admin – Page 10 – Ruben Bailey

May 6, 2008

Idealism: I Think therefore I Am

Last night I had a dream where I am visiting my nephew who is a student in college. He has most of his days free able to enjoy the campus. He shows me around campus. The campus is on the edge of the sea. The water is tropical, shallow and crystal clear such that I can clearly see the sand at my feet. There are many boulders and rock formations in the shallow sea that protrude above the surface of the water.

We are standing in the shallow waters where we have a clear line of sight down a water way that leads to where I come from; my point of origin 3000 miles away. I know this to be the path I need to take in order to return home. As I stand there with him, we marvel at the majestic beauty that is this place.  As I am standing there I realize I am standing atop of an old ruin. I am standing on a pillar; the leg of a man; a stone statue that once stood here.  All that remains is the stone from his ankle down to his shoe of both his right and left leg which now form two pillars. I stand upon the stone that is his left leg to admire his shoes. In looking closely at his shoes I notice he wore tennis shoes.

In a moment of clarity, I become lucid. I suddenly know where I stand. With a new awareness, I realize they had idealized his tennis shoes.  Looking out upon the horizon, I realize the magnitude of where I stand.

As I stand upon the pillar of his left leg, the ruin around me now begins to rematerialize as it once was before the day of its destruction. From the sea arose an arch to my right that is covered in seaweed. I know that by standing on the ruin of his leg I bring the life force back to this man because these were my tennis shoes. Now awestruck with this revelation, I know I must return home with the news. In the strait, a staircase appears. I run up the stairs to the top but when I reach the top there is no place else to go. I turn back, knowing I will have to return home the hard way and travel through the campus to the other side. Running back toward the campus of the university, I arrive at a wooden gate that is secured with a pad lock. The moment I stand in front of the gate the pad lock releases and the gate swings open.

I pass though the gate and enter the campus courtyard. Standing in the center of the courtyard I look back and see a demon standing on the inside of the now open gate. This demon had allowed me in. The demon then run toward me. My initial reaction is to flee but a part of me knows I must confront this demon head on once and for all. I circle the courtyard and turn myself around to take up my stand. Like a bull in a ring, I lower my eyebrows in a determined frown. I charge the demon head on. Surprised by my action the demon turns to retreat to a corner.    Head to head I corner him and open my eyes to awake from the dream.

At the foot of my bed was standing a sea faring man who wore a sailor’s hat. In his left hand he held a shoe; heel facing me. He was shaking like a wet dog. He was offering me the shoe as he repeatedly ran his index finger along the ankle of the shoe.

I immediately grabbed my voice recorder to record the details of the dream. I knew the dream had great importance to me. When I got to the part about the tennis shoes I became stuck unable to place a word to the feeling I had felt surrounding the shoes. As if to help me, the sailor placed the words so clearly in my mind. They came like a refreshing sea breeze that I could literally feel. “They idealized his shoes.”

I thought that’s an odd way to describe it. It wouldn’t have been my choice of words but I knew those words were true to the dream. He then held out the shoe. I reached over to receive the shoe and held it in my hand. Sitting in my bed, my alarm clock sounded as the sailor disappeared leaving behind the etheric blue shoe in my hand. I reached over to snooze the alarm. I put the shoe under my covers and laid there in amazement.

On the way to work someone traveling on the Metro with a suitcase bumped my ankle removing my shoe. I stopped to fix my shoe thinking, “that’s a strange coincidence.” At work I searched Wikipedia for a suitable image to convey the imagery of the dream. The water way reminded me of the Straits of Gibraltar. I knew nothing of Gibraltar other than the fact that there was a water way so I looked it up. This led me to the Rock of Gibralter. Come to find out the Rock of Gibraltar is also known as the Pillars of Hercules. I was beside myself. Here this dream turned out to be a continuation of yesterdays dream. .

I knew there was definitely something very profound here. The synchronicity gave me the assurance that what I experienced is in fact real. I then decided to look up the meaning of idealize which was an oddly placed word conveyed by the dream. I felt it had some significance that I need to investigate. As I followed this clue, I was lead to the term idealism. I was surprised to find the word has a lot to do with metaphysics and God.

Idealism is the doctrine that ideas, or thought, make up either the whole or an indispensable aspect of any full reality, so that a world of material objects containing no thought either could not exist as it is experienced, or would not be fully “real.” Idealism is often contrasted with materialism, both belonging to the class of monist as opposed to dualist or pluralist ontologies.

In Eastern thought, as reflected in Hindu idealism, the concept of idealism takes on the meaning of higher consciousness, essentially the living consciousness of an all-pervading God, as the basis of all phenomena. A type of Asian idealism is Buddhist idealism.

Plato
Main article: Platonic idealism
In common discussion, Plato is often referred to as an “idealist”, because of his doctrine of the “Forms,” which are certainly “ideals,” in a broad sense. But Plato doesn’t describe the Forms as being in any mind. Instead, he regularly describes them as having their own, independent existence.[1] So it seems clear that Plato is not, at any rate, a “subjective” idealist, like Berkeley.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is sometimes interpreted as drawing attention to the problem of knowing “external objects”–the problem that concerned Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, and other modern philosophers. But the Forms that the Cave-dwellers are ignorant of aren’t “external” to them in the way that material objects are for these modern thinkers. The Forms are the true realities, but they aren’t spatially outside us, as material objects are. So the issue that Plato’s allegory addresses–which is, roughly, how can we know what is truly real (and truly good)?–is quite different from the modern issue of our knowledge of the “external world.”

