The concept of group entities is not new. As mentioned before, Plato believed that transcendent forms exist from which the multitude of appearances come into our world (42). The Swiss psychologist Carl G. Jung (1875-1961) concluded that humans share one collective unconscious that lies deeper than the unconscious of each individual (43)(44)(45). He had observed a surprising similarity between deeply seated ideas of widely separated peoples. Similar basic concepts exist in the psyche of all of us, revealed by recurring dreams and subconscious ideas expressed spontaneously, without prior knowledge that they are shared by others. Jung called these concepts "archetypes", which can be seen as the unconscious images of our instincts. Typical archetypes are "mother" and "hero". He stated: "To my mind it is a fatal mistake to regard the human psyche as a purely personal affair and to explain it exclusively from a personal point of view. Such a mode of explanation is only applicable to the individual in his ordinary everyday occupations and relationships" (46). Sigmund Freud had voiced a similar opinion: "I have taken as the basis of my whole position the existence of a collective mind, in which mental processes occur just as they do in the mind of the individual . . ."(47). Carl Jung claimed that ancestral experiences accumulate as archetypes in the collective subconscious of humankind. Individuals "inherit" archetypal propensities much like Plato saw appearances in our world come from transcendent "eidos". In holistic logic terms, Jung's collective subconscious is the consciousness of humanity-entity living in the M-D environment. Biologists are used to viewing animal societies as entities, especially colonies of insects such as bees, wasps, ants, and termites. The British biologist Rupert Sheldrake has generated much interest in this subject. He postulates the existence of hidden, nonphysical forms beyond space and time that, he claims, underlie biological phenomena. He calls them "Morphogenetic Fields", or "M-Fields" (48)(49)(50). Sheldrake brings a multitude of convincing examples for the existence of these transcendent entities. He describes for instance how beehives are organized with an intelligence that far exceeds the capacity of any individual bee. Honeybees maintain the internal temperature of their nests within 34.5 and 35.5 degrees from spring through fall. They do this by carefully sealing off all uncontrolled drafts and by warming the interiors with their body heat by huddling together, more or less as needed. In hot weather they carry water into their nest, spread it out, and enhance its cooling evaporation by fanning air over the water with their wings. Another example describes the mounds made by compass termites in Australia. These tall mounds are very narrow in the east-west direction, but broad in the north-south direction. In this way they are least exposed to the sun at noon, when its radiation is most intense.
Sheldrake also reports what appears like a mysterious communication between members of a species. The communication occurs although individuals are too much separated for direct contact. He explains this phenomenon with what he calls "Morphic Resonance". By this he means that individuals resonate their information with the transcendent collective M-Fields, which in turn resonates with other members, unimpeded by space and time. Sheldrake's M-Fields have the character of our holon principles. Morphic resonance is the same as holon principle HP10.
The most widely known anecdotal evidence of morphic resonance type communication is the so-called "hundredth monkey effect". The biologist Lyall Watson reported it in his 1970 book "Lifetide" (51)(52). The event occurred on a Japanese island where researchers had fed sweet potatoes to monkeys. For the monkeys this was a new, unknown staple. They liked the potatoes, but they did not like the beach sand that covered them. One monkey started to wash the potatoes in the ocean before eating. This also added a desirable salty taste. After a certain number of monkeys had copied the technique, it was suddenly and spontaneously practiced by the entire community, as if a "critical mass" of potato-washing monkeys triggered this behavior spontaneously in all their group members. Shortly after that, monkeys on other islands practiced the same procedure, although there was no communication between the islands.
Such mysterious communication was also observed under laboratory conditions. Rats were put into a maze and had to find their way out, and later generations did this task with successively increasing speed. As more rats had become familiar with the maze, even untrained, genetically unrelated rats showed higher learning speeds (53). The M-Field effects have been observed even with inanimate objects. Mineralogists know that crystals are often very difficult to grow initially for a new substance. Once accomplished, however, it can be repeated more and more easily, even on other continents without any known reason (54,55). Other M-Field examples include flocks of birds, migrating animal herds, and schools of fish acting like single entities.
Sheldrake's hypothesis has been tested with positive results. One test involved Japanese nursery rhymes. British and American groups who could not speak Japanese were given two rhymes, a traditional one known to virtually every Japanese, another nonsensical one composed for the test. After chanting each of them a given number of times, the old rhyme could be recalled significantly better than the artificial one (56). Similar tests were done with Hebrew and Persian words, with Russian typewriter keyboards, and with the Morse code (57). Results showed invariably that people who have never been exposed to the correct versions can learn them much easier than the artificial equivalents.
David Bohm stated that "the energies involved in M-fields may be very similar to the energies that allow subatomic particles to communicate nonlocally, regardless of space and time," (58) and: "on some level that is beyond ordinary subjective experience, the human race may really be one organism" (59). Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould and his collaborator, paleontologist Niles Eldredge, propose to treat the whole of species as analogous to individuals, so that the whole of the species homo sapiens is considered an entity, as John Doe is an entity, according to Briggs and Peat (60). F. Capra states: "We may say that groups of people, societies, and cultures have a collective mind, and therefore also possess a collective consciousness. We also may follow Jung in the assumption that the collective mind, or collective psyche, also includes a collective unconscious" (61).
