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02-11-95
Q:
(L) Earlier we were reading from Ouspensky's Tertium Organum
about perceptions, was this a fairly accurate description of the
state of our perceptions and the state of 2nd density perceptions?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) Okay, now making a jump with that, as to 4th density perception,
is the 4th density perception...
A: Wait and see.
I know that a number of you are wondering about that remark about
Ouspensky's description of the perceptions of 2nd density which
was mentioned in a previous section of this series because you have
written to ask me what, exactly, it was. Before I get into the Cassiopaean
discussion here, I want to quote that passage we discussed at the
session because the issue will come up again in this segment, and
the reader might like to be familiar with what it says because everyone
seems to want to know exactly why it is, and HOW it is, that we
can be living in a world of such vastly different perceptions, and
that these can have so profound an impact on us that it is possible
that we live and move among beings that we cannot perceive.
There is also the issue of what our own perceptions might be like
after "graduation" to 4th density, and that is a question
we would all like to have answered. So, perhaps, in his speculations
on the matter, Ouspensky gave us some clues, though it is pretty
certain that it was not all correct.
In
fact, Ark and I have debated rather long over whether to share this
extract or not because of what he perceives to be serious flaws
in Ouspensky's "scientific arguments." Ark says they are
not scientific at all and that Ouspensky makes leaps of assumption
and statements without proof.
That
may be true, but the point of the passage was to get something of
an inkling of what might be the differences between human and animal
experience of the world around us so that we might have a framework
from which to speculate further.
In
the meantime, Ark will be preparing some additional information
about some of the current knowledge in particular areas bearing
on the subject that Ouspensky might never have imagined, or if he
did, he didn't imagine big enough, so stay tuned for that.
The
extract is going to be a little long, but I just didn't see how
I could shorten it without really losing something important. Even
though the language is a little "dated," since it was
written in the 20's or earlier, Ouspensky is pretty concise and
economical with his words and there are very few that are "extra."
But, the end result will be that, even for those who cannot just
go out and buy the book, there will be a good understanding of what
we are talking about from here on out when we talk about density
"perceptions." And it is this idea of the differences
that I want to convey, not necessarily the specifics as outlined
by Ouspensky. So, please read it through even if you don't at first
see the relevance, and you may be surprised at some of the ideas
that will start popping up!
From
Tertium Organum:
The
basic unit of our perception is a sensation. A sensation is an
elementary change in the state of our inner life, produced, or
so it appears to us, either by some change in the state of the
outer world in relation to our inner life, or by a change in our
inner life in relation to the outer world. ...It is sufficient
to define a sensation as an elementary change in the state of
the inner life. Experiencing a sensation, we assume it to be,
so to speak, a reflection of some kind of change in the external
world.
The
sensations experienced by us leave a certain trace in our memory.
In accumulating, memories of sensations begin to blend in our
consciousness into groups according to their similarity, to become
associated, to be put together, or to be contrasted. Sensations,
usually experienced in close connection with one another, will
arise in our memory preserving the same connection. And gradually,
out of memories of sensations there are formed representations.
Representations
are, so to speak, group memories of sensations. In the formation
of representations, the grouping of sensations follows two clearly
defined directions. The first direction is according to the character
of the sensations: thus sensation of yellow colour will be linked
with other sensations of yellow colour, sensation os acid taste,
with other sensations of acid taste. The second direction is according
to the time of receiving the sensation.
When
one group, forming one representation, contains different sensations
experienced simultaneously, the memory of this definite group
of sensations is attributed to a common cause. The "common
cause" is projected into the external world, as the object;
and it is assumed that the given representation reflects the real
properties of this object.
Such
a group memory constitutes a representation, as for instance,
the representation of a tree - this tree. Into this group enters
the green colour of the leaves, their smell, their shade, the
sound of the wind in the branches, and so on. All these things,
taken together, form as it were, the focus of rays emitted by
our mind and gradually focused on the external object, which may
coincide with it either badly or well.
In
the further complexities of mental life, memories of representations
undergo the same process as memories of sensations. In accumulating,
memories of representations or "images of representation"
become associated along the most varied lines, are put together,
contrasted, form groups and, in the end, give rise to concepts.
Thus,
out of the various sensations experienced at different times (in
groups), there arises in a child the representation of a tree
(this tree), and later, out of the images of representaions of
different trees is formed the concept of a tree, i.e. not of this
particular tree but of a tree in general.The formation of concepts
leads to the formation of words and the appearance of speech.
Speech
consists of words; every word expresses a concept. A concept and
a word are really the same thing, only the one (the concept) stands,
as it were, for the inner aspect, while the other (the word) stands
for the outer aspect. The word is the algebraic sign of a thing.
In
our speech words express concepts or ideas. Ideas are broader
concepts; they are not a group sign for similar representations,
but embrace groups of dissimilar representations, or even groups
of concepts. Thus an idea is a complex or an abstract concept.
At
the present moment an average man, taken as a standard, has three
units of mental life - sensation, representation and concept.
Observation
further shows us that in some people at certain moments there
appears, as it were, a fourth unit of mental life, which different
authors and schools call by different names, but in which the
element of perception of the element of ideas is always connected
with the emotional element. If Kant's idea is true, if space with
its characteristics is a property of our consciousness and not
a property of the external world, then the three-dimensionality
of the world must in some way be dependent on the constitution
of our mental apparatus.
Concretely,
the question may be put in this way: What is the relation of
the three-dimensional extension of the world to the fact that
our mental apparatus contains sensations, representations and
concepts, and that they stand exactly in this order?
We
have a mental apparatus of this kind and the world is three-dimensional.
How to prove that the three-dimensionality of the world depends
on this particular constitution of our mental apparatus?
If we were able to alter our mental apparatus and observe that
the world around us changed with these alterations, this would
prove to us the dependence of the properties of space on the
properties of our mind. If the above mentioned higher form
of inner life, which now appears only accidentally depending on
some little-known conditions, could be rendered as definite, as
precise, as obedient to our will as a concept, and if, through
this, the number of characteristics of space increased, i.e. if
space, instead of being three-dimensional, became four dimensional,
this would confirm our supposition and prove Kant's idea that
space with its properties is the form of our sense perception.
If
we could reduce the number of units of our mental life and deliberately
deprive ourselves or some other man of concepts, leaving his or
our mind to operate by representations and sensations alone; and
if, through this, the number of characteristics of the space surrounding
us diminished, i.e. if for that man the world were to become two-dimensional
instead of three-dimensional and, with a further limitation of
his mental apparatus, i.e. with depriving him of representaions,
it were to become one-dimensional, this would confirm our surmise
and Kant's thought could be regarded as proved.
Thus,
Kant's idea could be proved experimentally if we were able to
ascertain that for a being possesseing nothing but sensations
the world is one-dimensional; for a being possessing sensations
and representations it is two-dimensional; and for a being possessing,
in addition to concepts and ideas, also higher forms of perception,
the world is four-dimensional.
Kant's
proposition regarding the subjective character of the idea of
space could be taken as proved if:
a)
for a being possessing nothing but sensations, our entire world
with all its variety of forms appears as one line; if the universe
of this being had one dimension, i.e. if this being were one-dimensional
by virtue of the properties of his perception; and
b)for
a being possessing the capacity of forming representations in
addition to his ability of experiencing sensations, the world
had a two-dimensional extension, i.e. if our entire world with
its blue skies, clouds, green trees, mountains and precipices,
appeared to him merely as a plane; if the universe of this being
had only two dimensions, that is, if this being were two-dimensional
by virtue of the properties of his perception.
More
briefly, Kant's proposition would be proved if we saw that for
a given subject the number of characteristics of the world
changed according to the change of his mental apparatus.
