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HERMINE SABETAY

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Until recent times astronomical space was thought to be an immensely vast emptiness where the stars figured as relatively small islands of matter. Newton sustained the idea of a uni­

versal void, in contradiction to the ancient dictum, “nature abhors a vacuum.” Later, in order to explain the transmission of light, scientists assumed that space was filled with an all- pervasive subtle medium called ether. As a consequence of Einstein’s theory of relativity, and as rigorous experiments failed to reveal the existence of such an agent, this hypothesis too was discarded.

Interstellar space is no longer considered a void, as with the help of powerful telescopes clouds composed of fine dust and gas have been observed outside the celestial bodies. And according to modem field theory, even seemingly empty space is not completely devoid of content, being the playground of potential forces and elementary particles such as electrons and photons.

The investigations of modem astronomy certainly deserve our deep admiration; yet beyond doubt the occult science pre­

sents us with an incomparably greater panorama of a stupen­

dous cosmos. For in this ancient teaching, space is a plenum or fullness. “There is not one finger’s breadth of void space in the whole boundless universe,” says The Secret Doctrine.

(I:330)i

This wholeness comprises all the levels of manifestation, extending from the divine abstraction down to the

physi-“Space: The All-Embracing Container” by Hermine Sabetay orig­

inally appeared in The American Theosophist, Vol. 63, No. 5, May 1975 and is reprinted by permission of the journal.

THE GEOMETRY OF THE PARANORMAL 157 cal world; space is called “the seven-skinned eternal mother-father” and described as “the absolute container of all that is, whether manifested or unmanifested.” (1:75) In a cabalistic treatise, space is qualified as “the all-containing uncontained . . . the unknown container of all, the unknown first Cause,” a statement which is, says H. P. Blavatsky, a most correct definition. (11:56)

A subtler state of space is referred to in esoteric philosophy under the name of akasha, which is described as having many aspects. The Secret Doctrine sometimes calls it higher

“aether,” being the noumenon of the lower “ether,” this latter appearing also under the name of “astral Light.” In the com­

mentary on the first stanza of Dzyan, akasha is said to be a radiation of mulaprakriti, the primordial cosmic root-matter.

Furthermore we are told that:

Akasha is the universal soul, the matrix of the universe, the mysterium magnum from which all that exists is bom by separation or differentiation. It is the cause of exist­

ence, it fills all the infinite space, is space itself, or both its 6th and 7th principles. (IV:81)

In other connections, akasha is designated as “the divine space,” “the primordial ocean of space,” “the celestial virgin- mother,” etc.

The true nature of akasha is veiled in secret and known only to adepts of higher occultism. But the various hints disclosed for students let it appear as a fascinating subject.

Akasha is described as containing an infinite amount of po­

tential energy and as the source of various kinds of vibration, especially those of sound and light, which are the basis of the created universe. Divine sound, also called the divine word, gives the impulse to creation; and light condenses into matter, as modem science has shown. Thus akasha continuously supplies the energy by which the universe is evolved and maintained. In its depths are hidden the noumena of all things; it is “the great storehouse of creation.” (V:234)

Moreover akasha is the divine screen recording in a perma­

nent picture every thought, deed, or event, and these are indeli­

bly impressed on this enigmatic medium. The wholeness of past, present, and future is contained on its imperishable

158 FUTURE SCIENCE tablets, which can be examined only by highly developed spirits.

According to occultism, space as an objective reality apart from the mind has no true existence. On the different levels of being the perception of space is modified; therefore these impressions are said to belong to chidakasha or mental space, while mahakasha designates the eternal absolute space of ulti­

mate reality.

Another consideration related to the nature of space im­

plies the idea of higher dimensions. Theosophical teachings as­

sert that these are characteristic of superior planes and belong to the corresponding states of consciousness. A great deal of speculation has taken place about the existence of a fourth spatial dimension in addition to the three which are familiar to our perception, often in order to explain certain phenom­

ena of spiritualism, such as materializations and the passage of physical objects through matter. H. P. Blavatsky mentions the question: "... in passing it is worthwhile to point out the real significance of the sound, but incomplete, intuition that has prompted ... the use of the modern expression, the

‘fourth dimension in Space’.” (1:295) She goes on to de­

clare that the term is based on a confusion of several concep­

tions and that the next higher dimension belongs to a sixth sense or clairvoyance. The common sense cannot imagine more than the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thick­

ness. Nevertheless mathematicians operate with higher spaces and an unlimited number of dimensions.

On the other hand, Einstein’s theory of relativity postulates a space-time continuum, introducing time as the fourth di­

mension, adding thus a dynamic factor to the static expanse of space. Movement is conceivable only as a function of both time and space.

Einstein has rediscovered an old truth of archaic philoso­

phy. The Secret Doctrine asserts that “space and time are one . . . they are the incognizable THAT” (IV: 183); “space and time being simply the forms of THAT, which is the abso­

lute ALL.” (III:166)

This latter statement seems to allude to the fundamental duality called in Hindu esoteric philosophy the shivarshakti- tattva, often mentioned in Dr. Taimni’s writings {Man, God,

THE GEOMETRY OF THE PARANORMAL 159 and the Universe as well as in various articles in The Theoso- phist). Shiva, the principle of consciousness, is related to space, which is stable and contains potentially everything that has been, is, or will be. As to time, this unceasing flow is an attribute of shakti, the principle of power. Movement is al­

ways associated with time within the background of space.

