2

Worlds of Space

Figure 1

What's this picture about? A world, but one totally unlike ours, a flat world of two dimensions of space plus time, a hypothetical plane world, complete with plane beings who live on it. Now this may at first seem odd, so perhaps it will be easier to picture this world as existing on a vast sheet of paper, on the surface of which the inhabitants—flat squares, circles, triangles, etc.—can move freely about in any two directions, but not up or down, for they know nothing of the space above or below them.

Let us suppose that, save for this one shortcoming, the inhabitants are much like us. They are resourceful and inventive, have formed a civilization, learn and love, raise children, grow old and die, and even have religion, philosophy, music, and science. In fact, their plane world scientists have made remarkable strides and now feel they're on the verge of having a complete understanding of the entire universe—all in two dimensions of space plus time.

But their science cannot explain everything. Strange things are happening in this world: paranormal phenomena, which some plane beings attribute to a higher realm of existence. Others just scoff at the idea, calling the phenomena the stuff of pipe dreams and prophets. But we are in a position to know, for we dwell in that higher realm, the third dimension, and can see all that happens on their flat, two-dimensional surface.

Let's think of this world of two dimensions of space plus time as a map, or blueprint, which we can use to understand the paranormal in our higher world. It is like a musical scale, that can be transposed into a higher or lower key, while the relationship of the notes remains the same, or a Rosetta stone for understanding the paranormal. In a remote corner of the plane world, a conversation has just taken place.

 

“Another dimension of space! Absurd,” said the Square.

“Is it?” said the Circle as he continued with his presentation. “You know some of our top scientists now think there may be more than just two”

“Yes, but those are just crazy theories, mathematical…[searching for the right word]…hocus-pocus, and entirely unproven,” said the Square, an avowed skeptic. He then thumped his hand against a nearby object and stammered: “If there's a third dimension of space, why can't we see it, touch it, like the other two?”

“It may just be too small” interjected the Triangle, echoing the trend of modern research to portray possible extra dimensions as too tiny to see.

“Actually,” said the Circle, “it's because it is outside of space as we know it. Look, we know that there are two dimensions of space, length and width, and they are at right angles to each other, that is perpendicular, right?”

“Right,” replied the Triangle, a renowned scientist on the plane world and open-minded about such matters.

“Well,” continued the Circle, “I propose a third, likewise at a right angle to the other two, and—”

“But there is no such direction; one cannot even conceive of it,” interrupted the skeptical Square.

“I agree; we can't conceive of it,” said the Circle. “That is the whole point. It is beyond our senses, beyond our powers of perception. One needs a higher kind of ‘sense,’ a higher power of mind, a higher faculty, to see it, which brings me to the point of this discussion. I shall demonstrate how such an extra dimension and higher faculty can account for all the strange goings-on we've been hearing so much about of late, the so-called paranormal.”

“You mean reports of plane beings who profess supernatural powers, being ‘elevated or uplifted,’ as they call it, into some other level of reality and seeing the insides of things in our world or knowing about events taking place far away, even seeing the future?” asked the Triangle, his interest piqued.

“That, and more; in fact, much more,” said the Circle.

“Oh, but that's all rubbish anyway,” growled the Square. “Those people are all deluded, or frauds.”

“Not necessarily,” said the Triangle. “A colleague of mine at the Plane World Academy of Science has informed me that such abilities are all but proven in the lab under the strictest conditions imaginable. Funny thing though, they still have no idea just how they work!”

“This I wish to remedy,” confidently stated the Circle. “And, I said there was more. You must have also heard the tales of aliens from some other world coming to ours, and doing so in such a way that seems impossible, just appearing and disappearing from out of nowhere, even taking plane beings away with them and—”

“That does it,” said the Square abruptly. “You can't possibly believe that. Besides, there's just no way it can be. It's not possible; it's pure fantasy.”

“Not so fast, Square,” said the Triangle, suddenly finding himself in the unexpected and undesirable role as mediator. “My first inclination is to agree with you, but let's see what the Circle has to say. You know there are many plane beings of sound repute who have either seen these aliens themselves or personally know others who have, and they are convinced of it, even though they may not publicly say so. Go on, Circle.”

“Okay,” Circle continued, “but tell the Square to keep an open side to this, will you, and I promise to give him, if nothing else, something to howl about with his cohorts at those skeptics club meetings. Here's the pièce de résistance. When I explain how these paranormal phenomena work, you'll understand still others, ones that have always been thought of as religious in nature, and beyond our science, such as the religious experience itself and the age-old question of life after death.”

“That's a tall order to fill,” cautioned the Triangle, but he was intrigued by the sheer scope of what the Circle was proposing.

“Impossible,” said the Square. “Religion and science are in the nature of things directly opposed to each other, contradictory, 180 degrees apart. One is a matter of faith, the other a matter of fact.”

“True enough,” the Circle conceded, but quickly added: “This is only because there has been no framework, physical or conceptual, that can unify both of them.” He then announced he was ready to begin his presentation in earnest, and brought out some drawings he had with him. “Look at this [see figure 2],” he said to his audience (the Triangle watched attentively, the Square eyed the drawing suspiciously) “and think of it as a world, but one totally unlike ours, a world of one dimension of space plus time, a hypothetical line world, complete with line beings who live on it.”

