The Mystery of the Seven Dimensions

Can science and religion be combined into one philosophy? In the future, I think so, as long as one recognizes that not only are there different degrees of order, but different degrees of knowing.  The material universe is a lower level order of a more spiritual level, which in turn is a lower level order of yet a higher level. Each lower level of order is symbolic of another stage at a higher level. The material world is a symbolic theatrical representation of higher levels of reality. One of the most promising theories I have uncovered is one proposed by Arthur M. Young in his work The Reflexive Universe:

Arthur M. Young was the inventor of the Bell Helicopter. He also was a cosmologist and philosopher, and founded the "Institute for the Study of Consciousness" in Berkeley CA.

I showed a friend of mine the book and he happened to have met him and some of his students in Berkeley. Unfortunately, since the book was published, the theory has somewhat languished, as it is based on our scientific knowledge from the 1970s, and some of the scientific classifications he refers to have been corrected.  So, I decided to start updating the theory, correcting some errors and refining the theory a bit. Amazingly, scientific discoveries made since he published the theory still fit within the predictions made by the theory.  Since the theory covers everything, I am calling it "The Universal Order of Design," and blog entries which cover this I have labelled as "Universal Order" (see labels in the left column of this blog.)  For those who want a review, here are the links to the former blog posts:

The Seven States of Creation 

The Universal Order of Design - part 2 

The Seven Dimensions of Space Time 

The Universal Order of Design - the Symbolism of the Atomic World 

The Universal Order of Design - String theory 

The Universal Order of Design - the Tetrahedron 

The Universal Order of Design - the Symmetry of Matter 

The Universal Order of Plants 

The Spiritual Symbolism of Plants 

The Universal Order of Design - Animals 

The Seven Dimensions of Physics 

The Spiritual Symbolism of the Four Forces 

The Divine God Man

The theory is that all states of existence are in seven degrees of order, as follows:

However, Arthur M. Young made an error in his theory. There should be seven degrees of order, as follows:

1. (some unknown lower level dimensions of Physics, including space-time)
2. Subatomic Particles
3. Atoms
4. Molecules
5. Plants
6. Animals and Man
7. (unknown higher stage of existence)

The error Arthur M. Young made is that he assigned light to the first degree of order, when in fact light - the photon particle - is in fact another subatomic particle. The science is very clear on that point. Which means there is a whole new area of order below the subatomic level that science is on the verge of exploring. The other gap in the theory is the seventh order of existence, which is a higher level order beyond the human form: this is the spiritual world, the realm of the afterlife. For this gap in the theory, it is covered in the spiritual works of Emanuel Swedenborg who had visions of the afterlife. There are several stages of spiritual development that humans must go through, and these are described by the seven days of creation in the book of Genesis. The seven days are seven "states", and this is described in detail in Swedenborg's work Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia). These spiritual states, as it turns out, closely correspond to the different degrees of order of the material world.

THE STRANGE ORIGIN OF THE THEORY

As this universal order of design is universal, and covers all existence, if there is a gap in our scientific (or spiritual) knowledge of how things really are, the theory shows it. One will see a blank spot. And that is very apparent when we reach the lower level of order below the subatomic level: we start to deal with the different dimensions of reality, in which matter exists. Young missed it entirely, since he put light in this level. The theory predicts there should be seven dimensions. I discussed some theories in The Seven Dimensions of Physics, as well as geometric representations of higher dimensions, but it is incomplete.  In The Seven Dimensions of Space Time, some physicists have stated that the universe favors 3 and 7 dimensions. Which is interesting, because according to this theory of universal design, there should be seven - the reason for that is, at every order of existence, there are seven smaller sub orders. The pattern is consistent.

I recently went back to the blog The Seven Dimensions of Physics and was looking for some better graphical representations, and I stumbled upon a very odd find: a lecture entitled The Seven Dimensions of Creation:

What in the world is this? This comes from a group called the "Aetherius Society" founded by a Dr. George King, who was a Yoga master. I looked at the description, and it said this:

In 1957 Dr. King met an advanced intelligence from another world on board an interplanetary spacecraft. This extraterrestrial Master revealed to him that there are at least seven dimensions of creation, those being length, breadth, height, time, motion, mind and Divine Will.

Ok, now this is getting strange. The Aetherius Society is a UFO religion that exists to this day, and while they have some apparent insights, they promote some unusual teachings concerning the identity of Jesus which is contrary to Christianity and what was revealed to Emanuel Swedenborg. So my first reaction is this belongs in the trash bin. And so it should end there, except in my other research, I encountered this strange presentation by Peter Levenda entitled The Origin of the Secret Space Program.  It is a very odd lecture, and it concerns UFOs, extraterrestrials, the origin of the U.S. Space Program, the CIA, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and.... Arthur M. Young. WHAT?  That just threw me a curve ball. How did Arthur M. Young get in there, the author of The Reflexive Universe? As it turns out, Young was a researcher into the paranormal, and was involved in this channeling session in which they tried to contact a group of extraterrestrials - in the exact same manner that Dr. George King claimed to contact them. And if indeed they were extraterrestrials, they seem to have a strange way of looking at things. Some ideas have been borrowed from Theosophy, as well as Hinduism and Bhuddism.

So what is the story here? In 1952, a secretive government group, composed of individuals that seem to always pop up in the research concerning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, met in a farmhouse to conduct a channeling session to contact extraterrestrials. For this, I will just sum it up by quoting another blog that stumbled across this, The Séance That Changed America:

"The man at the centre of this séance was Andrija Puharich, US Army Captain and author of a government paper on the weaponisation of ESP. And this is the guy that is moving in the same murky circles as bishops Jack Martin and Fred Crisman. The farmhouse in question was owned by his bizarro Round Table Foundation which appears to have received funding from the CIA. Puharich first gathered together these nine people on a warm night in early June. But the most interesting results were actually achieved in New Year’s Eve of the same year.

And it’s a line-up that positively defines “could not make this up”. The group included:

• Arthur Young, who invented the Bell helicopter. However at the end of WWII he abandoned military aviation to concentrate full-time on the paranormal.
• Arthur’s wife, Ruth… previously of the Forbes dynasty. Her son, Michael, would get a job at Bell Aerospace through her and Arthur’s influence. (Michael’s wife got Lee Harvey Oswald his job at the book depository. She was learning Russian from Oswald’s wife who was living with her in Irving, Texas. Oh, and her father worked for a CIA front called the Agency for International Development. Lee Harvey Oswald left the coffee company in New Orleans, saying to his co-workers he was “going to work for NASA.” After the assassination, two other coffee company employees get jobs at NASA. Just saying.)
• Mary Bancroft; of the Bancroft dynasty who would much later sell the Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal to Murdoch. She also happened to be the mistress of the then-CIA chief. (The one JFK fired after the Bay Of Pigs after saying he was also going to break up the CIA… who conveniently went on to investigate JFK’s death. Just saying.)
• Marcella Du Pont of the Du Pont family.
• Alice Bouverie who was born into the Astor dynasty. (Her father died on the Titanic and her first husband was a Czarist prince who would work for the OSS during WWII.)"

