Change: An Element of Life
Who am I? What am I? Why am I here? I have no idea why those questions arose,
or why at that particular instant. It was as if my body and soul had separated
for a few seconds to expose an empty shell, and then reunited. Only at the
moment of unification did things return to normal. What I am trying to describe
is a state of mind so unusual that the mere memory of it is frightening.
What triggered this phenomenon? Was it the sunset? Was it a dream I had
right before waking that I could no longer recall? Was it because of something
I ate? Could it have been a chemical imbalance in my brain? Or was it something
truly metaphysical in nature? I simply do not know, and it is unlikely that
anyone can explain this incident.
The physical environment affects both our emotions and our behavior. During
winter, many people get depressed. The same effect is seen after many days
of cloudiness and rain. I have no scientific or any other kind of explanation
for such an effect. The point I am trying to make here is this: Not everything
in life can be explained rationally and logically. There is the realm of
metaphysics, but who is capable of interpreting it with certainty? How about
the magical world of dreams? Are all dreams a fabrication of the mind? Or
are they windows to an existence in a different dimension? Some dreams are
mundane in nature or are easily identified as the work of imagination. Some
are mysterious, ranging from pleasant to frightening, and others can only
be described as bizarre.
Sometimes all it takes is a particular incident or an intense dream to make
people reflect on their lives. The result of such reflection varies as much
as human beings do - sometimes it can actually change a person's outlook
on life. It all depends on whether your consciousness level has changed.
Some people may change careers because they see that what they are doing
is not what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Others may decide
that they no longer love their spouses and choose to separate from them.
Still others may decide to move to a different neighborhood, state, or country.
There is no telling what a person will find during this period of reflection.
If the person does not undergo a change, then something is wrong.
I am not the same person I was yesterday or the person I will end up being
tomorrow. There are things I have done in the past that I would not do today,
and I am sure there are things I do now that I will not do in the future.
The change is most pronounced in my writing. When I read something I have
written in the past, I ask myself, How could I have written this? The older
I become, the more easily I am able to deviate from the stringent codes
I set for myself in the past. Is this for the better or the worse?
Take the issue of having children. In the not too distant past, I believed
that I did not want to bring a child into this world, that the world is
too violent and evil a place in which to raise children. I have since debated
this issue with many people, and as expected, their reactions were mixed.
One of the arguments I heard was, If we consider ourselves to be decent
individuals and refrain from giving birth to more decent people, then who
will be around in the future to counteract evil? Such an argument assumes
that decent people will give birth to decent people, although this is not
always the case. We are told that Adam was a decent person, yet his son
Cain killed his only brother out of jealousy [actual reason for this act will be presented at a future date]. On the flip side, I am sure
that history is full of stories of decent people who are the descendants
of not-so-decent people. The question is, Do we have children in the hope
that we will produce the next Mozart or Einstein? Or do we take a chance
that we will raise a new Charles Manson? I just do not know any more.
My rigid black-and-white ethical code no longer satisfies me. I have evolved
into a person who sees things in many shades of gray. Why do people do the
things they do? I can no longer cast the first stone, for if I were in their
place, I am not sure I would do things differently. This is not to say that
I can understand or tolerate immorality, because I will always be outraged
when I hear about incidents like children being raped or murdered. There
is no justification for such acts. As I grow older, I am more understanding
in some cases, but in others I am as inflexible as ever. What will I be
like in the future? I have to throw up my hands and say, I am not a prophet.
I am just a human being, subject to change.
Benjamin Franklin was quoted to have said "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes". But "change" can also be added to that list. Although there are people who claim that "things never change" in fact "things always change". They may be cyclic, but they are not static. Life can not tolerate a static condition. Intelligence can not tolerate a static mind. To achieve perfection we must be prepared to change.
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I agree with you 100%.
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Was this experience that caused you to reflect mystical or mechanical? I maintain the possibility that such an experience could be either. Researchers say that it is possible to enter a dream state while fully awake. They claim that this explains why people claim to have visions.
I have a different opinion. I am not saying that what they claim can't happen. I am saying that it does not account for 100% of the occurrences. Shortly before the Christmas season a few years back, in the early morning hours, while awake, I clearly heard a woman's voice say "your mother will not be with you much longer and your father will be gone shortly thereafter". My eyes were closed, but flew open because the voice was unfamiliar to me. I looked about the room at first, turned to my wife and found that she was sound asleep. I got up and walked through the house fully expecting to find a woman somewhere close by. When I came back, my wife was still asleep. I woke her to tell her about the strange voice.
Christmas passed, spring and summer. My mother's health seemed to be weakening, but no identifiable cause was known. In September, a freak accident resulted in the breaking of her toe, which lead to gangerine and subsequent amputation of the toe, then surgery to correct circulatory problems to her legs and more surgery to correct circlation to the brain, then liver cancer and then death. The additional time that I had with her seemed like a long time, but in God's time, it was probably a blink of the eye.
Now my father is on his death bed and we tend to his needs as best we can. But surely that voice was no figment of my imagination
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First, I would like to pass on to you my deepest sympathy for the loss of your mother. I also feel for you for what you are going through with your father. I lost mine in 1994 to cancer and it is not easy, so hang in there!
As to my experience, I wish I can explain it further or even classify it. Spiritually speaking, in Daheshism we believe that our current existence on Earth is the result of what we term as "Sayyalat" or Spiritual Fluids. These Sayyalat provide every detail of our form, behavior, traits, religion, intelligence, and so forth. They are our link to the Spiritual World (the non-materialistic existence). Your Sayyalat correspond to an existence in the Spiritual World where time and space do not exist. This existence in the Spiritual World has other material links throughout the universe. In other words, your Spirit has links to other forms of life all over the universe. The collection of all Sayyalat belonging to the same Spirit in the material universe is called the Soul.
Sometimes during a period of deep sleep, you may get a glimpse of what a specific Sayyal linked to you (singular of Sayyalat) is experiencing. In other words, you feel like you are in a place you have never seen before, people you don't know, and experiences that are totally foreign. You see yourself and not the other form that is experiencing the event because that form and you share that particular Sayyal. That form could be billions of light years away—even in a different galaxy. Most people dismiss such dreams as fabrication of the mind, but they are not. You see these things, because that Sayyal who is living in that environment is linked to you and is part of your Great Self. You could even be living an entire lifetime in a different world in the duration of few minutes that you spent dreaming.
Remember that time and space in the Spiritual World does not exist. The past, present, and future are one and the same. That's why genuine Prophets are able to make prophecies that come true. Prophets can also interpret dreams--such as the case with Joseph in Egypt. Certain individuals can see visions--such as the case with Saul (St. Paul) when he saw the vision of Christ on his way to Damascus. Granted, Prophets, Guides, and Apostles are special cases, however, we can never discount the uniqueness of every individual and what he/she can see or feel. Only God knows!
Since many of your Sayyalat are extended to you from your parents, you are linked to them and they are part of your Great Self. It is very possible that a Sayyal of yours was aware of your parent's future and alarmed you in a form that you can understand. Again, a Sayyal or Spiritual Fluid has to interact with your physical existence and may have produced the voice of the woman that you heard. I am ready to bet that even if you had 500 people with you in the bedroom, none of them would have heard it. This Sayyal could have taken a different form to alert you. It could have been a vision where you see (only you) what is coming. God knows why we see certain things the way we do and that's why we could use the guidance of Prophets.
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