Figure 2

“Hmm,” thought the Triangle out loud, as he bent nearer for a closer look.

“Harrumph” grumbled the Square. “What of it?”

“Well,” said the Circle, “first of all, it is not one-dimensional, is it? For we know that for anything to actually exist, it must have extension in two dimensions. That is, these beings and their world are possessed of an extra dimension, of which they are completely unaware.”

“This is childish,” said the Square; “they would surely know that there was a second dimension, just by moving off either side of the line and entering it.”

“But let us imagine that they have no freedom of movement in the second dimension, nor any kind of consciousness of it, in short, no means of detecting it,” proposed the Circle. “Their world is in effect limited by their conception of space. The bottom line is that their world is two-dimensional, but they are aware of only a smaller, one-dimensional part of it.”

“Okay,” agreed the Triangle. “And now?”

“Now,” said the Circle, “just think of the possibilities. I mean, advanced beings like us, by using the second dimension, can perform physical operations in this one-dimensional world that must seem miraculous to the line beings. For example, look at this drawing [see figure 3]. As you can see, it is the same as the first except I have marked the line beings with letters to show their front and back sides. Now you must admit, if to them there is no space outside their world, there would be no way for them to move except forwards and backwards, and no conceivable way for them to change their position or orientation in this world. That is, if the A in creature AB, or the C in CD face forward, there is no way they can realign themselves so that they face backward. Right?”

Figure 3

“Yes, that's true,” replied the Triangle.

“But” said the Circle, “a two-dimensional being like myself could very easily, by utilizing my freedom of movement in the second dimension, do this [see figure 4].” Here the Circle reached out, detached the CD figure from the line, and spun it completely around. “Now, how do you think the line beings would interpret this?”

Figure 4

“Well, I…I'm not sure,” said the Triangle; “I mean if they had no conception of the second dimension, then…well…I don't know. How?”

“Since they could not interpret it in terms of space that they know of, it would be like being turned inside-out,” explained the Circle.

“Are you implying,” said the Triangle in an incredulous tone, “that if there is an extra dimension to our world, it lies in an inside-out direction?”

“Yes and no…or rather, no and yes,” said the Circle, correcting himself. “It might not lie in that direction, just as it doesn't for the line world; but as with the line beings, that's how it would appear to us. All extra dimensions appear to those in lower space as in an inside-out direction.”

“Very profound,” said the Square sarcastically. “But what has this to do with the paranormal?”

“Plenty,” answered the Circle. “Can't we easily see through the second dimension the side of a line being which to him is his inside? And so couldn't a line being who had the power of seeing in two dimensions, like us, see the insides of things in his world? Likewise, haven't plane beings, when possessed of this higher, supernatural power, claimed to see the insides of things in our world? And haven't there even been reports of plane beings so empowered who have actually turned objects inside-out?”

“Lunatics, all of them, or frauds,” muttered the Square contemptuously.

“Well, it is known that such reports do exist,” said the Triangle. “And though rather abstract, I guess an inside-out direction is at a right angle to the other two dimensions.”

“Good,” said the Circle triumphantly, “but I'm just beginning. Now, look at this.” He stuck one hand through the line world between two of the line beings. “How do you suppose they would see this?”

“I suppose they would see something just appear in their world,” said the Triangle.

“An alien, perhaps?” suggested the Circle. “And, not coincidentally, appearing just as the aliens are said to appear in our world. All of a sudden—they're just there. And, just as we could easily grab a line being and carry him off through the second dimension to examine him at length, an alien race from a third dimension could do the same to us.”

“Ridiculous,” said the Square. “You are proposing something that can't possibly be to explain things that don't even exist.”

“Actually, Square, I think it makes some sense,” said the Triangle. “At least it provides a kind of theoretical framework to go on. Please continue, Circle.”

“I shall indeed,” he stated. “Here is a matter of the greatest importance—the nature of time itself. You must agree that we don't know what time is, but let me give you a hint of its real nature by demonstrating how time is perceived on the line world.”

The Circle pointed to another drawing (see figure 5) and produced a ruler with different color segments along it—red, blue, and yellow. He passed the ruler through the line in front of the CD being and said: “Behold! Motion in time on the line world is merely motion in a second, extra dimension.”

Figure 5

“What's this?” demanded the Square. “Explain yourself more clearly.”

“Of course,” said the Circle. “As I pass the ruler in front of the line being, this is what he would surely see: At first nothing, then all of a sudden a red point, then a blue one as the blue segment is reached, then a yellow one which disappears from view. The one-dimensional being can see nothing more than a point which changes color in time before vanishing. He can but dimly perceive any two-dimensional object, just a bit at a time, as it encounters his primitive level of consciousness. The point is motion in higher space; by that I mean our second dimension is to the line being motion strictly in time. Our second dimension of space is to him fused with, or included in, his idea of time. Indeed all extra dimensions exist, to those in lower space, in time.”

“Very interesting,” said the Triangle; “I never would have thought along those lines. So if there's a third dimension to our world, it is in an inside-out direction, or rather appears to be, and hidden or included in our idea of time, which is why we can't detect it. Our ‘time’ is motion in this third dimension, right?”

