"But can't I take a helicopter to the mountain top?" I asked.

"Sure you can, but you will miss all the challenges along the way. You are simpl
y transported from one place to another. You may be able to see the view, but no
t the glory. Later I will explain this a little more."
"So how do I get on the path?" I asked again.
"You already are. We all are. The issue is not getting on the path. The point is
to move in the right direction."
"Aha...." I said anxiously.
"You do that by first becoming aware. You must be aware of the fact that there i
s a spiritual dimension, even if you don't know what it is. You must become awar
e that you are on your path. You must become aware that there is a mountain whic
h you can choose to climb."
"OK. So I become aware. Now what?"
"Then you observe."
"Observe what?" I asked.
"Observe everything. Observe yourself. Observe the mountain. Observe the path, t
he woods, the lake, other travellers, the flowers, the rocks, the sky. You obser
ve everything."
"Aha....."
"Then you perceive. You perceive the details and the big picture. You perceive t
hrough your senses. You also perceive through your feelings and emotions."
"OK...."
"And then you experience. You experience the events and situations that you come
across. You experience your feelings and sensations. You experience the pain an
d the pleasure, the sorrow and the joy, the dark and the light. Your thoughts, y
our emotions, your encounters and interactions."
"How does that help?"
"You can't transcend the four dimensions unless you know what they are. First yo
u should be able to experience the four dimensions as fully as you can. And you
do this by becoming aware, observing, perceiving, and experiencing."
"Explain this idea more," I asked.
"You see, we are all here in the four dimensions for a limited time, covering a
limited amount of space. We are here, because this world offers us the experienc
es of this world. So we must try to fully experience `this' world."
"So what you are saying is that we are all going to experience the fifth dimensi
on when we die."
"Correct," He replied.
"So what is the point of wanting to transcend the four dimensions?" 57
Thus Spake the Real Zarathushtra
"Do you remember our example of the flat surface inside the three dimensional bl
ock?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Well, if you are a simple being on that surface, your world and your perspectiv
e of the world is very limited. But if you can look at the surface from the thre
e dimensions, then you have an expanded view of your world."
"But doesn't that make you more miserable, knowing that your world is so limited
and you can't do anything about it?" I asked.
"First of all you can do a lot about it. Remember you have Ahura's powers. Secon
dly not at all. In fact it gives you a better idea of why you are in that limite
d world, and so you can fulfill your purpose better. You do not become attached
to the experiences of the four dimensions."
"I see." I paused to think a little and then asked, "So what is our purpose in t
his four dimensional universe?"
"`To help renew the world and make it progress towards its completion.' Just lik
e in verse 30:9 that we were talking about a few days ago."
"OK. So we are now experiencing the four dimensions. Then what?" I asked.
"Then you simply shift your paradigm."
"To what?"
"To that presented in the `Gathas' or something similar to it."
"And I suppose you don't need to do anything else," I remarked.

"That's right. Then you just let things happen as they will, and you will see th
at you are there. Just like that."
"Oh, I don't know. It sounds like some Eastern mystical philosophy," I protested
.
"Well, I was a philosopher and a mystic, and I was from the East."
"You know what I mean," I countered.
"Let me try to explain it this way. Contrary to what you are feeling, my philoso
phy is very proactive, but it does not tell you what to do and what not to do. B
ecause then it will be prescriptive, and as a result there will be many cases wh
ere it will not apply. In addition, if I prescribed solutions, then I would be l
imiting your freedom of choice, and that would be limiting your essence. I could
not do that."
"So how does it become proactive?"
"Very simply by explaining the purpose of the universe and some of its fundament
al operating laws, I have shifted paradigms. So now we