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Plane of austerity

(tapa- or tapar-loka)

As knowledge was the main concern of the fifth chakra, hard work on the self — penance — characterizes the player who vibrates on the plane of austerity, the sixth chakra. Tapa means penance, mortification, burning and the practice of meditation on self-denial.

Tapa-loka is the sixth of the seven major lokas. This region does not perish at the night of Brahma. Air is the element that predominates in this loka, hence all the combinations interpenetrate each other without any difficulty. Although the elements finish with the fifth chakra within the human organism, in certain lokas, special regions situated in space, the elements still exist. Those who evolve by their hard work on themselves go to these lokas, depending upon the state of their consciousness. Those who dwell in this loka called tapa-loka are high ascetics and yogis — those who have gone on the path of no return and who are still engaged in high penances in order to be able to cross this level of consciousness and reach the next, the satya-loka, the plane of reality.

The developing witness-self recognizes the remaining karmas and sets about the arduous tasks necessary to burn them off. Hard penance is demanded. Karmas have become too heavy a burden to carry farther.

The player reaches tapa-loka either directly, through the practice of fourth-chakra sudharma, or gradually as he progresses through the fifth chakra, develops conscience, and masters his sun/moon energy system.

The experience of oneness with all reality strips the phenomenal, sensory world of its attractions. All the elements are now under the players command. His insight into the nature of the space-time continuum enables him to see the beginning and end of creation. Living in this limited body, he becomes unlimited. The player knows he is immortal spirit in a temporal body. Death ceases to inspire terror. Here the player understands the meaning of “I am That” or “That 1 am," known in Sanskrit as tattvamasi, or hamsa. The player now becomes known as paramhansa.

Much is said in the West of the third eye. To understand this phenomenon, the player must undergo the rigors of the plane of austerity. He must do penance. He must get away from the identification with man or woman. His whole understanding of himself must change radically. He must recognize within himself the presence of the Divine. He must feel his own infinite nature. Here the sound Om becomes his mantra. This is the cosmic syllable that creates resonances throughout his system and helps raise his level of energy. Every hour of the day, every minute, he hears his inner sound. The sound grows more and more pervasive until it encompasses all the sounds in his environment, internal and external. Whoever is in his presence becomes calm and starts hearing the same high-frequency sounds generated by his own system.

Each player has a specific effect on other players, depending on the level at which he is vibrating at the time. The presence of the first-chakra man assumes either a terrifying or a pitiable aspect. He aggressively seeks physical survival or laments his inability to attain it. The second-chakra man, concerned with sensual indulgence, seeks to charm and soothe. His voice is seductive, unctuous. The player vibrating in the third chakra issues challenges. He asserts his ego wherever and whenever possible in the search for ever broader identifications and for confirmation of the aspects he has already assumed. The fourth-chakra player inspires those around him. He has found an emotional center and produces no threatening vibrations. The player in the fifth chakra holds up a mirror crafted of his own experience, in which other players can see themselves reflected. The presence of the sixth-chakra man reveals the Divine. The other players lose their identities and inhibitions and try to merge their consciousness with that of the one who has established himself in the plane of austerity.