However, even if Plato doesn’t share the specific concerns of modern philosophy, and of George Berkeley, in particular, Plato could still be a non-subjective idealist. He could believe that matter has no independent existence, or that full “reality” (as distinct from mere existence) is achieved only through thought. Bernard Williams and Myles Burnyeat have maintained that Greek philosophers never conceived of idealism as an option, because they lacked Descartes’s conception of an independently existing mind.[2] But Williams and Burnyeat didn’t consider the possibility that Plato could have held an idealism like Kant’s, which argues from the nature of knowledge to the nature of the objects of knowledge, or like Hegel’s, which denies that matter is fully “real”–without (in either case) reducing material objects to ideas in a mind or minds. Moreover, Plato’s theory of the separation of soul and body could be seen as an earlier, rougher form of Cartesian dualism.

The German Neo-Kantian scholar, Paul Natorp, argued in his Plato’s Theory of Ideas. An Introduction to Idealism (first published in 1903)[3] that Plato was a non-subjective, “transcendental” idealist, somewhat like Kant, and Natorp’s thesis has received support from some recent scholars.[4]

Descartes
Writing about Descartes, Schopenhauer claimed, “… he was the first to bring to our consciousness the problem whereon all philosophy has since mainly turned, namely that of the ideal and the real. This is the question concerning what in our knowledge is objective and what subjective, and hence what eventually is to be ascribed by us to things different from us and what is to be attributed to ourselves.” (Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. I, “Sketch of a History of the Doctrine of the Ideal and the Real”) According to Descartes, we really know only what is in our own consciousnesses. We are immediately and directly aware of only our own states of mind. The whole external world is merely an idea or picture in our minds. Therefore, it is possible to doubt the reality of the external world as consisting of real objects. “I think, therefore I am” is the only assertion that can’t be doubted. This is because self-consciousness and thinking are the only things that are unconditionally experienced for certain as being real. In this way, Descartes posed the issue of epistemological idealism, which is awareness of the difference between the world as an ideational mental picture and the world as a system of external objects.

Does this mean I’m Hercules…or possibly a divine hero? I think…therefore I Am. In keeping humble, I interpret it as my potential is herculean and if I exercize it, I can be a hero in my own right. There is something so compelling in all this that makes me feel I’m onto something. I get the feeling that if I stay on course I will do or discover something in the course of my life that can have the potential to change human history.

May 5, 2008

Dawning the Face of God

Last night while I was deep in mediation lying in bed, I saw in my mind’s eye what looked like a woman. She was on top of me, somehow within me, occupying the same physical space that my body occupies. As she raised her body out of mine, she delivered a deep tongue kiss. It caught me completely off guard. “Too late to refuse that one,” I thought to myself. To play with the vision, I kissed her back. I then observed her unusual features as she blushed and backed away. She was humanoid, with friendly lizard like qualities. Her tongue was thick and long and her jaw bird like. Her colors were saphire blue and emerald green. She reminded me of the Geico Gecko. Slowly her image faded and I drifted off to sleep.

My dreams were one struggle after another. So much happened that I can’t even begin to recount all the events. The last thing I remember happened toward the early morning hours. I was watching these reptilian humanoids perform a procedure on me. I could see my anesthetized body below on a table. They had my jaw unlocked and my mouth wide open as if I had swallowed something. Something began to come out of my mouth. I felt very uncomfortable as if I was in labor. Something from deep within me was coming out. I then realized it was the lizard’s tongue that I had swallowed. I began to squirm as the anesthetic began to wear off. I struggled to bring it up from deep within my esophagus. With one large and forceful cough I regurgitated and expelled the lizard tongue.

I immediately opened my eyes and awoke from the dream. Above my bed was floating the image of a gigantic Herculean man. He had a huge frame and was very muscular. His hair was a radiant white. He had rosy checks and a thick white beard and mustache. I could tell he was a man of great wisdom. He clearly saw me too. He tried to tell me that he is what they had extricated from within me. He kept patting himself on the chest, saying, “I am, I am.” I laid there confused somewhat angry that I’ve been choked up for so long with this huge man inside me.

I studied his features carefully. Still angry, I grabbed my voice recorder and recorded the details of what I had experienced. Choked with anger, I felt it difficult to describe what had just happened to me. I did the best I could and set the voice recorder back down. The man was still hovering over my bed, trying desperately to get my attention back. I simply refused to give it to him. I rolled on my side and returned to my sleep. Finding it difficult to sleep, I decided to meditate so I rolled on my back.

I quickly fell into a vision, where I saw two great birds the white condor and the black condor struggling with each other; their etheric bodies melding into one and emerging as two. Over and over this process continued. After a few minutes my alarm clock sounded. I opened my eyes and reached over to snooze it. When I looked back, I noticed the white bearded man was still above my bed. Now he had my attention. I connected with him telepathically and realized the struggle would continue until I devoted all my attention to him. But who was this man? He answered, “Do you not recognize me?” He did look familiar. He reminded me a little bit of Santa Clause. Then I remembered. This man had visited me before. “Spirituality is a treasure to live for all humanity, to overcome a notion, in a time when spirits rejoice. Where ever you go you pull the universe with you.” Oh my….I knew who this man was……but why was he dawning my face? His face was my face at the end of my life.

