P. D. Ouspensky’s writings on the fourth, fifth, and sixth dimensions of our world involve time. He saw the still point of the present moment as the fourth dimension, recurrence of each moment as the fifth dimension, and “all possibilities” in every direction as the sixth dimension.
Work along Fourth Way lines involves stilling the many I’s and coming to self-awareness; that is, presence in this very moment. When we are present, we exist—and penetrate the fourth dimension, creating memory of the moments we inhabit.
Recurrence in Time
The idea of recurrence of moments, recurrence within time, was a special study for Ouspensky. Nietzsche wrote of eternal recurrence, eternal return, as a loop of time repeating itself, in an unbreakable pattern. Movies like “Groundhog Day” show the hopeless aspect of this situation. Is there anything within us that can be free of recurrence, and, like Bill Murray in the movie, break away to a more conscious life?While recurrence implies eternity, it is not timeless. The idea of recurrence of each moment can be a spur to presence. We can aim to make each moment count, since it is eternal.
Even the ancient Greeks considered recurrence. The Stoics believed the the gods periodically destroy and recreate the universe. But that each universe is reborn exactly the same as the one before. Christian fathers such as Augustine refuted this belief, as it denied the possibility of free will, necessary for salvation.
Yet studying the Fourth Way can show that we lack will. We are not free. Free will seems more a property of someone who is awake. What can a sleeping man achieve that is truly his own? We might say that the development of will, consciousness, and unity is the aim of a student of the Fourth Way. And this takes work; it is not given for free.
We can see on our own human scale that habits and tendencies recur within us. Patterns begin, some from birth, others from experience. Breaking bad habits can be the work of a lifetime. As Rodney Collin wrote, “We must be melted down and remade, repeatedly. We must pray that crystallization does not overtake us.” To crystallize too soon means to harden all the habits that we have. And this hard husk stops inner development.
Therefore recurrence, even in theory, is dreadful to contemplate. Yet this is not all we are. Ouspensky wrote that men are six-dimensional beings who see themselves as three-dimensional. What of the sixth dimension? Do we have any existence in that realm?
Recurrence and Eternity
One little-known Fourth Way teacher of the twentieth century, Alexander Francis Horn, was a theater director who studied under Lord Pentland and later, Rodney Collin. His San Francisco venue were, first, “The Everyman Theater” and, later, “The Theater of All Possibilities,” in a nod to the sixth dimension described by Ouspensky. One of his plays shows the characters realizing they are in a play. They stop the action, this being a shock of consciousness to their written roles that would have repeated endlessly, otherwise.
To become free from endless repetition, we can consider the sixth dimension. Here freedom opens up again, with new directions beyond the eternally recurring moments of the fifth.
To understand time in these fourth, fifth, and sixth dimensions, we can remember that a point in space represents the first dimension, a line the second dimension, and a cube of space is the third. Similarly, at a higher level, the fourth dimension refers to a point in time. The fifth dimension is an endless line or loop of time, and the sixth a cube or sphere of all moments. This sixth dimension contains all choices, spreading out and infinitely repeating in eternity. This may be the true meaning of free will. All that we can conceive and do lies in this sixth dimension. Any choice we make is valid, and any choice we did not make, any line we did not take, exists also. Extending into infinity.
“To apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint.”
– (‘The Dry Salvages’ by T. S. Eliot)
Saints of all religions have sought to merge into the timeless quality of reality. Work in the Fourth Way requires separating the unreal from the real in order to perceive what is timeless. Separating from the many I’s within, we achieve a more real identity that can observe and protect a higher state. And these states begin to exist as we penetrate time. We enter the Real World, open to the experience of natural and cosmic laws. The sixth dimension has magical properties. Awareness of this can help us awaken: truly, all possibilities lie open before us.
Rowena Taylor has been a student of the Fourth Way for nearly fifty years, and an editor of the FourthWayToday.org since its inception. For other articles of hers, including on the Value of Stillness in our prior issue, see here: https://fourthwaytoday.org/author/rowena/.