So who is Andrija Puharich? He was a medical doctor and a researcher into parapyschology. And if this is not all strange enough, he wrote a book entitled: The Sacred Mushroom: Key to the Door of Eternity:

And what is that book about? Andrija Puharich began to study this sculptor who on occasion would fall into a trance and began speaking and writing in ancient Egyptian, and identified himself as a priest who lived 4600 years ago.  And one of the discoveries he made as a result of that was a new species of a psychedelic mushroom.  In the Bible the apostle Paul calls it "speaking in tongues," otherwise known as xenoglossy. Another story for another day.

So what happens during the session? The article continues:

These gods, who were nine in number as well, were part of one great, creator god known as Atum. The other gods consisted of Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Seth, Nephthys, and sometimes Horus.

Communication with these entities was handled by the medium, an Indian gentleman referred to as Dr. D.G. Vinod, who slipped into a trance state at 12:15 AM and began speaking as ‘the Nine’ by 12:30. Afterwards Dr. Vinod would claim to have no memory of the conversation that preceded between the Ennead Nine and their human counterparts. 

During the course of the seance the mystical Nine informed the human nine that they would be in charge of bringing about a mystical renaissance on Earth. From there the Nine ventured into quasi-scientific, philosophical constructs that eventually led to the acknowledgement that they, the Grand Ennead, were in fact extraterrestrial beings living in an immense spaceship hovering invisibly over the planet and that the assembled congregation had been selected to promote their agenda on Earth.

So is this, in reality, where Arthur M. Young got the theory? He would always mention in his lectures concerning the theory that he and his wife explored a variety of paranormal phenomenon, from which he tried to formulate the theory.  Did the theory originate from Arthur M. Young, or from somewhere else?  When Young decribes the theory, he says he was always trying to "fill in the gaps" with our current scientific knowledge. And he would always be surprised about how it worked so well to explain phenomenon that science was observing.  And five years later, a Dr. George King independently claims to have been revealed that there were seven dimensions of creation - and this teaching came after he saw a screen or hologram that looked "three dimensional." They corrected him, and said that there were in fact seven dimensions. This is completely separate from Arthur M. Young, for Young did not account for the seven dimensions in his theory.  And the date of the session which contacted these supposed extraterrestrial beings is interesting - it is the year 1952.  As it turns out, the NSA lost a lawsuit based on a freedom of information act, and in 2004 published an extraterrestrial message that they received. As discussed in The Origin of the NSA Extraterrestrial Radio Signal, the message can not only be dated internally to 1952 but contains scientific information ahead of its time. One now wonders: was it in fact a radio signal? Or a message received in a similar manner to the channeling session of this group in 1952? The NSA document does not explain.

THE SEVEN DIMENSIONS OF CREATION

For the moment, let us leave the strange possible origin of the theory of Arthur Young behind us. And as I said before, this is the kind of stuff that I normally put into the trash bin - the method of communication is unreliable, and in most cases the kind of information is false and belongs in the realm of pseudo-science. The source views Jesus as an extraterrestrial. The theory that Arthur M. Young worked on is elegant, it works, and it explains many things we currently know in our science. My current issue is I need to fill in a missing gap in the first level of order, I need to know what the seven dimensions of physics are. So, let us take a quick dive and see if we can recover anything that may actually be useful. Here is a lecture from the Aetherius Society concerning the seven dimensions of creation, which is actually a bit entertaining at times:



The lecturer first starts out with some general outlines of what science currently knows about other dimensions, but only mentions the String Theory or M-Theory which proposes 10 or 11 dimensions. And where did Dr. George King get his information concerning the seven dimensions? From extraterrestrials who claimed to be from planets in our solar system. After Dr. George King commented that a hologram looked three-dimensional, one of them from Mars explained that there were seven dimensions, and said,

"Therefore, even basic matter exists within this framework. Will, Mind, Motion, Time, Length, Breadth and Height. The Divine Will imposes those conditions upon mind which bring its potential into manifestation as directed motion in a time-frame of length, breadth and height." (27:38)

At 31:04 we have these statements:

"Manifestation could not exist without a power which is capable of creating the tension necessary to hold the particles of matter in a certain state. And this power is mind."

"Mind is a pattern of potential, a pattern which to all intents is static until a pressure is applied from outside."

At 33:05 we have this statement, which is related to Young's diagram of a fall downward into matter, and an upward movement back towards God:

"Each of our Sparks exists in a sea of mind. This mind is the power that creates the tension that holds matter together. Through the medium of mind, Divine Will gives each Spark motion, or direction back to God using matter."

At 37:11, we have this other quote from a message received in 1955, from an extraterrestrial supposedly from Venus named "Aetherius":

"A worm is a worm because it will not accept the fact that it is something greater. It is not possible to have matter, whether animate or inanimate, without having mind. The mind creates tension which holds the atoms of matter together. Whether those atoms constitute the brain of a saint, the brain of Einstein, or the cellular structure of a worm. The journey from worm into man is a shorter journey, long as it is, than from man consciousness to God consciousness."

At 39:04, the speaker presents another way of viewing the seven dimensions of creation:

1. Divine Will
2. Divine Mind
3. Motion
4. Vibration in matter - which is compared to the vibrating strings in String theory.

With the following commentary, which again is very close to Young's explanations concerning bringing potential into manifestation:

"In the beginning there was only potential - then this potential was brought into and bound within manifestation."
"The seven dimensions are a means of bringing potential into manifestation."

At 42:27 we have these statements:

"LOVE is an all permeating energy which is above mind. It is the third degree manifestation of the Initial Creative Force." -The Second Freedom - Feb. 19, 1961, Mars Sector 6
"There is really but One Energy in the system. This Energy has many octaves of manifestation." -- Nov. 23 1957, A Lord of Saturn

In String theory, all matter and energy can be described as vibrating strings. The reference to an octave is interesting - for in the universal order of design, based on Young's theory, manifestation goes through seven degrees, and in the eighth degree (an octave) - one jumps to the next degree of order. In the presentation, the following commentary is given on the three creative forces:

1. The first creative force was the potential.
2. The second force was bringing that potential into manifestation in the seven dimensions.
3. Love is the third degree.

At this point, I am going to interrupt and correct the presentation. The above three creative forces are in the wrong order. We should have it in this order, and I will explain why later:

1. Love, or intent, comes first.
2. Mind, or potential, comes second, and is the cause.
3. Manifestation is the effect, which appears in our dimensional world.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE THEORY

So, the above is a lot to digest and absorb. And to be honest, the speaker giving the presentation does not seem to understand it all. But lets take a step back and assess the theory.  Science confirms that there are three dimensions of space, and a fourth dimension of time.  But three new dimensions appear: will, thought and motion. And this does not seem right. First, anyone who knows anything about science will tell you that motion is not a dimension, it is a force applied to matter. Also, no scientist in their right mind would ever propose will and thought as a dimension. Will and thought, in our current understanding, are not physical entities but belong to the realm of spirit. But then again, lets ask the question: how does our will and thought interact within our three dimensions? Or how does the spiritual world interact with the material world? It is common to speak of the spiritual world as a higher dimension, and the material world as a lower dimension. This theory is strange: it states will and thought ARE a dimension, literally. Folded within our regular three dimensions and time. There it is, all around us. We literally live in someone's will and thought that is all pervasive. This is something unexpected.

If we think about it, we are a soul existing in a material body. But where is the soul? No one can find it. Swedenborg studied anatomical dissections of the human body and failed to find it. Scientists still have not found it. So, according to current scientific theory, if a woman approaches a scientist and tells him, "I love you. What does that mean to you?" The scientist will probably say love is a chemical reaction influencing the electrical impulses of your brain. Which is probably why we have a lack of scientists in the U.S.