“Right,” confirmed the Circle.

“Ludicrous…preposterous,” said the Square. “Why time is…just…time and nothing else, anywhere.”

“No. Actually, it's just the opposite,” said the Circle. Time is everything else. It's not what it is but what it isn't. What cannot be perceived in space lies hidden in one all-inclusive dimension of time.”

“But if this is the case, where do we go from here?” asked the Triangle, frustration beginning to show in his voice. “If this extra dimension is there, how do we…how can we…actually perceive it?”

“The only way to directly perceive an extra dimension,” said the Circle, “as I earlier postulated, is to extract it, mentally, from time, with a higher faculty, a new and completely different kind of consciousness. Given this, the space sense would expand to include an extra dimension.”

“Oh, who's ever heard of such things—higher faculties, extra dimensions. It's just too weird,” moaned the skeptical Square.

“Hold on, Square, we're getting to the good part now,” said the Circle. “Imagine, if you will, gentlemen, that a line being, say the same one I just passed the ruler in front of—CD—has a sudden, tremendous leap of consciousness, so that he can see the world in a two-dimensional way like us. Of course he would not have the benefit of two-dimensional perspective, as we do, since this is acquired gradually over many years. But nonetheless, some things would be unmistakable, perhaps those just discussed.

“For instance, (1) he would know that he and his line world had another aspect or dimension that he had been unaware of, and that he had always lived within and been part of this larger world. (2) He'd understand that many things that were impossible under the law and order of the line world, such as miraculous physical maneuvers, were indeed possible in a broader reality. (3) His consciousness so expanded, broadened as it were, he could now see his own inside, that is, his side, and those of other line beings. In fact, he'd probably think that the way to this higher world lies ‘within.’

“There's so much more. If we grant the line being two-dimensional ‘vision,’ he would possess knowledge that must seem supernatural to the other line beings. For example, he could now see objects and events on other, remote parts of his line or world, that which we call ESP; and time—ah, time: just think of how it must seem to him now. He could now perceive motion in the second dimension, motion that to him before was motion in time. Therefore, he could now actually see, at once in space, that which was before relegated to his past and future. Indeed he could predict aspects of the future, such as what color would next appear in the line world as I passed the ruler through—that remarkable phenomenon we in our world call precognition.”

“Just hold on now,” said the Square; “I thought you said he would have only a limited grasp of this higher knowledge.”

“Quite true” countered the Circle. “But a limited grasp is all that's needed for what I have outlined. In fact, because his new sense is so limited, the line being would be prone to some distortion and even error with it. For example, he may think, because he is so overwhelmed by the experience, that he has ultimate knowledge or is in direct communion with God, and because his sense of time is torn asunder, he'd probably think that in this higher realm time does not exist.”

“Why, that sounds like what plane beings say when they have these mystical experiences,” said the Triangle. “Union with the divine, a realm where there is no time.”

“Good” said the Circle. “You're beginning to see the point, the relation between my little analogy and the paranormal in our world.”

“I think so” agreed the Triangle. “And I suppose this line being then becomes a religious leader, a god among men, on his line?”

“Not really, although that is one possibility,” said the Circle. “It is much more likely that this taste of two-dimensional knowledge will quickly fade and he will return to his original state of consciousness, bewildered by the experience. You see, when he has the higher faculty, he assimilates information and comprehends it in a new manner. But when the faculty fades, he must translate those sweeping insights and revelations into his woefully restricted one-dimensional consciousness, just to try and understand them in his own mind. He may even question if the experience was real, as it must seem so bizarre when assessing it from his normal point of view. But if, upon reflection, he does accept it, his attempts to convey it to his line friends will appear awkward and nonsensical. They will probably just think he has a lively imagination, or is deluded. The higher knowledge is completely different in nature and incapable of being expressed in lower concepts and terminology. It is ineffable.”

“Yes, those in our world who claim such mystical knowledge do say it cannot be expressed in words” agreed the Triangle. “But now, tell me” he asked, leaning closer in eager anticipation. “What about life after death?”

“Okay,” answered the Circle. “First, I showed that the line beings possess two dimensions, one they are aware of and one they are not; and the greater part of them actually exists in the second dimension. Now when a line being dies, the part of him that exists on his line is gone, but what of the greater part? Must it not continue to exist in higher space? Suppose that this greater part has a consciousness as well, one the line being is unaware of. In fact, when the line being had a leap of higher consciousness, what if it was only a recognition of that higher self and consciousness, which allowed him to see the world in a two-dimensional way?

“The point is that the greater part and its accompanying consciousness still exist after his ‘exit’ from the line world. Isn't this like the experiences of plane beings who have almost died yet survived? They maintain they no longer fear death because they know it is not the end, but a beginning, the beginning of a different existence beyond our old constraints of space and time.”

“New Age drivel,” sneered the Square. “I won't hear of it.”

“I don't know,” said the Triangle. “As with other paranormal phenomena, there have been a lot of plane beings now who have had such experiences. I personally know of some in very prestigious positions in our society. Unfortunately, though, they won't speak of it, probably because they fear a response like yours, Square. But what's funny is they seem different after, transformed, in a spiritual kind of way, if you know what I mean. In fact, in this way it's strangely reminiscent of those who've had mystical experiences, or even encounters with these aliens.”

