Dreaming as a Domain of Nondual Realization

Daniel Rekshan
School of Integral Noetic Science, California Institute for Human Science
INS 790: Varieties of Nonduality
Dr. Sean Esbjörn-Hargens
June 18, 2023

Introduction

This paper focuses on dreams as a philosophic example of nonduality and as a domain of nondual realization. Dreams exemplify many types of nonduality. The experience of waking up from a dream, which felt real to you at the time, exemplifies subject-object nonduality. The experience of shared dreaming and dream sharing exemplifies self-other nonduality. The experience of entity communication in dreams, such as messages from angels or instruction from teachers, exemplifies myth-reason nonduality. Nearly all cultures have elements within their religious or philosophical traditions that see dreams as means of knowledge, inspiration, self-realization, or divine communication that have produced scripture, poetry, mathematical or technical insight, or social change that embodies nondual perspectives or qualities. For example, Rumi’s (1995) mystical poem The Dream the Must Be Interpreted clearly uses dreams as an example of nonduality and arose from a social context that professes the reality of angels as divine messengers who often speak through dream.

 Some traditions openly acknowledge dreams as examples of nonduality like Tibetan dream yogas, Hindu yoga nidra, and Western lucid dreamers (Mota-Rolim et al, 2020). While most religious traditions and cultures honor dreams as a means of spiritual knowledge or realization (Mota-Rolim et al, 2020), not all traditions or perspectives engage in self-reflection about dreams as a philosophic example of nonduality. Jewish mystic Maimonides aptly expressed this observation in the 12th century when he suggested that prophecy is a special type of dream phenomena and may not literally involve physical angels (Leaman, 1988).  The Neoplatonist Iamblichus understood that deities like Asclepius may appear in dreams in real ways, but also acknowledged the unreality of the phenomenal form because of the ultimately formless nature of deity (Slaveva-Griffin & Remes, 2014). Iamblichus and Maimonides are similar in that they both professed dreams to be channels of divine communication and that they both invite self-reflection on the reality of the dream.

I am interested in this topic because I am self-reflecting on my personal experience with dream communications with deities, angels, and other non-human intelligences (NHI) that directly instructed me in mystical practice and contemplation. In the fall of 2021, I engaged in a human initiated contact experience (HICE) practice aimed at extra-terrestrial (ET) intelligences associated with unidentified aerial/anomalous phenomena (UAP). I had a series of dreams, trance experiences, intuitions, and anomalous events that inspired me to perform the angelic communication rituals of Dr. John Dee, a 16th century magus who focused on mystical practices that I now see as clearly in line with the Neoplatonic theurgy of Iamblichus. They assisted my embodiment and understanding of nonduality through a rich imaginal journey, philosophic instruction, and state training.

I will reflect on my experience writing the Book of Galactic Light to include my first person perspective. Nondual practices and teachings are associated with mystical interpretations of sacred texts in each major religious tradition. In some traditions, these sacred texts directly arise from dream or dream-like experiences that may be seen as nondual. Second person perspectives are explored through the presentation of the historical context of each tradition. Additionally, I invite you, the reader, to contemplate some of the invitations the angels offered through the Book of Galactic Light, which I have included in excerpts in Appendix A from the only chapter that involved question-and-answer dialog. Third person perspectives are explored through the presentation and comparison of nonduality in the various traditions.

Nondual Dreams and Entity Communications in Various Traditions

My literature review for this paper focused specifically on finding precedents for entity communication of mystical or nondual wisdom through dreams or dream-like experiences that resulted in a cultural legacy like scripture or teachings, to which the dreamer attributed reality. Additionally, I sought for examples of self-reflection in the cultures regarding discussion about interpretation of dreams or dreamings as a philosophic example. My literature review identified precedents in every tradition for nondual experiences, such as the nonduality implicit within the experience of monotheistic religions or the nonduality explicitly taught in Buddhism. The review found precedents for the consideration of dreams as real, related to fortune and misfortune, and a domain for the accomplishment of spiritual goals. However, the review found precedents for reflection on the reality of dreams or of dreams as a philosophic example of nonduality in only some of the traditions, such as Buddhism and Neoplatonism.