According to the theory of the Seven Dimensions of Creation, physicists are no longer on top. Spiritual knowledge is the highest knowledge to know. And spirituality applied becomes sociology and psychology....and now we are stuck in an endless loop. Without spirituality, there is no morality. Without morality, society falls apart, and people fall into their own punishment according to the sin they have chosen.

So, when we get down to the dimensional level of physics, is it true that the 6th and 7th dimensions are thought and will?  Probably not.  I would modify the statement a bit: the 6th dimension is the dimension where thought exists, and the 7th dimension is the dimension where the will exists. These dimensions receive influx from the Divine, for only the Divine has life in itself. Humans, and all living forms, are recipients of life.  This was made clear to Emanuel Swedenborg in his visions, which he spells out in a small work entitled Intercourse between the Soul and Body. Thus, I would modify the theory to state that the higher dimensions is where the will and thought of the soul reside, which directs the physical body in our 3 dimensional world. Our life is influx from the Divine, and this comes from a level of existence that precedes the first degree of order of the dimensions of space time.

If we think about it, for thought to reside in a dimension higher than the dimensions of space-time begins to make sense. If this is true, then telepathy is possible. Clairvoyance - where one can see something happening in a far off distance somewhere else - now becomes explained. Our thoughts, by nature, are not bound by space and time. We can think about the past or jump to the future. If will and thought reside in folded dimensions within space and time, we now know how the soul interacts with the body and yet we cannot see it. Astral projection, out of the body experiences...all of it, has the potential to be explained by science. All the evidence is there for these paranormal phenomenon. But since it does not "fit in" with our current theories it is ignored.

So how do the Seven Dimensions of Creation relate to the theory of The Reflexive Universe by Arthur M. Young? It actually fits right in. So much so, I suspect that both ideas have the same source. It always puzzled me how the inventor of the Bell Helicopter came up with his theory. Recall the diagram that Young used to explain his theory:

The way Young presents it, it is a downward descent of the soul into matter, and than an upward ascent of the soul back to God.  I do not agree with most of the labels Young used, but the first one - which he calls "Purpose" - is correct. Purpose is the same as intent, and one's intent is the same as love. Intentional love is the highest form of living. Now compare this diagram with the seven dimensions of creation:

1. The will, or love, or intent = END.
2. The mind, or thought, or potential = CAUSE.
3. Motion, or usefulness, work = EFFECT.
4. Time.
5. Length
6. Breadth
7. Height

Note how the dimensions get reversed from the normal way we think of them.  It is also a downward descent of the soul into matter, where we get stuck in the world of space-time. The purpose of matter is to manifest the potential thoughts of the soul, according to one's intent. And that is why I corrected the philosophy of the Aetherius society a bit. The way I see it, they have received information and they do not know how to interpret it. Swedenborg was shown that the realms of the spiritual world exist beyond space and time (long before Einstein's theories) - this is the seventh order of creation. Another topic for another day. So what is the purpose of creation? To manifest love.

And note that I reordered the "three forces" of the Aetherius society, correcting it a bit. Those teaching are related to what Swedenborg called end, cause and effect, or another way, intent, thought and outcome. One's potential thought, based on one's intent, must manifest in what one does.

"To speak in the language of philosophy — these three are as end, cause, and effect. It is known that there can never be any effect unless there be a cause, and never any cause unless there be an end. Effect, cause, and end, are as distinct as exterior, interior, and inmost. Properly speaking, the sensual man, that is, he who thinks from sensual things, is the external man, and the spiritual and celestial man is the internal man; but the rational man is mediate between the two, and by this, or by what is rational, there is communication of the internal man with the external." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 978.3)

Thus true faith must be conjoined with good works:

"Only to know what is of faith, is of a man's memory, without the concurrence of his reason. To acknowledge what is of faith is a rational consent induced by certain causes and for the sake of certain ends. But to have faith is of conscience, that is, of the Lord operating through conscience. This may be abundantly evident from those who are in the other life. Those who only know are many of them in hell." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 896)

The philosophy of the Aetherius society has good insights, but without Divine guidance, or spiritual revelation, most will be at a loss to discern which portions of it are true or false.  And it is unfortunate that the Aetherius society does not have a correct knowledge of Jesus Christ.  For notice, there is a descent of the will into thought, thought into motion, and thence into the material world. And what does it mean when the Divine Will and Divine Thought are the 7th and 6th dimensions? It means God is omnipresent, and omniscient. He is present in the smallest things. And what is Divine Thought? This is known as the Word:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  ...He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:1-5, 10-13)

And what is described? How God descended from his Divine Will, into his Divine Thought (the Word or Logos), and became incarnate into material matter. And the Aetherius society is blind to it. How did the Divine Thought or Word create all things? It is everywhere. It is in a folded dimension that is present in everything that exists. Our objective in life is to manfest the Divine Love, thus we pray: Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

THE FIFTH DIMENSION: WHAT IS IT?

So we gave a spiritual assessment of the theory.  Now for a scientific assessment.  Science is well grounded in the four dimensions of space-time. The theory of the Seven Dimensions of Creation states that the fifth dimension is motion. And this, when one first looks at it, is blatantly incorrect. For according to Newtonian physics, motion is nothing more than a change of distance (space) over a change in time. In Newtonian physics, motion is completely explained in terms of the four dimensions. Moreover, motion is initiated by force, and this is explained by the subatomic world.

But not so fast. When we get down to the quantum level, throw out Newtonian physics. Also throw out gravity, as that messes things up at the quantum level. So how do we describe motion at the quantum level? Every particle has what is known as "spin." But this is not spin as we know a spinning ball.  Each particle has discrete spin: 1/2 spin, full spin, double spin. Nothing in between, it is quanticized.  Its as if we have a spinning ball that blips in and out and only shows up at certain points in its spin. We have reached the level of the universe's own graph paper: a bunch of squares where things can only manifest at the intersections. Ask a physicist why this is so, the answer is unknown. It is the way things are. So when it blips in and out, where does it go? The fifth dimension perhaps? In that case, nothing really moves in the four dimensions, it all happens in the fifth. One physicist proposes something like that to explain quantum entanglement, where particles effect each other at a distance in Discovery of the Fifth Dimension. But this is too general and not specific enough. There are various theories on Five-dimensional space, and one interesting theory is The Kaluza-Klein theory: with five dimensions, gravity can become united with the electromagnetic force. It was proposed back in 1921 but it has not been verified.

While I was exploring the fifth dimension I found this interesting article by Brian Koberlein - The 5th Dimension and Dark Energy:

In a recent paper in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, an interesting theory was proposed to explain dark energy as a quantum effect. The idea is based on an experiment known as the Casimir effect. ...What the Casimir effect demonstrates is that quantum fluctuations in a vacuum can produce a force. So what if dark energy was due to vacuum energy fluctuations? For that to be the case, there would have to be a constrained geometry. But such a constrained geometry is exactly what is proposed in (wait for it) string theory! String theory (or M-theory as it is now known) proposes that there are actually ten spatial dimensions instead of just the three that we know of. These higher dimensions differ from our usual ones in that they are compact, meaning they are folded around themselves. If you think of a straw as a two-dimensional sheet with one “regular” dimension (the length of the straw) and one “compact” dimension (the circumference of the straw), then you have the basic idea.

