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Plan 64. Phenomenal plane (prakriti-loka)

In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna speaks of the dual nature of prakriti: it is both manifest and divine. Manifested prakriti is the material world, consisting of the elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether (akash), as well as mind (manas), intellect (buddhi) and ego (ahamkara). These are the eight gross manifestations of prakriti. Divine prakriti is Maya-Shakti. After describing the eightfold manifestation of prakriti, Krishna says to Arjuna: "Know also my other prakriti, the highest, the life of all that exists, which supports this world."

This is the unchanging prakriti, the will of the Supreme, imperishable and eternal. This prakriti is beyond the seven lokas, beyond the akasha. The element of which this plane is composed is mahat, from which all other elements arise, mind, intellect and ego. Maha means "great" and t is short for tattva, or "element." Thus mahat is maha-tattva, the great element that gives rise to the other eight elements.

From this it is clear that the gross, material existence is born from the divine prakriti. After the completion of the creation process, as the individual "I" or human personality evolves, the reverse process begins: the "I" seeks to return to its source. In this process, the player starts from the physical plane, which he reached in his journey from the subtle to the gross, and gradually, through karma and spiritual discipline, he crosses the seven worlds. If he is able to overcome tamas, then he reaches prakriti-loka.

Traveling through seven levels, the player encounters various manifestations of prakriti. But, rising above them, he acquires a new experience and perspective, the ability to see what lies beyond the surface of the sensually perceived world - the original prakriti. Each object contains a certain idea. An object that does not contain an idea is empty, just as an idea that is not embodied in an object is sterile. Having received the proper sensory experience, the player now approaches the world of ideas. And the source of all creation is revealed to his understanding.

In Sanskrit, the word prakriti means the original form of an object, the beginning, the source, the material cause, the substance of which all other things are composed, as well as the feminine, maternal principle. Prakriti is energy in its original form. It is energy and consciousness merged into one in a dissolved, undifferentiated state. From this state begins the process of densification of energies, the process of manifestation, giving birth to more and more diversity. From this condensed state, energy manifests itself in three dimensions:

  1. Material content (inertia, latent potential) that forms the body of the phenomenon.

  2. Action and interaction in the process of development.

  3. The internal goal of the phenomenon is the noumenon.

Crossing the plane of reality, the player reaches prakriti-loka, and the three gunas and five elements appear before him in their most pure, essential form.