Turning Tide

The Dreamland. About dreams, their significance, importance and potential.

While the basics and the different stages of dreams are very well demonstrated by P. Yogananda, Seth(doing the same with different words but essentially the same essence in other chapters of his books) takes dreaming further and explains as well the different dream dimensions and the "work" we all do in those dimensions while resting our body during sleep.

Within your own personality all facets of your consciousness converge, weather or not you are aware of it.

You are aware of your fluctuations in your normal consciousness and closer attentions would make some of it quite clear. You expand or narrow your scope of attention constantly and take all of these fluctuations for granted. They do not disturb you. In your dreamland you do usually not worry about returning safely to the present moment.

(The translation of earthly worries into symbols is not discussed in this chapter and should be studied in Seth’s books)

But a step away from our normal state of consciousness is another level of consciousness into which we slip without knowing. We will call it A-1.

At this level many abilities can be used. In your normal state you see the body. In A-1 your consciousness can enter the body of another, and heal it. You can, according to your abilities, manipulate matter from the inside consciously, with lucidity and alertness.

A-1 may be used as a side platform, so to speak, from which you can view physical events from a clearer standpoint. It can be used as a first of a series of steps, leading to "deeper" states of consciousness. A-1 is simple to enter. With greater practice, the content of your own mind will become as readily available. You will see your thoughts as clearly as your inner organs. In this case you may perceive them symbolically through symbols you will recognize, seeing jumbled thoughts for example as weeds, which you can them simply discard.

You can request that the thought content of your mind be translated into an intense image, symbolically representing individual thoughts and the overall mental landscape, then you take out what you don’t like and replace it with more positive images. This does not mean that this inner landscape must always be sunny, but it does mean that it should be well balanced.

A large and largely brooding inner landscape should alert you, so that you begin immediately to change it.

Feelings will appear more often in the changing mobility of water, wind, weather, skies and changing color.

You change what needs to be changed in whatever way occurs to you, then- by directing the body’s energy in that direction, by entering the flesh and bringing certain portions together that need this adjustment, by manipulating of the spine.

A-1 may be used also as a great framework for creativity, concentration, study, refreshment, rest and meditation. You may involve your own image of this state to help you, imagining it as a room or a pleasant landscape (e.g. a meadow!) or platform. Spontaneously, you will find your own symbol for this state.

You may also take steps aside from the present that you know. This leads to the realm of probabilities. This state can be extremely advantageous when you are trying to solve problems having to do with future arrangements, decisions that will affect the future. In this state you are able to try out various alternative decisions and some probable results, not imaginatively but in quite practical terms.

According to the situation you can do the same thing to find out the effect of this decision on others specifically. You then return to normal consciousness, going through the A-1 state that you used as a preliminary. After a period of rest, return and make the second decision, and again the third, following through in the same manner. Hen in normal consciousness you make the decision that you want from the information and experience that you have received. Let’s call this level A-1-a.

There is an A-1-b still adjacent to this one, and still starting off from an alternative present that can be used for many purposes.

It is not easy for the ordinary individual to enter, and it deals with group presents, with mass probabilities, racial matters, the movement of civilization.

The next adjacent level now would be A-1-c in which there is greater freedom of action, mobility and experience. There is no need to go deeply into any of these beyond this point, because you will not be involved with them, and they lead into realities that have little reference to your own.

Directly beneath A-1, now, you will have A-2, which is a slightly deeper state, using the analogy of up and down direction. It is less physical oriented than A-1. You will have excellent lucidity and awareness. This state can be used to explore the past in your terms of reference, within the probable system that you know.

Reincarnational pasts are known to you here. This state is distinguished by a slower breathing pattern and, unless other directions are given, by a somewhat lowered temperature and longer alpha waves; a slower frequency. Here sensitivity is quickened. Without necessarily following the methods given in A-1, the mental, physical and feeling aspects of past personalities will appear. It can be used to discover the origin of an idea in the past, or to find anything that has been lost there, as long as it is within your probability system.

Directly beneath is A-3. You have an extension, again, here dealing with mass issues- movements of land, the history of your planet as you know it, the knowledge of the races that inhabited it and the history of the animals.