Now if these compact higher dimensions exist, then quantum fluctuations would be constrained in those dimensions, and that might produce a cosmic Casimir force that looks like dark energy. The catch is that our observations of gravity place a limit on the size of these compact dimensions. This is because gravity is an inverse-square force, meaning that the force of attraction between masses varies by one over their distance squared. If there are higher dimensions, then the inverse-square relation for gravity would break down at the size of those dimensions. Gravity experiments have shown no such effect, so that means that any higher dimensions (if they exist) can be no larger than 85 microns, which is about the width of a human hair.

This is where things get interesting, because if you calculate the effect of these quantum fluctuations in such compact dimensions you find that having 8 compact dimensions (as string theory proposes) doesn’t work. It only works if you allow for just one compact dimension. But if you constrain the universe to just one extra and compact dimension, and you also constrain the fluctuations to exist within the limits of the observable universe, then this model makes two predictions. The first is that dark energy would be constant throughout the universe. It would, in fact, look like a cosmological constant. The second is that this extra compact dimension would have a size of about 35 microns, which means that around 35 microns we should see gravity deviate from the inverse square relation.

An interesting theory - it counteracts String theory of 10 or 11 dimensions, and only works if you have one extra compact dimension: the fifth dimension. Then the phenomenon of "Dark Energy" becomes explained. And what does dark energy do? It is responsible for the rapid expansion and acceleration of the universe. There you have it: motion effected in the fifth dimension. I found another article on this here: Dark Energy From Fifth Dimensional Brans-Dicke Theory. In the article Physicists Probe the Fifth Dimension, it is proposed that when two particles collide and produce a graviton, the graviton escapes into the fifth dimension:

One physicist exploring how gravitons can "leak away" into a fifth dimensional brane is Lisa Randal of Harvard University: she along with Raman Sundrum are trying to find a way to verify the theory.

Other dimensions explain many phenomenon currently observed in physics: see the presentation from Fermilab: Dark Matter from Hidden Dimensions.  And what will happen when scientists finally verify the existence of these higher dimensions?  Well maybe we will figure out how to travel faster than light - for if movement takes place in the fifth dimension, perhaps one can go outside the limits of the first four dimensions.

CONCLUSION

If anyone is surprised about a possible "paranormal" origin for Arthur M. Young's theory of Reflexive Universe, no one is more surprised than myself.  For a long time I have been stuck trying to fill in the gap of the seven dimensions of physics which should lie within the first order of existence within the framework of the universal order of design. And where do I find a possible solution? Not from a scientist, but from a UFO contactee of all places - completely independent from Young. And it provides a philosophical foundation for the rest of the theory, which Arthur M. Young struggled with. And what about the seventh order of existence? Those are the spiritual realms, and for that, we need to depend on the revelations given to Emanuel Swedenborg. Does it all fit together? Yes it does, as I showed a little bit here. A grand theory of everything. That is a cause of celebration for me, as this has been a bit of exploration, and this was a big missing piece of the puzzle. And for that I will end with the theme song The Dream from the movie Total Recall, concerning a man who forgets his identity and has to rediscover himself:


UPDATE (6/17): INTRINSIC SPIN AND THE FIFTH DIMENSION
I did some further research into this, and found a paper entitled: Intrinsic Spin and the Kaluza-Klein Fifth Dimension.  In 1921 Kaluza-Klein proposed that there was a compactified fifth dimension, which would unite gravity and the electro-weak force.  As it turns out, this paper mathematically shows that the intrinsic half-spin of leptons it actually explained by such a small curled up fifth-dimension.  We only see the spin in certain states as we live in a three dimensional world. More research needs to be done for the other particles.  How come is this theory just sitting there? All of this from an odd piece of information, from a possible extraterrestrial source, that stated that the fifth dimension was essentially motion.  This is highly counter-intuitive, but may be correct.  Unfortunately as the Aetherius Society relied on channeling, some of this information has been mixed in with some false religious teachings. So if this is correct, then it is quite possible that the sixth dimension is thought, and the seventh dimension is will. The seventh dimension is the possible domain of the soul.  These conclusions are even more counter-intuitive.  In our current science we are taught that this world is a mechanical universe, and it has no room for such higher spiritual matters as love or thought.  But in Swedenborg's visions, love and thought are not just abstract concepts, or merely derived from the outer senses and chemical reactions of the body.  They truly exist as substance, but exist as a higher level substance that does not interact with light.   It is an important point, as that would mean the highest dimensions (7th through 5th) represent END, CAUSE, EFFECT - where effect is the 5th dimension of motion.  No longer an abstract concept, everything originates from will - the Divine will, flowing into all creation.
UPDATE (6/20) - A SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF HIGHER DIMENSIONS?
We have matter (fermions) that always have half-spin, force particles have full spin, and the gravitron has double spin.  In other words, these particles are spinning, but we can only observe them in certain states of their spin. So, like electron shells around an atom, lets create different levels that represent the different dimensions, and show how particles "move" through them:

We exist in 4D Space time, and we can only observe things at this level, which I show with the black line.  Quantum mechanics has shown that at the lowest level things are strangely discrete. But discrete levels are indications of other dimensions. So matter particles always have half spin, showing that matter is moving between three dimensional space and the 5th dimension - which was the subject matter of Intrinsic Spin and the Kaluza-Klein Fifth Dimension. Force particles half full spin, so they interact between our 4D space-time world and the 6th dimension, the subject of Yang-Mills theory. These force particles also intersect with the 2nd Dimension - and forces act like vectors which are two dimensional. And then we have the elusive graviton, which Randall and Sundrum propose is weak because it "leaks" from our 4D dimension to another dimension. But in the above diagram, it shows that its not just the graviton that leaks. Everything that moves leaks out of our 4D dimension like a sieve. In order to move through 4D space-time, you need to "leak" out. And note that the graviton encompasses all of the dimensions of space-time - according to General Relativity, gravity is the result of the warping of space-time. The weird thing this simple (probably oversimplified) geometric diagram shows is that gravity does not leak to the 5th dimension. It leaks out to the 8th dimension.  But in the theory I was expecting seven dimensions - but nothing is interacting between our 4D world and the 7th dimension. Is there any theory from physicist concerning 8 dimensions?  Yes, in physical theories concerning Supersymmetry, it requires a Superspace of eight dimensions. While mathematically it solves more problems, there are no observations that back it up.  But check out the following two videos concerning the E8 theory from Garrett Lisi - where geometrically, an eight dimensional universe has the possibility to describe everything we know about subatomic particles in a beautiful geometric pattern. It is a work in progress, for an assessment see An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything: To show how beautiful it is, see this video:

False Ideas of Religion based on Ignorance

Humanity is constantly growing, and as humanity grows, so does its understanding.  However resisting our increased understanding of the universe are the older forms of religion, for many religions were formed by doctrines and beliefs that were useful for their time, but are now out of date.  As humans are born, grow and die, so religions are born, grow and die.  And this is true of Christianity as well, and Jesus described this in his prophecy of end times.  The time when Christianity reaches its period of time is known in scripture as the "end of the world" or "end of an age."  But Christianity will not die, it will be reborn.  This rebirth is the Second Coming.

