Banal, right?
Nope.
I was asleep in New York City at the time and "Sally" was asleep in Seattle. I remembered it as a rather vivid dream. "Sally" remembered it as a vivid dream. We only discovered the "reality" -- whatever THAT means in this context! -- when the roomie idly questioned "Sally" the next day, "I thought AT was in New York. When did he return to Seattle?" And the whole thing came out.
This happening was a fact. There was independent verification. There was physical evidence in sound and movement. There was objective social (dialogue) with a person who wasn't asleep.
What does it mean? It doesn't mean anything. There is no theory in which, from which, meaning can arise. The best explanation I can come up with, to paraphrase Shakespeare, is "There be a bunch of stuff going on that beats my pair of Aces."
Robert Monroe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Allan Monroe (October 30, 1915-March 17, 1995) was an advertising executive from Virginia who became known for his research into altered consciousness. His 1971 book Journeys Out of the Body is credited with popularizing the term "out-of-body experience". In 1978 Monroe founded The Monroe Institute, which carried on his work after his death. [1][2][3][4][5]
In his last book "Ultimate Journey" there is a chapter "About the Author". In this chapter it's said that Robert Monroe is directing Monroe Institute from There, meaning that he is able to take part in his Institute life from his post-death state. A reporter for The Hook, weekly newspaper for Charlottesville, Virginia, who visited the Monroe Institute said, "...with a few exceptions, the only 'normal' people with whom I could fully identify were the trainers, who seemed remarkably well-grounded for people whose day-to-day experiences include astral projection and disembodied spirits."[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monroe_Institute
In his last book "Ultimate Journey" there is a chapter "About the Author". In this chapter it's said that Robert Monroe is directing Monroe Institute from There, meaning that he is able to take part in his Institute life from his post-death state.
A reporter for The Hook, weekly newspaper for Charlottesville, Virginia, who visited the Monroe Institute said, "...with a few exceptions, the only 'normal' people with whom I could fully identify were the trainers, who seemed remarkably well-grounded for people whose day-to-day experiences include astral projection and disembodied spirits."[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monroe_Institute
Of course this doesn't "automatically disqualify it" but it does - er - make one think :-) Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.
There is no theory in which, from which, meaning can arise.
More than twenty-five centuries have passed since that which has been called the Perennial Philosophy was first committed to writing; and in the course of those centuries it has found expression, now partial, now complete, now in this form, now in that, again and again. In Vedanta and Hebrew prophecy, in the Tao Teh King and the Platonic dialogues, in the Gospel according to St. John and Mahayana theology, in Plotinus...among the Persial Sufis and the Christian Mystics of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance--the Perennial Philosophy has spoken almost all of the languages of Asia and Europe....But under all of this confusion of tongues and myths...there remains a Hihgest Common Factor, which is the Perennial Philosophy in what may be called its chemically pure state. -Skip- At the core of the Perennial Philosophy we find four fundamental doctrines. First: the phenomenal world of matter and of individualized consciousness--the world of things and animals and men and even gods--is the manifestation of a Divine Ground within which all paratial realities have their being, and apart from which they would be nonexistent. Second: human beings are capable not merely of knowing about the Divine Ground by inference; they can also realize its existence by a direct intuition, superior to discursive reasoning. This immediate knowledge unites the knower with that which is known. Third: man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, which is the inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. It is possible for a man if he so desires, to identify himnself with the spirit and therefore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like nature with the spirit. Fourth: man's life on earth has only one end and purpose: to identify himself with his eternal Self and so come to unitive knowledge of the Divine Ground.
-Skip-
At the core of the Perennial Philosophy we find four fundamental doctrines. First: the phenomenal world of matter and of individualized consciousness--the world of things and animals and men and even gods--is the manifestation of a Divine Ground within which all paratial realities have their being, and apart from which they would be nonexistent. Second: human beings are capable not merely of knowing about the Divine Ground by inference; they can also realize its existence by a direct intuition, superior to discursive reasoning. This immediate knowledge unites the knower with that which is known. Third: man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, which is the inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. It is possible for a man if he so desires, to identify himnself with the spirit and therefore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like nature with the spirit. Fourth: man's life on earth has only one end and purpose: to identify himself with his eternal Self and so come to unitive knowledge of the Divine Ground.
The situation:
In the Gita dialog there are four speakers: King Dhritarashtra, Sanjaya, Arjuna and Krishna. Dhritarashtra is blind. The sage Vyasa (who is tratitionally supposed to be the author of the Gita) offers to restore his sight in order that he may watch the battle of Kurukshetra. But Dhritarashtra refuses. He cannot bear to see his kinsmen killed. So Vyasa confers the psychic powers of clairvoyance and clairaudience upon Sanjaya, who is Dhritarashtra's minister and charioteer. As they sit together in the palace, Sanjaya describes to his master everything he sees and hears on the distant battlefield.
Dhritarashtra is blind. The sage Vyasa (who is tratitionally supposed to be the author of the Gita) offers to restore his sight in order that he may watch the battle of Kurukshetra. But Dhritarashtra refuses. He cannot bear to see his kinsmen killed. So Vyasa confers the psychic powers of clairvoyance and clairaudience upon Sanjaya, who is Dhritarashtra's minister and charioteer. As they sit together in the palace, Sanjaya describes to his master everything he sees and hears on the distant battlefield.
I believe that direct experience is primary and while our culture encourages us to reject what we cannot understand, that it is important to cultivate an ability to hold on to inexplicable experiences pending the development of an understanding in which they can be explained. It is really not so hard to do. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
'A structured explanatory communication, supported by empirical evidence'
as opposed to the common definition:
'a bunch of words tacked together in an effort to 'splain somethin'
The Theory of Evolution is a means of understanding and partakes of the first.
The Theory of Intelligent Design is a bunch of nonsense and partakes of the latter.
I am familiar with the 'Gita, as well as the Mahabharata, BTW. I find it hard to accept as empirical evidence or an explanation of such.
I would not rule out the possibility of identifying states of consciousness or attributes of the human mind that could readily explain experiences such as yours, that of Crazy Horse or some of my own and others and that could be related to the Perennial Philosophy described by Huxley in the introduction. Most work in psychology through Fechner was done in the light of the traditions of the Perennial Philosophy. However Fechner's observation that sense perception related to sensual stimulation by the logarithm of the stimulus was seized upon by those who followed Fechner to drive Psyche out of Psychology. For most of a century Psyche was entrusted to the care of Procrustes in the guise of scientific reductionism, with some exceptions. The subject of a future diary, perhaps. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
yup, once you let go of anything being threatening to your preciousss belief system!
if it flies in your face? be grateful!
better now than later... ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
at 20, i carried a round a copy of his 'perennial philosophy' for a year, full of underlinings, scribbled sidenote springboard revelations. it was the first book on philosophy that made intuitive sense to me.
between him, hesse and ronald laing, guardian angels holding my hand as i dangled, unglued in the abyss. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
