The universe is alive and well.

 

Thank you.

 

Antar entered the professor’s office with some trepidation. The queen of everything was not known for dealing with undergraduates lightly. The office was filled with plants and animals, talking all at once. Antar had trouble identifying the professor until she stepped away from a tree into which she blended perfectly.

 

“Greetings, Earthling.”

 

“Thank you for taking the time—”

 

“Let the dissertation defense begin!” The professor snapped her fingers. The animals and plants all fell silent.

 

“Is the universe alive, Antar?”

 

“I hope so.”

 

“But do you know so?”

 

Antar stopped a moment to consider. “Is this a question about consciousness? Because I’m more than happy to concede that plants and animals are just as conscious as human beings. I’m just not sure that consciousness exists... in this universe.”

 

The plants and animals surrounding the professor began to whisper among themselves.

 

“Silence!” the professor cried out. “Do you mean to tell me, Antar Montage, that consciousness does not exist in the physical universe of time and space?”

Antar nodded his head in affirmation.

 

“Very good. If consciousness does not exist in the physical universe, where does it reside?”

 

Antar shuffled his feet and shrugged his shoulders. “In a separate dimensional domain?”

 

“That’s right! Excellent. Describe the nature of this domain.”

 

“The mental universe is symmetrical with the physical universe. It is composed of three mental dimensions plus time, and it may be higher or lower than the physical universe. No one knows since it has never been observed.”

 

“Not bad, Antar. Not bad at all. But you left out a third alternative. What if the mental and physical domains are equal and opposite? Or adjacent, rather than unequal and hierarchical?”

 

“Doesn’t that complicate the math?”

 

“It might, topologically speaking.”

 

“I like top and bottom better than left and right.”

 

“You and a lot of other people.” The professor chortled, which sounded a bit like whale song.

 

.sTell me about the spirit world, Antar.”

 

“Research has shown that neither heaven nor hell exist anywhere in the physical universe. We’ve been everywhere, seen everything, done everything, tried everything. Nada. Nil. Nyet. The big zipper.”

 

“Does that mean spirit and soul do not exist in this universe?”

 

“Not in this physical universe. Like consciousness, spirit may exist in a higher dimensional domain—”

 

“Higher or lower?”

 

“I would hope it is much higher.”

 

“Not equal and adjacent, or opposite?”

 

“That’s more far-fetched than trying to equate mind and body.” Antar scowled. The plants grew restless. The animals remained quiescent.

 

“How many dimensions does that make, Antar?”

 

“Four times three equals twelve, professor.”

 

“Four times three? How about three times three plus one. Time is identical in all three domains, Antar. Time is the binding agent that glues them together.”

 

“One dimension to rule them all?”

 

“One dimension to find them.”

 

“One dimension to bring them all?”

 

“And in the darkness bind them.”

 

Antar was pleased with himself.

 

“I can see the new lecturer in inter-temporal transference dynamics has slipped up again. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.” The professor wrote something in invisible ink on a plank nailed to the Tree of Life that filled the office center.

 

“What about the last one, Antar?”

 

“The last what, professor? There are only ten dimensions in this universe, aren’t there?”

 

“Perhaps eleven, Antar.”

 

“No one knows what the eleventh dimension is for, do they?” asked the student. “Probably just a backup for time, or maybe a simple bookkeeping function. One if by land, two if by sea?”

 

“By that you mean yes or no, a kind of binary on and off switch?”

 

“Exactly my point, professor.”

 

“Interesting thought.” The professor paused to leaf through some notes. “Describe the fundamental nature of this conjectural eleventh dimension to me in your own words.”

 

“It’s supposed to be some sort of big brainy thing, isn’t it?” Antar scratched his head in frustration.

 

“By brane, I assume you mean membrane.”

 

“Uh, oh, right you are, professor.”

 

“What does that remind you of?”

 

“A cell?”

 

“What kind of cell?”

 

“A living cellular lifeform cell?”

 

“What purpose does a membrane serve in a living cell?”

 

“To separate self from non-self?” Antar beamed. Biology was proving more useful than he thought possible.

 

“That’s right, Antar! So how many cells are there in the multiverse?”

 

“No one knows, professor. That is an unfair question.”

 

“I’m not asking you to tell me. I’m offering you the opportunity to speculate.” The plants and animals all nodded their heads together in agreement. “The universe is finite, Antar, as defined by its eleventh dimensional membranous cover. The greater multiverse may be finite as well. We just don’t know.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Is there anything missing from this picture, Antar?”

 

“We’ve identified the location of body, mind, and spirit in dimensional terms. We’ve defined the role of time as a universal binding agent. We’ve noted the role of the membrane as the borderline between universal self and non-self.”

 

“Us and them,” the professor cautioned.

 

“Have it your way. It’s down to us versus them. There’s nothing left to worry about.”

 

“What about the nucleus, Antar?”

 

“No hint of a nucleus has ever been found. Like heaven or hell on Earth, it’s probably just another popular myth or news story.”

 

“What does that make us?” The professor frowned.

 

“Do you mean us as in us, or us as in the universe?”

 

“Six of one, half a dozen of the other.”

 

“A primitive form of universe? One incapable of self-reproduction? A virus in universal form?”

 

“Impressive. You seem to have covered all the bases. But what about this? What if the nucleus is simply hidden for some reason? What then, Antar?”

 

“Heavens to Murgatroyd! Hell if I know.” Antar scratched between his legs and barked like a dog.

 

The professor dismissed him with extreme prejudice.

 

Antar struggled with the breathing part of universal creation but still managed to graduate in good time. He even started up his own universe.

 

You are there.

 

All hail Antar.