Resisting this change will be the older forms of religion, for many religions are not spiritual in nature but rather a means of control. For as a religion begins to die, it degenerates into one of two forms: either it will degenerate into a means of gaining control over others, or it will degenerate into just a system of mere belief.  This can be seen in Christianity: for many centuries it degenerated into a means of political control, under the dominion of the Roman Catholic Papacy and the priesthood.  Later it degenerated into one of belief only or lip service, which is demonstrated by the Protestant doctrine of faith alone. In the Apocalypse, the religion that seeks to have dominion or control over others is symbolized by Babylon, and the religion that seeks to deceive people into one of belief alone is symbolized by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet.

Something new is coming in the form of the New Jerusalem out of heaven, and it is destined to transform the older religions.  But before we can discuss the new, let us discuss the old ideas that are destined to die.  For as long as the older ideas remain, people will be held back in ignorance.

FALSE IDEA #1: HUMANITY ON EARTH IS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

The selfish ego tends to think of itself as the center of the universe.  Thus in ancient times, many tribal societies viewed outsiders and others as "evil" - you were only "good" if you belonged to the community.  As primitive as this sounds, one can find this selfish pride in many forms today. On a family level, parents may regard a new son-in-law or daughter-in-law as "outside the family" or "not good enough," when in fact they are encountering their limited level of toleration for others. On a national level, people may tend to think of their nationality as "better" than others. This often shows up in the public media, for more often than not public media is nothing but national propaganda, especially in times of war. On a religious level, this selfish pride is evident when one thinks the religion they are born into makes them "better" than others.  Any time one encounters a thought that elevates one above others, it is nothing more than the pride and evil from the selfish ego.

The selfish ego not only shows its pride and self-centeredness on an individual, family, national and religious level, but also on a world level. It was once held that the earth was the center of the universe - this was followed by the sun as the center, then it was discovered there are multiple galaxies, and now there may be even multiple universes. Thus it is very narrow minded to think that life only exists on our planet among the countless stars and galaxies. In fact, mathematically according to science we should already have been visited by civilizations more advanced than our own. And yet no apparent direct contact has been made. This is known as the Fermi Paradox. An explanation of no direct contact is that they may be withholding revealing themselves directly until we reach a certain level of awareness - this is known as the Zoo Hypothesis.

I have already spoken at length concerning UFOs who observe us from a distance, and concerning Emanuel Swedenborg who had visions of other extraterrestrial races, some perhaps dwelling on underground outposts on planets in our solar system. Howard Storm had a Near Death Experience in which he met Jesus, and apparently asked about extraterrestrial life. He was then shown a vision of other extraterrestrial races, beginning with those who looked like us, then starting to get a bit different:



So what of scripture which says that man was created in the image of God?  We are images of God inasmuch as we become forms of the Divine Love in what we do, and images of Divine Truth in how we think:

And God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him. The word image is twice used here, because faith, which is of the understanding, is called His own image; and love, which is of the will — and which in the spiritual man comes after, but in the celestial man precedes — is called the image of God. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 53)

FALSE IDEA #2: ISRAEL AND THE JEWS ARE A CHOSEN RACE ABOVE OTHERS

This would seem to be a repetition of first false idea, but it bears repeating because many religious fundamentalists believe and teach this from a very literal interpretation of the Bible, where it is said that the Jews were a "chosen nation" above all other nations. But the Jews are not a chosen people above others, but rather represent the spiritual Church - for in reality it is those who follow God's commandments who will be chosen to belong to his kingdom. Based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, many believe future prophecies will be fulfilled by a future kingdom of God based in Israel. Blinded by religion, with the support of the United States, Israel has been allowed to create an apartheid racist state. In reality, the Old Testament is written in this manner because this is the kind of revelation that could be received at the time. The revelation given to the Jews as a nation was designed to be representative of a future spiritual Church to come. Externally the Jews could represent such a Church in their rituals and national identity, but inwardly they were idolatrous and were not ready to receive spiritual truths. Expecting a literal kingdom of this world, they rejected their own Messiah Jesus. This is the mistake the Jewish nation made, and unfortunately many Christians who study prophecy make the same mistake by expecting a literal political kingdom on earth. In truth, the kingdom of God is within one's heart, and his kingdom on earth is the church.

The Jews were revealed only external rituals, and not the hidden spiritual truths that lay hidden behind their symbolic rituals. They were not revealed these hidden spiritual truths, as being idolatrous in nature they would have profaned what is holy:

"It was not even told them plainly that they were to live after death, nor that the Lord would come into the world to save them. Nay, in such ignorance and stolidity were they kept, and still are kept, that they did not know and do not know that there is an internal man, or that there is any thing internal; for if they had known or now knew, so as to acknowledge it, their quality is such that they would profane it; and so there would be no hope of any salvation for them in the other life. This is what is meant by the Lord in John: He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them (xii. 40). And for this reason the Lord spake to them in parables, and explained none to them, that seeing they should not see, and hearing they should not hear and understand, as He says in Matthew (xiii. 13). For this reason also all the mysteries of faith were covered and concealed under the representatives of their church; and the prophetic style was similar for the same reason." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 302).

The Jews were only allowed to know God through their external rituals, in order to symbolically represent eternal truths:

The Jews and the Israelites were such that they had no thought about the internal man, nor willingness to know any thing about it; thus none at all concerning celestial and spiritual things, relating to the life after death. But yet, lest all communication with heaven and thus with the Lord should perish, they were bound to external rites, whereby internal things were signified. All their captivities and plagues were in general for this end, that external rites might be strictly observed for the sake of representation. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3147.10)

The Jews are not more holy than others, but their history is designed to present symbolic eternal truths of the true spiritual Church which would include all nations and races:

Every one who thinks somewhat more deeply or interiorly, may know that in the Divine Word, by the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob — which is so often mentioned, and of which it is so frequently said that it should be blessed, and this above all nations and people in the world — cannot be signified their posterity; for these among all nations were least of all in the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and not even in any truth of faith. For what the Lord is, what His kingdom, thus what heaven is, and what a life after death, they were altogether ignorant, as well because they were not willing to know, as because, if they had learned concerning those things, they would in heart have totally denied, and would thus have profaned interior goods and truths, as they profaned exterior by so many times becoming open idolaters, which is the reason that interior things so rarely stand forth in the sense of the letter of the Word of the Old Testament. ...when they said they were Abraham's seed — We are Abraham's seed. . . . Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were the sons of Abraham, ye would do the works of Abraham. . . . Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will to do (John viii. 33, 39, 44). By Abraham here is also meant the Lord, as everywhere in the Word. That they were not His seed, or sons, but the seed of the devil, is plainly said. Hence it is very manifest that by the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, in the historical and prophetical Word, are by no means meant their posterity — for the Word throughout is Divine — but all those who are the seed of the Lord, that is, who are in the good and truth of faith in Him. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3373.2)

Thus the Jews represent the true spiritual Church who follow God's commandments, and the land of Canaan is not the literal land of Israel but is designed to represent the kingdom of heaven. Even Jesus said that in the future people would not worship in Jerusalem, but would worship God in spirit and truth, and that his kingdom was not of this world. Many may see Judaism itself as a primitive national religion for its age and time, but what is unknown to most is that everything that was given to them are symbolic of heavenly matters. Some of these hidden truths were revealed in the New Testament, but all the details of the internal symbolism of the Jewish rituals are described in detail in Swedenborg's work Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia, meaning "Heavenly Secrets").  By the time Jesus came and revealed the heavenly message of love and forgiveness, the Jewish representations were no longer necessary and were abrogated as they had been fulfilled.

