Throughout all the other-worldly experiences people have reported throughout history, it has become evident that there’s a whole lot more to reality than what meets the eye. That’s why I’m going to share my understanding of the spiritual realm – something that’s recognized by most, yet vaguely understood.
Beyond this reality exist other spiritual dimensions. A spiritual dimension is a higher realm of consciousness that extends beyond the limits of our comprehension. These realms are all different from one another with various rules and architecture, but they’re generally characterized as energetic realms with no space, time, form, or matter.
As you can see, it’s already a hard concept to wrap your mind around… but it gets tripper. As we dive deeper into the spiritual realms, the rules of reality break down.
Seems strange to us, but our souls are innately familiar with these realms because that’s where we come from – our consciousness. Sure, we can’t necessarily remember these realms while wrapped in monkey suits, but these realms are our true home, reality is the dream (a very long and vivid dream, but a dream).
Having spent many years exploring spiritual modalities around the world, I’m going to share my understanding of these mind-boggling, but intriguing dimensions of reality. This by no means is a straightforward topic, but I’ll do my best to make it as easy to understand as possible.
Spiritual Realm Meaning
The spiritual realm (also known as the spirit realm, divine realm, or ultimate reality) is a higher realm of consciousness portrayed in every religion and spiritual body. You can understand the spiritual realm as the dimension of the soul, or consciousness, that we’re always tethered to on some level of our beings.
Imagine reality as a single face of a cube. The spiritual realm is the entire cube, where each face is a different dimension. This cube is ever-present, however, our perspective of a human only views a single face, making it 2-dimensional (our universe).
Via spiritual practice (and by walking different spiritual pathways), we can rotate that cube to experience alternate facets of consciousness. Some of these spiritual dimensions are heavenly, and some are hellish, but all are alien to humanity.
Although various dimensions exist in the spiritual realm, the spiritual realm refers to all of these dimensions (or everything that exists beyond our universe). For example, the astral planes and source are different dimensions (or layers of consciousness), but they’re all part of the spiritual realm.
The spiritual realm is the realm of the soul: An ethereal place that everything we know is a manifestation of. Even though souls reincarnate into our dimension (reality) to undergo experience, they all return to this realm at the time of death.
After all, it’s logic.
If there is an effect, there must be a cause. If our universe is a fruiting body, then the spiritual realm is the tree it grows from. Instead of seeing our universe as a random coincidence that popped out of nothing, it’s more accurate to see it as an object on a picture frame.
Just to make it clear, the spiritual realm is the true reality, the core that all other dimensions manifest. Sure, reality is real in the sense that you or I understand, but this experience is just a tiny slither of a much more expansive existence.
Does This Mean There’s a God?
I believe in a creator, as do most religions and spiritual belief systems, however, it’s not a bearded man sitting in the clouds who’s judging you for a shady decision you made as a hairless ape.
Everything that exists is a manifestation of the same infinite consciousness experiencing oneself in infinite ways. This source of consciousness can be understood as god, and it’s the deepest layer of truth that we can experience.
In truth, god is the only thing that exists, for all dimensions, souls, and creation come from it. God doesn’t know how it started or where it came from. But it has an unlimited imagination, so it creates. It creates dimensions, universes, platforms, and experiences simply because it can.
If you were an infinitely creative being who just exists, you would probably create all sorts of things, too, good and bad, just as a way to experience all that can be experienced. Sure, some experiences suck, but… they’re still experiences.
God creates every possibility imaginable so that it can learn. It is a creative, universal intelligence that orchestrates existence because it creates existence.
A lot is going on within the spiritual realm. In the scheme of things, your experience of consciousness is a drop of water in the cosmic ocean, but it still contributes to the collective.
The Spiritual Realm Hierarchy
Imagine that spirituality is like an onion. It has layers, which act as the different realms of consciousness. Each layer gives another degree of separation. The more central the dimension, the more of a single consciousness the plane becomes – meaning duality converges the closer the expression of consciousness gets to the source (or god).