“They have tasted the higher consciousness and reality,” said the Circle. “All of them, one way or another, and they will never be the same again.”

“Well maybe they're just crazy, too,” said the Square. “I've had enough of this. But I do have one question for you, Circle. Let's see you answer this. Back to the aliens and these abductions, if there are any. Why? What on Plane Earth for? What could they possibly want?”

“Very well,” said the Circle solemnly. “I would rather not have spoken of this. But since you ask, the answer is not good, and to make matters worse, it is twofold and the two parts contradict each other. Let me explain. If these beings are three-dimensional, then they naturally possess the higher faculty that goes hand in hand with the perception of this third, extra dimension, and they undoubtedly have complete mastery of it. The problem is that the logic this faculty uses is by its very nature contradictory to us, or ineffable, as our logic would be to line beings. A full treatment of it is better left for another time [see chapter 3].

“But for now by firsthand accounts of these abductions, the numbers of which are growing by the day, here is their plan. One, they say our plane world is in great danger, depleted of its most basic resources and poisoned by the waste products from our great machines. They say we are self-destructive and heading for a day of reckoning, a doomsday we will not survive. They know this because they live in a larger world of space-time and can see our time, our future path, laid out in space along a third dimension. They say we were once line beings, but ‘changed’ into the way we are now, and that we were supposed to change again into something like them. But we haven't; we've resisted it, and in the process we have defied a basic natural law of the universe, something they call ‘evolution.’

“But it is against their policy to intervene in our affairs or help us in any direct way. Therefore, and here's the amazing part, they abduct plane beings, take procreative fluids from us, and combine it with fluids taken from their own race, to somehow produce a half alien, half plane-being race. This race, better suited for survival, perhaps even possessing the higher, extra-dimensional faculty itself, will then replace us here or somewhere else, after our destruction. They say this way our genetic seed will be preserved as will biological diversity.

“Now for the other part. It seems they are trying to cultivate in those abducted plane beings a sense of that higher faculty, or at least point them in the right direction, which is within. They say that if we had sought out this higher power in ourselves, which we should have by now, we would not be in the fix we are. If we do somehow develop it, we may yet avoid our demise. These are two parts of one larger purpose. I know it's contradictory, and may even seem absurd, but this and only this is the sign of a three-dimensional race and intellect.”

“Wow,” said the Triangle. “That's surely a lot to digest.”

“Completely ridiculous,” scoffed the Square. “Two purposes, both at odds with each other, that are really one purpose! Who can believe such claptrap?”

“You miss my point,” persisted the Circle. “Let me repeat. A three-dimensional alien consciousness must, I say, must, appear ridiculous to us. Moreover, do not many of our own scientists now proclaim that our world is in such a crisis stage and our future threatened?”

“Yes, they do,” said the Triangle soberly.

At this point, the Circle began to gather up his drawings, signaling that the presentation was over. He apologized for ending on such a somber note, but added, “It's just as well, for this should be taken seriously; in fact, you might say it's a matter of life or death—ours.” Then, turning to his audience, he said, “Well, what do you think of my theory?”

“Quite frankly,” answered the Triangle, “it strains my belief system. But on the other hand, there is much to like about it. It covers a number of unexplained phenomena—indeed, all the paranormal—with one sweeping hypothesis; I like the economy in that. Also, and more along the lines of my specialty, I know you are preparing to apply the theory to our most baffling scientific riddles, those dealing with elementary particles, that seem to have run into a wall of late. If that shows promise, then, well, let's say I look forward to that presentation.”

“How about you, Square?” the Circle asked.

“Pseudoscience,” the Square shot back without a moment's hesitation. “Philosophical fiddle-faddle. An extra dimension? One that our level of consciousness can't detect? Why there's nothing more to the universe than, well, the way it appears to be. And the paranormal? I'll explain that for you right now: lies, hallucinations, and wishful thinking. There! That's my theory! And I'll die before I subscribe to any of this kind of nonsense.”

 

The purpose of this story is to show the implications of adding an extra dimension to a world of space and time. Now I'll take over for the Circle and complete the plane world analogy from my supernatural, “god-like” vantage point, the third dimension.

Even though the plane beings consider their world two-dimensional, it is not. Every part of it, no matter how small, thin, or flat, is actually three-dimensional. To exist as anything more than just an abstract image, there must be some extension in the third dimension. For example, this page, and the ink that comprises the words you are now reading, are three-dimensional. So the plane world and all within it, unbeknownst to its inhabitants (just as the Circle implied), is extra (three) dimensional.

The Circle showed how the beings on the line world, unable to conceive of a second dimension of space, would interpret it as in an inside-out direction, and so this is how plane beings would interpret a third dimension. For what happens when we look either up or down into their world, a direction they cannot conceive of? We can easily see the insides of things there. How incredible this must seem to the plane beings; if they wish to see what lies inside objects, structures, or beings in their world, they must cut their way through the perimeter to the inside, much as we must do in our world to see the interiors of three-dimensional objects.

Further, the Circle, by rotating a line being in an extra dimension, turned him inside-out. Can we do likewise to a plane being? Look at figure 6; it's our old friend the skeptical Square—a perfect subject—and he's facing the left. Now, the only way for him to face the right is to spin completely around, but this would leave him upside-down. Yet with the use of a third dimension, we can simply reach down and flip him over, making him face the right while still right-side-up.