When I got to work I searched Wikipedia for a picture to use for my post that would come close to describing the man from this morning but nothing seemed to fit. I tried Hercules, Giants, Gigantes, Jack and the Beanstalk, but nothing seemed to fit. I finally came across Heracles. The minute I saw his statue I said…”That’s him.” I didn’t even know who Heracles was. Come to find out he is also know as Hercules. I had thought they were different people but come to find out he is one and the same. I did find the meaning of his name interesting.

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles (“glory of Hera“, or “Glorious through Hera,” Alcides (original name) was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, nephew of Amphitryon[1] and great-grandson (and half-brother) of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among his characteristic attributes.

I also looked up Hera in Heracles and to my astonishment it resembled my dream of swallowing and regurgitating.

In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera, (Greek Ήρα, or Here (Ήρη in Ionic and Homer) was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage. Her equivalent in Roman mythology was Juno. The cow and later the peacock were sacred to her. Hera was born of Cronus and Rhea and was swallowed by her father after birth due to a prophecy that one of Cronus’s children would take over his throne. Zeus was not swallowed because of a plan hatched by Rhea and Gaia. Rhea wrapped a stone into baby clothes and gave that to Cronus. Zeus was then moved to a cave on Crete. Rhea later gave Cronus an herb which she told him could make him completely invincible. The herb actually made him regurgitate the five other Olympians: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, as well as the previously ingested stone. When Zeus grew older, he banished Cronus to Tartarus, the deepest chasm in the underworld, because the Titans were immortal and could not be killed.

Now do I look like Hercules? Maybe there is a little resemblance.

May 1, 2008

The Spire at Angeles Crest

Thomas Circle 1943 I had a dream that I was staying up in Angeles Crest in the Angeles National Forest. I want to visit the nearby area so I set off on a pilgrimage down the Crest where I remembered as a child there being an observatory which sat atop a spire. I want to once again see the view of the city below from this observation point. This is where I was born. As I set off on the path I notice the many novelty shops along the way. I meet a vendor along the road who is wearing a poncho. He is an indigenous Shaman. I admire his poncho and ask him where he acquired it. He tells me there is a thrift store along the way to the spire. I make a note to myself to pick up a poncho for myself on my way back. He then gives me a phone to use in the event I get lost.I arrive at the spire in no time. The heights from this point are incredibly overwhelming. I feel the rush of feelings and emotions rise from the illusion screen below me. The illusion screen is like an IMAX theatre screen on which life itself is played out. Even though I know it to be an illusion, I can not help but feel the rush of emotions produced by the illusion. It is a kaleidoscope of emotion. It feels euphoric. It takes everything within my power to keep from being swept away. I want to head back but the many waves of emotion cause me to become disoriented. I can no longer remember which road I came down. I ask for help but no one seems to be able to offer assistance. I finally decide to descend the spire into the illusion to get my bearings straight. Once within the illusion, I become aware of the church choir room that sits off to the side of the church. I recognize it as the place where I used to perform. This room is hidden and those who perform here are never given any recognition for the value they bring to the church.

I walk outside the church and find myself out on a traffic circle. I recognize it to be Thomas Circle. It is the place where I was baptized as an adult. From this vantage point I can clearly see the overpass and the road that will lead me back up to Angeles Crest.

It is getting late and I know they normally close of the pass off at dusk. I therefore begin to make my way back by climbing the spire. I remember that I have a phone that the Shaman gave me. I telephone him to let him know to please keep the pass open for me. I’m standing waiting for the phone to connect to the other side. The call goes through. The spire phone beside me begins to ring. I answer it saying, “Hello”, while at the same time my call is answered by the Shaman. Trying to do two things at once now I tell the Shaman my request. At the same time on the spire phone I hear the Shaman say “Hello”, followed by my request. I realize I have both ends of the same phone line one in each hand. Confused I then ask the Shaman, which phone should I bring back? He replies…”Bring back the original phone.” I then look at myself and realize I’m wearing a poncho.

I looked up Thomas Circle on Wikipedia and found:

A statue of General George Henry Thomas by John Quincy Adams Ward was erected in Thomas Circle in 1879. The circle is considered to mark the boundary between the downtown section of 14th Street and the emerging uptown 14th Street neighborhood.

April 30, 2008

Hypnagogia: The Tong of Tongs

Last night I turned off the lights in my bedroom and laid in bed to meditate. It was such a wonderful meditation that I completely lost myself in the experience. As I began to come back to awareness of where I was I was hearing a voice gently guiding me back through what seemed to be a hypnotic session; “…and when you open your eyes you will remember everything.” I opened my eyes to see a man kneeling on my bed looking at me. He was transparent, etheric and blue in color. As I adjusted my perception to see him better, I noticed he wasn’t exactly a man. He was an ape man like the ones in “Planet of the Apes.” In his hand he held out a tong of some sort with a gripper at the end. I knew he had to be trying to communicate something to me. By this time I couldn’t remember whatever it was he had hypnotized me to remember. I looked at him with a puzzled and confused look. He then produced a pad and writing utensil and made as if he was writing. I then understood. To acknowledge my understanding, I in turn made as if I was writing while nodding my head. I understood, I was to write about it and the memories or revelations would come to me. Maybe he was preparing to give me a dream. I quickly grabbed my voice recorder and recorded this initial experience so I would not forget.

