Another interesting function to note on the mental plane is the creation of the Mayavirupa, which literally means the body of illusion. It is a temporary astral body made by one who is in the mental body. It may not necessarily be similar to or resemble the physical body. This form is made at will and is best suited for the purposes for which it is projected.
The advantage of using the Mayavirupa is that it is not subject to glamour the astral body has to deal with on the astral plane. No astral glamour can overpower the Mayavirupa, nor can astral illusion deceive it. With the power to form the Mayavirupa, one is able to pass instantly from the mental plane to the astral and back.
The Mayavirupa may or may not be visible to entities on the astral plane. It is necessary to form the astral materialisation only when one wishes to become visible to entities in the astral world. When one has finished one’s work on the astral plane one withdraws to the mental plane again, and the Mayavirupa vanishes.
The apportionment of time that one spends on the physical, astral and mental planes varies considerably as one evolves. The primitive soul relating to the primitive human being lives almost exclusively on the physical plane spending only a few years on the astral plane after death.
As one develops, one’s astral life becomes longer and as one’s intellect unfolds, one begins to spend a little time on the mental plane as well.
An ordinary soul belonging to a civilised race remains longer on the mental plane than on the physical and astral.
In fact the more it evolves, the shorter becomes its astral and the longer its mental life.
Hence, except in the earliest stages of one’s evolution, one spends by far the greater part of time on the mental plane.
This period can be twice or thrice of the span of one’s physical life and largely depends upon how long takes the soul to work out its desires of the earthly life on the astral plane.
One’s life on the astral plane decreases and correspondingly the span of one’s life on the mental plane increases.
One must bear in mind that the true home of the ego is the mental plane; each descent into incarnation is merely a short, though important episode in its evolution.
The devotion of the religious devotee whose main thought is not the glory of the deity, but more on the lines of redemption of one’s own soul, cannot lead to a prolonged life on the mental plane. However if one never thinks selfishly of oneself only, but only of love and gratitude towards the deity or leader often leads to a prolonged heaven-life of a comparatively exalted type.
This would include followers of Buddha, Krishna, Ormuzd, Allah or Christ.
They would all equally attain their need for celestial bliss and its length and quality would depend primarily on the intensity and purity of the feeling.