written 6 September 2020
published 13 September 2020
In Cartesian mathematics, a point has zero dimensions. But an infinite number of points arranged in a row become a one-dimensional line, with the quality of "length". An infinite number of lines arranged side by side become a two-dimensional plane, with the quality of "area". An infinite number of planes stacked up become three-dimensional, with the quality of "volume". Each integer dimensional increase encompasses the previous ones, and producing a quality unique to the new dimension.
We experience three dimensions as space. But for things to move in space, the fourth dimension of time is required. The four-dimensional space/time continuum has the quality of "material reality", and for centuries this has been the domain of the western scientific study. But there are no limits to dimensions in mathematics, and the "real" world has indications of higher dimensions.
Chaos theory is the mathematical study of natural dynamic systems that appear random, disordered, and chaotic. A strange attractor is an ordered pattern, residing in a higher dimension, which influences the disordered chaotic system.
String theory in theoretical physics proposes patterns in 10 or 11 dimensions, which express as the material reality of our senses. Physicist David Bohm postulated higher dimensional patterns called pilot waves, which connect material reality and guide how quantum phenomenon manifests. Once considered heretical, his theories are becoming accepted by mainstream physics as a best fit to experimental evidence.
Fractal math is the study of complex geometries, as experienced in the natural world. One can imagine a very wiggly line, which never crosses itself, but fills most of a sheet of paper. Since it is a line, it can't be two-dimensional, but as it covers much of the page, it can be described as greater than one-dimensional, introducing the concept of fractional dimensions. In the same way, a very convoluted plane can be more than two-dimensional, yet not a three-dimensional volume. This suggests the possibility of objects which such complexity that they transcend four-dimensional space/time. One of the most complex physical objects is the human brain.
To avoid the philosophic tyranny of the Church, when western science first arose it constrained itself to investigating only the objective material world, that which could be weighed and measured, and left anything metaphysical alone. Thus, classical physics assumed all reality, including consciousness, was limited by four dimensions. Consciousness, when considered at all, was defined as a biochemical complexity within the brain, of no real importance. Matter was the ground of reality, and consciousness was an emergent phenomenon.
When quantum physics arose a century ago, it upset fundamental parts of classical Newtonian physics, and injected consciousness into the heart of matter. The act of observation is a causative force, demonstrably changing material reality. Some physicists now propose that the ground of reality is consciousness, and matter is an emergent phenomenon. Eastern science, and most mystical traditions, have always known this.
If we abandon the constraint of four dimensions, we can define a higher dimensional reality which contains all of matter, and has the quality of "awareness".
Consciousness has been shown to be non-local, meaning that it transcends space and time. The human brain, considered the seat of human consciousness, is a very complex four-dimensional object extending as a fractal into a higher dimension.
Rupert Sheldrake's decades of research into morphogenetic fields has shown transcendent patterns influence embryonic growth processes. These patterns even influence how mineral crystals form, and how knowledge is acquired.
The original meditators at the Findhorn Spiritual Community established communication with what they described as the "over souls of the vegetables", aware beings that organized the development of the vegetable's material form. Working in coordination with these beings, Findhorn gained world renowned for their garden grown on the harsh Scottish coast.
In "Biology Of Belief", Bruce Lipton presents evidence that the beliefs we hold affect the fundamental biochemistry of our cells, down to the genetic level.
The world is profoundly connected within higher dimensions, the domain of consciousness and inspiration, relegating the apparent separation within material form to simple limited perspective. The core of our current social upheaval is the conflict between those who experience the world as separate, isolated, dead material forms, and those who experience the world as whole, alive, and aware. The choice is death or life.