The truth is, God is not partial to any single group and does not favour one nation over another. The more one loves others and repents from sin, the more God can dwell inside of you - and it is only then you become a part of his holy kingdom. It is a spiritual inheritance, not a natural inheritance derived from parents or one's nationality.

And for those of you who only receive information from the media, the fact of the matter is is that the state of Israel is an apartheid racist state, and has taken away basic human rights from the Palestinians. And many are blinded by a literalist interpretation of the Bible to cover up this horrendous crime. Here is a clip of former President Jimmy Carter who speaks on the issue, and notice how the interviewer is trying to cover it up with the questions he asks:

FALSE IDEA #3: YOU NEED TO BELONG TO A PARTICULAR RELIGION TO GO TO HEAVEN

This again repeats the first false idea, but it again bears repeating as many who are so-called religious, believe that you must belong to their religion in order to go to heaven. You can find this idea in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is a product of the selfish ego: everyone believes that they are better than others. They put God in a box, and believe that constitutes the absolute truth. This is a very narrow and limited view. The truth of the matter, is that all who do good by the truth that they know will go to heaven, for everyone has a conscience. And for those who know the truth of their religion, and do not follow it themselves, are worse than those who do not know. There are many Christians who are so in name only, for they believe the truth and yet they do not live by it. Many who follow this narrow mindset are thus very focused on converting others. Religion is not in converting others, it is living by the truth that you know: and the answer to all questions is found in loving and serving others to the best of our ability.

It is not wise to assume that the religion you were born into and taught by parents and religious authorities is absolutely correct.  Learn to question what you have been taught, ask yourself, WHY is that the truth.  And when you investigate yourself you then become stronger in the truth: doubt is replaced by an internal acknowledgment. I have learned that there are different degrees of truth and falsehood in all religions.

In Swedenborg's visions of heavens, he found that many who were not born into Christianity and who knew nothing about Jesus could receive the truths from angels better than the very so-called Christians themselves? Why so? Because they acted out of the goodness of their heart according to their conscience, whereas many Christians explicitly disobeyed or ignored what they knew. This truth Swedenborg explains from what he observed from direct experience -

"Without seed sown by the Lord, man can do nothing of good. All good of charity is seed from the Lord, even with the gentiles. Although with these it is not the good of faith, as it may be within the church, yet it may become the good of faith. For the gentiles who have lived in charity, as they are wont to do in the world, in the other life when they are instructed by angels, also embrace and receive the doctrine of true faith and the faith of charity much more easily than Christians." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 932).

"The man of the church thinks that all who are out of the church, and are called gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have no knowledges of faith, and are therefore wholly ignorant of the Lord. He says that without faith and without knowledge of the Lord there is no salvation, and thus he condemns all who are out of the church. Indeed many of this sort who are in some doctrine, even if it be heresy, think that all who are out of it, or all who do not hold the same opinion, cannot be saved; when in fact the case is not so at all. The Lord has mercy toward the whole human race, and wishes to save and draw to Himself all who are in the universe."(Heavenly Arcana, n. 1032)

I have been instructed in many ways that Gentiles who have led a moral life, and have been obedient, and have lived in mutual charity, and have received some sort of conscience according to their religion, are accepted in the other life, and are there instructed by angels with watchful care in the goods and truths of faith. While receiving instruction they conduct themselves modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and easily receive and become imbued with the instruction; for they have formed to themselves no principles contrary to the truths of faith, which are to be dispersed, still less scandals against the Lord; as many Christians have, who have led a life of evil. Moreover, such do not hate others, nor avenge injuries, nor plot artifices and deceits. Indeed, they wish well to Christians; when on the other hand Christians despise them and even do them violence, as far as they can: but they are withdrawn by the Lord from their unmercifulness and are protected. For the case of Christians and Gentiles in the other life is such that Christians who have acknowledged the truths of faith, and have at the same time led a life of good, are received before Gentiles; but such at this day are few.  (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2590)

God is love itself, and desires for everyone to be happy:

"It is a common opinion that those born out of the Church, who are called heathen or gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have not the Word and thus do not know the Lord, and without the Lord there is no salvation. But still it may be known that they also are saved, from this alone, that the mercy of the Lord is universal, that is, toward every one; that they are born men as well as those within the Church, who are respectively few; and that it is not their fault that they do not know the Lord. Every one who thinks from any enlightened reason, may see that no man is born for hell, for the Lord is love itself, and His love is to will to save all. Therefore He has provided that all may have religion, and by it acknowledgment of the Divine, and interior life; for to live according to one's religious belief is to live interiorly, as he then looks to the Divine; and as far as he looks to This, so far he does not look to the world, but removes himself from the world, thus from the life of the world, which is exterior life.
"That gentiles are saved as well as Christians, may be known by those who know what it is that makes heaven with man; for heaven is in man, and those who have heaven in themselves come into heaven. Heaven in man is to acknowledge the Divine and to be led by the Divine. The first and primary thing of every religion is to acknowledge the Divine. A religion which does not acknowledge the Divine, is not religion; and the precepts of every religion look to worship; thus they teach how the Divine is to be worshipped, so that the worship may be acceptable to Him; and when this is fixed in one's mind, thus as far as he wills it, or as far as he loves it, he is led by the Lord. It is known that gentiles live a moral life as well as Christians, and many of them a better life than Christians. Moral life is lived either for the sake of the Divine, or for the sake of men in the world; the moral life which is lived for the sake of the Divine is spiritual life. Moral life and spiritual life appear alike in outward form, but in inward form they are altogether different; the one saves man, the other does not save him. For he who lives a moral life for the sake of the Divine, is led by the Divine, but he who lives a moral life for the sake of men in the world, is led by himself." (Heaven an Hell, n. 318-319).

How many wars are fought in the name of religion?  Look at what people can do when led by ignorance and blind religious leaders. So what unites all religions of the world?  One thing: the golden rule.  Found this very interesting video on how the golden rule unites all religions:



If religions concentrating on doing well, doing what is right, the differences would disappear, for all the varieties of truth is derived from one principle, and that is love. And this was the central principle of the most ancient religion on this earth, where they followed the doctrine of charity

"...the doctrine of charity was the doctrine in the Ancient Churches, and that this doctrine conjoined all the churches, and thus of many made one; for they acknowledged as of the church all who lived in the good of charity, and called them brethren, however they might differ as to truths, which at this day are called the truths of faith. In these one instructed another, and this was among their works of charity; nor were they indignant if one did not accede to the opinion of another, knowing that every one receives truth just so far as he is in good. ...But in process of time that ancient wisdom decreased; for so far as the human race withdrew from the good of love to the Lord, and of charity toward the neighbor, so far it withdrew also from wisdom, because so far it withdrew from heaven; consequently man from internal became external, and this by successive degrees. ...In consequence the doctrine of charity, which was so precious to the ancients, is now among things that are lost; for who at this day knows what in the genuine sense charity is and what the neighbor? when yet that doctrine abounds in arcana so many and so great as cannot be described as to a thousandth part. The whole Sacred Scripture is nothing else than the doctrine of love and charity — which the Lord also teaches, saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang . . . the law and the prophets (Matt. xxii. 37-40). The law and the prophets are the Word in all and each of its parts." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 6628-32).

And notice how far removed we are today from that central principle, for religion has become just a matter of mere belief. Thus religions of today tend to emphasize faith over that of love, faith over that of doing good works.

