Could it be that our known
physical reality is very close to some other very different reality,
one that we cannot see, but that occasionally interacts with our
reality? Could it be that such a different reality is inhabited by
minds or spirits far greater than ours? Such a concept may seem unreasonable,
until we consider that such a situation would be quite similar to the
situation that we know exists for aquatic organisms living in a bay.
Let us consider the
situation of an aquatic organism living in a bay. Such an organism
has a familiar local reality that it might traverse – the bay that
it lives in. Beyond that bay lies a much greater reality that such an
organism might journey to, if it were really adventurous. For by
traveling out into the ocean, such an organism could gain access to
many other distant realities such as distant rivers and distant bays.
We might say that the organism's bay is rather like a planet, that
the ocean the bay connects to is rather like outer space, and that
the distant bays and distant bodies of water that can be accessed are
rather like extraterrestrial planets.
A bay
But the description above
does not mention one very important fact about this organism living
in a bay: the fact that lying very close to it is some totally
different type of reality that the organism is totally unfamiliar
with. I refer to the reality of the solid land that surrounds the
bay. On that land is a reality unlike any that the organism has ever
experienced: a reality where there dwells beings more advanced than
anything in the bay.
Let us imagine some pretty
intelligent organism living at the bottom of a bay – perhaps an
octopus. We might also imagine such an organism forming a little
society of octopuses that might have pretensions about understanding
reality. Such an organism might think something like this:
We have reality figured
out. All reality consists of water and creatures like us who live in
the water. There exist distant, mysterious places we can visit. But
such places are all like our reality – places where creatures live
in the water.
The great irony here would
be that very close to such an octopus would be a totally
different reality, the reality of land-based life. But the octopus
would know nothing about such a reality, even though it is very close
to him.
We may be very much like
such octopuses. The reason is that lying very close to our physical
reality may be a totally different reality we cannot imagine: some
spiritual realm. Such a realm may be inhabited by minds or spirits
vastly more advanced than ours. We cannot imagine such a realm any
more than an octopus can imagine life on the land. But we may end up
in such a realm after we die.
Below is a table that
describes the similarities between these two scenarios. The second
column represents a known reality. The third column represents a
theoretical reality that has many similarities to the reality
described in the second column.
Realm A | Aquatic habitat of a bay | Our physical planet |
Realm B | Dry land surrounding the bay | A spiritual realm overlying ours |
Realm A drastically different from Realm B? | Yes | Yes |
Inhabitants of Realm B can see Realm A? | To a limited extent (scuba divers, submerged cameras, etc.) | Possibly |
Inhabitants of Realm B are superior to inhabitants of Realm A? | Yes (for example, humans are superior to fish) | Presumably (there may exist there God, angels, “elevated spirits,” etc.) |
Inhabitants of Realm B may sometimes visit Realm A? | Yes (scuba divers and human swimmers) | Possibly – for example, ghosts or spirits appearing as apparitions |
Inhabitants of Realm A may go to Realm B? | Sometimes (fish caught by fishermen, organisms caught and put in aquariums) | Perhaps (your soul may go to Realm B after death, as suggested by near-death experiences) |
Inhabitants of Realm B may may make physical manifestations in Realm A? | Sometimes (a person on land or a boat may throw or drop something in a bay) | Perhaps (for example, apports, table-tipping, mysterious rappings, reported signs from the dead, etc.) |
If someone complains that
the theoretical reality described in the third column is not
scientific, he will be making an objection no more valid than this
type of objection that could be made by a particularly intelligent
octopus living at the bottom of a bay, 100 meters from a shopping
mall:
Some have speculated
about some possible “other reality” lying outside of our known
watery reality. Such talk is, of course, superstitious nonsense. All
that exists is water and creatures like us who live in water.
Such a conclusion would be
as unwarranted as the type of statement below made by many a
materialist:
Some have speculated
about some possible “other reality” lying outside our known
material reality. Such talk is, of course, superstitious nonsense.
All that exists is matter and creatures like us who live on a planet
made of matter.
Some day you may get a
sign or calling card from such a spiritual Realm B. It might be a mysterious
orb that shows up in your photo, an inexplicable voice or sound, a strange feeling of an unseen presence, or a
series of coins that keep showing up inexplicably. Your first
thought may be to exclude such a sign as something impossible, but
perhaps you should be no more surprised by such a thing than some
octopus at the bottom of a bay should be surprised to see a thrown
pebble or a fishing line falling down into his watery realm.
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