Manas, in the Self; and therefore the final tribunal is clouded by the astral perception if one is not so far trained or [[Initiation|initiated]] as to know the difference and able to tell the true from the false. Another result is a tendency to dwell on this subtle sense-perception, which at last will cause an atrophy of Manas for the time being. This makes the confusion all the greater, and will delay any possible initiation all the more or forever. Further, such seeing is in the line of [[phenomena]], and adds to the confusion of the Self which is only beginning to understand this life; by attempting the astral [perception] another element of disorder is added by more phenomena due to another plane, thus mixing both sorts up. The [[Ego]] must find its basis and not be swept off hither and thither. The constant reversion of images and ideas in the astral light, and the pranks of the [[elemental]]s there, unknown to us as such and only seen in effects, still again add to the confusion. To sum it up, the real danger from which all others flow or follow is in the confusion of the Ego by introducing strange things to it before the time.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 400-G.</ref></blockquote>
==See also==
*[[Ākāśa|Akasha]]
*[[Astral Light]]
*[[Psychometry]]
*[[Memory]]


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
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[[es:Registros Akáshicos]]

Latest revision as of 20:44, 27 November 2023

The Akashic Records (from the Sanskrit ākāśa, "sky", "space", or 'æther') are sometimes described as the "memory of nature". The subtle matter that composes the different planes of the cosmos has the ability to receive and record "impressions" of everything that happens on the terrestrial plane. These records, which can be seen by some clairvoyants, exist on several planes. The records on the astral plane (or astral light) are said to be fragmentary and unreliable. The ones preserved on the mental plane, though more difficult to access, are said to be accurate. The latter are the true "akashic" records.

General description

The akashic records were first mentioned in 1881, in Col. Olcott's book The Buddhist Catechism. There, he talks about "a permanency of records in the Akasha, and the potential capacity of man to read the same when he has evolved to the stage of true individual enlightenment."

An example of this ability can be found in one of the letters from Mahatma K.H. Referring to an accusation of plagiarism the Master received, he explained the following to A. P. Sinnett:

I have a habit of often quoting, minus quotation marks — from the maze of what I get in the countless folios of our Akasic libraries, so to say — with eyes shut. Sometimes I may give out thoughts that will see light years later; at other times what an orator, a Cicero may have pronounced ages earlier, and at others, what was not only pronounced by modern lips but already either written or printed — as in the Kiddle case.[1]

Formation of the records

Principles and Planes according to H. P. Blavatsky

Clairvoyant C. W. Leadbeater explained that "every object undoubtedly is throwing off radiations in all directions, and it is precisely in this way . . . that the âkâshic records seem to be formed.[2]

The term "akasha" is used in Theosophical literature to refer to the matter of the third plane (counting from the subtler to the denser kind). In our Earth, it corresponds with the mental or manasic plane.

Although we talk of these records as being on the akasha, Theosophist C. W. Leadbeater explained that they are really formed "on planes far beyond any that we can possibly know at present".[3] The true records are not within any of the terrestrial planes, but on the macrocosmic ones:

Whatever happens within our system happens absolutely within the consciousness of its Logos, and so we at once see that the true record must be His memory; and furthermore, it is obvious that on whatever plane that wondrous memory exists, it cannot but be far above anything that we know, and consequently whatever records we may find ourselves able to read must be only a reflection of that great dominant fact, mirrored in the denser media of the lower planes.[4]

Thus, a clairvoyant sees the reflections of the true records on the mental matter or on the astral light. Again, in C. W. Leadbeater's words:

The word ["akashic record"] is in truth somewhat of a misnomer, for though the records are undoubtedly read from the âkâsha, or matter of the mental plane, yet it is not to it that they really belong. Still worse is the alternative title, "records of the astral light", which has sometimes been employed, for these records lie far beyond the astral plane, and all that can be obtained on it are only broken glimpses of a kind of double reflection of them, as will presently be explained.[5]

Astral Plane

When a person develops clairvoyance the plane that opens up to his or her perception is the one that is immediately "above" the physical--the astral plane (also called astral light). H. P. Blavatsky explained that on this plane we can find a record of everything that happened in the past:

According to Occult teaching the Astral light is . . . the recorder of every thought; the universal mirror which reflects every event and thought as every being and thing, animate or inanimate. We call it the great Sea of Illusion, Maya.[6]

As can be seen in the quote, Mme. Blavatsky regards the astral light as illusory. In her writings she warns that "unless the Clairvoyant or Seer can get beyond this plane of illusion, he can never see the Truth, but will be drowned in an ocean of self-deception and hallucinations.[7]

Clairvoyant C. W. Leadbeater explained why the records seen on this plane are unreliable. He wrote:

On the astral plane it is at once evident . . . that what we are dealing with is only a reflection of a reflection, and an exceedingly imperfect one, for such records as can be reached there are fragmentary in the extreme, and often seriously distorted. We know how universally water is used as a symbol of the astral light, and in this particular case it is a remarkably apt one. From the surface of still water we may get a clear reflection of the surrounding objects, just as from a mirror; but at the best it is only a reflection - a representation in two dimensions of three-dimensional objects, and therefore differing in all its qualities, except colour, from that which it represents; and in addition to this, it is always reversed.


But let the surface of the water be ruffled by the wind and what do we find then? A reflection still, certainly, but so broken up and distorted as to be quite useless or even misleading as a guide to the shape and real appearance of the objects reflected. Here and there for a moment we might happen to get a clear reflection of some minute part of the scene - of a single leaf from a tree, for example; but it would need long labour and considerable knowledge of natural laws to build up anything like a true conception of the object reflected by putting together even a large number of such isolated fragments of an image of it.

