Chapter 7 Reaching Higher Dimensions 1 Absolute Universe and Relative Universe

We are in this world,

But we do not belong to this world.

Preface

In April 2024, NASA once again received data from Voyager 1. This spacecraft, the farthest-traveling human-made object, has been in service for over 40 years and is now 24.1 billion kilometers away from Earth. However, it will take tens of thousands of years to leave the solar system. Do you remember this photograph? Taken in 1990 before the camera system was shut down, Voyager 1 captured a unique image of Earth. That tiny bright dot, less than 0.12 pixels, is our Earth (Figure 7.1).

Figure 7.1: Voyager 1's Launch (1977) and Earth Photo Sent Back (1990)

Famous physicist Carl Sagan remarked during a speech while looking at this photo:

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

It has often been said that astronomy is a humbling experience. Modern science believes that our universe was born from a singularity explosion 13.8 billion years ago, rapidly expanding to form stars, planets, black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs, and more. In the Milky Way alone, there are about 100 billion stars and over 40 billion planets. Throughout this process, the probability of Earth becoming a "habitable planet" in the universe is less than one in a trillion; the probability of life emerging is even less than one in a billion; and the probability of humans appearing during the evolution of life is less than one in ten. In this light, the emergence of Earth and humanity in the universe is indeed a miracle among miracles. Almost all scientists agree: Earth and life did not appear by chance. For each of us, we should perhaps treat everyone around us with more kindness and compassion, and simultaneously protect and cherish this pale blue dot — the only home we know.

As for the understanding or experience of "transcending dimensions", whether in theory or practical examination, my accumulation is still shallow. Below, we summarizes the research achievements of four  predecessors: Zeng Shiqiang, Makoto Shichida, Liu Feng, and Lee Si-cen (in no particular order). The following discussions are all from original lecture videos or books, serving as simplified extracts of relevant chapters. In order to be more convincing and better restore the authors' original understandings, only the language is sorted out, without adding personal opinions.

1. Absolute Universe and Relative Universe

Zeng Shi-qiang (1935-2018), whose ancestral home was in Fujian, moved to Taiwan in the 1950s. He served as a professor at National Taiwan Normal University and National Jiao Tung University, and was the chairman of the China Reunification Promotion Association. He is hailed as the "Father of Chinese Management". Zeng was a renowned master of Chinese culture, known for his numerous lectures and works, including "The Mysteries of the I Ching", "Chinese-Style Management", and "Who Am I". In honor of his enduring legacy, I will briefly summarize his perspectives on the "Absolute Universe and Relative Universe". Interested readers are encouraged to refer to his original works or lecture videos.

Before the era of Yao and Shun (around 5000-years ago), China greatly respected ethics and rituals. However, conflicts between humans and gods led to floods and plagues. Consequently, the deities changed the rules of the game, reclaiming the high-dimensional consciousness energy from humanity. They introduced religious faiths and anthropomorphic deities to guide humans, who were confined to three-dimensional space. Thus emerged God and Jesus, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Allah, along with sacred texts such as the Bible, Buddhist scriptures, and various classic works. Initially, it was believed that these efforts would significantly help humanity, and indeed they did. However, over the subsequent 2,000 years, human desires, greed, and attachment to the three-dimensional space increasingly deviated from the original state of enlightenment. Reverence for high-dimensional beings also became increasingly rare.

Today, as material civilization reaches new heights, more and more people are returning to the classics of traditional culture, which contain the wisdom that can lead us to higher dimensions.

All matter in the universe has anti-matter, just like everything has two sides of yin and yang. Laozi once said that there is a "constant Tao" that is perfect and indescribable, and a "variable Tao" that cannot be perfect. The "constant Tao" represents "absolute universe", while the "variable Tao" represents "relative universe". If we were to name the beings within these realms, they could be called "absolute life" (or "absolute soul") and "relative life" (or "relative soul"), as illustrated in Figure 7.2.

Figure 7.2: Absolute Universe, Relative Universe, Amphibious Universe, and the Five-fold Bodies of Human.

All beings originally resided in "absolute universe", where there is absolute brightness and equality among all beings. However, once beings began to have discriminating thoughts, they descended into "relative universe". Upon "falling into mortal world", humans are no longer perfect or equal from birth. Life in this world is about mending these flaws, self-correction, and achieving completeness.

Human hearts are fickle and they like to play tricks. Laozi aimed to dispel these superstitions. When he spoke of "Tao", he would promptly deconstruct it; when he spoke of "name", he would quickly deconstruct it; when he spoke of "being", he would deconstruct it; and when he spoke of "non-being", he would deconstruct that too. This is because a person who becomes attached to any concept can easily become extreme. Your body is merely a temporary vessel for your soul in this lifetime. However, even after the body dies, the "Tao" remains. Our goal in this lifetime is to repair ourselves and find our way "home". All religions emphasize self-cultivation, but many people get lost in various obsessions and detours, continuing to reincarnate for a lifetime or several lifetimes.

To help these lost "relative lives" return home, some wise and compassionate "amphibious lives" who temporarily do not wish to return to "absolute universe" have created an "amphibious universe" space at the edge of "absolute universe". Through various religions, prophets like Shakyamuni, Jehovah, and Muhammad established their own small worlds, where faith can allow humans to enter their "ideal kingdoms", such as "Heaven" or "Pure Land". 

