So I've been having nightmares, and in a private email, somebody said to me that dreams (including nightmares) are a kind of feedback from the self. And even though they're terrifying, there's some experience or emotion asking to be examined.
So I'm wondering if there's a healthy way to go about examining the experiences and/or emotions which might be causing nightmares and negative dreams?
I'm also wondering (kind of related) how one might develop a healthier ego, rather than going through outright ego death?(which many of us are just simply not ready to do yet)
Nightmares are a way for your higher self to tell you there are issues that you need to address. From what I understand, if you don't address them, the dreams will recur in the same or similar fashion until you do. The simplest way for me is to use an online dream dictionary, but that's not for everyone. There is also a book out called: Dreaming on Both Sides of the Brain: Discover the Secret Language of the Night by Doris E. Cohen, PhD. you could look into on Amazon.
When you think about the nightmare you had, does it still evoke fear in you?
I think humility, being humble is a good way to deal with ego, which you seem to have.
When I think about it, I like to think about the day I had, and ways I could have done better.
Much of what ego does is unconscious I believe. If we can make its workings conscious, then we can better deal with it.
Humility may be good, but there are clearly some ego issues that need to be addressed without trying to suppress the ego.
That doesn't mean to not be humble, but I'm wondering how one might WORK WITH one's ego in a healthy way.
And yeah, thinking about how I can do better next time for things I feel I have mishandled is a good idea for sure.
And yes, making the workings conscious would be great.
I like the tip AuntieMable had of reading that book and going online and reading dream dictionaries.
I know getting therapy and meditation are both good ideas.
I'm thinking of maybe getting into MMA when I am able to do so. I also know that for me personally, my higher self said "sing" so I've decided that while there could be much metaphor worth exploring int hat directive, taking it literally also seems to be a good idea, for me at least. I can't sing in a manner that people would find pleasing to the ear, but I'm endeavoring to improve at it. I believe one does not have to be born with a natural set of pipes to get good at it. My hope is to start a metal band and be the vocalist, something I've always wanted to do, but now I feel I NEED to do.
I think there's a lot of negative urges I'm suppressing maybe, because I see them,as, well, negative.
I wonder how one can healthily explore negative urges and/or thoughts? You know, positive ways to explore these dark aspects of the self without becoming negative? I guess I'm worried I'll negatively polarize or something and maybe that's part of the suppression. I dunno. But in any case, the question of how a person can explore these shadow aspects in a healthy way is definitely a big question. At least for me. And I think if we brainstorm ideas as to how a person can do such a thing, it can be useful for others too. So some ideas I have are: Do MMA (and indulge in a sense of community and respect that many martial arts gyms/dojo's tend to foster), find healthy examples of people working with whatever emotions one is working with (for example, one may have some aggressive urges deep down inside, and one may find a healthy role model in men who are PROTECTIVE rather than aggressive, with bellicosity) Get a good therapist, and of course, meditate. Start a band or something, you know, music. That's another good idea. Starting a dream journal is a good idea (and looking up meanings is a good idea, AuntieMable) and your idea of asking how one can take situations one doesn't like how they handled, and handle them better if they find themselves in said situation again, is also an excellent idea.
If anybody else has any more ideas, feel free to add/share!
Movies, reading books, computer games, dreams are good candidates for exploring as such.
(10-22-2018, 05:39 PM)unity100 Wrote: [ -> ]Movies, reading books, computer games, dreams are good candidates for exploring as such.
Yeah, I think I took all the media I used to indulge in that was negative and started having MAJOUR problems with it once I got into LOO stuff. Like that Punisher short on Youtube: Dirty Laundry. Used to love it. Now it disturbs me to watch. I think I'm suppressing the parts of me that used to like negative s***. And I don't know how to handle it. Even stuff like Pantera songs I used to like, I have different feelings about now. And I guess the piece of me that enjoys them is still there, but the part of me that dislikes the negativity might be suppressing that aspect of myself.
I realized in my first night in the psyche ward that there was a disturbing part of me that wanted to fight people. I might have been scared and taking on the negative energy of people around me though. Once I got settled in, I didn't have that urge. Still, I decided that night, exploring MMA might be a good idea.
So I guess for anyone else who might be doing that, finding outlets and indulging them without so much suppression might be good. Just, how does one not overdo it?
I find the most useful examination is getting to the core origin of things. I find the energy ray concepts are very useful for this. Trying getting to the root of the issues/beliefs from the perspective of the types of love embodied in the rays/chakras concepts. Once you have a solid understanding of what balanced perspectives make up each ray (Ra only briefly covers them), there are many techniques involving this but I think you have to experiment with one that works for you. Dream interpretation, applying understanding and acceptance and faith to the situation, exploration mentally of opposites, practicing the exercises Ra suggests (love at the moment always - the ray/chakra concepts are great for this, see the creator in yourself and others, meditation with the intent to let conscious realizations filter down to the root of the mind, etc).