A-4 brings you to a level that is beneath matter formations, a level in which ideas and concepts can be perceived, although their perception do not appear in the present physical reality that you know. From this layer many of your deepest inspirations come. These ideas and concepts, having their own electromagnetic identity, nevertheless appear as "the symbolic landscape" at this level of consciousness. Thoughts do not appear as pseudo-images for example, or assume any pseudo-materialization, yet they are felt vividly, perceived and picked up by portions of the brain- those seemingly unused portions for which science has found no answer.

The material available, however, represents building blocks for many probable systems. It is an open area into which many other dimensions have access. It often becomes available in sleep states. Strong personal 'conversions' are often effected by this level.

Now any individual can pass through these levels and remain relatively untouched and unaware, can travel through them unperceiving. The overall intentions and characteristics of the personality will determine the quality of perception and understanding. The material mentioned is available in each of the levels of consciousness given, but it must be sought out, either through conscious desire or strong unconscious desire. If it is not, then gifts available and the potentials simply remain unused and unclaimed.

A-5 opens up a dimension in which the vital consciousness of any personality can at least theoretically be contacted. It is a level of consciousness very seldom reached. It is not, for example, the layer used by most mediums. It is a meeting ground in which personalities from any time or place or probable system can communicate with each other in clear terms understood by all.

Since past, present, and future do not exist, this is a level of crystal clear communication of consciousness.

At this level, messages literally flash through the centuries from one great man or woman to another. The future speaks to the past. The great artists have always been able to communicate at this level and while living literally operated at this level of consciousness a good deal of the time. Only the most exterior portions of their personalities bowed to the dictates of the historical period they lived in. But not only the great share in this communication of consciousness. A great simplicity is necessary, and out of this, many of the most lowly in men’s terms also share in these communications. There is an unending conversation going on throughout the universe, and a most meaningful one. Those from both your past and your future have a hand in your present world, and at this level the problems that have been met and will be encountered are being discussed. This is the heart of communication. It is most usually encountered either in a protected deep level of sleep or in a sudden spontaneous trance state. Great energy is generated.

The information received in any of these states of consciousness must be interpreted for the normal waking consciousness, if any physical memory is to be maintained. In many cases memory remains unconscious as far as waking self is concerned, but the experiences themselves can completely change the structure of an individual life. Disastrous courses can be averted through such inner communications and illuminations, whether or not the ego is aware of them.

The experiences at these various levels may be interpreted symbolically. They may appear in the form of fantasy, fiction. Or art work, without the conscious self-realizing their origin. Now at any of these various stages of consciousness, other phenomena may also be perceived- thought forms for example, energy manifestations, projections from the personal subconscious, and projections from the collective unconscious. Any or all of there may take symbolic form, and may appear beneficial or threatening according to the attitude of the personality involved. They should be regarded as quite natural phenomena, often neutral in intend.

Often they are incipient forms given activity by the personality who encounters them. The person encountering these has only to turn his attention away to "deactivate" the phenomenon. This does not mean that the phenomenon is not real! Its nature is simply of a different kind and degree. It has some energy of its own, but needs additional energy from a perceiver for any interrelationship to take place. If such materialization appears threatening, then simply wish it peace and withdraw your attention from it. It draws its main activating energy from your focusing, and according to the intensity and nature of your focus.

(Several good psychological and psychiatrically useful hints are given here- Lyryn)

There are other layers of consciousness beneath this one, but here there is a much greater tendency for one to merge into the other.

In the next level, for example, communication is possible with various kinds of consciousness that have never been physically manifested, in your terms- personalities who do not have a physical reality in either your present or future, yet who are connected with your system of reality both as guardians and custodians.

Almost all experiences from this level will be symbolically represented, for otherwise they would have no meaning to you. Out-of-body experiences will often be involved here, in which the projectionist finds himself in an unearthly environment or one of great beauty and grandeur.

The "stuff" of the environment will have its origin in the mind of the projectionist, being symbolic of his idea, for example, of life after death. A Speaker or Speakers will appear in whatever disguise will be most acceptable to the projectionist, whether it be the guise of a god, an angel or a disciple. This is the most characteristic kind of experience from this level.

According to the abilities and the understanding of the projectionist, however, more thorough messages can be given, and it may be quite obvious that the Speakers are indeed only symbols of greater identities.

Some will be able to understand the communications more clearly. The true nature of the non-physical Speakers may then be made known.

Deeper projections into that environment may then be possible. In this state also great vistas of historical pasts and futures may be seen.

(End of part II)

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