The mental sheath is one of the four bodies that human beings have. We've all got material bodies, the familiar body made of flesh and bone; we've all got etheric bodies, which are made of life force and include the meridians that acupuncture works with; we've all got astral bodies, which we experience in dreaming; and we have mental sheaths, which are evolving into full bodies. (A sheath becomes a body when it evolves distinct organs.) Each of these is on its own plane, straightforwardly enough:
Material body --> material plane Etheric body --> etheric plane Astral body --> astral plane Mental body --> mental plane
The mental plane's the plane of the higher functions of mind -- it's not the plane of ordinary mental chatter, which is astral. It's through the mental sheath that we begin to perceive things like meaning, purpose, and value. Human souls differ in how far they've developed the mental sheath; pay attention to how easily a person can handle abstract thinking about meanings, purposes, and values and you can see how far along their mental sheath is. As for developing it, that's what meditation is for, though anything that helps you learn reflective, self-conscious thinking also helps.
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branchandroot
Re: Mental Sheath
Date: 2025-01-27 06:36 am (UTC)Material body --> material plane
Etheric body --> etheric plane
Astral body --> astral plane
Mental body --> mental plane
The mental plane's the plane of the higher functions of mind -- it's not the plane of ordinary mental chatter, which is astral. It's through the mental sheath that we begin to perceive things like meaning, purpose, and value. Human souls differ in how far they've developed the mental sheath; pay attention to how easily a person can handle abstract thinking about meanings, purposes, and values and you can see how far along their mental sheath is. As for developing it, that's what meditation is for, though anything that helps you learn reflective, self-conscious thinking also helps.