planes of existence

Planes of Existence — Clue Archive

1. What are Seth's specific claims about this concept? How many times was it mentioned, in which books, and did the wording change over time?

• Seth referred to "planes or fields, or dimensions of activity," noting that they often pass through each other without colliding [early-sessions-3 §101]; he also pointed out that a "plane" is not necessarily a spatial location but rather "a field of mental vitality" [early-sessions-3 §101].
• Seth explicitly stated that "a plane is not necessarily a planet"—a plane might be a planet, but might also exist where no planet is; a planet may have several planes; planes may involve different "apparent time" [early-sessions-1 §16, dreams-projections §2].
• Seth emphasized "I want to get away from the idea of a plane being a place," and gave several specific definitions: a plane might be a time, might be merely "one iota of vitality," might form and then disappear; planes are "patterns for fulfillment," "a climate conducive to the development of unique and particular capacities," and "an isolation of elements" [early-sessions-1 §16, dreams-projections §2].
• Seth compared planes to emotional states, saying "the analogy of a plane with an emotional state is much more valid than the analogy between a plane and a geographical state," because emotional states occupy no space [early-sessions-1 §16, dreams-projections §2].
• Regarding changes in wording over time: in the early material, Seth used terms such as "plane," "dimension," and "field," stating that "a plane was not necessarily a location in space, but a field of mental vitality" [early-sessions-3 §101]; in later material (1980), however, the editor's notes indicate that Seth and his participants were dissatisfied with the word "plane" and attempted to replace it with "the value climate of psychological reality" [dreams-evolution-1 §903].
• Seth also mentioned that "planes can and do intermix without the knowledge of the particular inhabitants of either plane" [early-sessions-1 §16, dreams-projections §2]; and that planes can "cease to be" or "spring up where there was none" [early-sessions-1 §16, dreams-projections §2].
• Seth also used the "plane" concept in explaining the UFO phenomenon, noting that UFOs cannot remain on a given plane for long because "To conform to the laws of a particular plane is a practical necessity" [early-sessions-1 §16, dreams-projections §2].
• The editor quoted Seth's early statement (Session 29): "There are endless planes upon your earth, or rather endless planes occurring simultaneously with your earth," adding that "your solid earth is not a solid to inhabitants that would seem to take up the same space as your earth" [dreams-evolution-1 §903].

2. What mechanism does he propose?

• A plane is not necessarily a planet; a plane might be a single planet, but might also exist where no planet is. A planet may have multiple planes, and planes involve various aspects of surface time. Planes can intermingle without the inhabitants being aware of it [dreams-projections §2].
• Planes are formed for entities, as patterns for the fulfillment of various routes; they are climates conducive to the development of unique and particular capacities and achievements, and isolations of elements. The order in which entities visit planes is not fixed, and entities may also visit all planes simultaneously [dreams-projections §2].
• The analogy of a plane with an emotional state is more valid than the analogy with a geographical state, because emotional states occupy no space [dreams-projections §2].
• The physical universe, the negative-mass universe, and the dream universe share analogous relationships; they are like the skin and layers of the same fruit—the layers both constitute the fruit and are separate from one another [early-sessions-3 §108].
• Anything constructed within any field acquires reality, and reality implies consciousness; interiority forms not only physical matter but also new dimensions of interiority itself, as well as new dynamisms from which consciousness may originate [early-sessions-3 §108].
• Physical humans, through abstract thought and art, construct other fields or attract planes, which expand according to their capacities [early-sessions-3 §108].
• Everything on your plane is a materialization of something that independently exists outside your plane [unknown-reality-1 §680].
• The senses vary according to the materialized plane; entities can alter their own form, or choose to become part of something else; their form is not materialized in the same way as physical form, and can be dematerialized at will [unknown-reality-1 §680].
• There are not only real-number planes; there are endless planes occurring simultaneously with your earth; your solid earth is not solid to inhabitants of other planes occupying the same "space." Seth proposed the term "value climate of psychological reality" as an alternative to the word "plane" [dreams-evolution-1 §903].
• When an object (such as a UFO) enters the earth's plane from another plane, its atomic and molecular structure becomes caught in a dilemma of form—squeezed between the patterns of its own field and those of the earth's plane—struggling between complete transformation into the earth's specific camouflage patterns and retention of its original patterns; what observers see is a "hybrid form" somewhere in between, which explains the contradictory reports regarding its shape, size, and color [dreams-projections §2].

