NANDINI'S DREAM
Dreams have many functions. They help to process and integrate the day's events. They provide clues, often in the form of symbols and metaphors that help solve the problems of everyday life - relationships, fears, work, emotions, illnesses, and much more. They can assist us in achieving our desires and goals if not physically then at least in the form of wish fulfilment. They aid us in reviewing past events, reminding us of parallels in the present. They protect sleep by disguising stimuli such as anxieties that would otherwise awaken us. Dreams have deeper functions as well. They may provide pathways to recovering repressed or forgotten memories, whether from childhood, infancy, in-utero experiences, or even from past lives. Past-life memory fragments often emerge in the dream state, particularly in those dreams in which the dreamer sees scenes from the years or centuries preceding his or her birth.
Dreams can be psychic or precognitive. Often these particular dreams can predict the future. Accuracy varies because the future appears to be a system of probabilities and inevitabilities, and because the ability of people to accurately interpret their dreams itself varies tremendously. These psychic or precognitive dreams are experienced by many people of all cultures and backgrounds. However, many people are shocked when their dreams literally come true.
Another type of psychic dream occurs when communication with a person at a distance is experienced. The person may be alive and geographically distant, or the communication may be with the soul or consciousness of someone who has died, such as a relative or dear friend. Similarly, there may be communication with an angelic spirit, a teacher, or a guide. The messages in these dreams are usually genuinely moving and very important.
"Traveling" dreams also occur. During these dreams people have the experience of visiting places to which they have never physically been. Details of what they see can later be confirmed. When the person actually visits the geographical place, even months or years after the dream, a feeling of dj vu or familiarity may occur.
Sometimes the dream traveller visits places that do not seem to exist on this planet. These dreams may be far more than nocturnal imaginings. They may be mystical or spiritual experiences, accessed because the usual ego and cognitive barriers are relaxed during sleep and dreaming. Knowledge and wisdom acquired during this type of traveling dream can transform lives.
On this day, when night lightened into morning, Nandini had one of these dreams.
* * *
Nandini bounced in early for her appointment, eager to tell Dr. Dhawan about the dream she had during the previous night. She appeared less anxious and more relaxed than he had ever seen her. People at work, she told him, had begun to comment that she looked better, that she was being nicer and more patient, even more so than the "old" Nandini, before her mother's death.
"This was not one of my typical dreams," she stressed. "This dream was more alive and real. I still remember all the details, and I usually forget most of my dreams pretty quickly, as you know."
Dr. Dhawan had been encouraging Nandini to write down her dreams as soon as she awakened. Keeping a dream journal near one's bed and jotting down what one remembers of one's dreams significantly enhances the memory. Otherwise the dream content fades rapidly away. Nandini had been somewhat lazy about chronicling her dreams, and by the time she came to the office for her appointment, she had usually forgotten most of the details, if not the entire dream.
This dream was different, so vivid that the details were etched in her mind.
"At first, I entered a large room. There were no windows or lamps or overhead lights. But the walls were somehow glowing. They emitted enough light to illuminate the entire room."
"Were the walls hot?" asked Dr. Dhawan.
"I don't think so. They gave off light but not heat. I didn't touch the walls though."
"What else did you notice in the room?"
"I knew it was a library of some sort, but I couldn't see any shelves or any books. In the corner of the room was a statue of the Sphinx. There were two old chairs on either side of this statue, old from an olden time. They were not from modern times. Almost like a throne made out of stone or marble." She was quiet for a moment, her gaze drifting upward and to the left as she remembered the ancient chairs.
"What do you think a statue of the Sphinx was doing there?" he inquired.
"I don't know. Maybe because the library helped you to understand secrets. I remembered the riddle of the Sphinx. What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs during the day, and three legs at night? Man does. A crawling baby becomes an adult who becomes elderly, needing a cane to walk. Maybe it has something to do with that riddle. Or with riddles in general."
"It could be," conceded Dr. Dhawan, his mind drifting back to Oedipus and the first time he had heard about the riddle.
"Yet there may be other meanings, too," he added. "For example, what if the Sphinx somehow provides a clue to the nature of the library, or even to its structure or its location?" The dreaming mind could be very complex.
"I wasn't there long enough to find out," she answered.
"Are you aware of anything else in the room?"
"Yes," she said immediately. "There was a man nearby, dressed in a long, white robe. I guess he was the librarian. He decided who could come into the room and who could not. For some reason, I was allowed in."
At this point Dr. Dhawan's practical mind could not contain itself any longer.
"What kind of library doesn't have books?" he blurted out.
"That's the strange part," she began to explain. "All I had to do was to put my arms out with my palms up and whatever book I needed began to form right in my hands! In no time the book was complete. It seemed to come right out of the wall and solidify in my hands."
"What kind of book did you receive?"
"I don't remember exactly. A book about me, about my lifetimes. I was afraid to open it."
"Afraid of what?"