In the physical world the reflections of shiva and shakti ap­

pear as matter and energy. And as it is known that atoms are formed of “bottled-up” energy, manifestation is viewed as an unfolding of divine power or shakti, the mighty source of all vibratory potencies, while the aspect of shiva or consciousness is present in every form, however deeply veiled in the mineral kingdom.

Such fundamental teachings of occultism are of course un­

known to modern science, which is concerned only with the lowest plane of existence. Furthermore, the space-time concept with its mathematical developments ignores the qualities of life and the mystery of the organization of living forms. This category of beings has its own laws which are not those of physics. The life force which works against decay and en­

tropy and constructs forms of ever greater complexity, has been called, by the French scientist-philosopher Jean Bar- raud,² the “fifth dimension”; it is the dynamic energy giving the impulse to biological evolution.

This fruitful idea rejoins the occult doctrine that space, far from being a lifeless receptacle of matter, as conceived by materialistic science, or an extension unrelated to things, is a living Entity:

... the one eternal root of all, the playground of all the forces in nature. It is the fountainhead of all terrestrial life and the abode of those (to us) invisible swarms of existences . . . that surround us on all sides. (V:382)

For a so-called rational mind, the belief in the existence of invisible beings as those described by folklore and fairy tales is no other than a childish superstition; that there is an order of devas and nature-spirits, as well as the reality of subtler worlds, the abodes of these ethereal populations, is denied or simply ignored.

Nevertheless, such invisible worlds do exist. Inhabited

160 FUTURE SCIENCE as thickly as in our own, they are scattered throughout apparent space in immense numbers. . . . The fact that our physical eye does not see them, is no reason for disbelieving in them. (11:330)

Viewed as the dwelling of multitudes of tenuous beings, space appears as a plenum, fullness, or wholeness throbbing with life. The plenum of occultism has the same meaning as the gnostic concept of “pleroma,” which is “the sum total of all the divine manifestations and emanations.” (V:462) It constitutes the synthesis of all the living entities, a ladder ex­

tending from the highest spirits to the numberless inhabitants of the etheric plane.

Space is not only the container of the totality of things, considered as unrelated to each other. It is a recognized truth of occult science that there is no separation or isolation in the wholeness of the universe. As said in The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett:

Nature has linked all parts of her empire together by subtle threads of magnetic sympathy, and there is a mu­

tual correlation between a star and a man. (p. 267)

According to this statement, the smallest action of a human being gives an impulse to vibrations propagated through the whole cosmos.

Space is an expression of divinity. In Vedantic terms, para- brahman contains the whole universe and is that boundless expansion. In the Vishnu Parana, Vishnu is shown pervading the universe, being identified with its wholeness: which is an expression of pantheism. In the Cabalah, the manifestation or the visible world is called “the garment of God.”

The relation of the supreme to manifested totality is that of unity and multiplicity. The first fundamental proposition of The Secret Doctrine strikes the note of oneness, evoking “an omnipresent, eternal, boundless, and immutable PRINCI­

PLE,” equated with both absolute abstract space and the root of consciousness. While the second proposition asserts the ab­

solute universality of the law of periodicity or alternation, an aspect of time, the third is related to the two poles of being:

the one and the multitude: the universal oversoul embracing all individual souls, pictured as the many sparks of one

THE GEOMETRY OF THE PARANORMAL 161 mighty flame. All particular selves are contained in the whole­

ness of the universal self, and each one may discover his identity with the indwelling divine reality.

The binding link between unity and multiplicity is har­

mony, a state of order and organization, by which the many are held together in a wholeness of greater significance than the sum total of the composing parts. This is the natural law underlying the immense diversity of living forms, all sus­

tained by the One Life animating the whole creation.

This mighty stream of life descends from absolute being, filling the whole universe. The aim of this inconceivably pow­

erful outpouring is expressed in this passage of The Secret Doctrine:

The universe manifests periodically for purposes of the collective progress of the countless lives, the outbreath- ings of the one life. (1:310-11)

Considering the astronomical space with its innumerable stars and galaxies, we are struck with inexpressible admiration for divine order and harmony. For the Pythagoreans, the heavens formed a “musical scale and number”; and these an­

cient philosophers listened to “the harmony of the spheres”

which they conceived as based on the sevenfold scale.

While the visible universe with its myriads of brilliant suns is in itself a stupendous phenomenon, the idea that the celes­

tial vault shows only the outermost shell of hidden splendors in successive depths of subtler spaces, transcends human imagination.

R E F E R E N C E S

1. Quotations not otherwise specified are from The Secret Doctrine, by H. P. Blavatsky, 6 Vol. ed. (Adyar: Theo- sophical Publishing House.)

2. J. Barraud, La Cinquieme Dimension (Paris, 1952); La Philosophie de la Qualite (Paris, 1956).

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