Taoism

Taoism is a religious tradition that emerged in China during the 4th century BCE and is respected as one of the two major religions in China (Hansen, 2020). The other religion is Confucianism, which emerged from the works of Confucius in the 5th century BCE. Confucianism focuses on social harmony and ethics and its core texts include the famous I Ching. Confucianism was the orthodox religion of the Han dynasty, the decline of which created conditions for the overlapping rise of Taoism and Buddhism in China (Hansen, 2020). It is important to note that Taoism was not a self-recognized religion in China until around 500 CE, when Taoist began to distinguish themselves from Buddhists and Confucians (Kirkland, 2002). 

Dreaming may illuminate the Taoist experiences of nonduality. The “Dream of the Butterfly” from the Chuang Tzu exemplifies nondual perspectives in Taoism. The famous passage relates the story of the sage waking up from a dream that they were a butterfly and wondering if they were that butterfly dreaming that they were human. Taoist interpretations of the text seem to honor both perspectives (dreaming and waking) as valid (Möller, 1999). Lin (1995) surveyed Taoist attitudes regarding dreams and observed that having no dreams is a specific goal of Taoism, suggesting that dreams are regarded as diseases or maladies that need to be treated through action and even drugs. Taoism associates dreaming with imagination and the ethereal soul (Komjathy, 2014). 

While there is a noted negative attitude towards dreams, they are also seen as tools for diagnosing illness, warnings or communication from deities, or effects of the spirit world that is regarded as real (Lin, 1995). Perhaps the goal of having no dream is nondual like doing nonaction or wei-wu-wei, for the Chaung Tzu states, “if one does nothing during daytime, one will not dream at night” (as cited in Lin, 1995). The Chaung Tzu frequently used dreams as a primary precedent for uncertainty regarding the subject-object duality. In the dream, one assumes that the dreamworld is reality full of real objects, which are in turn experienced by a real self, all of which collapses into the subject or dreamer upon waking.

Immortality is seen as a goal of Taoism and the result of alchemical and meditative practices (Komjathy, 2014). In addition to acknowledging the spirit world, Taoism recognizes a class of beings who have achieved immortality and self-realization who offer teachings and transmissions through dreams (Komjathy, 2014). The Neo-Daoist text, The Secret of the Golden Flower, is derived from an oral tradition supposedly emerging from the direct teachings of some of these immortals (Zhu, 2009). The text may serve as a bridge between Eastern and Western scholarship through Jung’s commentary because, even though there has been controversy surrounding the text and his commentary, there is focused scholarship and discussion regarding the cross-cultural comparison of Taoist inner alchemy and Jungian self-realization (Zhu, 2009).

Buddhism

Buddhism emerged around the 5th century BCE in India from the teachings of the Buddha, who was also called Gautama (Siderits, 2020). The story of the Buddha is part of Buddhist teachings and Buddhists look to his historical life as an example of human potential. I will briefly relate the story as I remember it, while the details may be fully referenced in Harvey’s Introduction to Buddhism (2012). Buddha was born into a noble family under auspicious astrological signs that inspired his parents to isolate him from challenge by keeping him within their wealthy home. Upon leaving the home for the first time, Buddha encountered sickness, old age, and death, which made him aware of suffering. He resolved to solve the problem of suffering by leaving home and practicing with wandering monks in a variety of ascetic practices such as fasting and meditation. When he realized that excessive fasting was problematic, he consumed food that a child gave him, then sat under the Bodhi tree until he attained enlightenment.

Dreams are central to the discussion of nonduality within Buddhism. Khenpo Rinpoche used dreams as an example to illustrate the variety of nondual experiences within the progressive stages of mediation (Rinpoche & Hookham, 2016). For example, in the first stage, Khenpo Rinpoche cites the Buddha’s observation that dreaming of burning fire feels real in the dream, but upon waking is relieved to be unreal and that the cause of suffering in the dream is the misapprehension of reality. In the final stage, he used the awareness of dreaming (often called lucid dreaming) as an example for realizing the nonduality of samsara and nirvana. 

In his chapter on the anomalous experience of lucid dreaming, LaBerge (2014) observed that Buddhists have used dreams to accomplish their spiritual goals for over a thousand years of continuous cultural practice. LaBerge compared Western lucid dream studies with Tibetan practice, observing that both Western and Tibetan experiences concur that there is subject-object nonduality within the dream and that waking consciousness is as illusory as dreams. He noted that meditating on the dream results in a nondual experience of union with Clear Light, which is an experience that may stand outside of Western science. 

