I used to be able to drop into an altered state at will – that is until I unintentionally went somewhere I might have best waited for a later time – after becoming more experienced. Now dreams are my primary doorway to the unknown.
I can describe perhaps four states of awareness I’ve experienced while dreaming. There is a link at the bottom of this post to a Wikipedia article on dreams, if you want a longer and more official source.
The four common types I’ve identified are:
1. Reliving recent experiences.
- I understand this is how we learn new things.
- e.g. When immersed in BlackBerry Enterprise Server training for weeks on end, I would sometimes dream so lucidly my physical right hand would move to the limits sleep paralysis would allow and mimic mouse movements
- Habits may also be expressed in these dreams.
2. What I call “psychological” dreams
- I have to believe most dreams either fall into this category, or are heavily influenced by it.
- This must be a hardwired type of dream.
- For example fears may come out –
- A recent news story had a veteran relating how he dreams he is on a patrol and can’t find his weapon.
- Perhaps I may find myself on the way to a class to train people and unable to find the room.
- Nightmares certainly spring from this mechanism.
3. PSI, or ESP type of dreams
- They have a deeper feeling of awareness about them
- I am careful about identifying this kind of dream, because it’s easy to confuse it with a psychological dream.
- This is where I start looking for validation.
- For instance I dreamed of a friend once and asked her briefly about it. She didn’t become upset, but was clearly uncomfortable.
- Another time I related a moment when I heard a thought from her during the in-between state of wakefulness and sleep. She didn’t react, except to smile and later asked me to keep in touch.
Imagine the kind of world we could have if more people could be in that state of awareness and want to remain friends.
4. A combination of the above and, to an extent, will involve some level of lucidity
- These are the deepest dreams I’ve had. They offer the richest experience and lasting memories.
- These can include:
- Meeting spirits, ghosts, angels, or other non-physical entities
- Meeting with people who are alive in our level of reality
- Past lives
- Recurring dreamscapes
- Contain archetypical symbols, characters, and/or imagery
- Validation when ESP is involved may be difficult to obtain, would the person you may have dreamt with admit to such things?
What percentage of the deeper dreams are real? How many can be chalked up to imagination? Unless a person joins with one or more dream partners, dreams involving the paranormal can be difficult to validate.
No common mechanisms exist with us in today’s highly technical physical world to measure it. Just another thing to live with and suggest to the seeker that a greater reality is possible.
Take the gifts dreams bring to you and enjoy each and every one.
To go one step further, follow the link below to WikiHow and read the article “How to Influence Your Dreams.”
Pleasant Dreams,
– Jeffrey A. Limpert
__________________
References:
http://www.wikihow.com/Influence-Your-Dreams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream
Image information:
Hupao (“Dreaming of the Tiger”) Spring in Hangzhou, China
User:Sh1019
Extensive photography data but I could not find the name of the photographer.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hupao.jpg
Updated on 02/26/2012
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