However, even reaching "amphibious universe" only means arriving at the edge of "absolute universe" (like a medium). Ultimately, to "return home", one must rely on oneself. If one places unwavering belief in a particular religion (or god), and regards it as the only truth, it creates a discriminating mind, keeping one forever in the "amphibious universe". "Why do people suffer? Because Earth is not Heaven, and humans are not angels. Do not wait until after death to pursue Heaven; strive to create Heaven while alive, turning yourself into an angel and your surroundings into Heaven. That is the meaningful way to live."

In Christianity, the "absolute universe" is called God. In Chinese understanding, it's "Heaven" or "Lord of Heaven". For the Chinese, this "Heaven" is also known as "Tao", represents the natural laws governing the universe. In fact, the Chinese were the first nation to break away from superstition. Since Zhou Dynasty, they began to summarize the operation of things based on natural laws.

In fact, to return to "absolute universe", one must rely on oneself; each individual is their own deity. However, many people cannot achieve this and cannot find the way "home", so religions promote "amphibious souls" to convey the Dharma. However, this process has also given rise to many false teachings, often contrary to their intended purpose.

So we don't have to believe in religion, so we won't be trapped by religious law, and we can freely read Buddhist scriptures, the Bible, the Koran... These texts belong to the classics of all mankind, and we don't reject them, nor do we "dig into" them. Interestingly, Chinese folk belief is always diverse, with households honoring various deities such as like Laozi, the Kitchen God, the God of Wealth, and household guardian spirits. They worship all of them, seeking blessings as needed. Isn't it better to have more gods for protection? When passing by a church, the Chinese might also enter to pay respects, pray a few words as a gesture. This is the right approach!

The "relative souls" from "relative universe" constitute the multitude of beings in the world. However, people's bodies and minds are not truly free; beyond the physical body, there are multiple layers of confinement, referred to as "Multiple bodies". Everyone has a "Bardo body"（中阴身）, which is the layer of real-world experiences and karmic obstacles wrapped around the true self. In addition, there are "Desirous body"（欲心身), "Intellectual body"（智心身）, and "Rational body"（理心身）. In Kazuo Inamori's (1932-2022) book "A Compass to Fulfillment", these five-fold bodies correspond to: true self, soul, instinct, sensibility and rationality.

The "Desirous body" is the desire that sustain the needs of the human body. The "Intellectual body" governs five senses and emotional activities. The "Rational body" is responsible for enlightenment, enabling us to gain true understanding, acquire knowledge and principles.

Typically, the five-fold bodies cooperate like components of a moving car: the "Physical body" is the chassis, the "Bardo body" is the engine, the "Desirous body" is the driver, the "Intellectual body" is the steering wheel, and the "Rational body" is the owner. These five parts work in coordination, forming the small universe that is the human body. A small baby, having little desire and intellect, is instead closer to the original "true self".When a person has an additional thought, it creates an additional body.

Everything in this world exists because of people's consciousness. Just like the Bodhisattva, when most people believe that He exists, He exists; if no one believes that He exists, He naturally does not exist. You can choose to believe in a "one-life theory", where actions have no lasting consequences because life ends at death, and it doesn't matter where or how you die or whether you are buried. However, throughout history, most people have believed in a "multiple-lives theory" and hope to die in a meaningful way. Therefore, the "multiple-lives theory" is likely correct.

As previously mentioned, our "relative souls" are the fallen parts of the "absolute soul", and it is challenging to sense our "absolute soul" in the material world. However, consciousness is actually a magnetic field. When the waves it produces resonate at the same frequency as the waves of the universe, it can receive cosmic information. At this moment, the human magnetic field can connect with the cosmic magnetic field and receive responses. This is the state of "Unity of Man and Nature".

Life is like a script, where we play our roles, constantly reshaping our understanding and overcoming the flaws of our souls. This is the task set for since our arrival, and indeed, it is the destiny we have arranged for ourselves. Life resembles acting; when it is painful, we must embrace the pain fully (if we don't act well or engage, we risk being kicked out by the director and audience). The more convincingly and deeply we act, the higher our recognition as an actor when the play ends. When this life ends, the soul ascends. Therefore, there is no need to regret any step in life.

Understand that everything is just acting; don't get so absorbed that we forget we're just an actor (only by doing this can we clearly follow the soul's guidance). Life has no real hardships or villains. Difficulties are merely plot points designed to awaken our soul's memory and reach enlightenment in this life. Villains, with their brilliant performances, are merely sparring partners helping us level up. With an open mind, face all the best arrangements in front of us, accept everything in the present, free our soul, and find our life's mission.

If a person can cultivate his or her own consciousness this way in life, it is truly supreme wisdom. Don't rush this process; take it naturally. In reality, 99% of the difficulties are imagined and magnified by us, trapping us in a self-created web of suffering. The remaining 1% are divinely ordained lessons for our soul. Nothing in life happens by chance; it is all inevitable. Of course, the script can be changed, and destiny can be altered, but only by oneself through self-cultivation.

Life essentially boils down to three major tasks: what to do (the purpose of this life), how to do it (the method to fulfill the mission), and how to do it better. When you feel excited and find value in something you're doing, that is your life's task.

Zeng Shiqiang reflected on his own life, saying: "My life's mission is simply to clarify the principles of being a human, to encourage reflection, and to help everyone find their own path better. I don't need to do anything else."