Sub-planes six, five and four have for their background the physical world with which we are familiar. Life on number six sub-plane is like ordinary physical life, minus the physical body and its necessities.
Sub-planes five and four are less material and more withdrawn from the lower world and its interests. On the fifth and fourth sub-planes, merely earthly associations appear to become of less and less importance, and the individual life forces there tend more and more to mould their surroundings in accordance and agreement with their thoughts.
Sub-planes three, two and one, though occupying the same space, give the impression of being further removed from the physical world and correspondingly less material.
At these levels entities lose sight of the earth and its affairs, they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to a large extent create their own surroundings, though these are sufficiently objective to be perceptible to other entities.
They are thus little awake to the realities of the plane, but live instead in imaginary cities of their own, partly creating them entirely by their own thoughts, and partly inheriting and adding to the structures created by their predecessors. Here are found the happy hunting — grounds of the Red Indian, the Valhalla of the Norseman, the houri filled paradise of the Muslim, the golden and jewelled — gated New Jerusalem of the Christian, the lyceum — filled heaven of the materialistic reformer.
Nevertheless, many of the creations are of a real though temporary beauty, and a visitor who knew of nothing higher might wander contentedly among the natural scenery provided, which at any rate is much superior to anything in the physical world. The second sub-plane is especially the habitat of the selfish or unspiritual religionist. Here he wears his golden crown and worships his own grossly material representation of the particular deity of his country and time.
The first sub-plane is specially appropriated to those who during earth-life have devoted themselves to the materialistic but intellectual pursuits, following them due to selfish ambition or simply for the sake of intellectual exercise. Such persons may remain on this sub-plane for many years, happy in working out their intellectual problems, but doing no good to any one, and making but little progress on their way towards the heaven-world.