In my last blog post, I shared with you some questions we’ve been getting from people – usually early in their practice – about strange dreams and visions. In Part I of Opening Pandora’s Box, I wrote about why these experiences arise – and the opportunities they bring.

Today, I’m going to talk about what happens when we cross that threshold of discovery and face the unknown.

To read Part I of Opening Pandora's Box.

Overcoming the Body

We often talk, in this work, about settling the body down and overcoming resistance. About sitting with discomfort long enough to find out what’s on the other side. When we have a dream or vision that makes us uncomfortable or fearful, there’s a strong inclination to run away – or quit.

You could see this as a habitual response; another way the body tries to arouse and evoke a reaction; a way it tries to siphon our energy into the familiar past or the predictable future.

Many times, when we’re in a dream state – where the body is asleep, but the mind is relaxed and awake – we’re in theta brain waves. The door to the subconscious is wide open.

Think of theta as a very hypnotic or suggestible state; one where information can easily flow in and out of our subconscious mind. And with this flow come memories and experiences that tend to have high emotional charges. Why? Because that’s what’s stored in the body – when it’s been conditioned to be the mind.

If we give in to fear during these highly charged events, and react with a strong emotion, that’s a conditioned response. In a very real sense, we’re reacting the same way as we do in daily life. We’re feeding and fueling the same patterned reactions that keep us in the known past – because those emotions are a record of the past.

But when we give our energy to the fear … or the reaction … or the entity that scares us, we never get to the point of transforming that energy into something else.

Sometimes, these dreams and visions can take on a life of their own, forming a parasitic relationship with us. Those entities and thought forms harvest our energy and attention, looming larger and larger in our imaginations and emotional realities. They interfere with our ability to move past them.

But if we can learn to sit with the discomfort and overcome it … if we can refrain from judging the experience as “good” or “bad” … a whole new world opens up to us.

 

Applying What We’ve Learned

How do we get there? Through discipline and practice. When we’re in our meditation, and something troubling or uncomfortable arises, we sit through it. We look directly at our emotions and relax into them. We master the feelings that keep the dreams alive in our minds – by overcoming them.

We settle the body down into the present moment – and master its habits and strong emotional conditioning. Sooner or later, all that stirred up energy is going to move. And when it does, we’re going to liberate it – right out of the body.

This is the moment where we finally free ourselves from the emotions of the past and the same habits that keep us tied to the same future. And, with that liberated energy, we are free to create a brilliant new life.

If the familiar past is the known, and the predictable future is the known, then this moment – the generous, present moment – is the unknown.

 

The Unknown: The Seat of Unlimited Creativity

As with every aspect of our practice, dream work is another opportunity to be the scientist in our own lives – and evolve our experience. As we get better at lingering in these different brain wave states – especially in theta – we’ll find we have dreams and visions of a higher order. More lucid and more profound – with more elevated emotions.

Viewing our lives and practice as an ever-evolving experiment means we interrogate our experience with willingness and honesty. All information is useful information. And we can learn from whatever arises.

The most important information derives not from dream analysis, but from understanding the emotions evoked by the dream – and the work we need to do to change those emotions during our meditations … by changing ourselves.

That stored energy; our “shadow” or hidden self; has to come up and out. And it comes out in all kinds of interesting and unusual ways. Sometimes it seems unfavorable – just like life. It’s important to remember not to judge or overanalyze any of it. To stay curious and open. And to remember, ultimately, we have the power to create our dreams … just as we have the power to create our reality.

It really comes down to this. Emotions are energy. And energy is frequency – derived from our thoughts. So we have to transform our thoughts and feelings – and transform the energy of the frequency or the emotion of those thoughts. When we do, our dreams will change. And our experience will change, too.

When we stop reacting in our habitual ways, our responses to dreams won’t be a barrier to progress. Instead, they’ll be an invitation to the unknown. A portal to the field of infinite possibilities and other dimensions. Another tool for unlimited creation.