The Fourth Dimension 307Galileo Galilei in 1551 discovered that we were only one
speck in a vast universe and that it was the Earth that
rotated around the sun.
When it was completely dark, Rama said, "Did you
know that our solar system and many others like it, go
around and around, and that the center of the rotation is
the star Alcylone in the Pleiades?"
"No, I didn't know that, but now that you mention it, I
do seem to remember something about it."
"Let's see it."
The pitch black of night was like a gigantic blackboard.
I stared at the sky until I got to the point of actually
seeing the Pleiades and how the Alcyone star was the
center of gravity for many solar systems, including our
own. It was like seeing a movie on a screen. I wanted to
reason why and how it was happening, but Rama
motioned to skip the trivia and to concentrate on what I
was seeing.
As she pointed at the stars in heaven, I could see
nothing around me except the white lines and circles
that brought out the shape of a constellation. The same
feeling you get at the planetarium in London or Wash
ington or Disneyland. I could see the stars and dotted
circles that Rama was drawing as she spoke; the illustra
tions were very clear and actually moved.
In about two hours I had a complete view of our solar
system in relation to the universe; how a system is born,
destroyed, and how it goes through evolutionary changes.
I saw how certain forces that can in fact, upset the
balance of the universe. I was aware of sound out in
space, sounds that would not be recorded until 1976 by
some twenty-seven stations built somewhere in the
world.
I saw a planet that existed somewhere between Jupiter
and Mars disintegrated into cosmic dust. Rama told me
that if I wanted to, I could call this experience astral
projection.