The Fourth Dimension

How long did it take you to understand the idea of a 3D world? I remember it took me quite some time. It wasn’t because I was really thick (although it may have been!) – I just had trouble reconciling the IMPOSSIBILITY of anything being 2D. Unless you’re talking mathematical theory, the world is purely one of 3 physical dimensions no matter what you try and do. But then again, what makes pure mathematical theory not part of the world? Why are points, planes, and lines in the mathematical sense no part of reality? Is it because they are imperceptible by our 5 senses, or by any tool we use to enhance those senses? If our senses are electrical impulses interpreted by our brains, then there is no proof anything around is really exists, and those mathematical concepts would have equal recognition since they too are understood through impulses in the brain. If I am touching an apple, the hard, cold texture my fingers pick up travels to the brain and says “cold, hard”. But what if there is a faulty middle-man, that is, what if the nerves that travel to the brain are polluting the information on its way up? Moreover, since all we get are the impulses, how do we know something is triggering them? We could all be living in a complete vacuum, and our brain is really projecting everything around us.

The first time this occurred to me it was a bit frightening. Could it be true?

One thing persuaded me against this theory – my brain could (and probably does) simulate my environment and the people I see, in that what I see as red may be to someone else green, or blue, but we all come to an agreement somehow that we identify one retinal communication as the color “red” –- however I am certain my brain does not have the capacity of introducing ‘new experiences’. My first Cézanne, my first crepe, my first glimpse of the Pyramids, or of Lago Di Como – none of these amazing experiences could have been a product of my brain (unless you happen to be an avid reader of Alan Lightman). Therefore it follows that the world around me does exist. How then, do we access this world?

We have 5 senses – hear, touch, smell, taste, see. Given my prior elaboration on how unreliable those sense are, is there any reason to suggest that there isn’t another sense? If those 5 sense are able to put a 3D tag on our physical world, any extra sense or senses could add more dimensions to our world, and this would not be a departure from logic or ‘reality’.

Yes, of course there’s a fourth dimension. Although many thinkers have proposed earlier that “time” would be a valid 4th dimension, it fails the test of certainty. Time is not only illusive, in that we have invented artificial ways of regulating the irregular, but it also doesn’t stimulate any part of my brain – does not send an electrical impulse through me in any way. When’s the last time your “sense of time” ‘hurt’ you, or was in any way ‘unpleasant’ or ‘pleasurable’?

Many cultures and traditions have already touched on what I see as the 4th dimension. The fourth dimension is free of empiricism. The 4th dimension dominates, governs the remainder because it’s the interpreter in the brain. The 4th dimension is a Quality, not a Quantity, it’s the Chi, the Essence, the Soul, the Life-force every moment.

Summer comes around, we dance and drink on the beach, we lust and indulge, we laugh, sleep for as long as we like, the “Spirit of summer” if you will dominates us – the euphoria in physical freedom from commitments, worries and clothing creates this Spirit, this fourth dimension.

Our places of worship are nothing but buildings without this 4th dimension. The Spirit of joy, love, repentance and of harmony affects our entire physical experience. The hypnosis I feel when I hear the hymns sung and the organs played at church, or of the sheikh’s voice melodically and rhythmically reciting the mystical phrases of the Quran, or the powerful Zikr in a Sufi order. Its almost as if there is a magnetic field between you and everyone that shares this experience. And you can always single out a person who is not on this 'frequency'.

The 4th dimension is not always a pleasant one. Beautiful, healthy, privileged lives can be mortal hells with a Spirit of war, bitterness, or jealousy.

It follows, therefore, that the 4th dimension is the only one that we as humans have complete control over. We, through our personalities, can project a magnetic field that will not only affect the remaining 3 dimensions in our own perception, but influence the 4th dimension of others. Some call this 'Attitude', but that word doesn't do the concept justice. The 4th Dimension of Spirit does affect your life and how it progresses in the same way your 'attitude' does, and certainly for you to form the right Spirit entails forming the right 'attitude'- the difference lies in magnitude. Attitude is a conscious commitment to change your preception - Spirit is attitude so founded and powerful that it becomes an autonomous creation able to replenish your perception with its quality should your conscious mind be at fault. For example: A person with the Spirit of love can only detest for so long before she rebounds to her Spirit, her Default. Equally a person with Spirit of bitterness finds it difficult to alter this dimension and truly be resigned and complacent. Indeed it takes a lot of effort to alter a whole dimension in your perception, but it is hardly not worth it. Spirit affects your perception, your 3 dimensions, and as an autonomous being of your creation it also can affect those around you.

So I guess the question is – what is your fourth dimension like? Have you taken control of your 3 dimensions and accentuated their pleasure by adding a positive 4th dimension?

Can you perceive the magnetic field in sharing a beautiful feeling?

A beautiful man from Canada once said: “I am a work in progress, and hope my life to be my masterpiece.”