With these collaborating comments, we shall assume that M-D entities do indeed exist, more profoundly than the physical appearances of its members, but invisible to us. Consequently, Darwin's theory of evolution, even in its present "Neodarwinism" version (62), would have to be revised. What is thought of as natural selection through "survival of the fittest", is in holistic reasoning the expression of the conscious will of the species-entity that lives in M-D space. The selection of the best genes from a "gene pool" explained by Neodarwinism is in holistic terms a projection of M-D activity into our 3-D world (refer to Causality, Sect.4). It is not that gene selection does not occur, but it is influenced by the will of an M-D entity as it appears in our 3-D world. To cite an analogy, we can explain our body movements by the brain sending commands through our nervous system, causing appropriate muscle contractions. We also can say that our body moves because we decided so. The anatomical explanation corresponds to the evolution theory of gene selection. Our decision to move our body corresponds to the species-entity's decision to evolve in a certain direction. It is important to distinguish the order levels from which observations are made (HP6). As the physicist Paul Davies states in his article (63): "Orthodox Neodarwinism, while correctly identifying the basic mechanism of evolutionary change, fails to capture the organizational element that generates the progressive arrow of time."

THE TOTAL SYSTEM
Multidimensional Pyramid
The holon priciples lead to the assumption that each animal species has a group-entity that exists in an M-D environment. We also must assume species-entities for the plants, and we assume that physical matter is a projection from an M-D whole, as modern physics suggests. Based on these assumptions, it is logical that these group-entities are themselves parts of even higher order wholes, forming holons of unimaginable greatness and transcendence. One arrives at a single super M-D entity for the planet earth, as some scientists suggest (64). Then there is an M-D entity for our solar system, our galaxy, and so on. Finally there is an ultimate entity that encompasses all that exists, visible and invisible. We shall call it "All-Entity".
This view of the universe agrees with that of David Bohm, the physicist mentioned before (Sect. 2). He makes the following statements: "Physics has shown that the mechanistic order doesn't fit experience" (65). Also: "the universe is an undivided whole" (66). Bohm speaks of an "implicate order" and an "explicate order" of the universe. The implicate order is the invisible reality from which our visible reality, the explicate order, emerges. He believes that life and consciousness are part of the implicate order, and that they are immanent in what we call inanimate matter.
Multiple Holons
Before we proceed with our journey into the M-D realm, it is necessary to understand the relationship between multiple holons that are stacked across several dimensional orders, where the parts of one holon are the wholes of others, and so on. We shall call the holon described in Section 3 a "simple holon". It is useful to introduce the following two definitions. a.) A "source-entity" is a whole at any dimensional order to which a part belongs, regardless how many orders are in between. A source-entity is like any ancestor, no matter how many generations ago. b.) A "sub-entity" is any part that belongs to a source-entity, regardless how many orders are in between, like a descendant from any ancestor, no matter how many generations ago.
With these definitions, the following holon principles for multiple order transitions can be formulated.
MULTIPLE HOLON PRINCIPLES
MHP1 *All holon principles for a simple holon apply also to multiple holons.*
For instance for HP1: if entity "A" has more dimensions than "B", and "B" has more dimensions than "C", then "A" has more dimensions than "C". MHP1 means that we can make statements about wholes and parts without knowing how many orders are between them. For instance, we can apply the holon principles for the humankind-entity and individual humans without knowing exactly the subdivisions in between, such as different races or different psychological character types.
MPH2 *Any entity of a higher order is invisible to another entity of a lower order.*
This has been stated already for the simple holon (HP4). For the sake of completeness, MHP2 points out that all entities of a higher order are invisible, not just the source-entity, because they all have more dimensions. For instance we cannot directly perceive the selves of other persons, as we cannot our own.
MHP3 *The differentiation and separation between sub-entities increases with the number of orders between them and their source.*
This is because each additional dimension of a source-entity provides an additional degree of freedom with which parts can differ from each other. For instance, the members of one human race-entity differ less from each other than all humans.
MHP4 *The source-entities of all orders are immanent in a sub-entitiy.*
This statement is equivalent to HP9, except that it includes also all source entities of higher orders beyond the immediate whole. The logical proof of this is similar to the one given under MHP1. MHP4 says for instance that immanent in a person are humanity-entity, earth-entity, All- Entity, and whatever source-entities are in between (see "Human Psyche", this section.)
MHP5 *A source-entity has simultaneous and direct access to all its sub-entities at all lower orders, without the need to pass through the intermediate orders sequentially.*
This is because of its added dimension. For instance we can see in a crystal form all points, lines, and planes simultaneously because we perceive in 3-D, the third being the added dimension.
