Properties of the 3 planes
Explore the defining characteristics of the three planes to map the dynamics of coherence
AUGUST 2025
— As a physicist, having devoted my whole life to sober science, to the study of matter, I am surely free from the suspicion of being a dreamer. After my research into the atom, I say this: There is no matter as such! All matter arises and exists only by virtue of a force which sets the atomic particles into vibration and holds them together as the tiniest solar system of the atom. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit. This spirit is the origin of all matter.
MAX PLANCK, “DAS WESEN DER MATERIE” (THE NATURE OF MATTER), LECTURE DELIVERED IN FLORENCE, ITALY, 1944
OVERVIEW
In our previous discussion, we examined the self-organizing structure of reality, particularly focusing on how information shapes the foundation of existence. Self-organization of recursive information sets the baseline for coherence. As awareness matures, intention begins to modulate the fields.
Through choice we place constraints that guide how patterns express across the spiritual, mental, and physical planes. In this sense we act as co-creators while still nested in a self-organizing reality. This capacity for choice is the mind’s central expression of free will and the defining characteristic of the mental plane.
While the Spiritual and Physical planes have distinct properties and modes of expression, the conscious use of the Mental plane serves as a gradient bridge between them. Through the Mental plane we choose how to conceive of ourselves, aligning more with the Plane of Energy or the Plane of Matter. That orientation sets the coherence we embody and, in turn, shapes how we meet our needs and how we interpret the world.
ENERGY (S:+ M:+ P:+)
Energy is the uniting essence across all planes. It is present as pure potential in the spiritual, as attention and intention in the mental, and as work and transformation in the physical. In the physical plane, living order persists only while energy inflow and feedback outweigh loss. When input drops below dissipation, organizational coherence decays.
A tree maintains form because sunlight drives metabolism and repair. A wooden table no longer imports energy or regulates itself, so its pattern slowly breaks down. This is the expected behavior of open, far-from-equilibrium systems that must exchange energy, matter, and information to sustain structure.
The same dynamic applies in the mental plane: concepts remain coherent only while attention and intention feed them. When individuals or groups continually invest energy in a shared idea, an egregor can form, a self-reinforcing informational pattern. That added input increases the idea’s stability and salience, raising the likelihood that it organizes behavior and eventually crystallizes in the physical world.
Information changes character as it moves through the planes. Closer to the spiritual side of the continuum, after primordial self-organization, informational patterns manifest as archetypes that function like attractors. They guide how structures emerge and how forms stabilize.
The mental plane formats these patterns into concepts and symbols that can be shared, combined, and tested. The physical plane encodes them in material states that instruments and senses can read. When intention selects and refines an archetypal pattern in mind, it sets constraints that guide how that pattern may crystallize in matter.
Within the three-plane framework, mass emerges when energy is organized into stable physical states. The spiritual and mental planes have no intrinsic mass but can set informational constraints that agents use to guide embodiment. Mass indicates persistent physical organization. In this view, matter is not fundamental. It is organized energy stabilized by constraints and interactions within the physical plane.
PLANE ALIGNMENT IN PRACTICE
Separation is perceived rather than fixed in the non-physical, and it is a constraint in the physical. Spirit rests in unity. Matter requires boundaries. The mental plane sits between them and allows a choice of identification. You can hold yourself as a single body, as a member of a kin group or subculture, as part of a living biome, or as a facet of nature as a whole. This widening identification marks an expansion of consciousness that we will explore later. Each step expands the field within which care, responsibility, and meaning operate.
Locality and temporality also depend on stance. The spiritual is not bound to place or sequence. The physical is always somewhere and always in time. The mental can adopt a narrow here and now, or it can extend identity across generations, nations, and even geological epochs. You can see yourself as one person in this moment, as a representative of a lineage, as a participant in a civilization, or as a witness to the age of Earth. The chosen frame changes the horizon of action and the patience required for meaningful change. These positions of consciousness, chosen consciously or unconsciously, shape needs and worldview. A body-level stance prioritizes safety, nourishment, and immediate goals. A kin-level stance elevates belonging and shared norms. A nature-level stance foregrounds reciprocity with living systems. The mental plane is the adjustable boundary that selects these stances. Through choice it places constraints that guide how patterns express across spiritual potential and physical substance. In this sense we participate as co-creators while remaining nested in a self-organizing reality.