3. Are there observable corollaries or explicit predictions (including time, quantity, conditions)?

The material does not address this.

4. Where did he say the science of his time was wrong, and in what direction should it look?

According to the Seth material, the main errors of the science of his time were: it treated the physical universe as a directly perceivable entity composed of known elements, yet those elements were only "camouflage patterns" [dreams-projections §2]; the expanding universe theory was in error [unknown-reality-1 §702]; space itself is a distortion, and true movement is not physical displacement but occurs through leaving the physical body (camouflage) behind [unknown-reality-1 §702]; scientific instruments have inherent distorting effects—they translate data they cannot understand into familiar forms, thereby "diluting" and distorting the original information [unknown-reality-1 §702, dreams-projections §2]; scientists are "prisoners of their tools," which can only capture camouflage [unknown-reality-1 §702, dreams-projections §2]; probing particles with physical instruments yields only ever-smaller particles, which are still camouflage, not essence [dreams-projections §2].

Science should turn toward: the use of "inner senses" rather than outer senses and physical instruments [dreams-projections §2]; exploring those places that "appear empty," because places lacking camouflage can provide evidence about essence [dreams-projections §2]; using the "mind" rather than the "brain," because the mind is the meeting point of inner and outer senses and processes the basic principles of all planes [dreams-projections §2]; not inventing new instruments, but using the already-existing "invisible" instrument—namely, the inner senses [dreams-projections §2]; the true mode of space travel is "psychic mobility," not physical flight [unknown-reality-1 §702]; if humanity devoted itself to certain psychic disciplines as thoroughly as it has to technology, its actual transportation systems would be completely different and far more efficient [dreams-projections §2].

5. What experiments or exercises did he suggest? What did Jane and Rob actually do and observe at the time?

Experiments or exercises suggested by Seth

Seth encouraged Jane and Rob to try various experiments on their own, calling them "homework," and said they could train their abilities to some degree in this way [early-sessions-1 §12]. After introducing the inner senses, Seth instructed Rob to attempt the practice of the "first inner sense" [dreams-projections §2]. Regarding Rob's practice, Seth affirmed at the next session that he had "done very well" and suggested he practice it frequently [dreams-projections §2]. Seth also mentioned that Jane was conducting "psychological time experiments," under their "excellent supervision," to explore trance states [early-sessions-3 §118]. Seth mentioned that the dream universe has multiple "doorways": chemical, electronic, and psychological—all three must be opened simultaneously, yet any one door automatically opens the other two [early-sessions-3 §118].

Experiments and observations actually conducted by Jane and Rob

Rob's visual experiment: Based on Seth's material on the first inner sense, Rob attempted a deliberate experiment: he first looked at objects in the living room—a vase, wall paintings, plants—and tried to mentally encompass each object with the mind's eye, clearly visualizing its far side [dreams-projections §2]. He then stood at the window looking at the Walnut Street bridge, visualized himself walking across the bridge, feeling the wooden planks underfoot, passing the signal light at the bridge's end, continuing along the street, and attempting to "inwardly touch" the houses and trees he passed [dreams-projections §2].

Rob's spontaneous vision: On a snowy Saturday afternoon, while working in his studio, Rob was unexpectedly presented with a vivid, clear vision revealing the bedroom where his brother Dick had died in a previous life in England; Rob quickly sketched the scene. That evening during a session, Seth told him he had seen only part of the room, and described the rest along with further details of Dick's life in England [dreams-projections §2].

Jane's telepathic words: One day while washing dishes alone in the kitchen, Jane received an "exquisite, clear, richly humorous" inner voice replying: "Are you masochists?" She then conversed with it in inner language, and the respondent said it could not give predictions, lest they be distorted. Jane described feeling a "delightful vitality" that was not her own, both intimate and present [dreams-projections §2].