Early in the morning hours I woke up with the urge to go to the bathroom. I got up and paused for a moment trying to think back if I had had any dreams. I couldn’t remember anything. I proceeded to go to the bathroom. I then returned to bed, thinking, “Those tongs had to have been gibberish.” When I laid back down, I immediately began having a dream while fully awake. I was in Miami at the condo Joe and I had when we were together. There were people looking in through a veiled window in the door. I recognized the scene. After my near death experience and on those using days during my last relapse, my struggle to get clean, I was haunted by other worldly entities and earthly beings who I believed were earth bound spirits or 4th dimensional spirits in the astral worlds who were attracted to the energy vibrations I gave off while using. I basically could no longer use and be alone because I would instantly drop into altered states of consciousness triggered by the drugs. While in these states I would encounter both love based and fear based entities. I know now they were not hallucinations because I have these same experiences while clean except they now only come while meditating or in the twilight hours as I’m going in and out of the dream states ie. the hypnagogia states. I am simply much more receptive now after the near death to these experiences. This part of my life I could fill a whole book, which will come later. For now, it will suffice to say that I understood the vision.

Those I perceived to be good people (the police) from this other dimension were coming to hold me accountable for my drug use. I willingly surrendered. They placed black tie wraps around my wrists. They then proceeded to arrest me and my parents who are in their 80’s and very fragile. “Wait,” I told them, “what do you want with my family. They should not be subject to an arrest. They are too frail, it would kill them.” This angered me. Compelled to save my mom and dad from a power hungry group of police, I suddenly had a flash of insight, “OPEN YOUR EYES”. But first, I reached over and removed the tie wraps that imprisoned my parents. As I did, I told the police officer that I would not allow him to misuse his power. I then opened my eyes. I was now safely back in my bed.

Feeling unsatisfied with the way I had left the situation, I felt the need to return to somehow change the course of events for the better. I closed my eyes and reappeared in the scene. The cops were gone now. I and my family were now free. I looked around for a way out of this mess I had created. I somehow knew I needed to leave Miami and head home. I prepared for our exit. I looked out on the Bay of Biscayne where ships were beginning to line the perimeter monitoring my every move. We took flight and flew North West in between two ships banking right when we cleared the perimeter; again I opened my eyes.

I still didn’t know what the tongs had to do with any of this so when I got to work I looked up the word in Wikipedia. To my incredible surprise, I found quite curiously the proof of God’s existence. This next part is beyond words. According to Wikipedia:

Tongs also have a special place in matters of theology. An opinion cited in Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), a Talmudic tractate, states that God created “the original tongs, for tongs must be made with tongs.” Jewish thinkers therefore have used tongs as proof to God’s existence.

I was beside myself. I still didn’t know what was meant by it but simply that Tongs could be used to prove God’s existence was a miracle for me. It was a tool I could use. Was my visitor saying, I am on the road to proving God’s existence? This is my passion to do. So what’s the story with the Tongs? I needed to know more so here is what I found.

The Tong of Tongs

The rabbis of the Mishnah compiled various lists of items that they claimed were created “at twilight on the eve of the first Sabbath.” Most of those items are associated with spectacular biblical miracles, such as the mannah, Balaam’s talking donkey, and the fissure that opened to swallow up Korach and his rebellious congregation.

Maimonides argued plausibly that the lesson underlying this tradition is that God’s true greatness is manifested in the unchanging laws of nature, and not in the ability to arbitrarily suspend or abrogate those laws. Accordingly, even wondrous events that appear to us as contraventions of the natural order were in reality programmed into the structure of the universe at the time of its creation.

The Maharal of Prague explained that the concept of “twilight” is to be grasped as a metaphor for the subtle metaphysical dimension in which miracles originate. Just as the visible twilight is no more than an indefinable moment in the subtle transition from day to night, so are we to understand that the creation of miracles occurred in a realm that is outside of time, in the infinitesimal present moment that is forever sandwiched between the past and the future. Within this moment lies a dynamic potentiality for change and improvement in response to constantly changing circumstances.

At any rate, not all the phenomena that the rabbis portrayed as having been created on that first Friday evening relate to high-profile miracles. According to Rabbi Judah bar Ilai, the list should also include… the first pair of blacksmith’s tongs.

Among the ancients, the ability to fashion metal into tools and weapons was often enveloped in an aura of mystery, or even fear. In primitive cultures, blacksmiths were perceived as masters of occult lore, and pagan mythologies sang of divine smiths who forged weapons for the gods.

However, as the Talmud explains it, Rabbi Judah’s reasoning was based on much more prosaic and rational considerations. When a blacksmith fashions a pair of tongs in the forge, the only way he can handle the red-hot metal is with tongs. Since we are speaking of the manufacture of the first pair of tongs, this possibility did not exist. Ergo, the first pair must have been provided directly by the Creator himself.

Indeed, the argument sounds irrefutable.

