Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Sikh Guru, describes five “Khands” (spiritual stages) in his bani Japji Sahib as follows:
- Dharam Khand: The realm of dharma, where we reflect on our karmas
- Gyan Khand: The realm of wisdom and understanding
- Saram Khand: The realm of realization
- Karam Khand: The realm of action
- Sach Khand: The realm of Truth
The Five Blue Ethers
Dr. Jivan Joti Kaur Khalsa describes these realms in depth in her book, Dying into Life: The Yoga of Death, Loss and Transformation. The information below is a short excerpt from this book, which is available for purchase on Dr. Jivan Joti Kaur’s website (see link below).
The First Blue Ether, called Karta Purakh, contains the Akashic Records, also referred to as the Cosmic Library or Storehouse, where all the information of the universe is kept, including the life histories of all beings. In the first blue ether, we access ourselves and are accounted for, according to our karmas. It is like an audit, a factual viewing so to speak. The soul intuitively knows that there is the next step – lessons to learn, debts to pay – a period of purification.
The Soul in the Subtle Body goes on to the second and third blue ethers, by passing through a kind of shield, or doorway, which separates one realm from the next. It is only when we undergo our internal process and reach a certain level of purification that we are granted passage into the next realm.
The Second Blue Ether is called Sopurakh and is where we assess where we are in the cosmic play and what lessons we have yet to learn to further our consciousness. We not only acknowledge the need for these lessons, but we must next learn how to consistently maintain them throughout the test of Time and Space. This means that our efforts are able to demonstrate our consciousness through constancy of actions in all situations.
The Third Blue Ether, called Purakh, is the etheric realm of Khalsa. Up to this point, we have faced our karmas and received the tools we need to pay them off. Now in the third ether, free of the lessons of Time and Space, we move into a more refined realm, that of Khalsa, or “pure one.” There is a grace and dignity, which relates to spiritual consciousness. Instead of focusing on oneself, we turn our awareness to serving and blessing others. We have moved from individual identity to infinite identity. Free of the confines of an individual identity, there is no shield between the third and fourth ether, allowing us to easily slip into the next realm.
Between the third and Fourth Blue Ether, there is a huge shift. The Fourth Blue Ether, called Brahm Prakash, is the realm of radiance or the lighted self. Once we reach this ether, we cannot reincarnate into another life without the will of God. From this layer, we can penetrate into all realms of existence and bliss is experienced.
The Fifth Blue Ether, called Brahm, or God, is the ultimate flow and merger into God, where out of the formless, limitlessness exists and all of creation comes into being. In ancient scriptures, it is said that in this realm, one experiences the divine gaze of the Creator.
If one meditates during life and at the time of death, it is possible to reach all five ethers. There is no exact set time it takes the soul to progress through the ethers.
The Five Blue Ethers are beautifully described in Japji Sahib – Paurees 34-37 – the first ether in Pauree 34, the second ether in Pauree 35, the third ether in Pauree 36 and ethers fourth and fifth in Pauree 37.
Video: The Journey of the Soul through the Five Blue Ethers
In this video Dr. Jivan Joti Kaur shares information about the five blue ethers, and the journey of the soul through these beautiful realms:
~Resources: Living Reality (1994) by Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, Dying into Life: The Yoga of Death, Loss and Transformation (Second Edition, December 2022) by Dr. Jivan Joti Kaur Khalsa and “The Five Blue Ethers” (Sikh Dharma International).
