A New Model of the Universe

In 1914, a year before he met Gurdjieff, Ouspensky published one of his earlier books, A New Model of the Universe. In it, Ouspensky had already gathered many observations on states of consciousness, even though he referred to them by other names. He suggested there are actually three dimensions of time: the historical time we are used to, and two more dimensions that represent deeper and richer experiences of reality. In this article is a short review of the second time dimension.

Historical Time

In the language of the Fourth Way system that Ouspensky encountered just a year later, the normal sense of time is typical of Worlds 48 (true personality) and 24 (essence). This covers everything necessary to our daily life on earth. Both of these psychological states are carried within a physical body. This means we need to get to work, travel, go up and down stairs, and so on. Getting from point A to point B takes time, so the line representing such a physical path also means that Before we were somewhere, then moved somewhere else, and After we will reach our destination. This is shown in the simplified diagram below. 

When we are even lower in our psychology (World 96, false personality, and lower), we are so identified that we do not conceive of time at all. That state corresponds to a zero-dimensional point instead of a line.

First dimension of time, from Ouspensky’s New Model of the Universe

The Perpetual Now

Imagine you are on a morning train, on your daily commute from home to work. You have done that hundreds of times. Perhaps you always sit in the same place. You know everything there is to see from the window. One day, all of a sudden, there is a strong feeling of déjà vu that evokes a higher state of consciousness. You have been here before. Now you remember yourself. You have a much deeper sense of the present moment and you realize you have been getting to this same moment over and over again. It is all one moment, one now. Or, as Ouspensky coined it, the perpetual now. As if it has always existed.

What triggers this state? It can be an impression that brings back an old memory or a shock, evoking self-remembering. It can be the dullness of the moment that does that, making you ask yourself, “why am I here”? You realize that the reason other moments in historical time pass without notice is because something is missing in them. You.

Time and Recurrence of the Perpetual Now

At this moment, you have just sensed the second dimension of time. It may be easier to verify this dimension with repetitive cycles within our lives. The daily commute, the weeks that go by, the seasons, and other longer cycles in life are examples. We also experience these special ‘nows’ on the scale of our lifetime. This suggests we may be going through cycles of recurring lifetimes. In the Fourth Way, this state is called World 12 or the third state of consciousness. This dimension can be described in a simplified way as a line perpendicular to linear or historical time, as illustrated in the second diagram. Historical time is a series of these ‘nows’.

Second dimension of time, from Ouspensky’s New Model of the Universe

Eternity

Our typical idea of eternity is an infinite extension of historical time. But this is just the mechanical mind trying to extrapolate its linear perception of time. A whole new second dimension of time means that time is not a line, but rather a two-dimensional surface. In physical space, a two-dimensional square contains an infinite number of one-dimensional lines. But the square itself is contained within a finite space. In quite the same way, a two-dimensional time surface is comprised of infinite timelines.

The perpetual now of eternity is within reach in every single moment!
As the English poet William Blake said,

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

Ernst Newman has written several articles for FourthWayToday.org, most recently https://fourthwaytoday.org/a-journey-of-balance-and-regeneration/. For more articles by Ernst Newman, see: https://fourthwaytoday.org/author/ernst-newman/.