Figure 6

Just think of how the Square with knowledge of and movement in only two dimensions must interpret this: it could only be inside-out. Even so, supernatural physical operations like this can be carried out with ease through an extra dimension in any world of space and time.

Now what if you and I are extra-dimensional aliens who wish to examine a plane being at length? Couldn't we just reach down into their world, suddenly appear there, and cart him off into the third dimension? Here we could take physical samples, even tinker with his psychological make-up. When we return him, how do you think other plane beings would react when he recounts his incredible experience? “Impossible!” they might say. “Aliens! Other dimensions! Experiments! Higher consciousness! It can't be, therefore, it isn't.” Besides, they might think it ludicrous we wouldn't first want to present ourselves to their plane world politicians and scientists, as they would do if and when they encountered another plane world with intelligent life.

All extra dimensions exist in time, the Circle said. He showed that the line beings' time was really motion in an extra (second) dimension; he speculated that it would likewise be so for plane beings. Let's see. We'll take the same type of ruler with the red, blue, and yellow sections the Circle used and lower it through (or in front of) the plane world, as in figure 7. Now what do the plane beings see? A red line suddenly appear in their world, which changes to a blue one, and then a yellow one before disappearing.

Figure 7

The motion in higher space, that of the ruler, can only be experienced bit by bit, inseparable from time. The plane beings cannot perceive any three-dimensional object as it is, or even imagine its true appearance or function in higher space, for they can only detect the tiniest part of it at any one moment in their space.

This time let's consider a different kind of object: a sphere. I'll take a basketball and lower it through (or in front of) the plane world, as in figure 8. What do the plane beings see? At first just a point, which then expands into a longer and longer line until the midpoint of the ball passes through the plane.

Figure 8

Then the line contracts, appearing shorter and shorter until just a point is visible again, then nothing. It simply disappears. Here's the amazing part: If we reverse the process and raise the sphere through the plane world, it appears in exactly the same sequence: point, growing into a line, contracting into a point which disappears. The implications of this are profound. It means that even though motion in higher space may be in different directions (as it could have been with the ruler as well), the plane beings, or any race of beings in any lower space, translate it into only one direction—linear time from past to future.

Now what would it be like if a plane being, say the open-minded Triangle, had a sudden expansion or elevation of consciousness—a mystical experience—so that he could now see in three dimensions? First, he is sure to understand that the world of space is vaster and stranger than he ever imagined. And his old sense of time? It would not apply, for he could now behold time, the past and future, as motion laid out in higher space. In fact, he could predict the future.

For example, he could see, if the ruler were passing through his plane world, that after the red line would come a blue one, then a yellow. He could infer that this is just motion in a higher space, but this would be an extremely insightful deduction on his part, even for the erudite Triangle. It is much more probable that, since he could see the past, present, and future at once here, he would think that time does not exist in this larger realm.

He is also sure to grasp that he has a larger self that exists in this domain, and that this larger self must still exist, beyond the plane world, when that life ended. Indeed, he would see the higher reality as a virtual “kingdom,” a land beyond time and even death.

All this and more the Triangle now conceives by virtue of a new mental faculty, one beyond the old senses and thought processes—a higher sense that brings immediate supernatural powers and vision. For example, he could now see the insides of things on his plane world; in fact, he would probably say that the gateway to this higher level of reality lies within, or in an inside-out direction. From this higher vantage point, be could also see things and events in many and remote parts of the plane world; he would have clairvoyance. Further, he would understand that physical maneuvers impossible in the plane world are possible in such a larger one; he may even perform some.

But this higher, mystical vision is very strange. Everything takes on a new form, a new perspective. He organizes input in a more sweeping fashion, and many things he always thought of as separate and distinct now seem joined and connected. For instance, with only two-dimensional consciousness, every circle, triangle, or square was separate and unique; but now he grasps an idea of plurality and sees the overall connection between them, that all triangles are one, all squares one, all circles one; all is one. So he may think to himself. In other words, reality will appear infinitely broader but infinitely simpler as well; he will have a tendency to condense it into fewer, more general conceptions.

Failing to realize that his new sense is just a higher, normal power of mind, he may think his new vision is ultimate, divine, that he has seen God, that Heaven has opened up before his eyes. After all, compared to his old state he is practically omniscient now, and isn't omniscience the attribute of God? This is what it must be, communion with God!

But all too soon the vision fades, the higher sense swoons, and the Triangle's consciousness plummets back to the plane world. Now what? Did this really happen or am I crazy? he wonders. But in the end he knows—he has seen the real world, the vaster one, the kingdom; it is the old one that is distorted, constricted, and incomplete. This strength of conviction though, will not help him convince his fellow plane beings. For the higher world must be described in lower world terminology and concepts. Imagine him trying to explain to the skeptical Square that all squares or triangles, which are normally thought of as completely different, are really one. His attempts will come across as paradoxical and absurd because the experience is ineffable.