In its modest and whimsical way, Rabbi Judah was employing the same method of proof that was adopted by the great philosophers in order to speculate about such weighty questions as the origins of the universe or the existence of God. For each observable phenomenon, these thinkers would persist in asking what was its cause or what set it into motion. Eventually, as it was no longer possible to keep posing such questions ad infinitum, they were forced to posit the existence of an Unmoved Mover, an Uncaused Cause, or a similar hypothesis, in order to account for the existence of the world.

Nevertheless, there were sages in the Talmud who challenged the cogency Rabbi Judah’s reasoning. It was possible, they argued, that the person who made the first tongs did so simply by first making a tong-shaped mold, and then filling it with molten iron.

For the Maharal, the significance of placing the tongs at the end of the Mishnah’s catlogue of prefabricated miracles lies precisely in the fact that they are the least supernatural item in the list The mention of the creation of the first tongs alongside the more dazzling wonders of the biblical past serves to underscore the lesson that God’s concern for human needs does not always manifest itself in the spectacular pyrotechnics of split seas or burning bushes.

A similar approach was advocated by the 17th-18th century author Rabbi Jacob Culi whose Judeo-Spanish compendium Me’am Lo’ez is one of the most beloved commentaries among Sepharadic Jews.

From the rabbinic discussion about the origins of the tongs, Rabbi Culi derives a profound moral insight into the divine plan for creation.

He argues that people should not be disheartened by the fact that they were created with imperfections and moral shortcomings. On the contrary, the example of the tongs teaches us that the Almighty will always furnish us with any articles that are truly necessary to correct the deficiencies of the human situation.

If this is true with respect to the material advantages inherent in a simple blacksmith’s tongs, how much more does it apply to the religious realm; so that we can be confident that the Almighty will always equip us with powerful spiritual resources that will allow us to overcome our temptations and limitations.

First Publication:
Jewish Free PressJune 20 2002, p. 6.
Taken From: Eliezer Segal’s articles

I was also curious why my hypnotist appeared as an ape man; maybe to imply the beginning of time? Here too I went to Wikipedia and found out something I didn’t know concerning “Planet of the Apes.”

The main events of the book are placed in a frame story, in which Jinn and Phillys, a couple out on a pleasure cruise in a spaceship, find a message in a bottle floating in space. The message inside the bottle is the log of a man, Ulysse Mérou, who has written down his story in hopes that someone else, somewhere, will find it.

.. a message in a bottle floating in space which was the log of a man… That sounds just like my blog. I blog my dreams and experience hoping someone out there will hear me and respond. Is it possible someone out in the universe heard my song? Am I the ape man?

I told you this stuff is out of this world!!! The rest I’m saving for my next book.

April 25, 2008

Giv Dar; Shahnameh

This morning when my alarm sounded I promptly hit the snooze button. I immediately noticed beside my bed was standing an alien Being from another dimension. He was what I would consider to be very hideous. His skin was a khaki tan hybrid color with a leathery wet look. He was some form of humanoid creature. I thought, “Wow, he is ugly.” I was however not afraid. I want to know who these visitors are and why they have been seeking me out. I thought it important to note the time on my alarm clock. It was 7am sharp. I then felt my body jerk abruptly as I was lifted by my mid-section. I felt the right side of my face scrap what felt like concrete. I passed out for a few moments. It all happened so quickly.

When I regained consciousness I was lying face down. I could feel the pain in my face from the impact when I landed. I could vaguely remember my face hitting the ground yet my surroundings was still my bedroom but I somehow knew I was no longer in my bedroom. My nose and sinuses were full of mucus. I rolled slightly to my side. My alien visitor was beside me examining me. I did not fear. This was my chance to figure out what they want from me. As I looked at him, I immediately had a vision.

This vision was unique in that everything happened concurrently as if I was outside of linear time. I will describe it linearly but I can’t honestly say what happened first. I was also completely awake the entire time.

I traveled at great speed over a desert landscape. I was without a doubt on another planet possibly Venus or Mercury because the sun was at least twice the size it is on Earth. Even though it was early morning, I could see the sun in all its fullness. I was amazed at the clarity with which I was viewing this other reality. I was completely immersed in my new reality. I could see people. I stared into their faces noting all features. Not one detail was omitted. This was not a dream. They were human like me possibly gods from another planet. It reminded me of Egypt but the desert sand was red like it is in New Mexico. The landscape was also very jagged. People here lived not in houses but in the sand. There were many beautiful white and gold temples. The landscape was breathtaking. I walked among the people. Many wore saffron robes that flowed with the breeze. There were children present too. As I walked among them I could hear their thoughts. I presume they could hear mine because they were talking to me telepathically and responding to my every thought.

I had the impression I was in some sort of rehabilitation compound. I wanted to experience my new reality so I accepted it. I accepted this new life around me. As they were examining me. A young man with a kind face drew blood from my arm. He said, “Hold still.” I could hear the heart monitor in the distance. I could see the blood as it began to flow through the tubing but it didn’t seem to come from me. I felt nothing. I heard him say, “You can let go now.” I then heard the heart monitor go flat with a single sustained tone. I thought to myself, “Have I died? Is this the end? Is this how I died?” My next thought was? “OK, I’ll go with it.” I accepted my death if that was what had just occurred. I didn’t care. I simply wanted to continue the experience to see where it would lead.

