Saturday, May 1, 2010

Death, Or A Standstill in Time

Last night I had a dream that left a big impression. Lately, I've been having those sorts of dreams near a full moon.

In this dream, I was flying in an airplane with a bunch of people, and all of a sudden the plane took a nosedive straight for the ocean. Everyone was panicking as the plane spiraled out of control, but somehow I remained calm. It was scary, sure, but I didn't feel the same panic as those that surrounded me.

Then all of a sudden time stood still, just as the nose of the plane was about to hit the water of the ocean. It hadn't quite touched yet. All of the people and myself got out of the plane and started walking on the surface of the water! We wandered around, exploring this new phenomenon, when I spotted my dad among the crowd. I went over to him, and he went behind a wave as tall as myself, so that the wave separated us. My dad then pushed the wave over so that it was on top of me! I was inside the wave for a moment, but the water didn't even seem to touch me. I had time to think while I was inside the wave, and I thought, wow, I'm not even wet, and I'm inside an ocean wave yet outside of time! Then I went through the wave to the other side and saw my dad.

Then I got to thinking and I didn't understand how we could have stepped into a realm outside of time and be able to affect the environment (my dad was able to push the wave as if it were jello) yet not be affected by the environment (I didn't even get wet as I stepped inside the wave.) I wondered if we were all dead and the plane really did crash into the ocean, and I wondered how we would know for sure. Then I woke up.

Perhaps I did die, in the dream. And if so, I experienced a reality that was separate from everyday reality, yet still connected to this world. My whole dream took place in the span of maybe 2 or 3 seconds, yet so much happened. I wonder if, after death, we will experience time at all, or if everything we do will seem like it happens in a single second of time, or if we will just be outside of time altogether. This is not the first dream I've had in which I died, by the way, but I'm not even sure if I did die in the dream or if I somehow became part of another reality through some other means.

5 comments:

  1. I really like this! funny we both posted about airplanes within a couple hours of each other.

    Dreams are always so interesting, especially the way time jumps around, ceases to exist, or is subject to unusual rules. Time stopping just before a probably fatal moment is cool-- like the opposite of your life flashing before your eyes, instead you get more time to live.

    I suppose that's what a lifetime is. The moment before death when we get to see every thing we experience, in all it's sadness and glory. Only in retrospect do we realize it was over in an instant.

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  2. Hi

    wow, fascinating. ANd I love your insights about your dream. I am no dream expert but I know that if you dream about dieing it means that a part of you has died - it could be a belief, or a friendship and so forth.

    Love you
    Gail
    peace....

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  3. "Aboriginals believe in two forms of time; two parallel streams of activity. One is the daily objective activity, the other is an infinite spiritual cycle called the 'dreamtime', more real than reality itself."*

    You are dipping your toes into where other have been for a very long time. Enjoy.

    * The opening line of the Australian film "The Last Wave"

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  4. yep saumya, i agree that it's a strange coincidence that we both posted about airplanes. when i read your post, i got that same falling feeling that i had in my dream! so strange!

    gail, so many new aspects of myself are coming to life that i would be surprised if a few aren't dying as well. i just hope that it's something i no longer need!

    dee, thank you for that quote, i do think that in some ways dreams are more real than reality, at least the lessons are more able to change my perception!

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  5. I think you and Saum have opened an interesting idea, is this timelessness that you write about, all happening in a scale of 2-3 seconds a parallel to life itself, perhaps a dream of living to a more super-consciousness version of ourselves where our entire lifetime is played out in 2-3 seconds of it's dream. Taken from that perspective, it adds dimension to our own reality.

    I personally love the suspension of laws of nature in dream: time, gravity, physical contact (with the waves/water). Most of all, I like the fearlessness you approached the situation in your dream. Everyone panicked, but you remained calm and interested in the experience itself. It's a good way to handle the curiosities of life.

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