 

In these analogies with the line world and plane world, their realities are just part of a larger extra-dimensional reality, and a higher faculty is needed to see this. Yet clues to the situation reveal themselves in many ways. If there is an extra dimension to our world and a higher faculty by which we can perceive it, how should this be revealed to us? In the same ways as in these lower worlds. These ways will become apparent later in the chapters on consciousness and time and will be unmistakably demonstrated with the paranormal. Four points will be clearly shown.

1) Our world is extra-dimensional. As a line and square must have extension in a third dimension to exist, everything in our world—man, woman, animate and inanimate object—must have extension in an extra dimension to exist. In fact, the greater part of us exists in higher space. We live on two different levels simultaneously, unaware of the larger self and world. The Russian philosopher P. D. Ouspensky, whose early philosophy is a cornerstone of extra-dimensional theory, put it this way in a 1908 essay “The Fourth Dimension”:

We may have very good reason for saying that we are ourselves beings of four dimensions and we are turned towards the third dimension with only one of our sides, i.e., with only a small part of our being. Only this part of us lives in three dimensions, and we are conscious only of this part of ourselves. Or it would still be more true to say that we live in a four-dimensional world, but are conscious of ourselves only in a three-dimensional world. This means that we live in one kind of condition, but imagine ourselves to be in another.1

What happens when these conditions change? When we die and our local consciousness exits our world and merges with its larger self and consciousness in extra-dimensional space? Here is a near-death account from Raymond A. Moody, Jr.'s, 1975 groundbreaking work Life After Life.

Now, there is a real problem for me as I'm trying to tell you this, because all the words I know are three-dimensional. As I was going through this, I kept thinking, “Well, when I was taking geometry, they always told me there were only three dimensions, and I always just accepted that. But they were wrong. There are more.” And, of course, our world—the one we're living in now—is three-dimensional, but the next one definitely isn't. And that's why it's so hard to tell you this. I have to describe it to you in words that are three-dimensional. That's as close as I can get to it, but it's not really adequate. I can't really give you a complete picture.2

Dr. George Gallup, Jr., best known for his Gallup Poll, wrote Adventures in Immortality, based on a survey of near-death experiencers. One of their most common responses was “the impression of being in an entirely different world.”³ Gallup, comparing his findings with those of other near-death researchers, concluded that, overall, the “results have been highly suggestive of some sort of encounter with an extra-dimensional realm of reality.”⁴

Dr. Kenneth Ring, professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut and a leading researcher in the field, also regards the experience as a transition to another, larger realm of existence. This from his Life at Death: “These experiences dearly imply that there is something more, something beyond the physical world of the senses, which, in the light of these experiences, now appears to be only the mundane segment of a greater spectrum of reality.”⁵

Why can't we detect this extra dimension? Ring hints at the answer here: it's “beyond the physical world of the senses.” Like the beings of the plane world, we have no capacity to move in this other direction and no means by which we can sense or otherwise become conscious of it. We are anchored, mentally and physically, to our three-dimensional world. Our normal level of consciousness is simply inadequate, and our science, born from this consciousness, is just as limited. This may at first sound surprising, accustomed as we are to regarding the reach of science as boundless, but Denis Postle, in Fabric of the Universe, points out how our science is only an extension of our senses and consciousness.

Science is the discipline in the West which is most concerned with establishing what does exist and what is merely wishfulness on the part of an observer. We forget, or never come to know, that science is no more than a range of devices—some material, some mental—which extend one or more of the senses or functions of mind into areas of space or time to which they would otherwise be unable to penetrate. The images and symbols of language extend memory; computers and computer language extend memory capacity and speed of thinking; space probes extend the distance at which sight and touch can operate; equations extend thinking itself.6

Our world is indeed extra-dimensional, over and above the current scientific worldview, which is only the latest in a long line of “approximations” of reality. In fact, when we look closely, we'll see hints of this extra dimension right at the limits of our worldview—in the realm of the very large, cosmology, and the very small, quantum physics, where bizarre and contradictory experimental results cry out for a new interpretation. In chapter 9, I'll show how extra-dimensional theory can resolve paradoxes in this field that have defied solution since the 1930s.

2) Impossible physical maneuvers become normal. If there really is an extra dimension, shouldn't we expect to occasionally see miraculous events happen in our world, just like those in the plane world? Objects suddenly appear from out of nowhere, get larger, change color, change shape, get smaller, and disappear? These would be incredible occurrences, so much so that they could scarcely be believed. Yet they do happen.

UFOs are known to do all these things. This is in part why Dr. Jacques Vallee, perhaps the field's most influential theorist, says, “The standard extraterrestrial theory of UFOs is not good enough, because it is not strange enough to explain the facts.”⁷ Vallee now believes that UFOs are the product of a nonhuman consciousness, operating “on properties of space-time we have not yet discovered”8 or “in a multidimensional reality of which [our] space-time is a subset.”⁹ Sound familiar?