As I was being examined, a Being very different from the original one at my bedside came upon those attending me and said to them, “This one is one of ours.” I was lead away on a cart that floated above the ground like a hover craft. There were now military personnel among those present. I was allowed to gather some of my belongings from a nearby locker. In the locker was a leather backpack I had purchased many years ago when I went to Greece during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Egypt and Israel. I was surprised to see a cell phone in one of its pockets. I had never seen this cell phone before but somehow I recognized it as mine. It had many features with many buttons which looked more like a remote control than a cell phone. I was told that I could use it at any time to call for help. I was warned however not to use a certain set of features which were presently grayed out.

There was a gentleman standing next to me while I was searching through my locker. As I stood there puzzled with what I had found….our hands touched. I felt an incredible sense of love in his touch flow through Him and to me. I knew the touch to be a silent acknowledgment of the presence of Spirit. I knew God was with me.

The lockers suddenly shifted and I could not remember which of the many lockers was mine. Having my leather bag in hand, I asked the kind gentleman if he would care for my bag in his locker. He then gave me the combination and address of his locker. I was surprised that he had that level of trust in me enough to give me his personal information. He didn’t seem to think twice about it. The lockers then shifted again and became a book case filled with books of all sorts. I suddenly had access to a wealth of knowledge.

I was then taken on the hover craft to survey the land. I observed everything very carefully trying hard to remember all details to bring back with me…assuming I made it back I wanted to be able to journal it all. I looked and found the year in which I now found myself. The year was 3684. We passed by the foundation of what was once the World Trade Center. The towers no longer stood here. There was not even a city that remained. I knew I needed to bring something back. This was inportant information. New York was a thing of the past. I could see the remnants of a building that once stood here. Atop the building read, “Giv Dar.” Even though this place had been devastated….there was a sense of incredible peace. I sensed the presense of those who died here.

Upon returning to the rehabilitation compound I was greeted by others. They asked me where I had been taken. I answered, “The Place of Death”. They immediately read my thoughts. They were able to see everything I have experienced in this lifetime. I was an open book to them. In the face of death I found peace.

The vision faded as my consciousness returned. My gaze was set upon my alarm clock which now read 7:40am.

Having done my research I found:

I looked up Giv in Wikipedia which redirected me to “Shahnameh,” or the “The Book of Kings.” Dar seems to mean a place or city and is hindu word which is Sanskrit for “supporter”. It’s is usually associated with a geographical place such as Dar es Shalaam.

Shāhnāmé, or Shāhnāma (Persian: شاهنامه )(alternative spellings are Shahnama, Shahnameh, Shahname, Shah-Nama, etc.), “The Book of Kings” , is an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 CE and is the national epic of the Persian-speaking world. The Shāhnāmeh tells the mythical and historical past of Iran from the creation of the world up until the Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century.

My co-worker is Iranian so I asked him about Shahnameh. I was suprised to find out that he knew the writing well. I wanted to understand how the word Giv possibly related to this work. He told me that Giv in one of the main characters in the Epic.

April 14, 2008

Hades and the Valley of the Dead

It is Thanksgiving Day in the Valley of the Dead. There are celebrations everywhere with people feasting. Many shop owners are selling souvenirs to take back with you after the celebration. A man approaches me to escort me through the Valley of the Dead. He explains how the day of Thanksgiving came to this place. As I’m talking to him, it suddenly occurs to me where exactly I am. I want to see Hades for what it really is. I take flight and circle the valley. Color here is muted in deep earth tones. I am completely lucid. I no longer fear flight because I know I am dreaming. I look down to see my feet dangling below me. Having lost my fear, I now spread my wings wide and move my focus to carefully observe the landscape. I circle the valley several times feeling the intense euphoria of free flight. I can see horses racing. Yes they are real horses. This is actually a very beautiful place with old world charm. I then come back down to stroll through the many homes and shops. I’m looking for a suitable souvenir to bring back with me. As I’m browsing the shops, my cell phone rings. The ringing catches me off guard. How could my cell phone be ringing deep in the Valley of the Dead? I answer it to hear the loving sound of my best friend Dinah’s voice. As I listen to her voice, I realize I am connected to the other side. I can now choose to change my path and find the answers which have eluded me in the past. I am now in a unique position to call up the roots of my issues and correct for them by bring back a souvenir.

My attention then falls upon an ash tray with the insignia of the Valley of the Dead embossed upon it. These ash trays are used to keep a portion of the cremated remains of those who at one time dwelled upon the earth and are now living in the Valley of the Dead. These now empty ash trays are ready to be brought back to the surface. I then take flight once again ready to return home. As I leave I notice there is a noose tied around my neck whose line now trails me into the Gates of Hades. As the noose begins to tighten the line snaps free. I then reach over my head to remove the remaining noose from around my neck. I watch the noose as it is carried off by the wind beneath my wings. I am free.

April 9, 2008

Little Terror

I had a dream where I am learning to fly. I soar to incredible heights. The feeling is exhilarating. They are pushing my limits beyond my comfort zone. I am good at flying. I begin to gain a sense of independence and freedom that I’ve never had before. Alone now, I realize that I am nailed to a cross. It is not me who has the power of flight. The bird that carries me is the wings of Christ. Now I am the one nailed to the cross. This is my crucifixion. In the ecstasy of flight I wonder if this is how Christ felt. In pondering this mystery, I realize I am no longer alone. Above me and above the cross are two others. One is above me to my lift and the other is above to my right. I am no longer one but three. As three we fly as one. Like training wheels on a child’s bike they guide and assist me in flight.

