In 1973 Stanford Research Institute (SRI) conducted a research project called "The Jupiter Probe." The idea was to have earthbound humans attempt to "view" Jupiter before NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft flew by with its cameras. The participants put their 3D bodies in a state of rest and, with their 4D minds, viewed Jupiter with their inner eyes. Among them was the now celebrated remote viewer, Ingo Swann. He was able to describe Jupiter as the spacecraft cameras were to see it a few weeks later. The dimension that Ingo Swann's mind entered is a reality that we today might call a "virtual reality." The virtual Jupiter has a reality to it that is as "real" as the physical Jupiter. But there is more than image in these 4D perceptions. As any remote viewer and sleeping dreamer can tell you, the energetics of images are as dynamic as their physical forms. Often what happens in sleep and virtual reality is real to the viewer. The body's response to the mind's experiences can change the heart rate and blood pressure, force adrenaline to flow in either fight or flight reactions, or can stimulate even an orgasm because the viewer really thinks he or she is having physical sex. But isn't sex in the mind virtual sex, not real sex? The body's reaction would indicate otherwise. Is the dimension just beyond this third the mind's fourth-dimensional, virtual reality? Or, is it more like Einstein's matter to energy and energy to matter? We can either experience a thing as matter or as energy; both are real. Whatever the ultimate physics, we are very alive and active whether in matter and the 3D realm or in energy and the 4D realm.

Most of us move in and out of sleep with relative ease. So subtle is the passage that we rarely notice the transition. Yet, most of us rarely gain full consciousness when in sleep, and when we do, we have great difficulty bringing the perceptions back. How often have you been waking with a vivid dream only to completely lose it once fully awake? How is it possible that so impressive a mental image can be so completely lost in the transition? Is the transition from sleep to awake a dimensional shift from the 4th to the 3rd? And once fully here, we cannot easily perceive the 4th. Yet, some humans, Ingo Swann for example, show an unusual ability to see fourth-dimensionally while not asleep. Even many "normal" humans have their occasional altered state of consciousness in which they perceive beyond the 3D world.

The ancient Egyptians believed the ba could travel beyond this dimension through a nearby realm called the Netherworld, and, if one could get through that realm, it could then go on to higher realms or heavens above. The gateway in and out of the higher realms was the re stau, a hidden, underground (or under-consciousness) gate that allowed one to travel far beyond Earth. The power of the jackal-headed god Anubis was called upon to guide one through the Netherworld. Why this god? Because the jackal was seen as having a heightened sense of smell. If a ba (akin to our term "soul") had made a long journey away from higher dimensions and was lost in a lower one, his jackal-like sense could pick up the trail and retrace the way home. So Anubis became the guide through the underworld to the heavens (see illustration on pg. 2).

Developing our virtual senses, our mind's eyes, ears, and so on, would be an important step toward dimensional travel. Many think we will traverse infinite space once we can travel faster than the speed of light. Well, nothing, not even light, is as fast as the speed of thought. Ingo Swann's mind viewed Jupiter within a few minutes of making the attempt. That is fast &endash; fast enough for us to travel far beyond Earth. But, it's fourth-dimensional travel. Learning to activate our consciousness while in sleep may be one of the best ways to begin developing our virtual senses.

Sleep: A Natural Portal to the 4th Dimension
The ancient Greeks referred to the sleep state as being "in the arms of Morpheus," their god of dreams and the son of Hypnos (yes, as in hypnosis). Movies and computer graphics have familiarized us with "morphing," shape-shifting from one form to another, as the poet Ovid referred to Morpheus' shifting forms in sleep.

Sleep is actually more than one condition. It is a series of conditions that begins by stilling the 3D physical body, absorbing the normal 3D mind into the deeper subcon-scious, and allowing the mind to gradually go through various transitions, which we verify as changes in the brainwaves, from beta to alpha to theta, and so on. If the deepest type of sleep is achieved, then the inner being morphs from its normal icecube-like 3D reality to a watery, flowing realm in which 3D objects have the qualities of liquids and vapors &endash; the realm of Morpheus. The inner mind and being enter an expansive state in which the mind, not the body, is the mover and doer. In this dimension a 3D cube would be an image. We could see it. We could even touch it &endash; but not like we would a 3D cube on Earth. This cube is the fourth-dimensional version of our 3D solid. It is the thoughtform of the cube. Now we are perceiving beyond the three planes of the "real" cube. This is the 4D thoughtform of the cube, the idea of the cube. It has all the characteristics of the 3D cube but is in an alternate reality to it. It is not matter. In this dimension we do not use the body's physical senses, yet we are sensing. The mind's sight, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling are as real to the sleeper as the physical is to the 3D self. But we are beyond the physical, we are in the next dimension.

To really enhance your consciousness in this other dimension try meditating every night before falling asleep for a month. Your sleep state will come alive as your deeper 4D self takes conscious flight through the many realms beyond this little world of ours.

For protection and a right-guiding rudder, call for God's Presence and Purpose throughout the sleep experience. See it, feel it, know it is with you as you let go and fall into sleep.

In the morning you must not move the 3D body as you are waking or you'll lose the experiences. Gently pass the "dreams" over to your outer mind. Once it has them firmly, get up and write them down. Otherwise, you'll forget them by 3 pm! Life here is just too consuming to retain the gossamer-like experiences of the realm of Morpheus.

Life is more than physical. As the poet Wadsworth once noted, "The world is too much with us." Let's use the idle 3D time of sleep for 4D learning and growth.