It
does not seem possible to carry out such an experiment of reducing
mental characteristics, for we do not know how to restrict our
own or someone else's mental apparatus with the ordinary means
at our disposal. Experiments of augmenting mental characteristics
exist but, for many different reasons, they are not sufficiently
convincing. The main reason is that an increase of mental faculties
produces in our inner world so much that is new, that this new
masks any changes which take place simultaneously in our usual
perceptions of the world. We feel the new but cannot exactly define
the difference.
A
whole series of teachings and religious and philosophical doctrines
have as their professed or hidden aim precisely this expansion
of consciousness. This is the aim of mysticism of all times and
all religions, the aim of occultism, the aim of the Eastern Yoga.
But the question of the expansion of consciousness requires special
study.
In
the meantime, in order to prove the contention stated above about
the change of the world as a result of a change in the mental
apparatus, it is sufficient to examine the hypothesis about the
possibility of a lesser number of mental characteristics.
If
we do not know how to carry out experiments in this direction,
perhaps observation is possible.We must ask ourselves the question:
Are there in the world beings whose mental life is below ours
in the required sense?
Such
beings, whose mental life is below ours, undoubtedly exist. They
are animals.We know very little about what constitutes the
difference between the mental processes of an animal and the mental
processes of a man; our ordinary 'conversational psychology' is
altogether ignorant of it. As a rule we entirely deny the
existence of reason in animals, or, on the contrary, we ascribe
to them our own psychology, but 'limited' - though how and in
what respect it is limited, we do not know. And then we say that
an animal has no reason but has instinct. But we have a very hazy
idea of what instinct may mean. I am speaking now not only of
popular but also of 'scientific' psychology.
Let
us, however, try to examine what instinct is and what animal mentality
is like. In the first place, let us examine the actions of an
animal and determine in what way they differ from ours. If they
are instinctive actions, what does it mean?
We
distingusish in living beings reflex actions, instinctive actions,
rational actions, automatic actions. Reflex actions are simply
responses by motion, reactions to external irritations,
always occurring in the same manner, irrespective of their usefulness
or uselessness, expediency or inexpediency in a given instance.
Their origin and laws are the outcome of the simple irritability
of the cell.
What
is meant by irritability of the cell and what are these laws?
By
irritability of the cell is meant its capacity to respond by motion
to external irritations. Experiments with the simplest living
one-cell organisms proved that irritability is governed
by strictly definite laws. The cell responds by motion to an external
irritation. The force of the responsive motion is increased with
the increase of the force of irritation, but it has not been possible
to establish the exact ratio. In order to provoke a responsive
motion, the irritation must be sufficiently strong. Every irritation
experienced leaves a certain trace in the cell,
rendering it more susceptible to further irritations. This is
proved by the fact that to a repeated irritation
of an equal force the cell responds with a stronger
movement than to the first irritation. And, if irritations are
further repeated, the cell will respond to them with an increasingly
stronger motion, up to a certain limit. Having reached this limit,
the cell becomes tired, as it were, and begins
to respond to the same irritation by increasingly weaker reactions.
The cell appears to become used to the irritation. It becomes
for the cell part of its permanent surroundings and
the cell ceases to react to it, for it reacts only to changes
in the permanent conditions. If from the very beginning the
irritation is too weak to produce a responsive motion, it still
leaves a certain invisible trace in the cell. This
is shown by the fact that, by repeating weak irritations, it is
possible to make the cell react to them.Thus in the laws
of irritability we see what seem to be the rudiments of
the capacities of memory, fatigue and habit. The cell produces
the illusion of a being, which, if not conscious
and reasoning, is at least capable of remembering, capable of
forming habits and of getting tired.
If we are almost deceived by a cell, how much easier it is for
us to be deceived by an animal with its complex life.But let us
return to our analysis of actions.
By
reflex actions of an organism are meant actions where the whole
organism or its separate parts act as the cell does,
i.e. within the limits of the law of irritability. We observe
such actions both in man and in animals. A shudder runs through
a man from sudden cold or from an unexpected touch. He blinks
if some object quickly approaches or touches him. If a man sits
with his leg hanging loosely, his foot jerks forward if the tendon
immediately below the knee is hit. These movements happen independently
of consciousness and may happen even contrary to consciousness.
As a rule consciousness perceives them as an already accomplished
fact. And these movements need not necessarily be expedient. The
foot will jerk forward if the tendon is hit even if there is a
knife or fire in front of it.
By
instinctive actions are meant actions which are expedient but
performed without any consciousness of choice or
consciousness of purpose.
They
arise with the appearance of an emotional quality in a sensation,
i.e. from the moment when the feeling of pleasure or pain becomes
connected with the sensation.
And
indeed, before the appearance of human intellect, 'actions' in
all the animal kingdom are governed by the tendency to obtain
or keep pleasure, or to avoid pain.We may say with the utmost
certainty that instinct is pleasure-pain which,
like the positive and negative poles of an electro-magnet, repels
and attracts an animal in one or another direction, thus forcing
it to perform a whole series of complicated actions, at times
so expedient as to appear conscious; and not only conscious, but
based on a foresight of the future almost bordering on clairvoyance,
such as the migration of birds, the building of nests for the
young still unborn, the finding of the way south in the autumn
and north in the spring, and so on.But in actual fact all these
actions are explained solely by instinct, i.e. by subordination
to pleasure-pain.
In
the course of periods in which thousands of years may be counted
as days, there was evolved in all animals, through selection,
a type which lives according to this subordination. This subordination
is expedient, i.e. its results lead to the required
aim. It is quite clear why this is so. If the feeling of
pleasure proceeded from something harmful, a given species
could not live and would soon die out. Instinct is the guiding
factor of its life; but only so long as instinct is expedient.
As soon as it ceases to be expedient, it becomes the guiding factor
of death, and the species very soon dies out. Normally, 'pleasure-pain'
is pleasant and unpleasant not for the usefulness
or the harm it brings, but as a consequence of it.
Influences which had proved useful to a given species
during its vegetable life begin to be experienced as pleasant
with the transition to animal life; harmful influences are
experienced as unpleasant. One and the same influence -
say a certain temperature - may be useful and pleasant
for one species and harmful and unpleasant for another. It is
clear, therefore, that subordination to 'pleasure-pain' should
be expedient. The pleasant is pleasant because it
is useful; the unpleasant is unpleasant
because it is harmful.
The
next stage after instinctive actions consists of rational and
automatic actions.By rational action is meant an action known
to the acting subject before it is performed - an
action which the acting subject can name, define, explain and
whose cause and purpose he can point out - before it has
taken place.
By
automatic actions are meant actions which have been rational for
a given subject but have since become customary and unconscious
through frequent repetition. The automatic actions learned by
trained animals were previously rational not in the animal but
in the trainer. Such actions often seem quite rational, but this
is pure illusion. The animal remembers the order of actions
and so its actions appear to be thought out and expedient.
And it is true they were thought out, but not by it.
Automatic actions are often confused with instinctive actions;
and indeed they do resemble the instinctive, but at the same time
there is an enormous difference between them. Automatic actions
are created by the subject in the course of his own life. And,
before becoming automatic, they must for a long time remain rational
for him or for another person.
Instinctive actions are created during the lifetime of a species
and the capacity to perform them is handed down, in a ready-made
form, through heredity. Automatic actions may be
called the instinctive actions which a given subject has evolved
for himself. Instinctive actions cannot be called
automatic actions evolved by a given species, because they
never were rational for separate individuals
of that species, but are the result of a complex series of reflexes.
Reflexes,
instinctive actions and 'rational' actions may be regarded as
reflected, i.e. as not independent.