Jane's eyes-closed trance experiment: During one session, Jane paced the room with eyes nearly closed; Rob observed her confident movements and believed she could see at least somewhat; Jane later said she had been in a deeper trance than when her eyes were fully open—at times her eyes were completely closed, and at other times only "slightly open" to the degree she could see [early-sessions-3 §118].

Object experiment in darkness: After Seth suggested they try different things, Jane and Rob conducted an experiment without Seth present: they drew the curtains, lit only a red Christmas light, and sat facing each other at a table covered with a black triangular cloth on which Jane's wedding ring was placed; they then switched to a brass badge and sat in the dark with the light off. Observed phenomena included: Jane felt her hand and the metal badge sometimes seemed to disappear; Rob received a colored vision—a man walking along a road; Jane spontaneously narrated in a normal voice, in the dark, the story of a 17th-century English girl named Sarah Willington and her "past life" [early-sessions-1 §12].

Energy observation following the experiment: On the evening after the first inner-sense material was channeled, Jane felt "unprecedently un-tired" and wondered where the "extra energy" came from after three hours of channeling [dreams-projections §2].

6. What supplementary or contradictory information is given by other concepts in the corpus relevant to this concept?

Essential definitions of planes of existence

• A plane of existence is not necessarily a planet; a plane might be a planet, but might also exist where no planet is; a planet may possess multiple planes [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• A plane is not a cosmic location; it might be a time, or merely a small current of vitality that appears to exist independently [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• A plane is something temporarily and for some reason segregated from the rest of the universe; a plane may disappear, or may appear where no plane existed before [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• Planes are formed for entities as patterns for the achievement of fulfillment upon those planes; planes are climates conducive to the development of unique and particular capacities and achievements; planes are isolations of elements, allowing each element maximum room for operation [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• The analogy of a plane with an emotional state is far more valid than the analogy with a geographical state—particularly because emotional states occupy no space [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].

Interweaving and visitation of planes

• Planes can intermingle without the knowledge of the inhabitants of the planes concerned [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• It is often practical for an entity, or its entity-personality, to visit one plane before another; but there is no necessity for a specific order—a given order is merely more useful to the overall entity [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• An entity visits all planes simultaneously, just as a person is simultaneously in a certain state, county, and city [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].

Related concepts: constraints on material form from other planes

• The appearance of UFOs comes from a plane far more advanced than Earth in technological science, but still not a plane of "mind-science"; once its inhabitants learn the patterns of mind-science, they can largely free themselves from the ordinary camouflage (material) patterns [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• When a UFO enters the earth's plane, the structure of its atoms and molecules, arranged according to its native patterns, becomes distorted; its actual structure is caught in a formal dilemma between complete transformation into the earth's camouflage patterns and retention of its original patterns; the shape seen by earthly observers is something between a horse and a dog—neither horse nor dog [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• UFOs retain what they can of their original structure and alter what must be altered, which explains many of the contradictory reports about their shape, size, and color [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].
• UFOs cannot remain on the earth's plane for long, because the pressures acting upon them are tremendous; they cannot remain indefinitely between two forms, and can only glimpse the earth's plane quickly; the cigar or saucer shapes people commonly see are merely "mongrel forms" of their structures at their native bases [unknown-reality-2 §744, early-sessions-1 §16].

Related concepts: planes and actualities

• There are actuality-planes of various kinds everywhere, more varied than can be imagined, formed in essentially the same manner as the universe in which the earth exists [early-sessions-3 §118].
• The inhabitants of many such actuality-planes spontaneously and accidentally "tune in" to the earth's reality, but most inhabitants of such planes are no more aware of you than you are aware of them [early-sessions-3 §118].
• Many actuality-planes cannot be explored by any physical means of transportation; they would appear as vast as a fly setting out to examine a single planet, with their characteristics imperceptible [early-sessions-3 §118].
• Such planes or fields of actuality can be entered spontaneously in dreams, but the dreamer usually cannot distinguish the dream world from these other actualities [early-sessions-3 §118].
• All such actuality-planes operate within the "spacious present" and possess a value climate [early-sessions-3 §118].
• The actuality and validity of a plane are not necessarily determined by its material composition; in a few planes material composition determines their nature, but these are only a minority [early-sessions-3 §118].
• The physical organism itself exists in many forms—for example, in the form of radio waves; to organisms that cannot perceive matter but can perceive radio waves, your physical body appears in an entirely different form [early-sessions-3 §118].
• The survival of the physical organism is determined by many factors, many of which lie beyond anything scientists or physicians currently consider; it exists on many actuality-planes or in many fields, and its survival in the universe depends on its existence on other planes [early-sessions-3 §118].
• Planes and fields of actuality may protrude into physical reality in varying proportions; many planes exist hardly at all in physical terms, while others appear physically "deformed," with matter concentrated in one place [early-sessions-3 §118].