(10-22-2018, 05:58 PM)xise Wrote: [ -> ]I find the most useful examination is getting to the core origin of things. I find the energy ray concepts are very useful for this. Trying getting to the root of the issues/beliefs from the perspective of the types of love embodied in the rays/chakras concepts. Once you have a solid understanding of what balanced perspectives make up each ray (Ra only briefly covers them), there are many techniques involving this but I think you have to experiment with one that works for you. Dream interpretation, applying understanding and acceptance and faith to the situation, exploration mentally of opposites, practicing the exercises Ra suggests (love at the moment always - the ray/chakra concepts are great for this, see the creator in yourself and others, meditation with the intent to let conscious realizations filter down to the root of the mind, etc).
Those are all great ideas! I stopped reading the LOO because I was getting freaked out by some concepts and I think it puts me too much in my head, but those are some good things I can check out.
(10-22-2018, 06:13 PM)EvolvingPhoenix Wrote: [ -> ]This also looks good: http://thework.com/en/do-work
http://thework.com/en/about-byron-katie
I have found The Work by Byron Katie to be excellent, especially the Judge Your Neighbor worksheet! I've thought for a while it would be good to do this work through this forum.
When it comes to nightmares, I have found that while trauma/abuse originates from how others have treated us, usually when we were a child, the continuous torment we experience is self-perpetuated (not intentionally, but subconsciously), whether it's from replaying the situation over and over, not forgiving the self for having "allowed" it to happen, or maintaining self-limiting belief structures like "I'm not good enough", "the only thing that matters is status", etc. So I find those taunting figures or terrorising situations experienced in nightmares to be external representations of those self-harming thought/belief structures that you hold within.
I agree that creative endeavours (like starting a heavy metal band) can be an excellent way of processing heavy emotions, and I believe something that can never be under-estimated is the shedding of
tears of futility - the final resting place of difficult catalyst.
(10-22-2018, 05:52 PM)EvolvingPhoenix Wrote: [ -> ] (10-22-2018, 05:39 PM)unity100 Wrote: [ -> ]Movies, reading books, computer games, dreams are good candidates for exploring as such.
Yeah, I think I took all the media I used to indulge in that was negative and started having MAJOUR problems with it once I got into LOO stuff. Like that Punisher short on Youtube: Dirty Laundry. Used to love it. Now it disturbs me to watch. I think I'm suppressing the parts of me that used to like negative s***. And I don't know how to handle it. Even stuff like Pantera songs I used to like, I have different feelings about now. And I guess the piece of me that enjoys them is still there, but the part of me that dislikes the negativity might be suppressing that aspect of myself.
I realized in my first night in the psyche ward that there was a disturbing part of me that wanted to fight people. I might have been scared and taking on the negative energy of people around me though. Once I got settled in, I didn't have that urge. Still, I decided that night, exploring MMA might be a good idea.
Play FPS games. Whichever fits your currently-existing morals to express your inclination to violent acts. To the degree it is compatible. Go shoot zombies in a zombie hunter game or something.
Quote:So I guess for anyone else who might be doing that, finding outlets and indulging them without so much suppression might be good. Just, how does one not overdo it?
Not overdoing is something that is specific to every other person. One has to find his/her own not-overdoing level and the way of doing it.
(10-22-2018, 06:08 PM)EvolvingPhoenix Wrote: [ -> ]@Xise
do you think videos like this would be good for understanding such chakra concepts? --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H4pWEUIxUA
Article version: https://www.chakraboosters.com/solar-ple...kra-shadow
I've viewed probably over 50 sources and did my own contemplation as well as looking at Ra's guidance on the chakra concepts, so though I haven't looked at the video, I would say that I didn't rely on any authoritative source; instead I just kind of pieced things together as if the ray/chakra concepts were concepts that don't translate well to human language, and went from there.
This forum has a lot of threads where each ray is discussed at length. So I think searching and reading the threads here is also a great way to piece it all together. Just realize that basically anyone can post here, and so just someone posts something on this forum doesn't mean it's correct. Gotta shift through the noise to find good information, but there's definitely plenty here.
1. Sometimes the cause for nightmares can be what you eat/drink in the evening. Or what you feed your mind with. I think freaky/violent/horror movies/books/games is not a good idea. Find something calming and tranquil in the evening.
2. Dealing with negative emotions. I think regular meditation, mindfulness, physical activity, examining the day, singing or playing an instrument etc. are beneficial. Sometimes a therapy is necessary.
3. Healthy ego. As Indigo said: humility. That means being realistic/sincere about yourself. Aknowledge and accept your strong and weak points.