I then had a dream where I am a child. I have been given a bicycle. I grab hold of the rear wheel and the pedals begin to melt away. How am I now supposed to provide thrust? I then notice my hands. My hands are like those of an alien with only three long index fingers and a thumb. They tell me that it is my fingers that have melted the pedals. I look at my hands again. In doing so, I became lucid. I realize this is yet another fear tactic. I know I am not an alien. I quickly dispel the illusion and discover they had used spoons which were taped to my hands to give the shadow appearance of long fingers. A struggle ensues between me and those aliens responsible for the illusion. I know I am now confronting my fear of alienation.

Seeing my oppressors, I grab the alien’s wallet without him noticing. I tear it in half and hide the pieces under my bed covers. I figure it will buy me time to have hidden it in pieces. The alien is now looking for his wallet. He needs it in order to complete his mission. As he ducks down to look for it, I catch him off guard and pierce his medulla oblongata with my pinky. He in turns bites my pinky off leaving my pinky inserted deep in his brainstem. I then reached in with my other hand to retrieve my pinky. I figured I could reattach it later. The struggle continues with him frantically searching for his wallet.

The struggle wakes me up. As I open my eyes I can clearly see two alien beings one on either side of me. Their energy signature was much different than other hypnopompic images I’ve seen. This energy was more dense and dark green in nature. They had both my arms pinned down to the bed. Without them noticing that I had woken up, I examined their movement carefully. They have long heads which were clearly not human which made them very tall. Both were busy holding my arms down while at the same time looking around the room for something…presumably their wallet. Realizing this was my opportunity to examine what alien life is really like. I studied them carefully, remaining calm to maintain my state of altered awareness.

After a few minutes, I felt I had had enough of their games, I pulled my right hand away from him. To my surprise he held on. This is real, I thought to myself. He was now looking at me face to face. To my surprise he was wearing a human face. Slightly taken off guard by his change in appearance and his grip, I paused for a second to relax again and consider my options. They resumed their business. Thinking this can’t be really happening…I pulled my arm away from him again but this time with greater force. He immediately turned and looked at me. The quick and forceful movement of my arm slugged him in the face knocking his mask off. He quickly readjusted his human mask like a woman adjusting her bra. My hand was now free however. He then grabbed my hand again and slapped it as if to tell me I shouldn’t do that. I was already clued in to him being a fake.

Now however I was free from their grip. I laid there looking at both of them. I then found myself in their mind. I could see what their life was like. I could see them going about their business. Their world is dark black and green with very little light. It is a shadow world. They wear hoods to hide their features. I wanted to see them so I asked my consciousness to move about within their world. I wanted to see their faces. Their world began to speed up as if they were running from me avoiding me. I then saw their face and realized they had no love in their world. The images of their world began to slowly slip away. I then raised my palms to my two alien visitors who were still standing beside me now in a trance. I mentally released their wallet and sent love with them into their world. I could see waves of luminous blue light pulsating through their essence as streams of love flowed through me and into their world. I could still see everything they were experiencing in their minds.

I was utterly amazed at the encounter. I got up out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. I noticed the dog I have sitting on the banister in the hallway. He now had a new scarf around his neck. It was a black scarf. It had a white scull and cross bones with the words, “Little Terror” on it. This was not a scarf I had in my house or that I placed around his neck. I do have a roommate now, so I assumed he placed it on him when he came home last night. Had he unknowingly carried out their dirty work? Coincidence, I think not. I’ll have to ask him tonight if he was the one who gave him the scarf.

April 4, 2008

Friday's Hope

Last night, I set my alarm half an hour earlier to allow myself a little more time in the morning to mediate before getting out of bed. During the night I had a dream where I was actively within my addictions. I want to act out before my partner comes home with the dry cleaning. As I stand in the kitchen contemplating how I might accomplish this and get away with it, I see his car pull up in front of the house. Not having enough time to follow through with it, I set my intentions aside. He is arriving with a man who is going to do our taxes. They walk up the front steps and ring the doorbell. I open the door and welcome them into the house. They walk over and sit at my dining room table. I ask them if they would like some eggs for breakfast to which the tax man asks, “How many ways can you serve up eggs?” I’m insulted because he knows what my earlier thoughts were. I want to run, because there is nothing worse than being called to the carpet. As I turn to walk away, I see other men in black, tax collectors, arriving at the house. There is nowhere for me to run. I have no other means of escaping than to fly away and end the dream. My consciousness begins rise. The tax collectors rush in and begin grabbing at my feet to pull me back to hold me accountable. I reach down and try to break myself loose but now they have both my feet and arms.

I slowly begin to awaken still struggling to free myself. As I open my eyes I could see the two men now on all 4’s on my bed pulling at both my arms. They were literally pulling on me. I could still feel and see them in this wakeful state.

Now awake, I no longer felt threatened. I clearly examined the two men before me. One of the two men had a gold coin resting on his upper lip. As I began to relax, I acknowledged them and they released their grip on my arms. They began to float away headed toward my headboard. I followed the man with the gold coin and as his face floated by me, I quickly reached up to grab at the coin. I over shot my reach and instead my fist bumped his nose. He and the coin changed trajectory and disappeared. My alarm clock sounded. How coincidental was that, I thought to myself?