The
first, the second and the third come not from man himself but
from the external world. A man is merely a transmitting or
transforming station of forces; all his actions belonging
to these three categories are produced by impressions
coming from the external world. In these three kinds of actions
man is actually an automaton, either unaware or aware of his actions.
Nothing comes from himself.
Only
the highest category of actions, i.e. conscious actions (which,
generally speaking, we do not observe, since we confuse them with
rational actions, mainly because we call 'rational' actions conscious)
- only these actions depend not only on the impressions coming
from the external world, but on something else besides. But the
capacity for such actions is very rarely met with and only very
few people have it. These people may be defined as the HIGHER
TYPE OF MAN.
Having
established the difference between actions, we must now return
to the question: How does the mental apparatus of an animal
differ from that of a man?
Of
the four categories of actions only the two lower ones are accessible
to animals. The category of 'rational' actions is not accessible
to them. This is proved, first of all, by the fact that animals
do not speak as we do.
It
was shown earlier that the possession of speech is indissolubly
connected with the possession of concepts. Consequently, we may
say that animals do not possess concepts.
Is
this true - and is the possession of instinctive reason possible
without possessing concepts?
All
that we know about instinctive reason tells us that it operates
while possessing only representations and sensations, and on the
lower levels possessing only sensations. The mental apparatus
which thinks by means of representations must be identical with
instinctive reason which enables it to make that selection
from among the available representations which, from outside,
produces the impression of reasoning and drawing conclusions.
In reality, an animal does not think out its actions, but lives
by emotions, obeying the emotion which is strongest at a given
moment. Although it is true that in the life of an animal there
may be very acute moments, when it is faced with the necessity
of making a selection from a certain series of representations.
In that case, at a given moment, its actions may appear to be
reasoned out. For instance, an animal, faced with danger, often
acts with surprising caution and intelligence.
But
in reality the actions of an animal are governed not by thoughts
but mostly by emotional memory and motor representations. It has
been shown earlier that emotions are expedient and, in a normal
being, obedience to them should also be expedient. In an animal,
every representation, every remembered image is connected with
some emotional sensation and emotional recollection; there are
no unemotional cold thoughts or images in the nature
of an animal. Or, if there are some, they are inactive, incapable
of moving it to any action.
Thus,
all the actions of animals, at times very complex, expedient and
seemingly rational, can be explained without assuming the existence
in them of concepts, reasoning and mental conclusions.
On
the contrary, we must admit that animals have no concepts.
The proof of this is that they have no speech.If we take two
men of different nationalities, different races,
each ignorant of the language of the other, and settle them to
live together, they will immediately find means of communicating
with each other. One would draw with his finger a circle, the
other would draw another circle alongside the first. This is enough
to establish that they can understand one another. If a thick
stone wall were to separate people, again it would not deter them.
One would knock three times; the other would also knock three
times in reply- communication is established. The idea of communication
with the inhabitants of another planet is based precisely on the
system of light signals. On the earth it is proposed to make an
enormous luminous circle or square. It should be noticed on Mars
or somewhere over there and should be answered by a similar signal.
With
animals we live side by side, yet we are unable to establish such
communication with them. Evidently, the distance between us is
greater, the difference deeper than between people separated
by ignorance of language, stone walls and enormous distances.
Another
proof of the absence of concepts in an animal is its incapacity
of using a lever, i.e. its incapacity of arriving independently
at an understanding of the significance and the action of a lever.
The usual argument that an animal does not know how to use a lever
simply because its organs - paws, etc.- are not adapted for such
actions, does not bear criticism, because any animal can be taught
to use a lever. This means that organs have nothing to do
with it. The thing is simply that by itself an animal
cannot arrive at the idea of a lever.The invention of a lever
at once separated primitive man from the animals and it was inseparably
connected with the appearance of concepts. The mental side of
understanding the action of a lever lies in the
construction of a correct syllogism. Without mentally constructing
a syllogism it is impossible to understand the action of a lever.
Without concepts it is impossible to construct a syllogism. In
the mental sphere a syllogism is literally the same thing as a
lever in the physical sphere.
The
application of a lever distinguishes man from the animal as drastically
as does speech. If some Martian scientists were to look at the
earth and study it objectively through a telescope, not hearing
speech from afar nor entering into the subjective world of the
inhabitants of the earth and without any contact with it, they
would divide the beings living on the earth into two categories:
those familiar with the action of a lever and those unfamiliar
with it.
On
the whole the psychology of animals is very obscure to us. The
infinite number of observations made of all animals, from elephants
to spiders, and the infinite number of anecdotes about the intelligence,
perspicacity and moral qualities of animals change nothing in
this respect. We represent animals either as living automatons
or as stupid human beings.We are too shut up in the circle of
our own mentality. We have no idea of any other mentality
and involuntarily we think that the only kind of mentality possible
is the one we possess. But this is an illusion which prevents
us from understanding life. If we were able to enter into the
inner world of an animal and understand how it perceives,
understands and acts, we would see many extremely interesting
things.
For
example, if we could represent to ourselves and re-create mentally
the logic of the animal, it would greatly help us
to understand our own logic and the laws of our thinking. Above
all we would understand the conditional and relative character
of our whole idea of the world.
An
animal must have a very peculiar logic. Of course, it would not
be logic in the true sense of the word, for logic presupposes
the existence of logos, i.e. word or concept.Our
usual logic, the one we live by, without which 'the cobbler will
not be able to make shoes' can be brought down to the simple scheme
formulated by Aristotle in those writings which were published
by his pupils under the general title of Organon, i.e.
the 'Instrument' (of thought). This scheme consists in the following:
A
is A.
A
is not not-A.
Everything
is either A or not-A.
The
logic contained in this scheme - Aristotle's logic - is quite sufficient
for observation. But for experiment it
is insufficient, for experiment, takes place in time,
whereas Aristotle's formulae do not take time into account.
This was observed at the very dawn of the establishment of our experimental
knowledge; it was noted by Roger Bacon and, some centuries later,
was formulated by his famous namesake, Francis Bacon, in the treatise
Novum Organum - 'New Instrument' (of thought). Briefly
Bacon's formulation may be reduced to the following:
That
which was A, will be A.
That
which was not-A, will be not-A.
Everything
was and will be either A or not-A.
All
our scientific experience is built on these formulae, whether
they are taken or not taken into account by our mind. And
these same formulae actually serve as a basis for making shoes,
for if a cobbler could not be sure that the leather bought yesterday
would be leather tomorrow, he would probably not venture to make
shoes but would look for some other more secure profession.
Logical
formulae, both those of Aristotle and Bacon, are simply deduced
from observation of facts and embrace nothing but the contents
of these facts - and can embrace nothing more. They are not laws
of thinking but merely laws of the external world
as it is perceived by us, or laws of our relationship to the external
world.
If
we were able to represent to ourselves the 'logic' of an animal,
we would understand its relationship to the external world. Our
chief mistake as regards the inner world of an animal lies in
our ascribing to it our own logic. We think that there
is only one logic, that our logic is something absolute,
something existing outside us and apart from us. Yet, in actual
fact, it is merely the laws of the relation of our inner life
to the outside world or the laws which our mind finds in the outside
world. A different mind will find different laws.
The
first difference between our logic and that of an animal is that
the latter is not general. It is a particular logic
in every case, for every separate representation. For animals
there exists no classification according to common properties,
i.e. classes, varieties and species. Every single object exists
by itself, all its properties are specific properties.
This
house and that house are for an animal totally
different objects, because the one is his house
and the other an alien house. Generally speaking,
we recognize objects by their similarity; an animal must recognize
them by their differences. It remembers every object by the signs
which have had for it the greatest emotional significance. In
this form, i.e. with emotional qualities, representations are
preserved in the memory of an animal. It is easy to see that it
is much more difficult to preserve such representations in memory;
consequently the memory of an animal is much more burdened than
ours, although in the amount of knowledge and the number of things
preserved in the memory an animal is far below us.
