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Spirit of Ma'at: "The Dreamtime" — Vol 3, No 10 with Gail Roeske and Steve Hatfield by Julia Griffin
Dr. Gail Roeske is a teacher of the Eckankar system of spiritual dreaming. Based upon ancient techniques, Eckankar's approach starts with the premise that dreams are sent to us from our Divine Source. Thus, through working with our dreams, we can achieve God-realization.
Steve Hatfield, an Eckankar member, shared his knowledge of dream exercises and fifth dimensional temples. Julia: What is the basis of the Eckankar method of dreaming? Gail: Eckankar — a religion that focuses on the Light and Sound of God — encompasses the belief that there is a secret path to God through our dreams. We begin with the ancient teaching that dreams come from a Divine Source. Like the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Native Americans, we believe that our dreams are important messages from other worlds. Since ancient times, dreams have been recognized for their prophetic content. The Chinese thought that the Soul separated from the body during sleep to seek wisdom from departed elders and answers to worldly problems. The Greeks believed that the Soul could visit the gods and bring back Divine messages. So the idea of a Divine connection in dreaming is very old.[1] The Eckankar system begins with this belief that our dreams come from a Divine Source. As Souls, we are dreaming, or creating, all levels of our existence — spiritual and physical — through our conscious and unconscious thoughts. Everything that exists in our reality is created through our consciousness. We can create reality on many levels, including the physical, astral, causal, mental, etheric, and Soul planes: all the planes of existence. Each of these levels corresponds to a part of our being. If our lives are created through our awareness of God, we can increase that awareness by seeing dreams from this perspective. The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad[2] states: The Atma [Soul], living in the dream consciousness of the psychic states, enjoys the subtle things of life, as thought, emotional joy, intellect and mind stuff. All this is essential for the bodies of the psychic worlds, the Astral, the Causal, and Mental planes. When Soul takes mastery over these states through Dreaming, It becomes the supreme ruler of Its own universe. So through the use of dream techniques, anyone can learn to use their dreams as windows into worlds far beyond the ordinary. We believe that looking at our lives through our dreams can aid us in becoming more spiritual as well as in dealing with the problems of everyday life. The goal of purposeful dreaming is to move at will between the outer, physical world and the inner, spiritual worlds. Our dreams then become a portal to other realities and also lend insight into our daily existence. Julia: What can be gained from the practice of spiritual dreaming? Gail: Self-realization, or God-realization, is one end result of dreaming. But anything that you want to get done or understand can be dealt with through dreaming. Dreams are often used to practice overcoming fears or to learn a new skill. They can be used to increase spiritual peace. People tend to have some distance from the illusion of the physical world in dreams, and thus dreams can help us see through to a different perspective. As you learn to focus more on dreaming, the dreams become clearer, and it becomes easier to understand how to apply the techniques and exercises. Julia: Please tell us about your dreaming exercises. Gail: Dreaming exercises are used as tools to increase our awareness of the Divine Presence of God in our dreams. Chanting before sleep is one method, and is used for attunement to a higher level of consciousness. Also, we recommend that people keep a dream journal, and do other forms of spiritual discipline. Simple techniques that use light or sound can have profound effects on our consciousness. Through practice, the results of the techniques deepen, and the dream state gains spiritual clarity. Steve: One of the most simple and effective techniques is simply to chant "hu" (pronounced "hue") for five or ten minutes. Then we simply wait a few minutes before falling asleep. Hu is an ancient name for God, so the chant is essentially a lovesong to God. Chanting the name of God aligns us with our spiritual self and makes it possible to dream in higher consciousness. It is very simple, but it works very well. Gail: To find answers in dreams to problems in daily life, we can decide that the answer we seek in daily life will appear in a dream. Then when we awaken, the answer should be in the forefront of our minds. This method asks for the truth of the Higher Self to emerge through the dream state. Nightmares can be dealt with by returning in our imagination to the most frightening part of the dream, using imagination to take the dream to a higher level. For example, if you dreamed of a dark, sinister house, you might imagine a door in the house that leads to sunlight. You would then travel through the door, and know that the sunlight was part of God or the Divine. Meditation could follow this exercise, taking the dream to a higher level: moving out of the darkness toward the light. Another method also uses the practice of chanting Hu for five minutes, but then we imagine a Golden Light that flows from our self into the room. Everything that the Golden Light touches is transformed into Light. After the room has become filled with