LIFE Nugget 02:
Written on: February 13, 2025
When we believe we “know” something, we invariably give it form—typically through words and their associated imagery stored in our memory. The more tightly we cling to this form as “our knowledge,” the lower its dimensional quality becomes. Consider a one-dimensional line, a linear thought, or a binary on/off state: these represent the most restricted forms of understanding. The lower the dimension, the less capacity we have to accept parameters and perspectives that remain unknown to us.
Fascinatingly, this process reverses when we loosen our grip on what we consider “our knowledge.” The lowest dimensional state exhibits maximum attachment, maximum ego, and minimum receptivity to alternative viewpoints. This state perpetually seeks validation and agreement from others to sustain itself and to experience the satisfaction of feeling knowledgeable within its linear framework.
As we ascend to higher dimensional thinking, our acceptance of the unknown expands proportionally. Visualize the transition from a one-dimensional line to a three-dimensional cube. When holding a cube, regardless of angle, only three faces remain visible while three remain hidden. To view the concealed faces, previously visible ones must disappear from sight. Similarly, there always exists one corner of the cube entirely hidden from sensory perception.
Our ascent into higher dimensions of understanding means that an increasingly larger portion becomes “unknown” to our physical senses while simultaneously becoming “known” to our non-sensory perception (intuition and awareness). This evolution represents a movement from form-based understanding toward formless comprehension. The journey culminates in spiritual liberation, where Truth reveals itself as comprising infinite dimensions—which paradoxically equates to having no dimensions at all.
This transformation mirrors the geometric progression from triangle to square to pentagon and onwards through increasingly many-sided polygons until, finally, the shape approximates a circle—spirituality’s enduring symbol of that which has neither beginning nor end.
Once something assumes form, it necessarily separates from the “dimensionless” surrounding context. Crucially, this dimensionless context is precisely what enables the form to become visible as distinct. Thus, no meaning can exist independent of its surrounding context. Most of us miss this encompassing context in our perception (understandably so, as it lacks tangible form for our senses to detect). Consequently, the lower the dimension of a form, the less stability it possesses as contexts shift and evolve.
The ego resists acknowledging this reality because it depends entirely upon sensory perception and corresponding memories. This explains why all forms—and therefore all satisfaction derived from them—are described as temporary in life. As we progress toward higher dimensions, non-sensory perception expands, ego control diminishes, and we experience increasingly stable peace.
To understand the gradation of these dimensions (which map our inner spiritual evolutionary path), the Samkhya, Yoga, and Yantra texts enumerate them as follows:
- Line
- Surface, plane
- Solid, Depth or perspective
- Space
- Time
- Mind
- Astral Memory
- Intellect
- Spiritual Liberation
In essence, there exists a threshold point where the scientific mind must transition to an occult mind—with no alternative path—to comprehend life in its entirety. Whenever we study or acquire “knowledge,” our attachment should shift to the dimensionless divine as the surrounding context that makes this knowledge apparent. This approach helps control the ego’s influence in lower-dimensional knowledge.
To experience completeness, faith and science must be “seen” (with the inner eye) as inseparably intertwined. Neither can exist without the other—just as Purusha and Prakriti cannot be separated. Prakriti represents the “form” that emerges from Purusha, the infinite dimensionless essence from which all forms arise.
Author: L.N. Venkataraman
To reach out, email to: venkat@adaptive-instruction.in
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