Now in the astral plane we can never have anything approaching to what we have imaged as a still surface, but on the contrary we have always to deal with one in rapid and bewildering motion; judge, therefore, how little we can depend upon getting a clear and definite reflection. Thus a clairvoyant who possesses only the faculty of astral sight can never rely upon any picture of the past that comes before him as being accurate and perfect; here and there some part of it may be so, but he has no means of knowing which it is.[8]

For this and other reasons, unless a person is especially trained for the purpose, it is not possible to read the records accurately on this plane. In Mme. Blavatsky's words:

Seeing in the astral light is not done through Manas, but through the [psychic] senses, and hence has to do entirely with sense-perception removed to a plane different from this, but more illusionary. The final perceiver or judge of perception is in Manas, in the Self; and therefore the final tribunal is clouded by the astral perception if one is not so far trained or initiated as to know the difference and able to tell the true from the false.[9]

Mental plane

As Mme. Blavatsky stated in the previous quote, direct perception takes place on the manasic or mental plane, which is the plane of akasha. It is on this spiritual plane that the truth behind appearances can be perceived. Theosophist Geoffrey Farthing writes:

The higher levels of Akasa concern the spiritual triad of man, his [higher] Ego. It is in this way that the Ego can be regarded as omniscient. It has access, in the Akasa, to the noumena of all phenomena. This is properly the seeing into the Akashic records we hear about. Often, however, this expression is used to describe what is really psychic vision, personal clairvoyance, in the Astral Light. This is far from Egoic omniscience, an important difference that should be noted. Only a high initiate can see into the spiritual levels of Akasa.[10]

Clairvoyant C. W. Leadbeater agrees on the idea that only on this level can the records be read accurately. In speaking of the general characteristics of the mental plane he explained:

We must not omit to mention the ever-present background formed by the records of the past — the memory of nature, the only really reliable history of the world. While what we have on this plane is not yet the absolute record itself, but merely a reflection of something higher still, it is at any rate clear, accurate, and continuous, differing therein from the disconnected and spasmodic manifestation which is all that represents it in the astral world. It is, therefore, only when a clairvoyant possesses the vision of this mental plane that his pictures of the past can be relied upon; and even then, unless he has the power of passing in full consciousness from that plane to the physical, we have to allow for the possibility of errors in bringing back the recollection of what he has seen.[11]

At this point in evolution relatively few people are conscious on the mental plane when the body is in trance or sleeping. The ability to be aware on this plane while remaining in the waking state is even more rare, and cannot be attained without a systematic training guided by those who have already developed this ability. Again, in C. W. Leadbeater's words:

The accurate reading of the records, whether of one's own past lives or those of others, must not, however, be thought of as an achievement possible to anyone without careful previous training. As has been already remarked, though occasional reflections may be had upon the astral plane, the power to use the mental sense is necessary before any reliable reading can be done. Indeed, to minimise the possibility of error, that sense ought to be fully at the command of the investigator while awake in the physical body; and to acquire that faculty needs years of ceaseless labour and rigid self-discipline.[12]

Buddhic plane

C. W. Leadbeater briefly described the seeing these records on the buddhic plane as follows:

Great interest attaches to the experience of the clairvoyant with reference to these records when he stands upon the buddhic plane - the higher which his consciousness can reach even when away from the physical body until he attains the level of the Arhats.


Here time and space no longer limit him; he no longer needs, as on the mental plane, to pass a series of events in review, for past, present and future are all alike simultaneously present to him, meaningless as that sounds down here.[13]

Method

Since these records contain the whole past of everything that happened, finding exactly what record to read requires a certain method. The untrained psychic normally uses Psychometry, which requires the presence of a physical object related to that record. C. W. Leadbeater explained:

How is it possible, amid the bewildering confusion of these records of the past, to find any particular picture when it is wanted? As a matter of fact, the untrained clairvoyant usually cannot do so without some special link to put him en rapport with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point, and it is quite probable that our ordinary memory is really only another presentment of the same idea. It seems as though there were a sort of magnetic attachment or affinity between any particle of matter and the record which contains its history - an affinity which enables it to act as a kind of conductor between that record and the faculties of anyone who can read it.[14]

In the case of a trained occultist, he can use the power of his thought to recall the particular scene, or to search for it in the records:

Even a trained clairvoyant needs some link to enable him to find the record of an event of which he has no previous knowledge. If, for example, he wished to observe the landing of Julius Caesar on the shores of England, there are several ways in which he might approach the subject. If he happened to have visited the scene of the occurrence, the simplest way would probably be to call up the image of that spot, and then run back through its records until he reached the period desired. If he had not seen the place, he might run back in time to the date of the event, and then search the Channel for a fleet of Roman galleys; or he might examine the records of Roman life at about that period, where he would have no difficulty in identifying so prominent a figure as Caesar, or in tracing him when found through all his Gallic wars until he set his foot upon British land.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 130 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 433.
  2. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 69.
  3. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 119.
  4. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 123-124.
  5. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 118.
  6. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1918), 35.
  7. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 361.
  8. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 124-125.
  9. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. IX (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 400-G.
  10. Geoffrey Farthing, Exploring the Great Beyond, (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1978), 90-91.
  11. Charles Webster Leadbeater, The Devachanic Plane, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1909), 28.
  12. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 148-149.
  13. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 132.
  14. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 139.
  15. Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyance, (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), 139.