Hi Ashley,
An interesting question.
My own dream experiences include sometimes pre-viewing parts of my personal future in specific detail and also of 'tuning into' and viewing what is happening in detail for people close to me. Strangely I also dream of what is happening for certain people I have never met but clearly resonate with on some level (e.g. people I 'know' through the Members' Forum etc..)
Given this, I have to affirm from first-hand experience that in dreams it is possible to experience events that, according to our waking sense of linear time, have not yet occurred. (This happens for plenty of other people too - hence the research which led to my book "The Shape of Things to Come".)
My understanding is that in the dream-state we perceive a different sense of time - a timelessness - a 'now' - whereas when we are awake we usually sense linear time, including a sense of past, present and future. (I say 'usually', because most people have experienced timelessness, flow etc while awake...)
For me, the past and the future both exist in the 'now' while I dream. They are all linked - they shift and change according to where I'm 'at' and how I am perceiving myself and my world.
As a simple example, two people can experience something and then, later, describe it differently. One of these people may later look back and understand the past event through wiser eyes. At that point, has their perception of the past changed or has the past actually changed?
(The key, in answering this question, is realising that every memory we hold about the past is a result of how we viewed it then - it was/is a shifting perception, an illusion.)
When I contemplate the concept of a past-life it works better for me and my understanding of the world to think 'parallel life'.
Now, to answer your question (from my own angle) more specifically:
When I dream of my future or when I dream of what is happening for someone else (and when these later are verified) I notice that when I analyse my dream it also makes perfect sense in regard to my personal life. I conclude that the two are at once the same and different. I "tune into" something because it resonates: because it is applicable to me and what is going on within me.
If you have had several past lives, each filled with trillions of experiences, the question is ... why would you dream of THAT particular day/event/person on THAT particular night?
My answer is that there is a resonance between what is happening for you and the dream-story - whether it be a dream or whether it be a memory (future, past or timeless).
That's my personal view, Ashley, blended with my practical approach. I look for what is meaningfully applicable in my life now and pay attention/ make a change/ whatever.
Regarding the part in your dream that seemed more symbolic to you than the rest: it feels like a dark and cosy womb at the end of a long birth-shute ....
What do you thnk?
Anyone else?
Jane Teresa Anderson |
