The Four Worlds: Physical, Psychological, Transpersonal, Mystical.

In this excerpt from The ABBA Tradition, we look at the Four Worlds.

The first and most obvious of the four Worlds in which we live is the physical World. This is the world which we experience around us with our physical senses. It is the world of the physicist and the physician, words which are rooted in the Greek word phusis which means ‘nature.’ It is the natural world, the world of nature. We get information about this world from our five senses or from extensions of our senses such as the telescopes, microscopes and other sensors we use to probe into outer and inner space. To the physicist this is the world of matter and energy and their interaction. To the physician it is the world of the body, its anatomy, physiology, function and dysfunction. But the physical world is only one of the four Worlds in which we live.

The second World in which we live is the personal inner world of the individual, the psychological World. Psyche is the Greek word for soul and, therefore, this World is also appropriately called the Soul World. It has a reality and a structure very different from the physical World but that structure can be easily experienced, described and studied. We experience this inner world continuously, although we are not always consciously aware of it. This is the inner world of our thoughts, images and feelings. To experience it directly we need only to close our eyes and see, with our mind’s eye, the images that we have in this inner world. These images are the stuff, the ‘matter’, of the psychological World which is a World of images, imagery and forms. Psychology is one scientific approach to this World. We also learn about this World through the study of literature, history, movies and television but most of all by our individual experiences. We are as much in contact with the psychological as with the physical World and in many ways this World is more important to us than the physical because, although we share the outside physical World, each of us lives in his or her own unique psychological reality.

The third World in which we live is the transpersonal World. In this World we are in a non-physical but shared reality. Although we share this reality with others, it has no physical existence. Like the physical and unlike the uniquely individual psychological World, this reality exists ‘outside.’ Here in the third World are the shared ideas, or archetypes, that lie behind and give meaning to the forms and images of the psychological World. This World is the place of the meanings of our images. As images are to sensations, so meaning is to image. Here we become aware again of truths we may have forgotten as we learned to live in the physical and psychological Worlds. In this World we discover we are not alone. We are part of a larger whole, members of a shared humanity, a society, a culture, a commonality. This commonality is in fact a common unity, a community, a wholeness and therefore a holiness. So this shared transpersonal reality is a spiritual reality and it is appropriately called the World of the Spirit, of Spirituality. This is the World of the Seven Heavens, the World in which we can find the Kingdom of Heaven. It is also the World of creativity, the place in which creation occurs, the World of Creation. Here ideas come into being which are the source of the forms we experience in the psyche and can be transformed into physical objects in the World of physicality.

The highest of the four Worlds is the transcendent World of the mystic. This is the World of awareness of divinity, of being in the presence of God, of experiencing the Holy One. This World, mystics tell us, lies above, beyond, beneath and behind the World of Spirituality. It transcends all three of the lower Worlds. It also lies beyond the ability of mere language to describe. This ineffability makes talking about this World difficult and leads to the language of mysticism, paradox and mystery. Although language can only point to this reality, we each have the ability to experience this World inherent in our being human, our human being. The combination of ineffability and yet accessibility of this World is sometimes called the open secret. Experience of this World is the source, for each individual, of his or her purpose in life. For it is in this World that one hears the Word of the Living God, that one discovers the purpose of one’s life. As meaning is to image, so purpose is to meaning. Tradition says that this World is the source of all the other Worlds. Tradition also says that the Bible is both an expression of this World, the very Word of God, and a guide to our reconnection with the Holy One.

As human beings, we live in these four Worlds no matter what our system of faith. There is a Hindu axiom that says that every human lives in a house with four rooms — physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Most people live in just one or two rooms for most of their lives but, unless they go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, they cannot become a complete person.

Take a minute now to experience the difference and the reality of the lower two Worlds, which are the ones where humanity spends most of its time. Look around you at the physical World. Experience it with each of your senses. See with your eyes and sense with your other senses the earthly World around you, your external World in which you live. What you see and sense is the physical World. Now close your eyes and see an image of the World around you. This image is experienced in your psyche, in your soul World. You alone, and only you, can experience your soul World. It is your personal image of reality. You have just experienced moving from one reality to another, from the first to the second World and back again. In the rest of this book we explore all four Worlds and look at ways we can move from World to World, rediscovering and re-experiencing who we are.