Reality is considered to be the third dimension: The physical dimension, or realm of life. In the scheme of things, this universe is in the peripheries of this interdimensional onion. It’s dense, it’s awkward, it makes you want to leave a bad review on Tripadvisor.
But it’s also beautiful. It’s diverse. Consciousness can go through one hell of a ride here, because we’re relatively disconnected from source (meaning there is more diversity of experience).
We are thought to vicariously exist in the spiritual realm on an energetic level. You’re a multidimensional being who vicariously exists in many dimensions. At the core of it all, you are god. Remember, that’s the deepest, most fundamental level of your consciousness – us!
As these realms of existence are all energetic, there are no boundaries between them. You’re vicariously existing in other dimensions right this moment, which is why you’re able to tap into other dimensions through spiritual practices.
This is why we never really die. We lose our bodies, travel through dimensions as souls, and reincarnate to have different experiences. But it doesn’t matter what sort of journey your soul goes on, because sooner or later, it will come to recognition, or enlightenment, that it is not separate from the most fundamental layer of existence.
It’s just going on vacation.
With that said, don’t look at the spiritual realm as a place to go. Instead, imagine your consciousness as a cord that runs through this interdimensional onion to the core. By sinking deeper into your consciousness, that is how you traverse dimensions.
Experiences such as astral projection via deep states of meditation, plant medicines, or even breathwork can bring us out of our bodies to experience a reality more profound than this one.
You may experience a spontaneous spiritual experience, such as a rebirth or kundalini awakening that sends you further down the cord of your consciousness into deeper dimensions of reality. These experiences make us realize that those realms are always here, waiting to be accessed. You can’t look outward for them, though, because they are only accessed inward.
But as humans, we have no way of perceiving these deeper dimensions of consciousness. The way I see it is that we’re at a point of our evolution where we can just start to grasp the idea, but not understand it. We can’t even understand our universe, let alone other dimensions.
We experience things in the flesh, in a realm with space, time, matter, and physics. But other dimensions are energetic, so the nature of experience is completely foreign in every way imaginable.
Spiritual Practice: The Road to the Spiritual Realms
At its core, spirituality is about connecting with a deeper part of our consciousness, whether it takes form as a higher power, the universe, or the interconnectedness of all things.
Science isn’t making much progress in this arena, so we turn to ancient wisdom. This is where spirituality comes in: the practice of reaching these higher dimensions of consciousness and accessing information to learn how to navigate our lives a little better.
Every culture in the world recognizes some form of spirituality and some form of spiritual realm. An understanding of a spiritual realm has been present since the beginning of humanity. Nothing in this world has had such an important role in humanity than the belief that there’s more to life than life.
With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Aliens are spiritual beings, especially if they’re highly advanced. On that same train, I think any animal that reaches a point of evolution will eventually turn to spirituality. Heck, I’m sure conscious AI would be spiritual too if we reach that point.
What I’m trying to get at is that spirituality is a universal experience because we ARE spirituality. All life is an expression of the same consciousness, so at some point along its development, it must self-realize.
There are common themes in each faith that overlap, suggesting that there is some common knowledge and that these cultures are tapping into something real. Every culture has some sort of faith. They have their practices and rituals to connect with a deeper level of reality that goes unseen by the naked eye.
What Does the Science Say About Spirituality?
Science is generally perceived to be anti-spirituality, but this isn’t the case at all. The more science advances, the more it’s dipping its toes into the spiritual paradigm. These two opposite constructs are beginning to merge, but we’ve got a long way to go until science and spirituality are on the same page.
Let’s just scratch the surface here…
When we get into quantum physics, the laws of physics appear to break down. Science doesn’t even know what science is at this stage, which is why quantum physics is so hard to measure or understand. Leading theories of science are already dabbling with concepts of different dimensions, energy, and spirit.
We’re coming to a full circle.
Once upon a time science was all about disproving spirituality via logic and rationality. Now it’s understanding spirituality with logic and rationality.