FALSE IDEA #4: GOD IS ANGRY AND WRATHFUL AND CONDEMNS PEOPLE TO HELL

In truth, God is Love itself, and Mercy itself, and desires nothing more than for all of his creation to be happy. This sort of follows from the previous false idea. And yet there are many passages in scripture which declares that God gets angry and wrathful.  This indeed appears in the sense of the letter of scripture, but the reality is that God only appears angry and wrathful to those who have committed evil.  For those who in evil, are in the punishment of evil:

"In the Word in many passages it is said of Jehovah that He burns with anger and is wroth, and also that He consumes and destroys. But it is so expressed because it so appears to the man who turns himself away from the Lord, as is the case when he does evil; and since then he is not heard and is even punished, he believes that the Lord is in anger against him, when yet the Lord is never angry and never consumes, for He is mercy itself and good itself.” (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10431)

Moreover, it is our own conscience which will judge our own actions after death, and nothing that we have said, done or thought can be hidden or denied.  Those who live a life of evil do not wish to be among those who are in good: it is so repulsive to them that they turn away from heaven and cast themselves into hell.  Hell is the darkness of their own mind, and it is the fire of their own hatred. It is not God who casts anyone to hell, it is each person who casts their own self to hell:

"An opinion has prevailed with some that God turns away His face from man, rejects him from Himself and casts him into hell, and that He is angry with him on account of evil; and with some, further, that God punishes man and does evil to him. In this opinion they confirm themselves from the literal sense of the Word, where such things are said, not being aware that the spiritual sense of the Word, which explains the sense of the letter, is altogether different; and that hence the genuine doctrine of the church, which is from the spiritual sense of the Word, teaches otherwise, namely, that God never turns away His. face from man and rejects him from Himself, that He does not cast any one into hell, and that He is not angry with any one. Every one also whose mind is in a state of enlightenment when he reads the Word, perceives this to be the case, from the mere fact that God is good itself, love itself, and mercy itself; and that good itself cannot do evil to any one, also that love itself and mercy itself cannot reject man from itself, because this is contrary to the very essence of mercy and love, thus contrary to the Divine Itself. And so they who think from an enlightened mind, when they read the Word, clearly perceive that God never turns Himself away from man; and that since He never turns Himself away from him, He deals with him from good, love, and mercy; that is, that He wills good to him, loves him, and is merciful to him." (Heaven and Hell, n. 545)

"How this comes about shall also be told. When man enters into the other life, he is first received by angels who perform for him all good offices and also talk with him of the Lord, of heaven, and of angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good. But if the man, now a spirit, be of such sort that he had indeed known such things in the world, but in heart denied or despised them, he then after some conversation desires and seeks to depart from these angels. When the angels perceive this, they let him go, and after keeping company a while with others he is at length associated with those who are in like evil with himself (see above, n. 445-452); and when this comes to pass, he turns himself away from the Lord and turns his face to the hell with which he had been conjoined in the world, where are those who are in a similar love of evil. From these things it is plain that the Lord draws every spirit to Himself, by means of angels and also by influx from heaven; but that spirits who are in evil utterly resist, and as it were tear themselves away from the Lord, and are drawn by their own evil as by a rope, thus by hell; and inasmuch as they are drawn and by reason of the love of evil are willing to follow, it is manifest that they from freedom cast themselves into hell." (Heaven and Hell, n. 548)

In another encounter, Swedenborg met an evil spirit who preferred hell over heaven as they enjoy the evils that they did while they were in the world. Thus they are in the constant punishment of themselves.  Because of the opposition between heaven and hell, between good and evil, between the two there is a great gulf or divide (Luke 16:26).  And at this point I now have a perfect excuse to include an awesome song New Divide by Linkin Park. Pay attention to the lyrics.

FALSE IDEA #5: THERE WILL BE AN END OF THE WORLD. SOME TIME. TOMORROW. NO WAIT, TOMORROW AFTER TOMORROW. THIS FALSE IDEA IS GETTING TOO LONG, ISN'T IT?

I thought it would be good to end with this one. So many people who study scripture in the literal sense believe that there will come a time when the world will come to some cataclysmic end, Jesus will appear again in the sky visible to everyone, and that everyone here on earth will be judged.  But this comes from a false literal application of scripture. First the phrase "end of the world" does not mean the end of this planet, but rather it means the "end of the age."  And the age we are talking about is the old age of Christianity - for it has become so corrupt there is little truth left in it.  How so? Emphasis is placed on belief alone rather than living well, and monotheism has been replaced by tritheism.  The truth of the matter, as I said at the beginning, is that all religions are born, grow old, and die.  In the case of Christianity, it has been destroyed from within, based on a false theology unknown to the apostles. This Jesus described symbolically by the destruction of the temple, where no stone would be left standing: for in a symbolic sense the temple is the church, and no stone standing is no truth will be left in it. This is the end of the world, and the false teachings are the abomination of desolation - for many churches are desolate in truth. And like the Jews before them, many who are born into the religion are too blind to see it.

And yet it is said there will be a final judgment, where the evil will be separated from the good at the end of the age. This is true. But this event, which takes place periodically towards the end of world ages, occurs in the spiritual world.  Many who die are judged right after death, and go to heaven or hell according to how they lived. But many are not ready for this judgment, and enter a waiting state in a region between heaven and hell which Swedenborg described as "the world of spirits." Such a final judgment occurred upon the death of Jesus on the cross, for he entered the spiritual realm and reordered heaven and hell, and many captive souls caught in the world between were taken up into heaven.  This is when in the middle region a large group of souls are judged in mass, and the good are separated from the evil.  This is the final or last judgment. When such a judgment occurs in the spiritual world, the way is opened for angels to interact with men, and a new church is born on earth.  Such happened with the end of Judaism and the birth of Christianity, and such is happening now with the death of old Christianity and a rebirth of it in a new age.

Will Jesus come again in the flesh?  His kingdom is not of this world, but in the heart and spirit. When he came in the flesh, he was the Word incarnate.  And how has he come again? This time, as the Word revealed in the spiritual sense in scripture.  No longer do we need to wonder about the hidden truths of scripture, for the internal spiritual sense of scripture has been revealed in the revelations given to Swedenborg for all to see. But one will not see it if one holds on to former ideas of falsehood. This is the coming of the Son of Man in glory, for in the spiritual sense the Son of Man is the Divine Truth - now it is laid open for all to see, if one just simply opens their mind and begins reading it. It is an internal truth, that one sees internally - not literally with one's eyes. It is a spiritual psychology of the soul. We are not talking about a coming from the sky above, but a Second Coming out of heaven - and heaven can only be seen in visions.


Why the above song? In his visions Swedenborg was shown the spiritual symbolism of a trumpet:

"And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, signifies the manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven. A great voice, when it is heard from heaven, signifies the Divine truth, treated of in what follows. It was heard as a trumpet, because, when the Divine truth passes down from heaven, it is sometimes so heard by the angels of the ultimate heaven, and is then manifestly perceived. It is hence that by a voice as of a trumpet manifest perception is signified." (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 37).

