Working with the Dream Level

People who take a pledge to observe certain disciplines in all times, fail to do so when the circumstances are not congenial. One day all the deers in the forest held a conference. They discussed thus: “Do dogs possess the abilities we have?” One of them bravely said, “If we kick a dog appropriately, it can be disemboweled; we have that power!” Another deer added, “Dogs cannot run at speeds we can. We can even leap in the air.” The third said, “Exactly! Dogs can’t run as fast as us and we are stronger and more capable. From now on, we should not be afraid of dogs. We must face them with all our strength and fight back”. Having thus decided, they all clapped merrily. Hearing this noise, a dog in a distance howled loudly. No sooner did the deers hear the sound, all of them, without any exception, fled the place. The behavior of those who preach Vedanta these days is very much on a par with these deers.

Baba (thought for the day)

If the head of the Sai movement tells us to write, the purpose of writing is getting clearer, because not only we are directed into it by Baba in the ‘insights’, but I asked why he said it and if Baba had told someone to do it on a verbal level. He mentioned a book.

Whatever, he was very clear about it that we should write. He told the group in the center that we should write as much as we can. With writing we can get the inside contact with Baba, that is what happens when we write. It is also about how to listen, to think it over and to absorb.

It doesn’t happen just by reading, writing is a much better tool for it. And it is not just copying Baba’s words, but finding our own words, even if it is about the same wisdom.

For years I was searching for the answer why Baba had asked in my first interview, who is your friend, is the Maharishi your friend or is the friend with Maharishi? And he said that is very difficult to understand, just think about God, TM is not the right path.

I was at that time still involved with TM and my friend was with the Maharishi and I tried to do the right thing. In the meantime there is no more friend TM level, what is left is only what I have in mind still about the teaching and Vedanta.

That is how we get to today’s thought for the day.

With TM we observed a discipline at all times, meditating in the morning and in the evening. We did it all times and if we had not time, we shortcut it and it was like meditation or if we were sick, we also did it a different way, but it was always considered meditation and that is why it was that difficult to get it out of the system. It became a real habit.

If the deers in the forest discuss how to not be chased by the dogs, they want to get in power, but at the same time it is against their own nature to flee.

The behavior of those who preach Vedanta these days is very much on a par with these deers.

If we go against our own nature, the nature comes in again through the backdoor.

With TM we made that experience. We meditated regularly and thought we would transcend the mind, that was the purpose of it, as it is called ‘transcendental meditation’, but there is no awareness of the mind and it comes in again through the backdoor.

Not only TM mentioned the seven states of consciousness, we find  it also with Patanjali, the father of yoga.

Yoga mind-map

The mind map of yoga is interesting and the Om and the seven levels of consciousness.

OM and States of Consciousness

With meditation we develop the fourth level of consciousness, turiya or just (being), transcendental state, the Maharishi named the transition states, they are called cosmic consciousness and  God consciousness and finally Unity consciousness. TM was in that sense the first state and transition state. (Waking state and Umani is cosmic consciousness) It ignored the dream state and the following transition state. And that is the state we work with Baba in the inner view and in the dreams that are ‘insights’ in the dream.

If we just meditate and everything is stress, we get also to silence of the mind, but there is no discrimination about insights and dreams and if we have insights and dreams, we do not know what to do with it and therefore, we just go back to the mantra and by that we ignore it and treat it like ‘stress’.

Because the basic teaching is, we think or repeat mentally the mantra and if thoughts come we allow it to come. If we notice that we don’t think the mantra, we go back to the mantra, everything else in meditation is considered ‘stress’ only. And that is how the mind comes in again through the backdoor.

Therefore, we can tell that with TM we work with the waking state only.

With Baba we work on the dream level and Aladani is God consciousness and if we get to the insight that the principle is unlimited as well, the universal ‘I’ level as the ‘I am the One’ we get to the next step the Samadhi and Unity Consciousness and silence in the mind, no more search.