Tenzin Rinpoche (1998) clearly distinguished Clear Light dreams from samsaric dreams using the terminology of subject-object nonduality. He offered three types of dreams: ordinary dreams that arise from personal karma, clarity dreams that arise from transpersonal karma, and Clear Light dreams that arise from nondual experience. He noted that ordinary and clarity dreams may be lucid or non-lucid, but that Clear Light dreams are only regarded as lucid. In this view, dreams may be categorized using a variety of dualities: waking-dreaming, lucid-nonlucid, self-other, and subject-object.

In the system of Tibetan dream yoga, dreams are regarded as equally illusory or real as waking consciousness, but with more potential for accomplishing spiritual goals (LaBerge, 2014). Tenzin Rinpoche (1998) lists the uses of dreams as including divination, mediating positive or negative karma, practicing meditation, encountering teachers or teachings, or residing in Clear Light. While he classified some dream encounters with deities, teachers, and other entities as samsaric or dualistic, he ascribed reality to entity encounters within Clear Light dreams.

Hinduism

The term “Hinduism” is complex. On the one hand, it evokes images of a unified religious system that is composed of beliefs and practices (Fowler, 1997). On the other hand, it is clearly an invention of British colonialism and presents many challenges to understanding what it signifies (Ranganthan, 2022). The term itself was created to designate Indian people who are not Muslim, although the notion of a Hindu religion or identity was not present in India before the adoption of the term by British colonists (Ranganathan, 2022). Scholars define Hinduism as a cultural and religious tradition that has spanned more than 5,000 years (Fowler, 1997). Interestingly, scholars identify time around 500 BCE as a period of synthesis that brings together a variety of traditions into a stream that we may recognize as an orthodoxy (Hiltebeitel, 2013). There are many philosophic, religious, and practice traditions associated with Hinduism. 

Mota-Rolim et al (2020) have asserted that most traditions in Hinduism respect dreams both as a philosophic example and as spiritual practice. They described the practice of Yoga Nidra as a meditative state similar to lucid dreaming, but focused on the phase of deep dreamless sleep. The dream scientists cited several sacred texts and Western scholarship to make the claims that Hinduism saw dreams as prophetic, sources of divine insight, a path of self-realization, interpretable through relationship with divine entities, and ultimately as a means of realizing subject-object nonduality. They observed that Krisha is introduced in the Bhagavad Gita while he is in yoga nidra. Both Advaita and Yoga assert that consciousness remains during deep dreamless sleep, which is an experience of nonduality (Thompson, 2014).

Laxmi (2018) observed that Western scholarship has difficulty characterizing dreams in Hinduism because of the multiplicity of traditions, as well as the difference of worldviews. The Indian psychology scholar surveyed dreaming in the Upanishads and observed that dreams were used as a philosophic example of nonduality, a means of prophecy and mediation of fortune, and a domain of real experience. They noted that some dreams of profound seekers may mediate their fortune, destiny, or karma through the intervention of Guru in the dream (Laxmi, 2018). Chowdury et al (2014) in their survey of dreams from a modern Ayurvedic perspective observed that many of the systems focus on deep dreamless sleep as a philosophic example, while acknowledging that dreams may serve as a diagnostic tool. They cited precedents for the notion that dreams may be divine messages, may mediate fortune, and may arise from supernatural sources. Harman (2004) observed that many devotees of Hindu deities are called to priestly service through dreams, after which they may communicate divine messages or mediate fortunes through the embodiment of the deity in a trance.

Judaism

Judaism is one of the world’s three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In their introduction to Judaism, De Lange (2000) asserts that Judaism involves the religion, philosophy, history, and culture related to the Jewish people. De Lange observed that Jewish history is connected with major religious events, such as the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE and again in 70 CE that set in motion a major cultural diaspora. In this paper, I will focus on the mystical Judaism, which has come into modern scholarship through the work of Gershom Scholem in the early 20th century (Wolfson, 1997).