"And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound, signifies that they were prepared and qualified to explore the state of the church and hence of the life of those whose religion is faith alone. What is signified by the trumpets is evident from the statute respecting their use among the children of Israel, of which it is said in Moses: Jehovah spake unto Moses, to make trumpets of silver for the convocation of the assembly, and the setting forth of the camp, and that they should sound them on days of joy, on the festivals, the new-moons, and over the burnt-offerings and sacrifices: also, that when they went to war against enemies that infested them, they should give the signal with trumpets, and that then they should come into remembrance before Jehovah God, and should be preserved from their enemies (Num. x. 1-11). From this may be seen what is signified by sounding with trumpets. That here by the seven angels sounding is signified the exploration and manifestation of the quality of the state of the church with those whose religion is faith alone, is manifest from the particulars in this chapter, and from those in the following chapters as far as the sixteenth inclusive, when understood in the spiritual sense." (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 397)

A Divine Revelation of the Three Heavens of the Spiritual World

In the Bible, there is this mysterious passage that very few can explain: the Apostle Paul at some point had a Near Death Experience, perhaps from being stoned by a mob, and had a vision of heaven. He describes this very briefly in the following passage:

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows — how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Cor. 12:2-4)

If anyone is curious about the afterlife, this passage will just about drive one nuts. Here we have a direct experience of heaven, but there is not one heaven - there are three heavens.  Why are there three heavens?  Why offer such a statement, and nowhere else is it explained?  And one hears angels speaking, and not allowed to repeat what they are saying???  This was very frustrating.  When I first read it, it left me with the idea that the Bible was incomplete - or that scripture was hiding something we were not allowed to know. However there are some things that can be derived from it.  The word Paradise appears here and in this passage:

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God (Rev. 2:7)

And this means the Garden of Eden is symbolic of the time when mankind had direct access to heaven. When the love of self became dominate, from the desire to know things from one's self through the outer senses (the serpent) - the connection between heaven and man was broken. The other time the word Paradise appears is the following passage, which Jesus spoke to one of the thieves on the cross:

And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

And this means that after death, there is a judgment wherein one will enter heaven and hell.  Some Christian churches teach that one enters into a sleep after death, and will eventually literally physically rise from the dead, but this is a false teaching.  Those who teach it have to distort this verse, moving the comma making the word "today" absolutely meaningless in order to maintain their doctrine.  The specific denominations who hold this false teaching are the Seventh Day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses. They do good in teaching people to follow the commandments, but they mislead others in teaching that there is no afterlife.  What is true is that between heaven and hell there is a middle region for certain souls who await judgment after a period of time, and these periodic judgments are known as the "last judgment" which occurs at "the end of the world." Literalists and fundamentalists do not understand this, always expecting a literal judgment in the physical world, always expecting a literal physical appearance for the Second Coming.  And their predictions always fail.

A DIVINE REVELATION OF THE THREE HEAVENS

So we are still left to explain the three heavens that the Apostle Paul had when he nearly died.  Those words would remain there, mysteriously unexplained, until medical science began to advance in the 20th century and doctors began reviving people after their hearts had stopped.  Witness after witness began bringing back reports that beyond this material world - beyond these three dimensions - there was another spiritual world, at the center of which was this Supreme Being of Light full of Love.  One of the most well known Near Death Experiences was that of Dr. George Ritchie, which is described in the book, Return from Tomorrow. For those of you who want a summary of his experience, see Dr. George Ritchie's Near-Death Experience. The following video shows Dr. George Ritchie relate a small portion of his experience:

He met with Jesus, and its not about belief, nor about "vicarious atonement" which theologians have invented, bur rather its about overcoming the selfish ego and living a life of love. Love is the answer to everything, and that is why Jesus came to show us that.

One portion of his experience however caught my attention - Ritchie observed that there were three levels or degrees of heaven. However he only mentions this in passing, but it caught my attention, as it reminded me of the saying of the apostle Paul.  While Dr. George Ritchie's experience is perhaps one of the most in depth Near Death Experiences recorded, it just so happens that long before these Near Death Experiences were rediscovered by the medical community it was described in detail in visions by the scientist Emanuel Swedenborg. While living, in a waking state, he was allowed to explore heaven and hell in enormous detail, and this over a period of 27 years.  Those who have had a Near Death Experience just see a glimpse of this reality - imagine having several years to explore it.  His spiritual experiences are scattered throughout this multi-volume work Heavenly Arcana, in which he shows how the Bible symbolically discusses these eternal matters of heaven which was kept hidden from the Jews.  This he summarized in his work, Heaven and Hell.  And what is life all about?  It is about love, for God is Love itself. The Father is Divine Love, the Son is Divine Truth in human form (see The Divine Love and Divine Truth). God is present where there is love. And where does one find happiness? Happiness is found in loving others. A deeper level of love is seeing the love of God in others, and loving God through loving others.  Love is the source of all true happiness.  This is the original message of Christianity, but nowadays people who know little always stress belief or faith, which is a lower form of the truth designed to introduce people to a life of love.

So that lead us to the main point - what are the three heavens? This Swedenborg describes in detail, and when I first read it, my reaction was FINALLY - a revelation concerning what the apostle Paul experienced.  The three levels of heaven are three stages or three levels of spiritual development (see The Three Steps of Spiritual Development for a practical application of this in life).  The heaven we enter after we die will correspond to our internal spiritual state of being.  In reality, while we exist in the body, our spirit is already in heaven or hell, or some stage in between, depending on our spiritual development.  For we are all spirits clothed with a temporary physical body. In the spiritual world, there is no time or space, but only states of being. To sum it up, if you are in the love of self and material desire, you are in the wrong place. If you are experiencing temptation due to sin and resisting it, you are coming out of that and entering the first stage, which is that of servitude to God's commandments - but the selfish ego sees it as a burden.  The second stage is when you start to live by the truth, because you love the truth.  The third and final stage is when you act out of love. When you do things out of love, there is no need to learn the truth, as that would be taking a step backwards. You perceive things from a wisdom of experience of living life, of loving others - of loving others because you see the love of God within them in different degrees.  The more you love, the more you enter into God's presence. Inasmuch as you approach God, He will approach you, and come to live in your heart.

So that is what the three heavens mean in the most simplest form - see them as states of being or stages of spiritual development.  Here is how Swedenborg described them:

"There are three heavens, and these wholly distinct from one another, the inmost or third, the middle or second, and the lowest or first. They follow in order and stand in relation to one another as the highest part of man, or the head, his middle part, or the body, and the lowest, or the feet; and as the upper, the middle, and the lowest stories of a house. In such order also is the Divine which proceeds and descends from the Lord. Hence, from the necessity of order, heaven is threefold.

"The interiors of man, which are of his mind and disposition, are also in like order. He has an inmost, a middle, and an outmost part; for into man, in his creation, all things of Divine order are brought together, so that he is made Divine order in form, and thus heaven in least image. For this reason also man has communication with the heavens as to his interiors, and comes among angels after death; among those of the inmost, middle, or lowest heaven, according to his reception of Divine good and truth from the Lord during his life in the world.

"The Divine which flows in from the Lord and is received in the third or inmost heaven, is called celestial; and hence, the angels there are called celestial angels. The Divine which flows in from the Lord and is received in the second or middle heaven, is called spiritual; and hence the angels there are called spiritual angels. But the Divine which flows in from the Lord and is received in the lowest or first heaven, is called natural." (Heaven and Hell, n. 29-31)

How do you live your life? Is it for the selfish ego?  That is the road downward.  Do you do things to make others happy?  That is the road upward.  Love to others is higher, and higher than that is loving others for the sake of love towards God who created us.