A New Model of the Universe

A New Model of the Universe is a book by P. D. Ouspensky, first published in 1914. In this wide-ranging work Ouspensky sets out a systematic, often sceptical examination of traditional and modern modes of thought, arguing for a new psychological method that can reconcile spiritual traditions with contemporary science.

The book surveys topics from the fourth dimension and relativity to Christian symbolism, the Tarot, yoga, dreams and hypnotism, and it presents a framework intended to help readers question received assumptions about consciousness, time and the structure of reality.

Written in the incisive, somewhat austere tone Ouspensky is known for, the book sits between philosophical essay and esoteric primer: it both summarises older schools of East and West and attempts to interpret them in the light of early twentieth-century discoveries in physics and psychology.

For readers who value careful argument and a tempered, historically minded approach to metaphysical questions, this work offers a rigorous introduction to Ouspensky’s thinking and to the intellectual currents that later shaped discussions in twentieth-century metaphysics and practical psychology. This translation by R. R. Merton was originally published in 1934.