Steve, I believe that the 10 (or sometimes 11) dimensions of the string theory unfold in the phsical realm, whereas the dimensions cited by Yogananda are metaphysical dimensions.
Within each of the metaphysical dimensions we may have dimensions within the dimension itself.
Within the physical dimension we have the classical 3 dimensions, the relativistic fourth dimension (time) and the new hypothetical 10 dimensions (string theory, still all unproved).
What's within the astral dimension is just guesswork. I'd say the same 4 dimensions as in the physical reality and probably some more.
Isn't truth the same though wherever you find it? i mean would there be a separate truth for physics independent of metaphysics? Yogananda likened Einstiens relativity to a yogi fulfilling the laws of physics by becoming light itself and thus having infinite qualities.
This is not a point of contention mccoy but rather a search for the truth and light in which people take and share their findings and experiences to help each other along the way. First of all you speak of the 10 dimensions of the string theory. Let us remember that 4 of those dimensions are already accepted and are not hypothetical but rather verified through countless observations. When we get into the 5th and 6th dimensions we must ask ourselves have we or anyone that we know experienced such dimensions that we know of? This means that there would be the possibility of other decisions that would have caused a whole different pattern of circumstances as possible realities. Are these entertained in the mind only? Or are they really possibilities that have a reality of their own? For instance if your mother and father had not met you would not have been here and a whole separate reality would have happened.
"The masters who are able to materialize and dematerialize their bodies or any other object, and to move with the velocity of light, and to utilize the creative light-rays in bringing into instant visibility any physical manifestation, have fulfilled the necessary Einsteinian condition: their mass is infinite." ~ Paramahansa Yogananda
"There are many astral planets, teeming with astral beings," Master began. "The inhabitants use astral planes, or masses of light, to travel from one planet to another, faster than electricity and radioactive energies. ~ Sri Yukteswar
The consciousness of a perfected yogi is effortlessly identified, not with a narrow body, but with the universal structure. Gravitation, whether the "force" of Newton or the Einsteinian "manifestation of inertia," is powerless to compel a master to exhibit the property of "weight" which is the distinguishing gravitational condition of all material objects. He who knows himself as the omnipresent Spirit is subject no longer to the rigidities of a body in time and space. Their imprisoning "rings-pass-not" have yielded to the solvent: "I am He."
"Fiat lux! And there was light." God's first command to His ordered creation (Genesis 1:3) brought into being the only atomic reality: light. On the beams of this immaterial medium occur all divine manifestations. Devotees of every age testify to the appearance of God as flame and light. "The King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto." 5
A yogi who through perfect meditation has merged his consciousness with the Creator perceives the cosmical essence as light; to him there is no difference between the light rays composing water and the light rays composing land. Free from matter-consciousness, free from the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time, a master transfers his body of light with equal ease over the light rays of earth, water, fire, or air. Long concentration on the liberating spiritual eye has enabled the yogi to destroy all delusions concerning matter and its gravitational weight; thenceforth he sees the universe as an essentially undifferentiated mass of light. ~ Autobiography of a Yogi
