And what is its nature?
This is complicated to explain, but I will give you some clues to help
understand it. Through the work of Albert Einstein and the subsequent
development of Quantum Science, you know that matter is no more
than a form of condensed energy, that atoms can decompose into
more simple particles and that from this decomposition a part of the
matter is transformed into light. Consequently, although light and
matter have such different properties, to the point that they look like
independent things, the difference between light and matter is not
their essence, but rather their structure and level of condensation. If
that is hard for you to understand, imagine what happens with water,
which shows such different properties in a solid state (ice), liquid and
gas (steam), although its composition still remains the same, purely
because the mobility or the vibrational state of its molecules varies,
these being more static in ice, less static in water and even less in
steam. Using this example as a model, we can say that the physical
world is the most condensed form of vital essence that exists,
manifesting in that state a series of properties and following a series of
laws which Physics describes. But there are intermediate levels of
condensation between the purely spiritual universe and the physical
universe, which could be classified from the most subtle to the densest
on a spiritual, mental, astral (or energetic) and material (or physical)
level, each one of these having its own properties and laws. These
worlds are not separated from each other, but are all perfectly
interrelated, because the most condensed forms could not exist apart
from the most subtle forms.
So is there a difference between the terms astral world and spiritual
world, because I sometimes feel that you use these terms as if they
were the same?
Yes, there are differences. As I say, the spiritual world is the plane from
which all the rest emerges, and is indestructible, whereas the astral
world is the manifestation of the spiritual world on the energetic plane.
In other words, it is a matter of a very condensed form of vital essence,
although not as condensed as the material world. The astral world is
mutable and is subject to periodic processes of generation and
degeneration. So when I refer to the spiritual world, I am actually
referring to the sum of the three most subtle worlds (spiritual, mental
and astral) which are beyond your perception, in contrast to the term
physical world, which refers to the world that you know. The use of one
term or another will depend on the context or whatever emphasis I
wish to put on a certain aspect of it. I will normally use the term spiritual
world as a more general and broader term, whereas astral world is a