The Encounter: Transcending

Home		Being \| Thinking \| Transcending \| Differing \| Living \| Loving \| Healing \| Departing \| Returning \|
How to visit		The Encounter: Transcending

		"I was dreaming that I was a butterfly fluttering happily... Suddenly, I awoke... Now, I wonder who I am ... a man who dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming it is a man." Chinese writer Chuang Tzu, fourth century B.C
Why do we sleep?		Some aspects of sleep are purely biological. Cells are always active, but viruses can remain dormant for years. Fish seem never to sleep, but bears hibernate for months. Sleep, though, has far more significance for advanced organisms like us. Sleep is a moment of privileged communication between our Leading Eternon and the rest of our structure. Our mind, freed of its many waking tasks, flows back and forth between our ordinary human consciousness and the higher awareness of our Leading Eternon. A good sleep improves physical life and enriches the soul. Conversely, when deprived of sleep, our structure loses its harmony and becomes unable to function properly. Actually, sleep is so vital for our Eternons that on average we dedicate to it a third of our entire existence. Forcing sleep with alcohol or drugs is harmful. It scrambles the channels of communication between our Eternons, leading to addiction and mental deterioration. Like the ancients, we should revere sleep as a major gateway toward cosmic reality. We should mind our posture, our bed, and our room, seeing to its ambiance, orientation, and magnetism. We should train ourselves to enter sleep trough deep relaxation, and to emerge from it as naturally as possible.
What about dreaming?		The electroencephalograph measures electrical energy produced by the brain. EEG recordings made during sleep reveal distinct phases while our mind scans the spectrum of our consciousness. During the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, the EEG pen’s squiggles increase. Our eyes move quickly under closed lids. Our breathing is irregular, just as if we were being physically active. When awakened during this phase, we recall vivid dreams. REM dreams result from the same physical communication among our Eternons as when we are awake. Our mental process is also the same. Our brain does not differentiate between actual sensations and those stored in our memory from previous experiences: it creates simulations of the outside world. Pleasant or nightmarish, plausible or fantastic, REM dreams are as real to us as reality itself. During the delta or quiet phase, things are different. The EEG registers low frequency modulations called delta waves. Our breathing becomes regular and we relax totally. Generally, when awakened during this phase, we feel that, for a while, we did not exist. Contrary to REM sleep, delta sleep is dominated by a non-physical communication between our Eternons. This accounts for a barely noticeable physical activity and for the more regular EEG waves. It also explains why delta dreams seldom leave a trace in our ordinary mind. The profound delta sleep opens the door to a different reality, with different spatial and temporal parameters. We escape our material structure and rise toward our Leading Eternon. We access the cosmic memories and secret knowledge of our always awakened "I." We may even establish contact with Leading Eternons of other living or deceased beings. We rarely have direct awareness of delta sleep experiences; they remain in a secret part of our mind. Now and then, however, they suffuse in our lower consciousness where they become the sources of inexplicable insights.
How should we interpret dreams?		Let us talk first about REM dreams. All that enters our mind influences these dreams: frustrations, stressful problems, great emotions, even the last film we saw, the book we are reading, or a fragment of conversation. Meals, alcohol, and drugs also have an effect on the content of our REM dreams. Sometimes, actual sensory perceptions modify REM script. We will dream that we are freezing in the snow because, on a chilly night, our bedroom window has opened. Some persons are impressed because they dream of places, people, and objects never seen before. But we all keep a mass of information in the hidden files of our mind. This forgotten or repressed material is more than enough to produce dreams which will seem alien to us. More revealing are dreams containing elements truly foreign to humans. Dreams of flying, for example. Save for astronauts, no one has a first hand knowledge of weightlessness. Still, in dreams, we may experience it with striking realism. One will argue that we are remembering the time spent floating in our mother’s womb, but even fetuses are subject to the tug of gravitation. The correct explanation is that such dreams filter down from the higher strata of our consciousness. They come from our distant Eternon past, when we were cosmic structures. Except for such inspired occasions, REM dreams are freewheeling manipulations of memories, random products of the brain. And like all bodily functions, they are attached to our most physical part.
Is it true of all dreams?		By no means. Delta dreams are direct contacts with our Leading Eternon. They bring precious suggestions for our life. They provide answers to difficult problems. They teach us about our true self, about unknown structures and other worlds. As we said, delta dreams rarely come to our lower consciousness, but when they do, interpretation is no problem. Whatever they tell us is loud and clear. All sacred texts make references to them as the powerful visions of prophets and sages.
Besides dreaming, are there further moments when we meet our Leading Eternon, our true "I" or self?		Scientists, philosophers, poets, and artists describe those fleeting moments when intelligence vibrates at a higher frequency. True mystical encounters, however, happen when individuals meet, or better, become their Leading Eternon for longer periods. These encounters occur spontaneously or as the result of a deliberate search. In that case, meditation, hypnosis, fasting, sleep deprivation, seclusion, even the ingestion of chemical substances, may be used to alter one’s state of consciousness. For many, these "peak experiences" are supernatural events. For others, the fact that physical stimuli induce them, shows that they are plain natural processes.
What has Eternism to say about it?		There is no need to oppose mystical and psychological experiences. All altered states of consciousness are explained by our Eternon nature. As conscious Eternons, we do not have a mind and a body; rather, our is everywhere in our body. We cannot touch one without affecting the other.
*How does Eternism explains higher awareness?*		Whatever their origin, all peak experiences present similar features. Hereafter are the most significant ones, followed in italic by the interpretation Eternism supplies : 1. Time and space lose their traditional significance. Eternity and infinity become apprehensible. Time and space have a different significance for us and for our Leading Eternon. Once we transcend our human perception, we also transcend the usual attributes of the universe. 2. The body relaxes until becoming extraneous. With the loss of usual sensory perception, there is a deep feeling of peace and fulfillment. It often translates into all-encompassing love. Our Leading Eternon never "feels" the pain of our human structure. It only interprets it. As we leave lower consciousness, we also leave the lower Eternons that make us vulnerable to physical stress and mental suffering. 3. Consciousness turns into perfect and immediate cognition. No reasoning or pondering is required. Our Leading Eternon enjoys instantaneous communication with the rest of the Creation. Through this Eternon, we apprehend the universe in a totally different manner. A wide knowledge suddenly turns manifest. 4. Paradoxes and polarities disappear. Our black-or-white, yes-or-no human mind fails to grasp many subtle principles. By contrast, on the higher plane of our Leading Eternon, we perceive the ultimate harmony of the universe. 5. Our consciousness persists although our identity dissolves. In intense mystical experiences, like those at the core of most religions, our "I" is reunited with an absolute or divine principle. As we experience the cosmic dimension of our Leading Eternon, our human incarnation fades away. We approach the Absolute, our source and our goal. We realize that we are separate from the Absolute, but are also made from It. BACK NEXT © Copyright 2000 Eternon International - All rights reserved.