What of the aliens behind the UFO phenomenon? They live, mentally and physically, in an extra-dimensional continuum of space-time. In the abduction phenomenon, we'll see that they have complete possession of that higher faculty, even the hints of which are supernatural to us and seem to involve mystical knowledge and psychic powers. They enter closed rooms without the disturbance of walls, doors, or windows, just appear there and carry off and later return their subjects the same way. Carry them off where? Into another world, an extra-dimensional one. John E. Mack, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, in his 1994 Abduction, relates that many abductees speak of aliens entering our world by “breaking through from another dimension”¹⁰ and abducting people into a larger reality. Mack says:

…there are phenomena and experiences reported by abductees for which we can conceive of no explanation within a Newtonian/Cartesian or even Einsteinian space/time ontology…abductees sense that their experiences are not occurring in our space/time universe…[plus]…a consciousness abductees experience of vast realities beyond the screen of this one….¹¹ They experience that they have moved into another reality, but one that is, nevertheless, altogether real.¹²

Raymond E. Fowler, another abduction researcher, believes aliens “exist in a timeless realm, and travel between different planes of existence,”¹³ at times “emerging into our space/time frame.”¹⁴ Sounds like how the Circle might depict us. The direction abductees report they are taken in to get to this other reality? Mack's interviewees describe it in terms such as “worlds existing within worlds, and in the transition from one reality to another, you feel like you're contracting and expanding at the same time.”¹⁵ “Energy…folds into itself, and you're just somewhere else…everything folds, inverts into, and folds inside itself”¹⁶ The direction is inside out.

We can find examples of impossible physical maneuvers closer to home, right in our normal world, accomplished by some humans with a special knack for wielding just a little bit of extra-dimensional consciousness in psychic phenomena such as teleportation (the movement of objects through solid walls and other barriers or around them through some other space) and psychokinesis (the manipulation of objects by means other than normal or through a medium imperceptible to us). When we see how these work, we'll understand another phenomenon, one for which such maneuvers are the order of the day: the mysterious and spectacular poltergeist.

In a line or plane world, we can turn an object inside-out by using an extra dimension. Can someone in our world turn a physical object inside-out? We'll see how in chapter 6. Meanwhile, here's a description of higher consciousness by Edward Carpenter. Or is it by a line being? Or a plane being? “[A]nother and separate faculty…a sense of inward light, unconnected of course with the mortal eye, but bringing to the eye of the mind the impression that it sees, and by means of the medium which washes, as it were, the interior surfaces of all objects and things and persons—how can I express it?”¹⁷

3) Our time is motion in extra-dimensional space. This is translated by our consciousness into a sequence of fragmentary perceptions in but one direction, past to future. This allows us to sense order in the world as cause and effect. But the perception of an extra dimension reveals this motion, indeed both cause and effect, as laid out at once in space. In Tertium Organum (1912), Ouspensky describes it:

Our usual psychic life proceeds upon some definite plane (our normal world) and never rises above it. If our receptivity could rise above this plane it would undoubtedly perceive simultaneously, below itself, a far greater number of events than it usually sees while on a plane. Just as a man, ascending a mountain, or going up in a balloon, begins to see simultaneously and at once many things which it is impossible to see simultaneously and at once from below—the movement of two trains toward one another between which a collision will occur; the approach of an enemy detachment to a sleeping camp; two cities divided by a ridge, etc.—so consciousness rising above the plane in which it usually functions, must see simultaneously the events divided for the ordinary consciousness by periods of time. These will be the events which ordinary consciousness never sees together, as: cause and effect; the work and the payment; the crime and the punishment; the movement of two trains toward one another and their collision; the approach of the enemy and the battle; the sunrise and the sunset; the morning and the evening; the day and the night; spring, autumn, summer and winter; the birth and the death of a man. The angle of vision will enlarge during such an ascent, the moment will expand.18

This is what happens with the onset of higher consciousness—the moment expands to include an extra dimension of space, which has our past and future laid out along it. Mystic Lama Govinda, in Creative Meditation and Multi Dimensional Consciousness, describes the mental transition to higher space the same way: “The way in which we experience space, or in which we are aware of space, is characteristic of the dimension of our consciousness.…And if we speak of the space-experience in meditation, we are dealing with an entirely different dimension…In this space-experience the temporal sequence is converted into a simultaneous coexistence, the side by side existence of things.…”¹⁹

That is, the higher faculty mentally extracts from time an extra dimension of space where the past and future now become side by side. This explains much about the paranormal: that a small glimpse of this consciousness can be a glimpse of the future (precognition) or the past (postcognition), and how the more complete samplings of this consciousness (the mystical and near-death experiences) give the impression that this higher reality is timeless. For example:

In this state, there is no time, there is an immediate perception of the past, present, and future as if on the present moment.²⁰

I found myself in a state of widened and deepened consciousness, a consciousness of a higher dimension…While in this state, the past, present and future are simultaneously knowable.21

One describes a mystical experience, one a near-death experience. But which is which? It's hard to tell, for they both describe the same thing arrived at in different ways.

4) A higher faculty is the key that unlocks the door to higher space. Let's now go through it slowly in mathematical fashion, dimension by dimension. First, a line connects all points along that one dimension, right? What could be simpler? Now, to take that line and trace out a plane, we must move the line in a perpendicular direction, making a square, and the second dimension connects and is that which connects all lines in the plane. Right again? But that's not all.

In making the plane, every point in the line had to move in that second dimension. So the second dimension is not only that which connects all lines in the plane, but all points as well. Now, if we move the plane in a third perpendicular direction (the same length), we have a cube, and the third dimension connects all planes in the cube. But again, not only every plane but every line and point as well, for to form the cube, every point in the plane had to move in that third dimension. What does this mean?