Having
once seen an object, we refer it to a certain class, variety and
species, attach it to one or another concept and connect it in
our mind with one or another 'word', i.e. with an algebraic sign,
then with another, defining it, and so on.
An
animal has no concepts, it has no mental algebra with the help
of which we think. It must know a given object and
remember it with all its characteristics and peculiarities. Not
a single forgotten characteristic will come back. But for us the
main characteristics are implied in the concept with which we
have connected the given object, and we can find it in our memory
by any of its characteristic signs.
It
is clear from this that an animal's memory is more burdened
than ours and that this is precisely the main cause
which hinders the mental evolution of an animal. Its mind is
too occupied. It has no time to move
forward. It is possible to arrest the mental development of a
child by making it learn by heart series of words and series of
figures. An animal is exactly in the same position. And this explains
the strange fact that an animal is more intelligent when
young.
In
a man the peak of his intellectual power is reached at a mature
age, very often even in old age; in the case of an animal it is
just the reverse. It is receptive only while
it is young. With maturity its development becomes arrested and
in old age it undoubtedly becomes retrogressive.
The
logic of an animal, if we attempt to express it in formulae similar
to those of Aristotle and Bacon, would be as follows:
The animal will understand the formula A is A.
It will say: I am I, and so on.
But it will not understand the formula A is not not-A,
for not-A is a concept.
The animal will say: This is this. That is that. This is
not that.
Or This
man is this man. That man is that man. This man is not that man.
Later
on I shall have to return to the logic of animals. For the moment
it was only necessary to establish the fact that the psychology
of animals is very distinctive and fundamentally different from
ours. And it is not only distinctive but also very varied.
Among
the animals known to us, even among domestic animals, psychological
differences are so great as to put them on totally different levels.
We do not notice this and put them all under one head - 'animals'.
A
goose has put its foot on a piece of watermelon rind, pulls at
it with its beak but cannot pull it out, and it never occurs to
it to lift its foot off the rind. This means that its mental processes
are so vague that it has a very imperfect knowledge of its own
body and does not properly distinguish it from other objects.
This could not happen either with a dog or a cat. They know their
bodies perfectly well. But in their relations to outside objects
a dog and a cat are very different.
I
have observed a dog, a 'very intelligent' setter. When the little
rug on which he slept got rucked up and became uncomfortable to
lie on, he understood that the discomfort was outside him,
that it was in the rug and, more precisely, in the position
of the rug. So he kept on worrying the rug with his teeth, twisting
it and dragging it here and there, all the while growling, sighing
and groaning until someone came to his assistance. But he could
never manage to straighten out the rug by himself.
With
a cat such a question could never even arise. A cat knows its
body perfectly well, but everything outside itself it
takes for granted, as something given. To correct the
outside world, to accommodate it to its own comfort, would never
occur to a cat. Maybe this is so because a cat lives more in another
world, the world of dreams and fantasies, than in this one. Therefore,
if there were something wrong with its bed, a cat would itself
turn and twist a hundred times until it could settle down comfortably;
or it would go and settle down in another place.
A
monkey would of course spread out the rug quite easily.
Here
are four beings, all quite different. And this is only
one example of which one could easily find hundreds. And yet for
us all this is an animal. We mix together many
things that are totally different; our divisions are very often
wrong and this hinders us in our examination of ourselves.
Moreover
it would be quite incorrect to assert that the differences mentioned
determine 'evolutionary stages', that animals of one type are
higher or lower than others. The dog
and the monkey by their reason, their ability to
imitate and (the dog) by his fidelity to man seem to be higher
than the cat, but the cat is infinitely superior to them in its
intuition, its aesthetic sense, its independence and willpower.
The dog and the monkey manifest themselves in their entirety.
All that there is in them can be seen. But it is not without cause
that the cat is regarded as a magical and occult animal. There
is much in it that is hidden, much that it does not itself
know. If one is to speak in terms of evolution it would
be much more correct to say that these are animals of different
evolutions, just as, in all probability, not one but several evolutions
go on in mankind.
The
recognition of several independent and, from a certain point of
view, equivalent evolutions, developing entirely different
properties, would lead us out of the labyrinth of endless
contradictions in our understanding of man and would
show the way to the understanding of the only real and important
evolution for us, the evolution towards superman.
We
have established the tremendous difference which exists between
the mentality of man and that of animals. This difference is bound
to have a deep effect on the animal perception of the external
world. But how and in what? This is
precisely what we do not know and what we must endeavour to establish.
To
do this we must return once more to our perception
of the world and examine in detail how we perceive
it; and then we must see how the world must be perceived by the
animal with its limited mental equipment.
First
of all we must take note of the fact that, as regards the external
aspect and form of the world, our perception is extremely incorrect.
We know that the world consists of solids, but we always see and
touch only surfaces. We never see or touch a
solid. A solid is already a concept, made
up of a number of representations put together by means of reasoning
and experience. For direct sensation only surfaces exist.
Sensations of weight, mass, volume, which we mentally associate
with a 'solid', are in reality connected for us with sensations
of surfaces. We only know that this sensation of surfaces
comes from a solid, but we never sense the solid itself. Maybe
it is possible to call the composite sensation of surfaces, weight,
mass, density, resistance and so on - 'sensation of a solid'.
But we are obliged mentally to bind all these sensations
into one and to call this general sensation - a solid. We sense
directly only surfaces, and then, separately, weight;
we never sense the resistance of a solid, as such.
But
we know that the world does not consist of surfaces,
we know that we see the world incorrectly. We know that we never
see the world as it really is, not only in the
philosophical sense of this expression, but even in the most ordinary
geometrical sense. We have never seen a cube, a
sphere, etc., we have always seen only surfaces. Realizing
this, we mentally correct what we see. Behind the surfaces
we think the solid. But we can never represent
a solid to ourselves; we cannot represent a cube or a sphere
not in perspective, but from all sides at once.
It
is clear that the world does not exist in perspective; yet we
are unable to see it in any other way. We see everything only
in perspective, i.e. in perceiving it, we distort the world with
our eye. And we know that we distort it. We know that it is not
as we see it. And mentally we continually correct what
the eye sees, substituting the real content for those
symbols of things which our sight shows US.
Our
sight is a complex faculty. It consists of visual sensations,
plus the memory of sensations of touch. A child
tries to touch everything he sees - the nose of his nurse, the
moon, the dancing spot of reflected sunlight on the wall. He learns
only gradually to distinguish between the near and the far by
sight alone. But we know that even in mature years we
are easily subject to optical illusions.We see distant objects
as flat, i.e. even more incorrectly, for relief is, after all,
a symbol indicating a certain property of objects. At a great
distance a man is outlined for us in silhouette. This happens
because at long range we can never touch anything, and our eye
has not been trained to notice the differences in surfaces which,
at close range, are felt by the fingertips.
In
this connection, observations made on the blind beginning to see
are very interesting. The periodical Slepetz ('The
Blind Man') I912, contains a description, based on direct observation,
of how men, blind from birth, learn to see after an operation
which has restored their sight. This is how a youth of seventeen
describes his experiences after the retoration of his sight by
the removal of a cataract. On the third day after the operation
he was asked what he saw; he replied that he saw a vast expanse
of light with dim objects moving in it. He did not distinguish
these objects. Only after four days did he begin to distinguish
them, and only after two weeks, when his eyes became used to the
light, did he begin to make a practical use of his sight for the
discernment of objects. He was shown all the colours of the spectrum
and very quickly mastered them, except the yellow and the green
which he kept on confusing for a long time. A cube, a sphere and
a pyramid, placed before him, seemed to him a square, a fiat disc
and a triangle. When a fiat disc was placed next to the sphere,
he could not see any difference between them. When asked to describe
his first impression of the two figures, he answered that he noticed
at once the difference between the cube and the sphere and realized
that they were not drawings, but could not derive from them the
representation of a square and a circle, until he felt in his
fingertips the same sensation as though he had touched a square
and a circle. When he was allowed to handle the cube, the sphere
and the pyramid, he immediately identified these solids by touch
and was very surprised at not having recognized them at once by
sight. He had as yet no representation of space, of perspective.