The principle is the same, the question is how to understand it and it is about definition, but as it has to do with the OM, it is still the same, if the cosmic consciousness of the Maharishi works or not.

If the mind comes in through the backdoor after all it does not work, because we do not reach the second state and we do not work with the dreams and God consciousness and unity is in that sense really not possible. If people meditate only and think they will reach it in time, it is just not possible, it is a short cut and because it would be too difficult and a big selection on the mind level and he wanted big groups to clean consciousness, he was on the first level only.

But they do not realize that and they are hooked and get problems when they get aware of it that it is only part of it and not the whole as he said it is. But it is done clever, he took the master out of it, himself – that there should be hardly any ‘insights’ or they are ignored and the effect of the meditation is projected in the future, that is the mind level again. That does make sense to the mind and people go on meditating thinking it will be there in the future, only that future will never come.

As they are misguided thinking that it is all there is and that it will lead to transcendental consciousness, they get used to it to not look for answers anymore and they get lost, there is no master behind and it leads into a jungle of the mind.

If we are on the second level of the AUM, the dream state, as Baba said, he is the man who comes in the dream to wake us, what do we do with that transition state – the Aladani or God consciousness?

We take the ‘insights’ (dreams) and write about it and Baba’s words are also ‘insights’, therefore, if we listen to his words and contemplate our own insights in that light for example in writing about it, we think it over in a deeper manner and we are able to absorb it. That is what we are doing here.

When a guest is coming to the Sai center it makes sense to have a big house, as he said, ‘I wanted a big house’, because we do not have any place to accommodate our guests and guest is God, we get the experience of joy. It also does make sense, if he said, ‘I wanted to fly’, because he has to fly as a guest to visit the centers. Guest is God and that is how we can experience Baba’s reality when he comes in the center as a guest and we should be ready for it.

If we get in the ‘insight’, dream level and its transition state to the ‘insight’ that ‘I am the One’, the ‘I’ has become universal and unlimited and we get to the next step that is Unity level and that is described as the M of the OM and deep sleep and Samadhi.

Samadhi means an even intellect, equanimity and no more search, but there is still growing consciousness and the understanding is growing even if the basic principle is understood, it is the unlimited and non-changing level of the ‘I am that’, we should still write about it and see think it over to understand Baba’s words.

That example of that thought for the day makes sense when we think of TM, that is just what happens and therefore, it is not just cosmic consciousness and everything is fine or perfect order as they liked to call it. The mind is coming back like with those deers, as soon as they hear the dogs barking, they ran and fled the place.  

Having thus decided, they all clapped merrily. Hearing this noise, a dog in a distance howled loudly. No sooner did the deers hear the sound, all of them, without any exception, fled the place . The behavior of those who preach Vedanta these days is very much on a par with these deers.

If we do not see it in our own life, it is not that easy to understand what Baba tells us in that example, we have to find something in our own life to relate it to and if we do not think it over, we probably just go ahead and think, maybe I understand it next time and by that we get in a habit that we do not understand it and we give up.

We have to work with the dream state and get the right answers on that level. That is the challenge when we go to a man who is in our dreams to wake us.

We have to adapt another way of dealing with it and it seems writing is a great tool for that, because it is a very subtle level, if we think over dreams and have to absorb ‘insights’ to be able to get to the right conclusion, as we know now by experience, with writing we can get there.

Also we can share our experience of it with others. Everybody should understand it that there is another way to get there being able to find answers in our consciousness. It is not just singing Bhajans and doing Seva, that are activities we can do and put in action, that is why it is also done.

‘Insights’ are more subtle and we have to get into it. That is the real Tapas (spiritual work), first discrimination, (it is a dream or insight not the mind level), second seeing it in our own life to understand Baba’s words and going on no matter what obstacles are there (even if they get scary and shocking, we just have to go on).

That is how we work with the dream level to get to the right conclusion.