MHP6 *From a sub-entity's point of view, its source-entities of progressively increasing orders appear stacked in a successive sequence.*
For a consciousness to proceed from a lower order to higher orders, it appears necessary to pass successively from one order to the next, because each higher order remains invisible before every upward step. This is in contrast to MHP5, which allows the source-entity to cross all lower orders in a single step.
MPH7 *Higher order source-entities are more deeply immanent.*
This statement amounts to a definition of "depth of immanence". The more order levels exist between a source-entity and a sub-entity, the more deeply immanent it is in an entity. Psychologically this corresponds to the observation that the humanity-entity is on a deeper subconscious level than the inner personal self.
MHP8 *Deeper levels of immanence correspond to lesser privacy.*
This is because the deeper immanent source-entity encompasses more sub-entities. This principle seems to contradict experience, because we tend to think that our most private thoughts and feelings are most deeply immanent. But there is a difference between individual and immanent thoughts. The deeper the immanence, the more it is shared with others.
All-Entity
We can now make some definite statements about the nature of M-D reality, beginning with All-Entity. All-Entity is the source-entity of everything; all other entities in the universe are Its sub-entities (HP3,MHP1). The entire universe is a holon with All-Entity being the whole. All-Entity and Its parts are one and the same, seen from different points of view (HP6). All-Entity has an infinite number of degrees of freedom (HP1). It includes in Itself all aspects, capabilities, and potentials of everything that exists (HP3). For instance It has all human aspects, but beyond these an infinite number of others. All-Entity has no individuality, if we mean by individuality to be different from others. There are no others on that level to be different from. Being the source-entity of everything alive, All-Entity is the very essence of life. It transcends and resolves all differences between entities in the universe (HP5). Thus All-Entity is ultimate harmony. Love is harmony between living beings, therefore All-Entity is ultimate Love.
The lower the order from which All-Entity is viewed, the more It appears differentiated into discrete individuals (MPH3). All sub-entities, no matter what order, are equally close to All-Entity (MHP5). The dimensions of All-Entity provide a direct communication path even to the lowest entity. So, while we are aspects of humankind, we are also direct aspects of All-Entity. There is no danger of being blocked by some "middle management" in between. Therefore an individual can influence its entire species through a "divine spark".
Since All-Entity encompasses everything, Its consciousness is aware of everything, including every thought and deed. Every thought and every deed is a direct part of All-Entity. There simply is no division between All-Entity and us (HP5). A whole and its parts are one and the same, just seen from different points of view (HP6). We cannot be separated from All-Entity. The only separation we may feel is due to our limited minds, our common sense. Since we cannot be separated from All-Entity, we are immortal. We shed our body as a tree sheds its leaves. Fear of death comes from excessive identification with physical reality, from lack of M-D understanding. Being immersed in All-Entity does not deprive us of our individuality. Any part maintains its uniqueness though it is totally merged with its whole. The different levels of dimensional orders make this possible (HP7&8).
All-Entity is the root source within us. It is the reason why we must trust our inner strength, the reason why we are entitled to self confidence, no matter what our station in life. Since All-Entity, the essence of life and consciousness, is immanent in everything, there is no "dead" matter. There is consciousness in every atom. What we call dead matter appears so to our senses because we cannot sense the life within it. We know that the molecules, atoms, and subatomic parts are very active indeed in their world. This activity must be regarded as a form of life. Our American Indian friends have always been closer to this kind of understanding. We have good reason to appreciate their tradition that has kept these ideas alive. David Bohm, the physicist mentioned before, says that life is implicit in what we call inanimate matter (67)(68)(69). Philosophers had made such statements in the past. G.W. Leibniz claimed that the same principle of consciousness that expresses itself in the mind of man is active in inanimate matter, in plant, and animal (70). The valiant effort by scientists to determine the beginning of life on earth appears futile from a holistic point of view, because everything that exists is alive, period. Also in M-D terms, there is no beginning, because there is no time as we perceive it, to be discussed in the next section.
Since M-D reality is immanent in all appearances of our world, people who believe that our physical world is the only reality have a good reason to think so. One can point to objects and claim that they represent all the reality there is, because all reality is indeed immanent in them. There is no higher reality outside our world, no "heaven" beyond outer space. One approach to Yoga enlightenment is to concentrate on an object, perhaps a flame, until one senses its inner reality, which eventually turns out to be the inner reality of everything else. Another approach is to concentrate on the present moment, because it contains all reality. Every flower that emerges from its seed, every birth of any kind, demonstrates the immanence of life. The closest contact with the ultimate reality is within our selves, as the great mystics of all ages have proclaimed (71). Fritjof Capra, nuclear physicist in Vienna and publisher of several books, draws compelling parallels between the findings of modern physics and the religious philosophies of the East: Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese thought, Taoism, and Zen (72). He writes for instance: "Modern physics leads us to a view of the world that is very similar to the views held by mystics of all ages and traditions" (73).