Science is only just starting to discover what spirituality already knows. And I’m sure that as science progresses, we’re just going to see more discoveries that are in line with spiritual bodies of knowledge that have existed for millennia.
Higher and Lower Planes of Existence
As different dimensions exist, so do different densities.
What I mean by this is that realms can lean more towards hellish realms or heavenly realms. Then, of course, there also exists everything in between.
Our universe is somewhere in the middle. Relatively dense, but it can be equally heavenly.
The denser a realm is, the more suffering exists. Energies of fear, hatred, malevolence, and generally anything with a negative connotation are dense, meaning they’re related to suffering.
Energies such as love, gratitude, and compassion are light, meaning they’re associated with things like happiness, benevolence, and the higher self. Your vibration is your energetic outlet (or state of consciousness). It ultimately determines what sort of experience you’re going to have here.
Relationship Between the Spiritual Realm and Material Realm
What we’re experiencing right now might seem independent. This universe is just here, and everything within it sustains itself and finds equilibrium in some way. Our reality is just the result of organic processes.
This isn’t true in the slightest. Our universe is thoroughly rooted in the spiritual dimension, where there is a direct cause and effect.
The things you do in this dimension affect other dimensions and your soul’s journey within them, and so forth. This is the main reason why the spiritual realm can’t be likened to a simulation because a simulation wouldn’t affect the reality that creates it, while this does.
It’s important to be aware that these dimensions overlap. They’re not next to our dimension, they’re within it. So your actions, behaviors, vibration, and so forth do have an impact, which is why you should live your life in line with higher values, and live consciously.
How Does Karma Fit In?
All things eventually perish; that’s just part of existing in the physical. When an organism dies, it could either be returned to the soul state or recycled as raw energy in the source, as nutrients for the tree of consciousness.
Perhaps this consciousness manifests in another form, somewhere else within the structure. The soul or fragment of consciousness is then sent somewhere else to live out its experience. After its vehicle perishes, the soul returns to the source to repeat the process.
This links to the idea of reincarnation, a common theme in religions and spiritual beliefs. Karmic energies determine where the soul or energy goes and what it needs to experience for the growth of that soul. This cycle is called samsara, and the cycle of reincarnation can be broken when the soul attains enough wisdom (moksha).
The Purpose of the Soul Journey
An atheist believes that consciousness is dependent on the brain. Your consciousness may project out of your brain, but these projections are simply illusions of the mind. If consciousness is a byproduct of the brain, then that rules out the possibility of a soul.
Spiritualists believe that consciousness is not dependent on the brain. Consciousness projects into the mind but is not fixed within it. This is the reasoning behind the soul. Your soul is always tethered to the spiritual realm. Your higher self, or soul, is just putting a little piece of itself into your body.
Imagine that your body is a vehicle and your consciousness is the driver. The driver is not indistinguishable from the vehicle, but the vehicle needs an operator. You are not your body, you are not your mind. You are something far more evolved, complex, and beautiful than you can imagine as a human.
The soul is your immense consciousness that you only experience a slither of in your human body. Your soul is also just a drop of a much more grand energetic complex, which can be understood as god. Your soul is merely a fragment of god, and your human consciousness is just a fragment of your soul.
Souls Are the Building Blocks of God
I imagine our souls are like cells forming a body. Individually, we’re so insignificant, but together, we’re all part of a much bigger system.
Using the cell analogy, you don’t try to control what happens to each cell in your body. You leave that for them to work out. We are all part of that natural process, so I doubt that god could or would have a hand in what happens within our dimension.
God simply created the right ingredients for our universe to happen, for life to occur organically, and the rest is left to its own.
We cannot blame god for our own mistakes, because god is not responsible for anything that happens here. Part of what makes life so perfect, is that it’s imperfect. We can mess up, make mistakes, suffer, and experience the consequences of our actions.
As soon as free-will is removed, then so is the learning process. If we are here to learn, then all life must be left to their own devices without external aid. It might seem unfair or even cruel at times, but it’s also perfect because of how much we can experience here.