Dreams in Judaism may inform our understanding of nonduality within the religious tradition. Gnuse (1997) observes that a major literary theme in Judaism is the Jewish dream interpreter in a foreign court, like Joseph or Daniel in the Old Testament Bible. Dreams are primarily seen as a means of communication between humanity with the Divine and the process of dream interpretation is extremely significant because it mediates political, tribal, and personal fortunes (Mota-Rolim et al., 2020). Idel (1999) observed that Kabbalistic practices involve at least two types of dreams: one that involved magical practices directed at angels in line with more exoteric Jewish traditions and another that involved astral dreams that represented a type of mystical freedom and union for the practitioner.

Maimonides’s treatment of dreaming may reveal even more about the experience of nonduality in Jewish spirituality because of his treatment of the duality between the authoritative objectivity of prophecy and the imaginative subjectivity associated with dreams (Leaman, 1988). In The Guide of the Perplexed, Maimonides put forward the notion that prophecies and interactions with angels are a special type of dream and not an objective or historical event that occurs outside of the imagination (Leaman, 1988). Maimonides used true, veridical, or precognitive dreams as evidence that prophecy arises from the same imagination as dreams (Leaman, 1988). Interestingly, most of Western scientific evidence for dream telepathy is derived from studies conducted by Krippner at the Maimonides Dream Lab (Storm & Rock, 2015).

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion that arose from Judaism and the cultural events related to Jesus Christ. It has been the dominant religion of Western empires since around 300 CE after Emperor Constaintine passed the Edict of Milan that accepted Christianity as a religion (Woodhead, 2004). The major scriptures of Christianity include the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible, which are composed of multiple books attributed to multiple authors and established into a canonical form through various religious and state councils (Woodhead, 2004). Two 20th century discoveries of buried scripture has informed recent biblical scholarship: the Dead Sea Scrolls relate to more traditional views of Christianity through its association with Judaism, while the Nag Hammadi Codices present alternative views of early Christianity than those inherited from modern and empire-supported Christianity (Burns & Goff, 2022).

Henning & Henning (2022) observed that Christianity has been primarily dualistic in that it emphasizes the duality between humanity and God, which is similar to the dualisms presented within Islamic traditions. They note that nondualistic notions emerge from both Christian mystical and Sufi traditions. Mystical union may be the primary example of the nonduality of subject-object, human-God, and sinner-sanctified. McGinn (2016), in his chapter on mystical union in Western Christianity, identified mystical authors from the 12th to 16th century as the source of language regarding mystical union. However, other scholars trace the history of Christian mysticism to at least the 3rd century and identify several practices beyond union associated with the tradition such as vision, rapture, meditation, prayer, and worship (Hollywood et al., 2012). 

Consideration of Descartes and his strong duality of matter-mind or object-subject may be informative to understanding nonduality within Christian tradition. Goode (2012) observed that Descartes contemplated the notion that his entire sensory world may be a dream-like illusion that is anxiety producing, then resolved his anxiety through faith in a benevolent and omnipotent Christian God. Farley (2011) noted that belief is a central practice of dualistic Christianity. Descartes used his belief in an all-powerful and ever-present God to support his philosophic assertion that the subject and object duality is the fundamental reality of our experience.

Dreams serve as a philosophic example for nonduality in many traditions. Interestingly, Descartes credited his invention of the scientific method to a dream and his reflections upon them (Withers, 2008). Like the other monotheistic religions, Christianity sees dreams as a means of communication between humans and God (Mota-Rolim et al., 2020). In early Christianity, dreams were seen as a means of healing, divination, and supernatural communication similar to the pagan world until the elevation of the priesthood as dream interpretation authority by the empire-supported religious institutions as demonstrated by Constaintine’s unusual order for the destruction of a dream incubation shrine of Asclepius around 325 CE (Graf, 2014). Christian dreams may also involve angels, who may offer teachings, prophecies, or healing, or demons (like Descartes) who create temptations and illusions (Neil, 2016). Lucid dreaming has been observed by multiple Christian thinkers like Augustine in 300 CE (Mota-Rolim et al., 2020) or in 10th century Byzantine texts (Neil, 2016).

