The planes or lokas, though arranged hierarchically, belong to the 4th and higher dimensions and hence they can never be accurately represented in any linear diagramatic form. As Sri Aurobindo says in Savitri: ‘It is within, below, without, above.’
In other words, it is possible to have a glimpse of the higher worlds even while one is yet in the lower hemisphere, from the Intuitive or the Overmind plane.
With this little background we can list the hierarchy as the three lower worlds bhuloka, bhuvarloka, swarloka or the physical, vital, mental worlds. As one climbs towards the summit of the Mind, that is to say, one can glimpse the three higher worlds of Satloka, Chit-tapas loka, and Anandghana loka. One glimpses them as one sees the stars through a telescope from the mountain summit. Linking them is the Supramental world or Maharloka which itself is part of the higher hemisphere. These higher worlds are not subject to death and their effulgence cannot be beheld by even subtle vision. One can glimpse them but cannot enter or live there while still alive, hence the general terms Alakh (one cannot gaze though glimpses them only through a thin and brilliant veil), agam (where one cannot enter).
Affectionately
Alok bhai