All objects appeared flat to him. Although he knew that the nose
projected and the eyes were sunk in cavities, the human face also
looked flat to his eyes. He was overjoyed at having his sight
restored, but in the beginning looking at things tired him; impressions
overwhelmed and exhausted him. This is why, while enjoying perfect
sight, he at times reverted to touch, as a form of relaxation.
We
are never able to see even a small bit of the external world as
it is, i.e. such as we know it to be. We can never
see a writing desk or a cupboard simultaneously from all
sides, as well as inside. Our eye distorts the external
world in a certain way to enable us, in looking about, to determine
the position of objects relatively to ourselves. But to look at
the world not from our own point of view is impossible
for us. And we are never able to have a correct view of it, a
view not distorted by our eyesight.
Relief
and perspective - these are the distortions of the objects by
our eye. They are an optical illusion, a visual deception. A cube
in perspective is only a conventional symbol of a three-dimensional
cube. And everything we see is only a conventional image of that
conventionally real three-dimensional world which our geometry
studies - and not the real world itself. On the basis
of what we see, we must guess what it really is. We know that
what we see is incorrect, and we think of the world as being different
from the way we see it. If we had no doubts about the correctness
of our sight, if we knew that the world was such as we saw it,
it stands to reason that we would think of it as we see it. In
practice, however, we are constantly introducing corrections
into what we see.
This
capacity of introducing corrections in that which the eye sees
necessarily implies the possession of concepts, for corrections
are made by means of reasoning, which is impossible without concepts.
Without this capacity of correcting what is seen by the eye we
would see the world quite differently, i.e. much of what actually
exists we would see wrongly, much of what actually
exists we would not see at all, and we would see a great
deal of what, in reality, does not exist at all.
In
the first place, we would see an enormous number of nonexistent
movements. For direct sensation, every movement of our
own is connected with the movement of everything around us. We
know that this movement is illusory, but we see
it as real. Objects turn round before us, run past us, outstrip
one another. Houses, past which we drive slowly, turn about leisurely;
if we drive fast, they turn quickly; trees suddenly spring up
before us, run away and vanish.
This
apparent animation of objects, together with dreams,
provided, and still provides, the main food for the fantasy of
fairy-tales.
In
those cases the 'movements' of objects may be very complex. Look
at the strange behaviour of a cornfield seen through the window
of your railway carriage. It runs up to your very window, stops,
turns about slowly and runs to one side. The trees in the wood
clearly run at different speeds, outstripping one another. A whole
landscape of illusory motion! And what of the sun which still
continues, in all languages, to rise and set, and the movement
of which was at one time so passionately defended!
This
is how it all appears to us. And although we already know that
all these movements are illusory, we still see them
and are, at times, deceived.
How
many more illusions we would see if we were unable mentally to
unravel the causes which produce them, and were to regard everything
as existing exactly as we see it?
I
see it, therefore it is.
This
assertion is the main source of all illusions.
The
right way to put it would be:
I
see it, therefore it is not. Or at any rate: I see
it, therefore it is not so.
We
can say the latter, but animals cannot. For them whatever they see
- is. They have to believe what they see.
How
does the world appear to animals?
For
animals the world is a series of complex moving surfaces. Animals
live in a two-dimensional world; their universe has
the appearance and properties of a surface. And on
this surface there take place a vast number of movements of the
most varied and fantastic character.
Why
should the world appear as a surface to animals?
First
of all, because it appears as a surface to us.
But
we know that the world is not a surface, whereas animals
cannot know it. They accept everything as it appears. They cannot
correct what the eye sees, or cannot do so to the same degree as
we can.
We
can measure in three directions; the quality of our mind enables
us to do so. Animals can measure simultaneously only in two directions;
they can never measure in three directions at once. This is due
to the fact that, having no concepts, they are incapable of keeping
in mind the measurements of the first direction while measuring
the second and third.
I
will explain this more clearly.
Let
us imagine ourselves measuring a cube. In measuring
a cube in three directions, we must, while measuring in one direction,
keep in mind, remember, the two others. But things
can only be kept in mind as concepts, i.e. we can remember them
only by connecting them with various concepts, by labelling them
in one or another way.
Thus,
having labelled the first two directions - length and
breadth, it is possible to measure the height.
Otherwise it could not be done. As representations
the first two measurements of a cube are absolutely identical
and are bound to merge in our mind into one. An animal has no concepts,
so it cannot label the first two measurements of the cube as length
and breadth. Therefore, at the moment when it begins to measure
the height of the cube, the first two measurements will merge into
one. An animal measuring a cube and possessing no concepts but only
representations, will resemble a cat I once observed. She dragged
her kittens- there were five or six of them- into different rooms
and could not collect them together again. She would get hold of
one, carry it over to another and put them side by side. Then she
would start looking for the third, bring it along and place it with
the other two. Then immediately she would seize the first, carry
it to another room and put it there beside the fourth; then she
would again run to the first room, catch hold of the second and
drag it somewhere else to the fifth, and so on. For a whole hour
the cat struggled with her kittens, genuinely harassed, but could
do nothing. Clearly she had no concepts to help her remember how
many kittens there were in all.
It
is extremely important to explain to oneself an animal's relationship
to the measurement of solids.
The
whole point is that animals see nothing but surfaces. (This we can
say with the utmost conviction, since we ourselves see nothing but
surfaces.) Seeing only surfaces, animals can represent to themselves
only two dimensions. The third dimension, side by side with the
first two, can only be thought, i.e. this dimension
must be a concept. But animals have no concepts; the third dimension
appears also as a representation. Consequently, at the moment of
its appearance, the first two representations invariably merge into
one. Animals see the difference between two dimensions, but cannot
see the difference between three. This difference can only
be known. And in order to know that, concepts are
necessary.
For
animals identical representations are bound to merge into one, just
as for us two simultaneous, identical phenomena taking place
at one point must merge into one. For animals it would be one
phenomenon, just as for us all identical, simultaneous phenomena
taking place at one point are one phenomenon.
Thus
animals will see the world as a surface, and will measure this surface
only in two directions.
How
then to explain the fact that, living in a two-dimensional world,
or seeing themselves in a two-dimensional world, animals orientate
perfectly well in our three-dimensional world? How to explain that
a bird flies up and down, straight ahead and sideways, in all three
directions; that a horse jumps fences and ditches; that a dog and
a cat seem to understand the properties of depth and height together
with length and breadth?
In
order to explain this we must return once more to the fundamental
principles of animal psychology. It has been pointed out earlier
that many properties of objects which we remember as the general
properties of species and varieties, have to be remembered by
animals as the individual properties of objects. In
sorting out this enormous store of individual properties preserved
in memory animals are helped by the emotional quality connected
for them with each representation and each memory of a sensation.
An
animal knows, say, two roads as two entirely separate phenomena
having nothing in common; one phenomenon, i.e. one road consists
of a series of definite representations coloured by definite emotional
qualities; the other phenomenon, i.e. the other road, consists of
a series of other definite representations, coloured by other qualities.
We say that both the one and the other are roads, one leading to
one place, the other to another. For the animal the two roads have
nothing in common. But it remembers all the sequence
of emotional qualities connected with the first road and the second
road and so remembers both roads with their turnings, ditches, fences
and SO on.