I turned off my alarm and began my meditation remaining wakeful and aware. I immediately reentered the dream where now I find myself aboard an aircraft. I get up out of my seat and walk over to look out the many windows. I can clearly see several planets below. They are so beautiful. I start screaming and shaking people’s seats saying, “Look, Look, Look there are planets outside.” I am in total amazement that I am experiencing this space voyage fully awake. I can’t stop looking out the window and admiring the incredible beauty that is these planets.

The aircraft begins its decent into the atmosphere of one of the planets. I am speechless, breathless and in total awe. The craft finally lands on the surface of the planet and the inhabitants on board the aircraft begin to disembark. I’m afraid that if I disembark I will not be allowed to return to my earthly reality. Knowing this is what I’ve always dreamed of experiencing; interstellar travel, I disembark. The feeling as I walked off the craft was so incredible. It felt as if I had actually crossed over completely into another dimension. I was no longer simply peering into this other dimension from within my meditation; I was now fully part of it. The people were slightly different than humans but in every sense very much human. I remember saying to myself, “They are just like me.” There were so many people going about their business. I then walked down a residential street where I came across two children playing. I observed them briefly and continued walking. I then turned around to take another look at them from afar. Something was not right with this picture. I stood there at a distance trying to figure out the anomaly. It then hit me. The houses were new but abandoned and the children playing were on a continuous loop. I was alone. Saddened, I retreated into myself. My dream body then became an orb of light. As my consciousness started to drift away, I saw another young girl sitting on the sidewalk playing jacks. She looked at me and said, “Please, don’t go back to your isolation.” The little girl knew me.

Next to her appeared a penny on the ground. I reached for the penny. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a penny from their world. I wanted to give the little girl a penny from my world but I did not have one with me. I then turned to look at her again and noticed there were now many pennies, gold coins of all kinds lying on the ground. I picked up several of them to examine them. They were very shiny and beautiful. I knew I was in a world where poverty was non-existent. I was filled with a renewed sense of hope.

Wanting to know more about this world, I looked around to see if I could see a street sign that could clue me into where I was. There was one street sign with the number 12 on it. At the bottom it read, “Friday”. The sign also had Arabic writing on it. I am worried that I might be somewhere in the Middle East but in this desert there is water; waters flowing with life. The little girl then reached out her hand and I reached back to accept hers. I then slowly opened my eyes to end my meditation. In front of me was a woman whose hand I held. She was completely illuminated with vibrant pale blue and gold colors. She was Hope. I held her hand not wanting the experience to end.

Amazing! God is simply amazing. There would truly be peace in the world if people pursued knowing their true self through prayer, meditation and dreams. The combination has the potential to crack open and awaken the hardest of souls.

As is customary for me to do, I looked up the word Friday in Webster’s dictionary. To my surprise:

Friday

The sixth day of the week.

prehistoric translation of Latin dies Veneris Venus’ day

before 12th century

April 3, 2008

Sole Man Out

I had a dream where I am a civil systems engineer in a CPA firm. I am looking at photographs taken at a company picnic. The pictures are spotlighted in the company’s brochure. As I thumb through the brochure looking at the photographs, I realize that I am the only engineer in the entire firm. Many of the photographs involve sporting activities such as soccer. I am not one to be engaged in sports. I feel awkward being the only man out. All of my other co-workers are CPA’s.

There is a guy in one of the photos who attracts me. I go back through the photographs looking for him specifically. My boss comes by my office and catches me thumbing through the photographs. I fain interest in the sporting activities so that he doesn’t become aware of my interest in this guy. He tells me that there is a benefit to being the only man out. He says, “We treat our sole people very special.”

April 2, 2008

Christened by Sir Elton John

As I lay in bed meditating, I began to drift off as a dream began while I was still semi- conscious.

I am in a church. All the ornate walls are made of a natural wood. They are about ready to deliver the Eucharist. As I look around the room, I notice I am the only one standing in the congregation other than a clergy member who is assisting the priest. I cannot see the priest because of a blinding white light that is coming from the pulpit. In an unusual move the clergy member walks off to my left presumable to retrieve Eucharist for the priest to deliver. He walks over to a sliding closet door imbedded in the wall of the church. He slides the door with ease to the left As if the church were on casters; the entire outer walls of the church begin to shift with the moving door. The sound of the great massive walls sliding across the floor wakes me up from my semi-conscious state. As if to remind me where I am in the dream, I hear my consciousness say to me, “He is about ready to deliver the Eucharist.” Attentive now, I see him reach for a robe that is hanging in the closet. It is the robe worn by Christ at the last supper which has remained hidden within the walls of the church. The light is now ever more blinding such that I can barely see anyone through the light. I then feel the robe being placed over my head and upon my body. I am in beside myself.

I slowly opened my eyes. Standing upon my bed was a translucent tall statuesque woman. She wore a rather large pair of glasses which reminded me of Elton John. She held an open hymnal in one hand. Her face was completely illuminated as if an orchestra light was reflecting off the pages of the hymnal. We acknowledged each other telepathically.

Relates to: Knights