The Spirit of a Dream

Hey folks,

Those that know me know that I'm not a particularly religious guy, however I am open-minded to the possibility of a higher power, an omniscent presence, an everpresent energy that permeates everything and instills meaning, connection, and purpose, and so on and so forth. I'm speaking, of course, of The Force. No wait, Mr.Lucas explained away that cool mystical concept with that whole "metaclorins" crap in Star Wars: Episode I--essentially scientizing a fundamentally unscientific concept. Can religion and science ever get along or will they forever be doomed to contradict one-another like some kind of weathered, cynical old couple? Food for thought, but surely I digress.

Anyway, as I was saying, I'm speaking of course of this whole notion of God. I don't pretend to know what he/she/it is, but I do leave room for the possibility of his/her/its existence. I guess it's safe to say that I'm agnostic, and despite my Judeo-Christian background I think that I have leanings towards Buddhism, although I haven't really looked into it yet. Strike that up to my fear of letting go of my worldliness - I'm ever so attached to my possessions as I know I shouldn't be. I guess I can't see myself shaving my head, donning a robe, and sitting alone on a mountaintop meditating ad nauseum. Of course I know that the path of a monk is one extreme of Buddhism. In a way I guess I use such extreme thinking to justify my hesitation, thereby ensuring that I remain firmly planted in my day-to-day orientation to the world.

Regarding the whole attachment thing, I suppose its okay, so long as you're attached to a person (or animal) that you love and the attachment doesn't compromise their existence or your own (i.e. you're not so attached as to be fully dependent on someone else or living with disregard for other beings). In other words you have to have balance, which is a recurrent theme in my life - strike it up to my being a Libra, I suppose.

So I guess, in my roundabout way, I'm finally getting to the point of this whole discussion on spirituality: last night I had a most peculiar dream. As I have a tendency to do, I cannot recall the dream in its entirety, but what I can recall is befuddling to me for the considerations outlined above. Here's the recalled portion of the dream:

I was travelling in a vehicle with another passenger. I believe it was a woman and I believe
that she was driving. I don't know if it was my wife or someone else significant from my life.
My sense was that this person was a mere acquaintance or even somebody that I didn't
know. Anyway we were chatting about mundane stuff as we were driving down this dark
road that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere - like in some desert. All of a sudden we
were privy to a most spectacular sight: some kind of bluish-white beam shot down from the
sky! My first thought was that this was some sort of paranormal alien/UFO phenomenom,
but I later noticed that a cross was clearly visible on the road where the beam was hitting.
The driver and I started to get freaked out as we came closer to the beam. The next thing I
remember is passing through the beam. As we passed through the spot, the car proceeded to
spin out of control and I experienced a very vivid sense of coldness and fear that caused me
to intake a huge gulp of air (in reality, not the dream). With this action I immediately
awakened and remained in a fearful state. I experienced the dream as a Godly-type of
message and felt in the moment that I needed to commit to religion - or else. I also had
the distinct notion that an ominous presence was nearby in the apartment. It was akin to the
sleep paralysis that many people have experienced (which I experienced once). It wasn't the
same in the sense that I believe I did have control of my extremities, I simply chose not to
move for fear that the perceived "entities" would notice me. Very creepy.

If anything this dream/experience has provided me with some empathy for religious zealots and those people who firmly believe that they have been visited and/or contacted, whether by aliens or heavenly agents, or some other entities (fairies, vampires, werewolves, demons?). That's not to say that I "believe" I was visited. In my case the cloud lifted and my rational thinking kicked in. Perhaps that's the key to having a paranormal experience, though. One needs to let go, to suspend rational thinking in order to let in the spiritual, the mystical, and the magical. In effect, one has to be "crazy" to experience other realities.

What do you folks think?