Thus
the memory of the definite properties of objects which they have
seen helps animals to orientate in the world of phenomena. But,
as a rule, when faced with new phenomena, animals are much more
helpless than man.
Animals
see two dimensions. They constantly sense the third dimension but
do not see it. They sense it as something transient, as
we sense time.
The
surfaces which animals see possess for them many strange properties;
these are, first of all numerous and varied movements.
It
has been said already that all illusory movements must be perfectly
real for them. These movements seem real to us also,
but we know them to be illusory, as for instance
the turning round of a house as we drive past, the springing up
of a tree from round the corner, the movement of the moon among
the clouds and so on.
In
addition, many other movements will exist for animals which we do
not suspect. Actually a great many objects, completely motionless
for us - indeed all objects - must appear to
animals as moving. AND IT IS PRECISELY IN THESE MOVEMENTS
THAT THE THIRD DIMENSION OF SOLIDS WILL BE MANIFESTED FOR THEM,
i.e. THE THIRD DIMENSION OF SOLIDS WILL APPEAR TO THEM AS MOTION.
Let
us try to imagine how an animal perceives objects of the external
world.
Let
us suppose that a large disc is placed before an animal
and, beside it, a large sphere of the same diameter.
Facing
them directly at a certain distance, the animal will see two circles.
If it starts walking round them, the animal will notice that the
sphere remains a circle but the disc gradually narrows and becomes
a narrow strip. As the animal continues to move round it, the strip
begins to widen and gradually becomes again a circle. The sphere
will not change its form as the animal moves round it, but strange
phenomena will begin to occur in it as the animal draws near.
Let
us try to understand how the animal will perceive the surface of
the sphere as distinct from the surface of the disc.
One
thing is certain - it will perceive a spherical surface differently
from us. We perceive convexity or sphericity as a property
common to many surfaces. Owing to the nature of its mental
apparatus, the animal should perceive sphericity as an individual
property of the given sphere. What should sphericity look
like, taken as an individual property of a given sphere?
We
can say with the utmost conviction that sphericity will appear to
the animal as a movement of the surface it sees.
When
the animal comes near to the sphere, in all probability what happens
is something like this: the surface the animal sees springs into
rapid motion; its centre projects forward, and all the other points
begin to recede from the centre with a velocity proportionate to
their distance from the centre (or the square of their distance
from the centre).
This
is the way in which the animal must sense a spherical surface. It
is reminiscent of the way we sense sound. At a certain distance
from the sphere the animal sees it as a plane. Approaching it and
touching some point of the sphere, it sees that the relation of
all the other points to that point has changed as
compared with what it should be on a plane, as if all the other
points have moved, have drawn aside. Touching another point it again
sees all the other points withdrawing from it.
This
property of the sphere will appear as its motion, as
'vibration'. And indeed the sphere will resemble a vibrating, undulating
surface. In the same way any angle of a motionless
object must appear as motion to the animal.
The
animal can see an angle of a three-dimensional object only if it
moves past it, and in that case the object will seem to have turned
- a new side has appeared, and the old side has receded or moved
aside. An angle will be perceived as a turning, a
movement of the object, i.e. as something transient, temporal,
i.e. as a change in the state of the object. Remembering the
angles met with before - which the animal has seen as
the motion of bodies- it will regard them as gone, finished, vanished,
belonging to the past.
Of
course, the animal cannot reason thus, but it will
act as though this was its reasoning.
If
the animal could think of phenomena (i.e. angles and curved surfaces)
which have not yet entered its life, it would no doubt represent
them to itself only in time. In other words, the animal
could not allow them any real existence at the present moment when
they have not yet appeared. If it could express an
opinion about them, it would say that these angles exist as
a potentiality, that they will be, but that
at present they are not.
For
a horse, the corner of a house past which it runs every day, is
a phenomenon which recurs in certain circumstances, but
which still takes place only in time; it is not a
spatial and constant property of the house.
For
the animal an angle must be a time-phenomenon, instead of being
a space-phenomenon as it is for us.
Thus
we see that the animal will perceive the properties of our third
dimension as movements and will refer these properties to
time, to the past or future, or to the present, i.e.
to the moment of transition of the future into the past.
This
is an extremely important point and contains the key to the understanding
of our own perception of the world; consequently we must examine
it in greater detail.
So
far we have considered higher animals: a dog, a cat, a horse. Let
us now take a lower animal - a snail for example. We know nothing
about its inner life, but we may be sure that its perception is
very different from ours. In all probability a snail's sensations
of its surroundings are very vague. It probably feels warmth, cold,
light, darkness, hunger, and instinctively (i.e. incited
by the pleasure-pain guidance) it crawls towards the uneaten edge
of the leaf it sits on and draws away from a dead leaf. Its movements
are governed by pleasure-pain; it always advances
towards the one and retreats from the other. It always moves
on one line- from the unpleasant towards the pleasant. And,
in all probability, it knows and senses nothing except this line.
This line constitutes the whole of its world. All the sensations
entering from outside are sensed by the snail on this
line of its motion. And these come to it out of time -
from potentiality they become actuality. For a snail the whole
of our universe exists in the future and the past, i.e. in
time. Only one line exists in the present; all the rest
lies in time. It is more than probable that a snail is not aware
of its own movements; making efforts with its whole body it moves
forward towards the fresh edge of the leaf, but it seems to it that
the leaf moves towards it, coming into being at that moment, appearing
out of time, as the morning appears to us.
A snail
is a one-dimensional being.
Higher
animals - a dog, a cat, a horse - are two-dimensional beings. To
them space appears as a surface, a plane. Everything
outside this plane lies for them in time.
Thus
we see that a higher animal - a two-dimensional being as compared
to a one-dimensional - extracts one more dimension out of
time.
The
world of a snail has one dimension - our second and third dimensions
lie for it in time.
The
world of a dog has two dimensions - our third dimension lies for
it in time.
An
animal may remember all the 'phenomena' it has observed, i.e. all
the properties of three-dimensional bodies it has come into contact
with, but it cannot know that that which for it is a recurring phenomenon
is in reality a permanent property of a three-dimensional body -
an angle, or curvature, or convexity.
This
is the psychology of the perception of the world by a two-dimensional
being.
For
it a new sun will rise every day. Yesterday's sun
has gone and will never recur again. Tomorrow's sun does not yet
exist.
Rostand
failed to understand the psychology of 'Chantecler'. The cock could
not think that he awakened the sun by his crowing.
For him the sun does not go to sleep - it recedes into the past,
vanishes, is annihilated, ceases to be. Tomorrow,
if it comes, there will be a new sun, just as for us there is a
new spring each year. In order to be the
sun cannot wake up; it must come into being, be born.
An animal (if it could think without losing its characteristic psychology)
could not believe in the appearance today of the same
sun that was there yesterday. This is human reasoning.
For
an animal a new sun rises every morning, just as for
us a new morning comes every day, a new spring
every year.
An
animal is incapable of understanding that the sun is one and the
same, whether today or yesterday - EXACTLY AS WE PROBABLY CANNOT
UNDERSTAND THAT THE MORNING IS ONE, AND THE SPRING IS ONE.
The
motion of objects which, for us, is not illusory but real, such
as the motion of a rotating wheel or a moving carriage and so on,
must, for an animal, differ greatly from the motion it sees in all
objects which are motionless for us - that motion in the guise of
which it sees the third dimension of bodies. This first motion (i.e.
motion which is also real for us) must appear to it spontaneous,
alive.
And
these two kinds of motion will be incommensurable for it. An animal
will be able to measure an angle or a convex surface, although it
will not understand its true meaning and will regard it as motion.
