Modes of Vision

A mode of vision is simply a way of processing information.  For example, etheric sensing is a mode of vision that relies on the etheric senses.  There are no hard and fast rules to categorize different modes of vision.  It depends how specific you want to be.  For example, you could break down etheric sensing into separate modes of vision such as etheric sight, etheric hearing, etc.  

 

Modes of vision overlap.  For example, when you see an aura with your eyes open, the vision from the third eye overlays on the physical image.  In fact, that is the problem for most people when cultivating subtle senses; they cannot distinguish particular senses because of the multiple overlap.   The point of identifying a mode of vision is to isolate it and help it develop.  

 

Physical Vision

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• Don't neglect developing your physical senses!  The physical senses are actually etheric senses.  Consequently, as you develop non-physical vision, your physical senses enhance.  
   

• At the same time, the physical senses are so tangible that they are the easiest to map.
   

• As you work on the physical senses, you realize that we just don't passively receive information from the physical senses.  There is an active processing component as well.  A trained musician can pick up subtle details in music that most of us miss.  Take an art or music appreciation course, or a tasting class, and notice how much more you notice in the applicable physical sense.
   

  • This active processing component is why manas in classical Indian philosophy is referred to as the 'raja' or king of the senses.  Manas, as the lowest level of the mind, is like a central processor of sensory information.
     

  • The same idea applied in Medeival Western philosophy when they refer to the 'common sense', which meant something different than we we mean today.
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• This active processing component in physical vision is present in other modes of vision as well.  When we train our vision, we are not only training our ability to receive information but our ability to interpret the information, which then helps us receive more.

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Etheric Sensing

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Etheric sensing is well covered in the ATE book and the Buzzing Forest Knowledge Tracks, but here are some other tips.

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• Plants are probably the easiest way to isolate your etheric sense.  Tune into a plant before and after watering.  Even better, take a walk in the woods after a strong rain.  The fullness you sense is a result of etheric sensing. 

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• It often helps to tune into the water element of a plant or fruit to trigger etheric sensing.
   

• Martial arts/contact sports.  You can really develop etheric sensing with these activities because you get in close proximity with other people's etheric bodies.  Moreover, you do this in an invasive context where you have to respond to an active intrusion in your own etheric space.  In the case of combat oriented martial arts, they are actually trying to strike you.  Almost all of the highly trained martial artists I've worked with have an extremely strong and awakened etheric sense, sometimes to the point of being able to sense what other people are doing with their eyes closed. 
   

  • In the godan test of Bujinkan (ninjutsu), the test is simple: the student has to sit in kneeling position with eyes closed.  The master stands behind and cuts at the student with a sword from behind with a real swing.  If the student rolls away perfectly, he passes.  In modern times, the test is administered with a wooden sword because people do fail regularly!  I've worked with people who passed the godan test and their etheric skills are pretty impressive.  Note it takes most people years of training to get to the level of being able to passing this test.
     

• Response time.
   

  •   I find that etheric sensing often has a more gradual sensation than something like noetic vision. 
     

  • After tuning into an object etherically for a while, there is a residue or impression that lingers in your memory that takes a bit of time to dissipate before you can tune into another object with a clean slate.  
     

Astral Scanning/Space Scanning

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• Primarily done with the third eye.
   

• Seeing auras.  (Feeling auras might be etheric sensing instead).

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• When astral scanning with the eyes open, it helps to see empty space as solid thing.  That is, get a sense of the space around and between objects.  This relaxes the grasping mechanism of physical vision which can interfere with the third eye.

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• Try to receive the light from the object you are scanning, rather than gaze at the object. Think of the object as radiating or transmitting light that you receive. The reflected light may be physical light, but the radiating light will be astral.
   

• Objects with strong astral light qualities to practice space scanning:
   

  • Precious metals.  Gold and silver in particular.  
     

  • Colorful flowers.  Particularly flowers that are bee pollinated (perhaps the ultraviolet light they reflect?)
     

  • Honey.  Pure sugar crystals are also good, but notice the difference in how the light feels.
     

  • Stars and planets.  The moon and Venus are the easiest to start with, then Jupiter.  Again, don't tune into the celestial body directly.  Rather, tue  but the light.
     

Vertical Knowing/Noetic Vision

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• Vertical knowing is an abstract mode of vision, but extremely important.  It shows how they are connected in a greater whole.  What the meaning or significance of something is.  You can see all kinds of non-physical colors and images with astral vision, but without vertical knowing you won't understand what they signify.
   

• Qualities in superastral spaces.
   

  • Keep in there's a wide variety of superastral spaces.   You can't expect a singular defining quality that is only present in superastral spaces.
     

  • The words 'vertical', 'noetic' and 'archetype' are used somewhat loosely to describe superastral spaces.  I don't think there's a clear differentiation, but we could say that superastral is the broadest category and simply means the higher reaches of the astral.  Vertical would be a superastral space that has the quality of verticality, somehow or another.  Noetic is an even more refined region where dimensionality seems irrelevant and transcended somehow, and the space is marked by an intense sense of meaning.  Usually quite abstract. Archetype is more a reference to a particular thing, or, you could say, a noetic form.  It would be the highest noetic level of an object; its creative force and meaning.
     

    • If archetype is too confusing, you can think of it simply as the 'source principle' for an object.  I find referring to it as a blueprint is misleading as it makes it seem like the archetype is a fixed plan or design rather than something as alive as the organism itself.​
       

  • Superastral pulsing (SAP) is the traditional quality associated with many superastral spaces.  However, I do not notice SAP with all superastral spaces.  It seems more prevalent when there's a connection.  I could be missing something of course.
     