Accepting the shadow is probably one of the most difficult parts of self-integration. For myself, I found that I tend to balance things in the extreme and then find the balance in the middle for all things.
So, in a general sense, I can imagine myself as the 'most evil' person or version of myself possible and then I can imagine myself as the 'most good' version of myself and these sort of cancel eachother out. I always look at what is in my mind and then examine that against what I actually observe of myself. I see that even though I contain the potential and thoughts necessary to be 'the most' of either, I actually always fall somewhere more in the middle.
From there I start to shave down attributes. I look at the most extreme things possible, like total sadism for the evil side and total martyrdom for the good side. I see they are both undesirable and cancel eachother out. I start to 'tone down' attributes. With 'extreme love' on one side and 'extreme hate' on the other I find the spectrum of like and dislike, ranging from strong to weak to true neutral.
My being is full of all things and so I think we often get caught up in all of the possible things we might be as we see them in our minds and if we actually trim this down and start to perceive ourselves with a mental image that is actually truer to our humanity we alleviate the psychic pressure we place upon ourselves to be as the idealistic images we cling to.
You aren't a devil or a saint, good or evil, a good person or a bad person, you are just you. Shed your mind of the dross and you'll see that all the things you think make up your personality actually aren't you at all. I'm not talking about ego death either, I'm talking about seeing the ego for what it really is, which is a mirror for the self. If you realize the ego is actually EMPTY and the mind is the source of the content of its illusions you see that the ego is the cart and the mind is the horse. To master the ego it is the mind you must master. Then it will be your most faithful companion.
I think while pondering these concepts - not just intellectually, but in deep contemplation that combines a recognition and acceptance of your emotions and experiences while also using the analytical aspect of the logical mind - it's also useful to come up with your own definition of the word ego, and state it so that others better understand the context. It's not a word defined by Ra (unless you decide it is synonymous with Ra's use of the word personality, which I think is slightly inconsistent with Ra terminology; however, reasonable people may differ), and it's a word that has many slightly different definitions amongst spiritual philosophies.
It's not the definition that matters per se - arguing over whether you decide to declare a 'full tank of gas' is 99%+ or 98%+ full of gas is kind of dumb - but having an explicit definition informs the mind and defines the issue when searching for answers. And there should be no attachment to a given definition obviously, the definition is there for purposes of language and mental efficacy and be thrown away when no longer useful.
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To provide an example:
I for one continue to currently define the personality as a construct separate from the ego/egoic mind, and I personally define the ego as the fear-based distortions that make up the red/orange/yellow/green concepts, and it also seems to me the egoic mind seems to be influenced heavily by the collective societal mind with some sort of telepathy. It should be noted that due to upbringing and this seemingly telepathic connection to the societal mind, it often has a lot of tendencies that 'normal people' have, and is filled with common societal/cultural/familial distortions. In my own experience, for my given definition, of course. As you can kind of see already, constructing the definition already often informs the seeker the nature of the lessons and distortions contained therein, and where to look for balancing and healing.
Whereas the pure personality (painting hobbies, enjoying hikes etc), seems to not necessarily be related to distortions or necessarily the collective mind, but is a hue of the Creator, though not the Creator or deeper personality as Ra calls it itself; and we wear many personalities over various incarnations (I'm sure I disliked/wasn't good at painting in some, etc).
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And if it hasn't been said recently to you, it's important to take the advice that resonates for obvious and what I consider nonobvious reasons. The obvious reasons are that sometimes people are mistaken or miscommunicate their suggestions, and I won't comment more on this since it's obvious that this can occur and does occur on this forum.
The non-obvious reasons (at least non-obvious to me for some of my spiritual seeking) is that the spiritual journey is so individualized, and each mind and spirit so individualized, that what might work for one might not work for another due to inherent differences in preferences and makeup. For example, it's well understood for purposes of the physical body that one regieme of exercise and one type of diet do not perfectly fit everyone. And that to achieve 100% success/maxing out of the physical body for whatever purpose (working out, training for endurance sports) - as opposed to 70, or 80% - one must custom tailor their diet and exercise to fit what works for their body. So being open to a wide variety of methods to find what works for you is often in order.
I feel the spiritual journey is similar. What may work for one, may not work for another. So while it's good to keep an open mind, realize something that 100% works for me, or another person, may not work for you, because you are a unique individual and your own journey is unique. And I think realizing this early on helps to keep one from banging one's head against a wall with a method that was 'proven' successful for another, but just doesn't seem to work no matter how hard or diligently you apply it in this stage of your journey. But I find if the will is there and the intent to heal is sincere and longlasting, the Creator will reveal a method that works for you eventually, just have faith and be patient, and continue to do the best you can in your own search.