Question: How do we know what plane of consciousness we are in during meditation? Is there a limit to the planes that we can reach?

Sri Chinmoy: One can be aware of the planes of consciousness only when one is on the verge of realisation or when one is already realised. An ordinary aspirant will not be able to know in which plane of consciousness he abides during his meditation. He will be confused. He may be in a particular world or plane of consciousness, but he will not know what the actual plane of consciousness is.

There are seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds. A spiritual Master can easily be in all these fourteen worlds at the same time and see things that are happening in all the worlds.

An aspirant can also be in two, three, four or five worlds at a time, but he will not be able to know which worlds they are. Only someone who is advanced in the spiritual life, someone who is about to step onto the highest rung of the spiritual ladder, will be able to see easily in which plane of consciousness he stays during his meditation. For realised souls it is very easy.

There is no limit to the planes we can reach. Your spiritual Master can tell you which plane a particular experience has come from. If he tells you that particular experience comes from the vital world or the mental world, then you will be able to know in the future when you get a similar experience that it comes from that world.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Meditation: God's Duty and man's beauty, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mgd