  • These aren't traditional qualities, but with noetic spaces you often get a sense of geometry or geometrical shapes.  It also doesn't have to be distinct shapes; it could be a sense of structured patterns or lattices that blurs in to a general sense of geometry.  
     

    • These don't necessarily come as visual images.  You "see" them with noetic vision, which is more flexible than physical vision.  However, it may be that you are seeing the noetic shapes and some actual imagery at the same time.  
       

    • They should be accompanied by a sense of voltage or power that does something to your consciousness, even if you can't quite explain exactly what.  Doesn't have to be dramatic, but you might see new things or get new insights.  It can also be dramatic, where you are hit by massive inspiration.
       

  • At higher levels, the "quality" can be quite abstract and formless. Keep in mind formless doesn't mean everything is blurred or collapsed together.  A formless space can be highly precise and differentiated, but it does not have a sense of extension.  (Think of tasting a complex wine or sauce, there's a whole bunch of flavors that you can differentiate but not in terms of extension).
     

  • The essence of noetic vision is knowing.  Silent, packed knowing. 
     

    • You can sometimes intuit when someone understands something even when they don't say anything.  What sense are you using when this happens?
       

• Suggestions for activities to develop noetic vision.  
   

  • Archetypes behind living organisms​
     

    • When you tune into a plant or animal, don't just tune into the etheric.  Try to get a sense of the archetypal space or form as well.  ​​The archetypes behind living things are some of the most powerful you will find.   They have a powerful creative force that pure mathematical spaces by comparison lack: they make things happen.
       

    • All living things of any complexity have a geometry to them.  Often fractal-like, especially with plants.  Tune into the geometry behind organisms as a pathway to the archetype.
       

    • Look for the axis of symmetry.  This is the foundation of the organism that everything seems to emerge from.  The sense of the archetype is often strongest there.  Don't use your physical vision alone.  Try to intuit the axis of symmetry noetically.
       

    • In humans, of course, the axis of symmetry is the spinal axis and aligns with the axis of verticality.   
       

    • Complex organisms tends to have bilateral symmetry generally.  But some organisms (e.g. starfish) have radial symmetry, and for those you want to tune into the center of the organism as the pathway to the archetype.
       

  • Mathematical spaces
     

    • One of the interesting things about these spaces it they lack an etheric component.  Or do they?  When you think about them, they have a marked effect on your cranial envelope.  Very refining; they bring clarity and precision to the chitta.
       

    • There's always a question whether these spaces are natural or man-made.
       

      • A man-made mathematical space is like a rule set for a game, a computer program or a math theory.  These spaces can be brilliant, even profound and inspiring.  More often however can also simply be dry and clever with no real voltage. 
         

      • Natural mathematical spaces, which seem to underlie the laws of nature are much more profound and rich and can take you to extremely deep and mysterious spaces.
         

  • Music and Sound
     

    • Music is great for mapping noetic spaces because the noetic inspiration is tied to the etheric and physical form in a much more intimate way than words.  Music is analog.  The shape of etheric of the musical sound corresponds to the astral space more directly than words, for example, where the sounds of the words do not correlate what is being expressed.
       

    • Given that most music people listen to is recorded music, there's great opportunity to put vision on the way music is stored and played.  Of course, the vast majority of recorded music is stored in digital format.  If you have a chance to listen to analog recorded music (vinyl), see if it makes a difference in terms of what's passed.
       

    • When you listen to music, it's not just about the physical sound.  There's also the energetic quality, which could be described as "cleanness" or "transparency".  It may not sound different from a physical perspective but the link to the astral space is much better.  It moves you more, and is often less fatiguing.  If it's really prominent and you have the right equipment, you get transported to the time and space the music was recorded.
       

    • Remember that we think of digital music as being stored as bits (0s and 1s), but it's not as simple as that.  Digital cables don't literally transfer 0s and 1s, but electrical current that is modulated to mimic 0 and 1 signals.  There's also the DAC (digital analog converter) that translates the digital code to actual sound you can hear.  Worth mapping different cables and DACs and seeing if they make a difference in the energetic quality of the sound.
       

      • Very controversial topic if you decide to explore audiophile forums.  You were warned.
         

  • Team Sports/Multiplayer Online Games
     

    • Although we usually think of sports as physical and etheric activities, they have a strong superastral component as well.  This is particularly true in teams sports where you have groups of people competing in a rapidly changing playing field.
       

    • Elite athletes at team sports often have an uncanny ability to read a game situation and make quick, real-time adjustments to make a play.  They also are sometimes able to anticipate other players' future positions very accurately.  This is a superastral ability that relies on rapid information processing as well as sensitivity to upper currents and flows.
       

      • In professional American football (gridiron), ​​​it is notoriously difficult to predict which quarterbacks will reach elite level.  Some of the best NFL quarterbacks are not the most athletic.  At the top level, superastral perception and the ability to "read the game" is a far more important indicator of success than differences in athletic ability.  Next time you watch a professional football game, can you perceive this ability in various players?
         

    • Team sports also include esports and multiplayer online games.  The amount of coordinated activity that occurs in a 3 second team fight in a professional MOBA game is pretty astonishing.  
       

    • Remember that if it seems like not much is happening when you are watching a professional team sport, or if it all seems easy, you are probably missing something.   It takes vision to see all the microadjustments and nuances that the top players make that differentiates them from the rest.

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