Theos-Talk Archives (May 1994 Message tl00042)

This is by Eldon Tucker.

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                          No Dreamworld

     In reading the discussion group the past few months, it seems
that the talk is one-sided. One theosophical viewpoint predomi-
nates. Much goes unsaid as the Pasadena, Point Loma, and ULT
subscribers read and may be keeping their thoughts to themselves.
     There are many unspoken assumptions behind the discussions.
They may be considered beyond question. But are they? In reading
the talk about astral experiences, I am reminded of born-again
Christians. When I hear people talking of their renewed personal
relationships with Jesus, I see them making many assumptions
regarding Jesus and Christianity and the makeup of the world. I
risk their outrage when I raise my doubts about some of their key
ideas. Do I comment or remain silent?
     My training in Theosophy leads me to oppose materialism,
selfishness, and false belief, no matter however sincerely held. I
feel responsible for sharing the Teachings with whomever is
responsive to their effects. I also feel responsible for helping
others in their spiritual growth, to the extent allowed by
circumstances in my life.
     The purpose of the Teachings is to draw people away from a
preoccupation with the material world, and from the illusory
psychical nature as well, and to develop and awaken their spiritu-
al-intellectual natures.
     Some theosophical books read too easily. They leave one
nothing to ponder. The books may even sound like a psychical
travelogue. These books make the reader feel that there is nothing
more to the philosophy, that the next step is to develop paranormal
powers and visit other planes.
     Other books touch on the actual Mysteries. They stir a deeper
part of us. These books awaken our inner Teacher.
     When we find books that seem empty or meaningless, that seem
to contain philosophical hair-splitting, we're either not reading
the right authors or not ready yet to see what is there.
     The next step in our spiritual evolution is to awaken our
higher mind, a spiritual-intellectual faculty. The higher mind is
completely above and independent of our material and psychical
natures. It is a faculty of consciousness, not an extension of any
of our senses, like hearing or sight, on this or other planes.
     There is the astral light, which surrounds our earth. It is
the storehouse of nature. The astral light is not an objective
world; it is a world of illusions. There are other objective
worlds, the globes of our planetary chain, but we do not visit them
in dreams. A visit to the other globes is in deep sleep, totally
unrelated to the dream state.
     An astral experience is inherently unstable because it is
self-created. We populate the environment about us, giving shapes,
colors, characterizations based upon the content of our own mind.
We do not interact with others, except perhaps telepathically;
there is no interaction in person.
     The continuous stream of events that we see in a dream follows
the stream of thought in our own minds. There is a continuous
mental dialog, a narrative voice. This voice brings with it the
dramatization of the content of our consciousness. This is what we
see in the astral light.
     A respected Jungian psychologist in San Diego, Robert Johnson,
once said that the stream of consciousness that we experience in
dreams is continuous, and is always happening, even when we are
awake. I'm inclined to agree with him.
     When we experience a lucid dream, or when things seem less
chaotic in a dream, we are really controlling our minds, and the
dramatization of our conscious content in the astral light, for the
moment, is less confused.
     The content of a dream is based upon our own beliefs and
training. It depends upon what thought currents that we have put
ourselves in touch with. A Christian could train himself to
experience a heaven world with Jesus and angels. A Tibetan Buddhist
could train himself to experience the Bardo. And a Spiritualist
could, with practice, come to see his Summerland (aka astral
plane).
     Collective beliefs form mirages in the astral light, illusory
"places" that believers could experience. Each such place would
have its own apparent laws and types of experience. We are correct
to consider this more alike many people watching the same movie on
TV than many people traveling to the same distant land. Depending
upon which thought current someone is in touch with, one will find
the appropriate "place" to visit. But these are not places, but
collective hallucinations.
     In dream experiences, we have people interacting with
collective thoughtforms. No one is coming into existence on another
objective plane. The experiences are self-created. A good example
involves a former theosophical writer. He wrote extensively of his
out of the body experiences. A friend of this writer died, someone
that the writer claimed to work with on the inner planes regularly.
The writer could not tell, out of his body, that his friend had
died, and subsequently wrote him a letter, thinking him still
alive. This is because, I think, he never really met his friend
while in the dream state, but interacted with his own dream image
of the friend.
     My assumption might be countered. Someone may say that there
is certain knowledge shared between people that they could not have
possibly known while awake, that had to happen when they met while
asleep. But I'd reply that those fragments of knowledge exchanged
were instances of thought transference, and not due to meeting
others in person in a dreamworld.
     If what I am writing about sounds a bit strange, or if you
feel a quick, impassioned need to tell me how wrong I am, you might
stop a moment, and remember that there are more than one worldview
that comes under the banner of Theosophy, and that not everyone
takes your basic assumptions for granted. I do not think I'm alone,
when I write, but perhaps the first to break a silence and say
something different.
     There is a karmic responsibility to others for whatever that
we teach them, whether it is high philosophy or occult science. It
is important to go with caution when we are uncertain about what we
are doing. But we must also act when it is time, and do what we
feel is right. Part of theosophical work--as I've learned it--is to
speak out against the teaching of the occult arts, to speak out
against psychical development. The acceptance and approval of
seeking powers are not universal in theosophical circles. Each
person should decide for himself, but should make an informed
decision.