Islam

Islam is a monotheistic religion that emerged from the prophetic work of Muhammed in the Arabian peninsula during the 7th century CE. In his academic introduction to Islam, Denny (2015) contextualizes the rise of Islam through a survey of Judaism, Christianity, and indigenous Arabian spirituality. Its central text is the Qur’an, which presents the prophetic teachings of Muhammed, who is revered by Islam as a spiritual patriarch similar to Abraham, Moses, or Jesus. The Arabic word Islam literally means “submission”, while the word Muslim means “submitter” (Denny, 2015). 

Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, sees dreams as prophetic either as messages from God or omens of fortune and honors the practice of dream interpretation (Mota-Rolim et al., 2020). Dreams guided the revelation of the Qur’an and rise of early Islam, particularly through the direct dream experiences of Muhammed that include an angel-guided journey of heavenly ascent (Denny, 2015). Marzandarani and Mahmoudi (2022) performed content analysis on medieval Sufi dreams and revealed yet another list of five themes or lenses regarding dreams as: 1) communication, 2) authority or validation, 3) feedback and premonition, 4) divination and prophecy, and 5) influence on daily life (including direct physical effects). Edgar and Henig (2011) studied the prevalent practice of dream incubation in contemporary Muslim culture and observed that Islam acknowledges three sources of dreams: God, the devil, or the ego.

Dreaming has been used as an example in philosophic discussion on nonduality, while lucid dreams or deep dreamless sleep are often offered as direct experiences of nonduality. Rumi’s poem, The Dream that Must Be Interpreted, invites consideration of life as a dream that must be interpreted upon death and touches on major themes of nonduality (Rumi, 1995). However, traditional Islam appears to favor a direct approach to dreaming like incubation practices or prophecy over philosophical discourse. As Denny noted (2015), a central tenet of Muslim belief is that angels are real and they offer real communication through prophecy, which many Muslims associated with dreams (Mota-Rolim et., 2020; Edgar and Henig, 2011).

Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is a term that points to a school of philosophy that flourished in around the 3rd to 7th century CE in the Greek-Roman world and saw themselves as the continuation of Platonic thought, rather than as a revival (Wildberg, 2016). In their introduction to an academic handbook, Slaveva-Griffin and Remes (2014) pointed out that the term was coined by German scholars in the 18th century CE to distinguish between that school and Middle Platonism. The editors observed that the term was used pejoratively by scholars, implying that Neoplatonists represent a degradation from Platonism. However, they documented recent scholarly efforts in the 21st century to study Neoplatonism in its own right and not as a footnote to Platonism or Aristotelianism. The role of duality and its historical significance in Christian empires may be relevant to the study of Neoplatonism because recent scholarship suggests that many Neoplatonists interpreted Plato in nondualistic terms (Shaw, 2015).

Dreams and dreaming may be central to Neoplatonic thought. Shaw (2012) observed that chora (spatial ground of being) is central to Platonic metaphysics and may only be apprehended through dream-like ways of knowing. Shaw repeatedly observes the application of the terms of dreaming to Neoplatonic thought, noting that some scholars have suggested that the worldview of Iamblichus is dream-like because it suggests an interaction between human and divine entities. While the theurgist practices of the Neoplatonists involve physical objects representations of gods as well as practices to embody divine presence, it must be noted that the Neoplatonists understood the divine entities to be formless (Shaw, 2015). Mainstream scholarship have observed that Neoplatonist writers have used dreams as a means of divination, miraculous healing, and teaching, the most famous example of which is the visitation of Asclepius to Proclus as a personal daemon (Slaveva-Griffin and Remes, 2014).

Dreams and nonduality across cultures

There are precedents in all major religious traditions that dreams serve as a domain for the accomplishment of the traditions’ spiritual goals. Typically, Western monotheistic traditions see dreams as a domain for angelic communication and Eastern contemplative traditions see dreams as a domain for self-realization (Mota-Rolim, 2020). Many traditions include dream incubation practices that utilize dreaming for the accomplishment of spiritual goals, such as Tibetan dream yoga, lucid dream practice in Hinduism, Neoplatonic theurgy, or the similar dream-prophecy practices of the three Western monotheistic religions. While some parts of the traditions may express skepticism regarding the reality of divine dreams, I have found precedents that significant elements in each tradition work with dreams.

