Not Up but In

Yes — what you’re noticing is very central to Sufi metaphysics. When Rumi says the spiritual world is “non-dimensional,” he is pointing to the idea that ultimate reality is not located in physical space (“up,” “down,” “before,” “after”) but is an inner, immediate presence.

Here are several Sufi voices expressing the same insight:

Rumi (Masnavi & Ghazals)

“Why are you so busy with this or that or good or bad?

Pay attention to how things blend.”

He often contrasts direction with direct experience:

“The Kaaba is in the heart of the saints.”

(Meaning: sacred reality is inward, not geographically located.)

And in the Masnavi (Book I themes):

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

That “field” is not a physical place — it is a state of awareness beyond dualistic coordinates.

Ibn ‘Arabi

Ibn Arabi makes this even more explicit:

“The Real is not in a direction.”

(laysa fi jihah)

He teaches that God is not spatially “above” creation but is the inner reality of all existence.

Al-Hallaj

Al-Hallaj:

“I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I.”

This collapses distance. Union is not upward travel — it is inward unveiling.

Bayazid Bastami

Bayazid Bastami:

“I went from God to God, until they cried from me in me: ‘O Thou I!’”

Notice the language — not “I went upward,” but “from God to God.” No spatial journey.

Hafiz

Hafiz:

“I wish I could show you,

when you are lonely or in darkness,

the astonishing light of your own being.”

Again: not heaven above — but radiance within.

The Core Sufi Principle

Many Sufis repeat a teaching derived from a sacred saying (hadith qudsi):

“Neither My earth nor My heaven can contain Me,

but the heart of My believing servant contains Me.”

This directly rejects spatial containment.

What “Non-Dimensional” Means in Sufism

When Rumi says the spiritual world is beyond “below” and “above,” he is saying:

• It is not bound by physical coordinates

• It is not temporal (“before” / “after”)

• It is accessed through consciousness, not travel

• It is discovered by refinement of perception

In modern language, we might say:

Heaven is not a location — it is a mode of awareness.

What you said — “heaven isn’t necessarily up but more like in” — is very aligned with classical Sufi metaphysics.

If you’d like, I can also show how this idea parallels:

• Christian mystics (like Meister Eckhart)

• Zen teachings

• Or even some modern physics metaphors

Which direction would you like to explore?