An extra dimension connects and is that which connects all three-dimensional objects and every point in them. This makes conceivable that which would before be inconceivable, that apparently separate physical objects and people are united through this medium, and that things separated by enormous distances of space are here close together. Now, imagine that this extra dimension were to become a factor of consciousness. One would have knowledge that seems supernatural.

An isolated piece of this knowledge one gets at a time may come through as telepathy or clairvoyance. What of the embrace of this all-connecting, interpenetrating oneness suddenly and unexpectedly appearing as in a mystical or near-death experience? It's overwhelming. Nothing could prepare one for it. The mind reels under the impact. Not only this, but to experience a vast kingdom where the past and future exist together, where there's no time! Compared with ordinary reality and consciousness, it must seem miraculous, divine, and ineffable.

“How can I express it?” Edward Carpenter said, after he “saw” this from an inward-out direction. Said Moody's NDEr of her extra-dimensional encounter, “It's so hard to tell you. I have to describe it to you in words that are three-dimensional. That's as close as I can get to it, but it's not really adequate. I can't really give you a complete picture.” These are normal, typical reactions. In fact, virtually all accounts of higher consciousness make reference to its ineffable nature. Our normal concepts and language lack the necessary symbolism to portray it. “I can't even explain it. There is no feeling you experience in normal life that is anything like this,”22 said another NDEr. The Tao Te Ching (mystical text of China) simply says: “It cannot be defined.”²³

Ineffable. Not completely. There is a way to capture the essence and even logic of the higher faculty. We'll see it in the next chapter.

 

According to extra-dimensional theory, our world is part of a larger reality that requires a higher faculty to perceive it. But this in itself is nothing new. Mystics through the ages have known this and wise men have inferred it from their teachings. In fact, this revelation is at the core of every religion (the core only, throw away everything else). It has come to be known as the Perennial Philosophy, a generalized mystical outlook adopted to varying degrees by many of the greatest minds in history, including Plato, Newton, Einstein, Spinoza, Schrödinger, Schopenhauer, Jung, William James, and others.

The basics of the Perennial Philosophy are:

1) Our normal world of matter and consciousness is but a part and manifestation of a vaster Divine Ground, without which our world could not exist.

2) Man has a dual nature—the familiar ego, and a higher self, or spirit, which dwells within this higher ground.

3) Besides knowing about the higher ground by inference, it is possible to know it by a higher form of knowledge such as direct union or mystical experience.

4) Man's main purpose in life is to direct himself toward his higher self, which leads to unification with the Divine Ground.

Here is an early account of an extra dimension and its accompanying higher consciousness. In The Republic (circa 370 B.C.), Plato presents the simile of the cave. He prefaces this story by arguing that in our present condition (then), what we take for reality is mere illusion, but there is a higher wisdom that can perceive the world as it truly is. The tale, told through a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, is an analogy of how one's point of view changes with an extra-dimensional perspective.

Socrates: And now, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened. Behold human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open toward the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from childhood, and have their neck and legs chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chain from turning round their heads. Above and behind them is a fire blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette-players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.

Glaucon: I see.

Socrates: And do you see, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.

Glaucon: You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.

Socrates: Like ourselves, and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another; which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?

Glaucon: True; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?

Socrates: And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?

Glaucon: Yes.

Socrates: And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that the shadows they saw were real things?

Glaucon: Very true.

Socrates: And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?

Glaucon: No question.

Socrates: To them, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.

Glaucon: That is certain.

Socrates: And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any one of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his head round and walk and look toward the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive someone saying to him that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned toward more real existence, he has a clearer vision—what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them—will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?

Glaucon: Far truer.

Socrates: And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?

Glaucon: True.

Socrates: And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun itself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.

Glaucon: Not all in a moment.

Socrates: He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?

Glaucon: Certainly.

Socrates: Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not merely reflections of it in the water, but he will see it in its own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate it as it is.

Glaucon: Certainly.

Socrates: He will then proceed to argue that it is the sun that gives the seasons and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?

Glaucon: Clearly, he would first see the sun and then reason about it.

Socrates: And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow prisoners, do you not suppose that he would congratulate himself on the change, and pity them?

Glaucon: Certainly.

Socrates: And if the prisoners were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were the quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer; “Better to be the poor servant of a poor master;”24 and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?

Glaucon: Yes, I think he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable condition.

Socrates: Imagine once more, such a one suddenly coming out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?

Glaucon: To be sure.

Socrates: And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable), would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if anyone tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.

Glaucon: No question.²⁵

In this account the cave dwellers and their world have an extra dimension of which they are unaware. This is analogous to our world as a three-dimensional cross-section of a larger reality, as their shadow world is a two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional one.

So what is space? Space is simply the form or structure of the outside world as it appears to our senses. Or it may be more accurate to say that space is the structure we ascribe to the world to make sense of it on our particular level of consciousness, like the plane beings or the dwellers in Plato's cave. It is our representation, our map, of reality, and as a map is a two-dimensional abstraction of a three-dimensional world, so our three-dimensional space-world is likewise an abstraction of a larger, extra-dimensional one.