Light, we imagine that the dream and its darkness are also transformed into light by this magnificent force. Julia: Dream journals are emphasized as important tools in gaining expertise through spiritual dreaming. Why is this so important? Gail: A dream journal is important in learning how to identify the meaning of symbols and the meaning of dreams. When we think about dreaming from a spiritual level, the interpretation and understanding of the symbols and meaning varies with each individual. Eckankar teachings advise creating our own dream dictionary, with definitions of the symbols that commonly occur in our own dreams. Each symbol can be defined and dated. Also, as we unfold spiritually, our understanding of symbols often changes, and the dream dictionary records these changes for us. Personally, although I tend to spend more time on spiritual meditation each night and less on the journal, I write down anchor words each morning in my dream journal. For example, I wrote down only a few words about one dream — "Jim" and "a big belly." I couldn't remember any more of the dream. Jim was a friend that I had not been in touch with for some time. I later found out that he had bowel cancer, and the big belly was related to his illness. This illustrates how our dreams are giving us messages. There seem to be cycles in dreaming. We will have repetitive dreams, and there will be places and people that reoccur in our dreams. So a dream journal helps us identify the focus of our consciousness. Also, the simple discipline of writing in a journal each day is helpful in refining our spiritual practice. Julia: What do you recommend for those who cannot remember their dreams? Gail: One method that is recommended is to chant the letters of the word "dream" — D-R-E-A-M. We also have what we call the "Censor" in dreaming. The Censor blocks anything that might be shocking or very uncomfortable to the overall consciousness. The Censor acts as a protector of our background or childhood memories and "censors out" information that might make us perceive ourselves, life, or other people in a different way. It filters out direct perception or insight. It is the part of us that says, "That's impossible. It couldn't have happened. That couldn't be me." Sometimes, even talented dreamers will no longer be able to remember their dreams after learning the Eckankar techniques. This is because they are beginning to receive information from the next level of consciousness. They are not yet able to process it because it doesn't fit into their level of understanding. Dreams also can be distorted because the dream Censor blocks parts of the dream, allowing only certain parts to come through. Everyone's Censor acts in this way, but if we continue our spiritual practice and seek experiences that cause us to become more open-minded, we eventually get through the Censor. I always think of a particular episode of M*A*S*H that related to the Censor. Hawkeye was seeing a psychologist because he was irritable and upset. He thought this state had occurred from watching a woman strangle a chicken. As the episode progressed, he recalled that in reality he had watched a woman strangle her baby. She had done this to keep it from crying and alerting the enemy. She had killed her baby to save other people. Hawkeye's Censor had initially suppressed the true memory because it was just too difficult for him to process. Preventing fear and shock are the main reasons for the Censor's interference. So in this connection, it's important for us to understand that we eliminate fear and uncomfortable emotions by moving into them, not by moving away from them. A good analogy is to think of fear as a projection on a wall. As we move the projector further away from the wall — just as we try to move away from fear or other emotions — the image becomes larger and larger. When we move the projector closer to the wall, the picture becomes smaller and eventually disappears. Another analogy that I use in teaching is the idea of an hourglass. The top part represents the inner, or spiritual, world of the Soul, and the bottom represents our physical, mental, and emotional states. Dreaming occurs in the upper part of the hourglass, but the Censor pinches the flow of the sand, only allowing a trickle into the lower consciousness. Wherever our conscious realization is blocked, it prevents the sand from flowing. Over time, our realization changes, and — to continue the analogy — more of the sand can trickle through. We become more connected with God. Eventually, we can have the realization that there is no separation from God. It is all energy, and we co-create through active consciousness. Julia: You also have a dream technique that involves the living Eck master, Harold Klemp. What can you tell me about that? Gail: An important part of our practice is the connection with the living Eck master. We believe that there are many Ascended Masters, but it is easier to work with a living master who is connected to both physical and spiritual realms. The Inner Master, or Eck master, is not someone we worship. We simply believe that we can move along more quickly if we are connected to a living counterpart of the Inner and Outer World. There will always be an Inner Master in Eckankar, although it will not always be the same person. The Inner Master also is called the Mahanta, and the letters of his name may be chanted to call him into individual dream work. "Mahanta" means the highest state of God consciousness. Steve: When we work with a Master, the