If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound?
In my paper on multiple dimensions (Ideas on Consciousness) I point out that one attribute of a dimension is that it is necessary for a physical object to exist. For instance, an object needs to exist in each of the three spatial dimensions to exist in a three dimensional universe, but is it also needs to exist for an amount of time which is a further illustration that time is the fourth dimension. I also show how consciousness is the fifth dimension. Which raises the question: if something doesn’t exist in a person’s consciousness then does it really exist? This of course dovetails neatly into many of the ideas that were brought up as a result of quantum physics, and why an observer is necessary to collapse the wave in the thought experiment of Schrödinger’s cat.
If consciousness is the fifth dimension (and read the article sited above for an explanation) then there’s another issue here. Anyone who has done any meditation will be aware that there is not one kind of consciousness. We have thoughts, but we can be aware of these thoughts. And it’s possible to be aware of the awareness. And so on. Indeed, if we consider the basic argument that we can only be aware of patterns in a dimension when we perceive it from the next dimension, then it would seem to be the case that these are further dimensions
In mysticism we talk about expanding of consciousness, and we can see that this expansion is extending the awareness into further dimensions. For many people who have no degree of self awareness a brief glimpse into an awareness is possibly the best they could achieve in a lifetime. However, it is possible to expand into further dimensions.
One issue that this raises is that if we were to say that the physical reality only exists because there is consciousness (that is 5th dimensional consciousness) to perceive it, then what is the significance of further dimensions? Could it be said that if the enlightened beings who have this further consciousness were to cease to exist then the universe as we know it would not exist?
Sufi’s say that the universe exists because of the Prophet Muhammad, and there are Hadiths that the universe was brought into being because of him. In fact, they say that every soul has the potential to raise to a dimensional consciousness such that each could create its own universe, although that degree of consciousness probably could not be attained in a human existence.