"I don't know. That there was something bad there, something I would be ashamed of."
"Did the librarian help you?"
"Not really. He just began to laugh. Then he said, 'Is a rose ashamed of its thorns?' And he laughed some more."
"Then what happened?"
"He led me out, but I felt that eventually I would understand what he meant and I would come back and not be afraid to read from my book." She grew silent, pensive.
"Was that the end of the dream?" prodded Dr. Dhawan.
"No. After leaving the library I went to a classroom where I was taking a course. There were fifteen or twenty other students there. One young man seemed very familiar, like he was my brother . . . but he wasn't my brother, Rishabh." She was referring to her present-life brother in California.
"What kind of a course were you taking?"
"I don't know."
"Was there more?" he asked.
She responded hesitantly. "Yes."
Dr. Dhawan wondered why she hesitated now, after already relating some very unusual dream scenes.
"A teacher appeared," she continued, in a voice slightly more than a whisper. "He had the most intense brown eyes. His eyes would change to a beautiful purple colour, then back to brown again. He was very tall and wore only a white robe. His feet were bare. . . . He came to me and looked deeply into my eyes."
"Then what?"
"I felt the most incredible love. I knew that everything would be all right, that everything I was going through was part of some plan and that the plan was perfect."
"Did he tell you that?"
"No, he didn't have to. In fact, he didn't say anything. I just felt these things, but somehow they seemed to be coming from him. I could feel everything. I knew everything. I knew there was nothing to fear . . . ever . . . and then he walked away."
"What else?"
"I felt very light. The last thing I remember is floating in the clouds. I was feeling so loved and so safe. . . . Then I woke up."
"How do you feel now?"
"I feel okay, but it's fading. I can remember everything about the dream, but the feeling is getting weaker. The traffic driving over here didn't help."
Everyday life, interfering again with transcendent experiences.
***
NEXT: A message from destiny.
MANIK'S LOVE FOR THE STARS
Dr. Dhawan was momentarily confused. Manik had walked through a door, in his mind, to another time and another place. By the movements of his eyes, Dr. Dhawan could tell that he was observing something. "You will be able to talk," Dr. Dhawan told him, "and yet you will be able to remain in a deep trance state and continue to observe and to experience. What do you see?"
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"I see myself," Manik answered. "I am lying in a field at night. The air is cool and clear. ... I see many stars."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes. There's no one else around."
"What do you look like?" he asked, looking for details in order to learn more about the time and place in which he had emerged.
"I'm myself . . . about twelve years old. . . . My hair is short."
"You are yourself?" questioned Dr. Dhawan, still not realizing that Manik had merely gone back into his own childhood and not a past life.
"Yes," he answered simply. "Back in Mexico as a boy."
Now he understood, and he shifted gears, looking more for feelings. He wanted to find out why Manik's mind had selected this particular memory from the vast panorama available to it.
"How do you feel?"
"I feel very happy. There's something so peaceful about the night sky. The stars have always seemed so familiar and friendly to me. . . . . I like to pick out the constellations and watch them march across the sky as the seasons change."
"Do you study the stars in school?"
"Not really, just a little bit. But I read about them on my own. Mostly I like to watch them."
"Does anyone else in your family enjoy watching the stars?"
"No," he answered, "only me."
Dr. Dhawan subtly shifted now to appeal to his higher self or intelligence, to his expanded perspective, to learn more about the importance of this memory. He was no longer speaking to the twelve-year-old Manik.
"What is the importance of this memory of the night sky?" asked Dr. Dhawan. "Why did your mind select this particular one?"
He was silent for a while. His face softened in the thin afternoon light.
"The stars are a gift to me," he began softly. "They are a comfort. They are a symphony I have heard before, refreshing my soul, reminding me of what I had forgotten.
"They are even more," he continued, a bit enigmatically. "They are a path guiding me to my destiny . . . slowly but surely. ... I must be patient and not get in the way. The schedule is already set." He was silent again.
Dr. Dhawan let him rest as a thought crept into his mind. The night sky has been here far longer than mankind. At some level, haven't we all heard that ancient symphony? Are all of our destinies guided as well? And then another thought, very clear in its words but not at all in its meaning. I, too, must be patient and not get in the way of Manik's destiny.
This thought came to Dr. Dhawan like an instruction. It turned out to be a prophecy.
***
NEXT: Nandini recalls a tragic past life in Egypt.
Originally posted by: AKHIAWAL
VERY VERY GOOD.Mujhe bohot pasandh hain.I'm waiting for my manan meet.Aseelashah is busy.To uska comment late hoga.Update soon and thank you for the pm:D
Originally posted by: aseelashah
Oh darling because of my kids xams I am late. This story is soo interesting that we will hook up with it very fast. I am eager to read more . I think Nandini met Manik in that library & in class room too. Not sure though. I have to count how many times they met in the future updates
Pls update soon
Can't wait to read more
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