But it will never be able to measure real motion, i.e. motion which
is real for us. To do this it is necessary to have our conception
of time and measure all movements in relation to some more
constant motion, i.e. compare all movements with one. As an animal
has no concepts, it will not be able to do this. Therefore, movements
of objects which are real for us will be incapable
of measurement, and thus incommensurable with other
movements which, for it, are real and capable of measurement, but
for us are illusory, constituting in reality the third dimension
of bodies.
The
latter is inevitable. If an animal senses and measures as
motion that which is not motion, it is clear that it cannot
apply the same measure to that which is and that which is not motion.
But
this does not mean that an animal cannot know the character of movements
proceeding in our world and conform to them. On the contrary, we
see that an animal orientates perfectly among the movements of objects
of our three-dimensional world. In this it is helped by instinct,
i.e. capacity, evolved through hundreds of centuries of selection,
of performing expedient actions without consciousness of purpose.
And an animal discriminates perfectly well between movements happening
round it.
But,
distinguishing between two kinds of phenomena - two kinds
of motion - an animal is bound to explain one of
them by some inner inexplicable property of objects, i.e. it will
probably regard that kind of motion as the result of the animation
of objects, and will regard moving objects as alive.
A kitten
plays with a ball or with its own tail because the ball or the tail
runs away from it.
A bear
will fight with a beam until the beam throws him off the tree, because
in the swinging beam he feels something alive and hostile.
A horse
shies from a bush because the bush has suddenly turned round and
waved a branch.
In
the latter case the bush may not have moved at all - it was the
horse that was running. But it appeared to move, therefore
it was alive. Probably everything that moves is alive for an animal.
Why does a dog bark so furiously at a passing carriage? We do not
quite understand it. We do not see how a passing carriage turns,
twists and grimaces in the eyes of a dog. It is full of life - the
wheels, the roof, the mudguards, the seats, the passengers-all this
is moving, turning ....
Now
let us summarize our deductions.
We
have established that a man possesses sensations, representations
and concepts; that higher animals possess sensations and representations,
and lower animals only sensations. We deduced that an animal has
no concepts mainly from the fact that it has no words, no speech.
We have further established that, having no concepts, animals cannot
comprehend the third dimension and only see the world as a surface.
In other words they have no means, no instrument, for correcting
their wrong sensations of the world. Then we found that, seeing
the world as a surface, animals see on this surface a great many.movements
non-existent for us. That is, all those properties of bodies which
we regard as the properties of their three-dimensionality, must
appear as movements to them. Thus an angle and a spherical
surface must appear to them as motion of the plane. Further, we
came to the conclusion that everything which, for us, belongs to
the domain of the third dimension as something constant,
animals must regard as transient occurrences happening to objects-
as time-phenomena.
Thus,
in all its relations to the world an animal proves to be completely
analogous to the unreal two-dimensional being which we have supposed
lived on a plane. The whole of our world appears to an animal as
a plane through which phenomena are passing, moving according to
time or in time.
So
we can say that we have established the following: that with a certain
limitation of the mental apparatus which perceives the external
world, for a subject possessing such an apparatus the whole aspect
and all the properties of the world must change. And two subjects,
living side by side but possessing different mental apparatuses,
must live in different worlds- the properties of the extension of
the world must be quite different for them. Moreover, we have seen
conditions- not artificial and invented but actually existing in
nature, i.e. the mental conditions of the life of animals - in which
the world appears as a plane or even as a line.
In
other words we have established that the three-dimensional extension
of the world depends for us on the properties of our mental apparatus;
or, that the world's three-dimensionality is not its own property,
but merely the property of our perception of the world.
To
put it differently, the three-dimensionality of the world is
the property of its reflection in our consciousness.
If
all this is so, it is clear that we have really proved the dependence
of space on space-sense. And, since we have proved
the existence of a space-sense lower
than ours, by this very fact we have proved the possibility
of a space-sense higher than ours.
And
we must admit that if a fourth unit of thinking becomes
formed in us, as different from the concept as the concept is different
from the representation, then, simultaneously with this, there will
appear for us in the surrounding world a fourth characteristic which
we may call geometrically a fourth direction or a fourth perpendicular,
because this characteristic will contain properties of objects perpendicular
to all properties known to us and not parallel to any of them. In
other words, we shall see or feel ourselves not in a space of three,
but of four dimensions, and the surrounding objects as well as our
own bodies will reveal the general properties of the
fourth dimension which we had not noticed before or which we had
regarded as individual properties of objects (or their motion),
just as animals regard the extension of objects in the third dimension
as their motion.
Having
seen or felt ourselves in the world of four dimensions, we shall
find that the world of three dimensions has not and never had any
real existence, that it was a creation of our fantasy, a phantom,
a spectre, a delusion, an optical illusion, anything you like, but
not reality.
All
this is far from being a 'hypothesis', a supposition; it is an exact
fact, as much of a fact as the existence of infinity.
For the sake of its own existence, positivism had somehow to do
away with infinity or at least to call it a 'hypothesis' which may
or may not be true. But infinity is not a hypothesis; it is a fact.
And just such a fact is also the multi-dimensionality of space and
all that it implies, i.e. the unreality of everything three-dimensional.
[Ouspensky, 1920]
I
don't know about anybody else, but when I had read the above passage
AFTER the Cassiopaeans talked to us about 4th density perception,
I became acutely aware of the gulf between our perception of our world
and what it must actually be. We will come back to Ouspensky and his
speculations about higher density perceptions rather soon, but for
now we must return to our narrative regarding the Wave and the incremental
revelations, where they led and what we understand at the present.
About
a week after my "Sufi" question led to the subject of "Unstable
Gravity Waves," I decided to ask some questions about the densities.
I was really just trying to get a handle on WHY it is that we can
only perceive things in the narrow frame of our reality. I wanted
to know how things that are supposed to exist in other "realms"
are veiled from us. I couldn't quite grasp the difference between
4th density and 5th density because so many famous or well-known teachings
seem to talk about physical realms and then - Poof! - you go to the
ethereal or "astral" realms. The Cassiopaeans seemed to
be saying that there was something "paraphysical" that was
a sort of intermediate level - it was physical but in a peculiar way
- and you could "die" there and then go to the "astral"
or ethereal realms. This was a completely new idea, it seemed to me,
and worth having a closer look. So, I launched into the subject:
06-22-96
Q:
(L) Tonight, I would like to ask about 5th density. How does the
"dividing line" between the 4 physical densities and 5th function?
A: Recycling zone, one must have direct contact in perfect balance
with those on 6th density in order to fulfill the need for contemplation/learning
phase while in between incarnations of 1st through 4th densities.
Q: (L) When a person finishes all their experiences on 1st through
4th density, do they then remain at 5th for a period before to
moving to 6th.
A: Yes.
Q: (L) When you die in 3rd and go to 5th, do you pass through
or see 4th?
A: No.
Q: (L) When you are in 5th density, is part of your service to
be a guide? Are there two kinds of beings on 5th: those who are
there for the recycling, and those whose level it simply IS? (I
had heard a lot of different teachings to this effect - that "dead
dudes" could choose to be "guides" or whatever.
I was a little confused about how this whole thing worked.)
A: No. All are as one in timeless understanding of all there is.
Q: (L) If, at 5th density a person has timeless understanding,
what is it about them that determines that they will "recycle"
as opposed to moving to 6th from 5th?
A: Contemplation reveals needed destiny.
Q: (L) So, being united with other beings on 5th, you come to
some sort of understanding about your lessons....
A: Balanced. And this, my dear, is another example of gravity
as the binder of all creation... "The Great Equalizer!"
Q: (L) In this picture in my mind, the cycle moves out in dispersion,
begins to accrete and return to the source. Is this correct?
A: Close.
