One morning not long ago I found myself totally overcome by drowsiness after having had a restless sleep the night before. When I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, I went to bed for a brief nap. I closed my eyes, and when I became conscious again, in what seemed like only a few moments, the “I” of me was outside of and hovering above my physical body. I saw and felt a whirling vortex emanating from the center of my chest.
Before I realized what was happening, the “I” of me was in the vortex. I sensed rather than heard a pop, and “I” was back in my body. When I looked at my watch, two hours had elapsed.
I didn’t realize it then, but I’d had an out-of-body experience, commonly referred to as an OBE. Some researchers suggest we all leave our bodies on numerous occasions during sleep, though only a very small percentage of us remember these experiences. Others interpret OBEs as simply another level of dream consciousness. In either case, it would appear we all have the ability to have out-of-body experiences at will.
Why would we want to do this? Well, my own OBE was an incredibly thrilling adventure. It was one of the first times I’ve had the opportunity to actually understand how the “I” of me could be separate from my body, and different from what I’d always felt myself to be. I saw how that “I” of all of us could be eternal and immortal. But most importantly, it has totally expanded my concepts of and beliefs about my life and the possibilities of the universe.
If you’ve ever done any dream analysis, or taken the time to remember, record, and/or program and direct your dreams, you know that dreams can contribute fascinating and valuable information for our waking lives. Dreams often provide intuitive answers we haven’t been able to get from any other source. If we allow them to, dreams can afford a much broader understanding of the greater context in which we live.
Recent research has shown it’s possible to learn to control our dreams and to create what we want in our dream life, and then to transfer that learning to our waking lives. This offers incredible opportunities for our personal growth.