quality of dreams tends to be clearer and more profound. We believe that through a conscious connection with a guide — created by the chanting — we can become more evolved through their consciousness. It is not necessary, though, to contact the Mahanta. All of us have an inner teacher or guide from whom we can request answers or direction. The inner teacher will hear and help us. Julia: Can you give me examples of your own experience with the Eckankar dreaming techniques? Gail: My dream practice has often given me emotional insights that I would not other have had. For example, there was a time when my husband and I were simply not getting along. Our disharmony was so great that I was considering divorce. I decided to try spiritual contemplation, and so I used the techniques to meditate on what he needed or what I might give to him. I received one word in my meditation: "compassion." That night, I dreamed about a mother cat and her kitten. In the dream, I took the cat back into my house. My husband had written a song called "Compassion" when his cat died, fifteen years ago. So I acted on the dream by visiting the local shelter. They didn't have a cat or any kittens, but I found a wonderful adult dog, a cattle dog, and brought her home. Having the new dog in our home totally shifted our relationship. We experienced a harmony together we had not had in some time. I act on all of my dreams, and I trust the insight that they bring. I am a chiropractor, and have also successfully used these techniques — although mostly on the emotional level — with my patients. I had a male patient to whom I was very attached. He came in often, and I felt we had a great relationship. He suddenly stopped paying his bills, and my staff told me he was very angry and upset. I didn't know what to do, so again, I used the dream techniques. I dreamed he was experiencing a great deal of stress and many problems in his life. In the dream, I talked with him about his problems, and told him I totally understood and cared — but I did explain that I wanted to be paid. He came into the office a few days later, apologized for his behavior, and paid his bill. I frequently meet my patients in my dreams before I meet them in real life. For example, I once received a very intense, vivid dream image of a six-month old, red-haired boy who became a patient a few days later. Julia: The teachings say that it is possible to dream-travel to different planes and spectacular places, such as healing temples. What can you tell me about that? Steve: We believe that places such as Shangri-La and Shambala are real on another plane that is just a little higher than the plane on which we live. It's just that they are not present in the third dimensional plane of our daily life. It is possible for us to visit and remember our visits to these spectacular spiritual places. There also are healing temples where people can actually receive profound healing in their dreams. Many, many people go to healing temples in their dreams. They are found on many levels of existence. They can be visited for learning, inspiration, and spiritual healing. Gail: I once dreamed of lying on a huge slab of marble. Six people surrounded me and directed energy and light toward me. Energy just flooded through my body. I had been totally drained and exhausted before the dream, but I awoke filled with energy. One Eckankar member, a European doctor, frequently visited a particular healing temple in his dreams. Then one day he saw a painting by another Eckankar member who was an artist, and in the painting there was a terrace garden exactly like the one in the healing temple of his own dreams. One of my patients often dreams that she has chiropractic sessions with me. She says that she receives a great deal of healing and adjustments in these dreams. I believe that we are all connected through God's energy. As a healer, I may have helped her in the dreams. But we also have our own inner healer. Any kind of healing we may require can be found within ourselves. Julia: What are some of the benefits that you and your students have derived from spiritual dreaming? Gail: I have always been a dreamer. I've always had intense, colorful, and meaningful dreams that I remember vividly. I had never written these dreams down, but I recalled them perfectly, just as some people have vivid memories of specific events. I was deeply interested in Edgar Cayce and other dreamers before becoming involved in Eckankar. Now, this study has given me an understanding of the spiritual laws of life, and true freedom in the psychic space of dreaming without interference of the lower personality. The spiritual art of dreaming seems to help many people. I know a shaman who once experienced "dreaming" only after following special rituals or participating in a sweatlodge. After learning Eckankar techniques, he was able to "dream" whenever he wanted to. So that's just one example of a highly gifted individual who developed the ability to do dreaming in a very short time through our practices. Julia: Is there anything you'd like to mention in closing? Gail: Yes. What's most important is that the spiritual practices involved in dreaming must be done on a daily basis. While I have obtained a certain level of spirituality and adeptness in dreaming, I must continue to earn this every day. It's not enough to have the ability or to "be spiritual." Spirituality and the art of dreaming must be won each day through dedication to one's practice.
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