Q: (L) Is this, in fact, that exactly half of all that exists,
is moving into imbalance, while the other half is moving into
balance?
A: Close.
Q: (L) All the cosmos? All that exists?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) Is it possible that one area of the cosmos has more of
the balance-seeking energy while another has more of that which
is seeking imbalance?
A: Oh yes!
Q: (L) Is the Earth one of those areas that is more imbalanced
than balanced at the present time?
A: Yes, but rapidly moving back toward balance.
Q: (L) Is the Realm Border part of this balancing?
A: Yes.
Q: (V) A few weeks ago several of us began to suffer from internal
heat, insomnia, and other things. What was this?
A: Image. Deep conjunction of fibrous linkage in DNA structure.
Q: (V) Well, I want to know if it is in my mind that I get so
hot, or does my body temperature actually elevate?
A: Only on 4th. Bleedthrough, get used to those!
Q: (L) Does this mean we are actually experiencing a bleedthrough
of 4th density?
A: Image.
Q: (V) Are the little flashes of light I see also a manifestation
of this?
A: Maybe so, but try to concentrate on the ethereal significance,
rather than the physical.
Q: (L) When you say "deep conjunction of fibrous linkage," does
this mean that we are conjoining with a linkage to a 4th density
body that is growing, developing?
A: Slowly, but surely. We have told you before that the upcoming
"changes" relate to the spiritual and awareness factors rather
than the much publicized physical. Symbolism is always a necessary
tool in teaching. But, the trick is to read the hidden lessons
represented by the symbology, not to get hung up on the literal
meanings of the symbols!
Q: (L) You say that the symbology has to do with hidden meanings.
The symbology that you used was "image" and "deep fibrous linkage"
of DNA. Now, is that a physical, symbolic image?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) What is your definition of "image?" We have many.
A: Learning is fun, Laura, as you have repeatedly found!
Q: (L) Well, I am so hot now that I really need to know about
this! And, how come I am always the one who gets assigned the
job of figuring everything out?
A: Because you have asked for the "power" to figure out the most
important issues in all of reality. And, we have been assisting
you in your empowerment.
Q: (L) Image. DNA linkage. (V) "Power" was in quotes.
A: Leave that alone for now, you will know soon enough.
Q: (V) Is this 4th density body something that already exists
so that we could communicate with it?
A: Habeas Corpus?
Q: (V) Well, they just said... (L) Well, what they must mean is
that you ARE it - you are transforming little by little and all
of the unpleasant little side-effects are just part of it.
A: Yes.
Q: (V) Righteous! (L) T__A__ showed me a couple of accupuncture
points that seem to induce an altered state. Is this, as he says,
a way to open the door to the subconscious?
A: Stimulates endorphins.
Q: (L) Is there any point on the body that CAN be used to assist
in opening the gate to the subconscious?
A: No such assistance is needed. First, we would like to suggest
that you seek a "spin" doctor for your quest!!
Q: (L) Would a "spin" doctor be a Sufi master?
A: One example.
Q: (L) Yes. They keep bringing up thing involving spinning.
A: Hilliard. Leedskallen. Coral Castle.
Q: (L) Well, they are really pushing on this gravity thing. Can
I ask a question on another subject?
A: You can ask about the Easter Bunny, if you wish.
Q: (L) Is 3rd density awareness the only density with perception
of time?
A: No.
Q: (L) Well, what others?
A: 4,5,6,7.
Q: (L) But I thought that time perception was an illusion?
A: YOUR perception of it is an illusion. Remember the example
of the dogs and cats riding in a car?
Q: (L) Yes. Ouspensky and the horse. So, time, as an essential
thing, DOES exist?
A: But not as you know it. When we refer to "timelessness," we
are speaking from the standpoint of your familiarity only.
Q: (L) Does time then exist, and does space have a limit?
A: You are getting confused because your inborn linear perception
is clouding the image your efforts are trying to produce.
Q: (L) Okay, let's go back to the "balancing" of Earth. How can
this be done?
A: Vague question.
Q: (L) Let me try this: the "buckets of love and light" group
say that it is going to be balanced because everyone is going
to think nice thoughts, and all of their buckets of love and light
are going to eventually reach a critical mass and spill over onto
all the rest of humanity and all of the bad guys are going to
be transformed into good guys. This is the standard version. Is
this what you mean?
A: No.
Q: (L) Swell! Is the energy that is being manifested in the positive,
on and around the planet, is it going to reduce the level of negativity
in the beings existing on the planet?
A: This is not the point. When "Earth" becomes a 4th density
realm, all the forces, both STS and STO shall be in direct contact
with one another... It will be a "level playing field," thus,
balanced.
Q: (L) Speaking of balance, one of the crop circles you interpreted
was an "astronomical twin phenomenon." What is an astronomical
twin phenomenon?
A: Many perfectly synchronous meanings. Duplicity of, as in "Alice
through the looking glass."
Q: (L) Double images. Hmmm... Does this relate to matter and antimatter?
A: Yes, and...
Q: (L) Gravity and manifesting on one side and manifesting a mirror
image on the other...
A: Yes, and... Astronomical.
Q: (L) Okay, that relates to stars and planets... astronomical
in terms of another universe, an alternate universe composed of
antimatter?
A: Yes, and....
Q: (L) Is this alternate universe of antimatter the point from
which phenomena occur or are manifested in our universe?
A: More like doorway or "conduit."
Q: (L) Is this alternate universe the means by which we must travel
to 4th density? Is it like a veil, or an abyss of some sort?
A: Think of it as the highway. Realm Border is traveling wave.
Q: (L) Okay, you say "traveling wave," and then you say that antimatter
is the highway. Does this mean moving through antimatter or interacting
in some way with antimatter via the the impetus of the traveling
wave, or realm border?
A: Bends space/time, this is where your unstable gravity waves
can be utilized.
Q: (L) Utilizing antimatter by creating an EM field, which collapses
the gravity wave, allows antimatter to unite with matter, creating
a portal through which space/time can be bent, or traveled through
via this "bending." In other words, producing an EM field which
results in a sort of bringing in the antimatter, IS the bending
of space/time? Is that it?
A: Yes.
Q: (V) Is there a portal for each person, or one large portal?
A: No.
Q: (V) So we move through a portal in masses?
A: No.
Q: (V) If there are not personal portals for one person, or portals
for groups of people...
A: Portal is where you desire it to be. With proper technology
you can create a portal where desired. There are unlimited options.
Q: (L) Proper technology. Unstable gravity waves. And once you
told us to study Tesla coils.... antimatter... destabilizing the
gravity waves through EM generation allows the antimatter to interact
with matter which then creates a portal... is it in the antimatter
universe that all this traveling back and forth is done by aliens
when they abduct people?
A: Close. They transport through it, but most abductions
take place in either 3rd or 4th density.
Q: (L) Is this movement through the antimatter universe, is this
what people perceive in their abductions as the "wall of fire?"
The coming apart. The demolecularizing?
A: No. That is TransDimensional Atomic Remolecularization.
Q: (L) Okay, if a person were passing into the antimatter universe,
how would they perceive it?
A: They wouldn't.
Q: (L) Why?
A: No space; no time.
Q: (L) Antimatter universe has no space and no time... so, the
antimatter universe is possibly where the poor guys of flight
19 are?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) And you can get stuck in this place?
A: Yes. And if you are in a time warp coccoon, you are hyperconscious,
i.e. you perceive "zero time" as if it were literally millions
of years, that is if the cycle is connected or closed, as in "Philadelphia
Experiment." And, on that note, good night.
Now,
I want to put two remarks from the above transcript together:
When
"Earth" becomes a 4th density realm, all the forces, both STS
and STO shall be in direct contact with one another... It will
be a "level playing field," thus, balanced.
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