We should have first made it clear what our definitions of the notion dimension are. My definition of dimensions are connected parallel realities within the Universe that vibrate at different speeds, are subject to a distinctive set of natural laws and peculiarities, and form a tangibly distinct environment from any other for a particular, distinct purpose. I say connected because those dimensions influence each other and one can switch between them.
Here is my answer from the point of view of my definition.
Meedan wrote:People's descriptions of the 'astral dimension' seem to be simply a distorted version of the 'physical dimension'. This makes me wonder if that is all they are seeing. Surely it takes a lot of concentration to maintain the 'correct' non-distorted image, therefore many times there will be major distortions.
Read more about it and try to achieve it yourself. In the beginning of the book, Michel is introduced to astral travel in the real-time zone. I have read that most people, when they go out of body, end up in this zone. I have been there. It is called real-time because time passes as it passes here in the real world. It is completely like the physical world but it is also heavily influenced by thoughts and fantasies, which appear solid although they are not so. For example, if you are distracted, images from your subconscious will be conjured up and often you will not even know if it's your subconscious that conjures up those images or if the images are real, objective. Suppose that you project and lose orientation, and start wondering if the wall in front of you has a door. The subconscious may instantaneously create a door for you, and you can actually pass through this door. If you enter, subjectivity starts snowballing and generating unrealistic scenarios at an exponential rate, and it's very difficult to restore your objective perception. So that is the reason why many inexperienced projectors see a distorted version of the physical dimension. I have seen distortions, too (e.g., an open door when it is actually closed), but I have also experienced a stable projection in the real-time zone that cannot be distinguished from physical reality.
The real-time zone is not the astral dimension. The astral dimension is not related geographically to the physical dimension and has completely different laws and environment from the real-time zone. Thought builds things easier, different stable structures exist, ways of navigation are different (through the astral tunnels and planes -- I have previously posted information on the latter elsewhere on the forum), and an objective perception of the environment can be kept for longer periods than if you were spending your projection time in the real-time zone. People find more confusion in the real-time zone and at the same time it very much appears to them like the physical world. Can we call the real-time zone another dimension? I think there are not enough differences in the governing laws of nature there to differentiate it from the physical dimension. Yes, you are lighter than air and can defy gravity (believe me the feeling is great), but almost everything else is just like normal. Can we call the astral dimension a separate dimension? Definitely yes, because it has a distinct set of governing laws.
I have not projected yet, so I obviously can only consider testimony that i have heard. It's just that I haven't heard anything in astral projection accounts that suggests to me higher dimensions.
Then just read more. Higher dimensions usually appear to be more abstract and symbolic. They are distinctly different from the astral and the real-time zone. There are higher level projections described in Robert Bruce's book "Astral Dynamics." He calls some of those the Rainbow level, the Summerland, etc.
I have heard many accounts of higher-dimensions that seem completely nonsensical to me. With either no purpose or a purpose I could never imagine the great intellect giving.
It is likely that they would appear nonsensical just because they are higher dimensions! That one can never imagine something that the Great Intellect can do is one's problem and one's problem alone. We are not on the level of the Great Intellect, so chances are we do not comprehend quite a lot of things at this very moment! We are studying, aren’t we? We are not the teachers on this yet.
I will never 'believe in' something that doesn't make sense to me.
I wonder why you have written this statement when you know very well that you must not believe -- you need to know and true knowledge is attained only through personal verification. It's your choice, but first of all you have to go there, if possible of course, and find out yourself. And you can't say that they don't exist until you have trained hard and done your best to access them. There are also other people to learn and apply advice from.
I don't see how it must be a seperate dimension from this. Don't forget that the great intellect encodes information electro-photonically (using light). The psychosphere absorbs information through light, so the psychosphere itself is probably also made up of electrons. I see no need for a seperate 'dimension' here.
It is we who have thought up the term dimension. Nowhere in nature it is written on billboards -- this is the astral dimension, this is the psychosphere, etc. It is convenient for us to term the psychosphere a separate dimension, no matter if it's made up of electrons or not.
Of course, you are free to avoid the term dimension and call it just the psychosphere. But regardless, it provides completely different experience than what you can have in the physical world. I term it a dimension because substantially different rules or laws are acting there: time, reaction to thoughts, etc. Also, read this on page 98, when Michel is in the psychosphere: "we were spectators in another dimension." Page 97: "the words
saw,
heard and
felt were not appropriate, merely useful, as sensations occur 'spontaneously' in a very different way from that which we normally experience - and even from that which we experience when we travel in Astral body."