Related concepts: transitional planes after death

• After death, the entity's next plane of existence involves further training in the use and manipulation of energy, because the energy composing the entity is self-generating and always seeks more complex forms and awareness [dreams-projections §1].

7. Questions not yet asked

1. Can higher-dimensional geometric or topological models operationalize Seth's claim that planes "pass through each other without colliding" as testable conditions for multidimensional spatial intersection, and can experiments be designed, based on gravitational wave or particle collision data, to verify this?
2. Regarding Seth's statement that a plane is analogous to an emotional state, can VR emotion-induction experiments be designed to measure participants' estimation biases in three-dimensional spatial depth and size under different emotions such as fear and pleasure, in order to test whether emotions alter the perception of spatial dimensions?
3. Can the "formal dilemma" of UFOs entering the earth's plane be simulated with visual psychophysical experiments: presenting transitional shapes between two known shapes (such as an ellipse and a circle), recording participants' recognition classification and confidence, and comparing this with the descriptive confusion in UFO sighting reports?
4. Given Seth's suggestion to use "inner senses" instead of physical instruments, can double-blind remote-perception experiments be designed: comparing the recognition accuracy of distant, randomly selected target images between long-term meditators and ordinary people under conditions of屏蔽 external sensory input such as vision, and can the parapsychological literature on "gazing" or "remote viewing" be surveyed as a documentary basis?

Appendix: Claim List (for Stage C)

id	claim	type	source
planes-of-existence-1	A plane is a "field of mental vitality," not a spatial location.	ontological assertion	early-sessions-3 §101
planes-of-existence-2	A plane is not necessarily a planet; a planet may have multiple planes; planes involve different surface times.	ontological assertion	early-sessions-1 §16; dreams-projections §2
planes-of-existence-3	The analogy of a plane with an emotional state is more valid than the analogy with a geographical state, because emotional states occupy no space.	ontological assertion	early-sessions-1 §16; dreams-projections §2
planes-of-existence-4	Planes can intermingle without the knowledge of their respective inhabitants.	mechanism description	early-sessions-1 §16; dreams-projections §2
planes-of-existence-5	Planes are formed for entities as "climates" serving as patterns for the fulfillment of various routes; they are isolations of elements.	ontological assertion	dreams-projections §2
planes-of-existence-6	The relationship between the physical universe, the negative-mass universe, and the dream universe is like the skin and layers of the same fruit.	ontological assertion	early-sessions-3 §108
planes-of-existence-7	Anything constructed within any field acquires reality, and reality implies consciousness; interiority forms new dimensions.	ontological assertion	early-sessions-3 §108
planes-of-existence-8	Everything on your plane is a materialization of something that independently exists outside your plane.	ontological assertion	unknown-reality-1 §680
planes-of-existence-9	Entities can alter their own form, or choose to become part of something else; their form is not materialized as physical form, and can be dematerialized at will.	mechanism description	unknown-reality-1 §680
planes-of-existence-10	Endless planes occur simultaneously with the earth; the solid earth is not solid to inhabitants of another plane.	ontological assertion	dreams-evolution-1 §903
planes-of-existence-11	When a UFO enters the earth's plane from another plane, its structure becomes caught in a struggle between two patterns, producing hybrid forms and explaining contradictory reports.	mechanism description	dreams-projections §2
planes-of-existence-12	Scientific instruments distort information; the inner senses should be used instead of outer senses and physical instruments to explore essence.	methodological recommendation	dreams-projections §2