There are clearly magical aspects of dreaming that involve supernatural entities like angels and events like miraculous healing or divine revelation that imply nonduality. For example, the prophet Mohammed had dream journeys into heaven that have been both literally and mystically interpreted. When literally interpreted, the contents of the dream experience become an article of faith, such as the status of Mohammed as a prophet of Islam. When mystically interpreted, the contents of the dream experience become an inspiration for nondual experiences. For example, the Sufi mystics use Mohammed’s night journey into heaven as a template for their own mystical journey. 

In either case of literal or mystical interpretation, it appears that most traditions begin with a magical or mythic understanding of dreams that is in line with the principles of dream shamanism as outlined by Laughlin & Rock (2014). They characterize shamanic dreaming as a universal human experience that is real, requires interpretation, and may lead to miraculous knowledge or healing for the benefit of the community. I have found precedents in every major religious tradition that view dreams as a real source of miraculous benefit for the community, such as the calling of Hindu priests in dreams to embody their various deities, which is similar to Neoplatonic theurgy.

The reality of dreams is emphasized by the association of dreaming with sacred texts across many traditions. The Quran is said to arise from dream-like prophetic states. All three Western monotheistic traditions view some dream prophecy as scripture such as in the Book of Daniel. Western philosophy begins with the dream-like Socratic myths and is defined by the dream encounters of Descartes. Major religious texts like the Bhagavad Gita, The Corpus Hermeticum, and The Secret of the Golden Flower arise from imaginal dialogues involving at least one participant in an explicitly mentioned dream-like state of consciousness.

Most traditions acknowledge the varieties of dreams and the need for dream interpretation and the variety of dreams, which correspond to Laughlin and Rock’s (2014) dream shamanic principles of “big” and “little” dream, which acknowledges that dreams may have personal and transpersonal significance, and oneirocriticism, which involves the practice of dream interpretation. The Western monotheistic traditions explain the need for interpretation by the notion that dreams may be created by personal and supernatural forces, including deceptive demons who seek to lead the dreamer astray. Eastern traditions involve an additional self-reflective process, such as a reflection on lucid dream experience or deep dreamless sleep arising from Hindu practices or the interpretive attribution of personal or transpersonal karma to each dream in Tibetan dream yoga practices.

There appears to be a line of development that shapes dream interpretation practices for cultures. The line of development begins in the mythic stage associated with dream shamanism, which may be characterized by the notion that dreams are spirit journeys influenced by real spiritual entities. Some cultures develop self-reflective practices like lucid dreaming or working with deep dreamless sleep as a practice to embody nondual awareness, such as Tibetan dream yoga or Hindu dream yoga practice. Some cultures develop self-reflective practices that use either the dream itself or its contemplation of its contents as a philosophic example, such as the Buddhist Mahayana teachings, the mystical aspects of Western monotheistic traditions, and Western philosophy. 

While all traditions emphasize that dream interpretation is necessary, only some elements of each culture engage in reflection on the reality of the supernatural entities associated with dreams. For example, Maimonides considered that all prophecy may be a special type of dream through which supernatural entities performed their activities of divine inspiration, but need to be interpreted literally. Similarly, Iamblichus considered the presentation of deities in dreams through their various mythic forms to be real, but that their true nature is ultimately formless. Tibetan dream yoga presents the clearest example of this self-reflective process by acknowledging that deity dreams may arise from personal or transpersonal karma, which is a distinction characterized by the presence of Clear Light, or enlightened and nondual awareness, in the transpersonal dream.

Western philosophy and culture is defined by the subject-object or mind-matter dualities explored by Descartes. A series of potent dreams inspired Descartes to contemplate the nature of reality and imagine that his reality was an illusion constructed by a demon (Withers, 2008), which is a common interpretative consideration in the Western monotheistic traditions. Western culture’s bias toward the material pole of the duality is associated with what Laughlin and Rock (2014) call the monophasic bias, which is a bias toward only one phase of consciousness (waking) as opposed to many phases of consciousness (waking, dreaming, sleeping, trance, etc). An integral approach to dreaming, as put forward by Bogzaran and Deslauriers (2012), includes many states and phases and therefore may be considered polyphasic.

Concluding Reflections

The focus of this paper arose from my own encounters with entities in dreams and dream-like experiences who taught me about nonduality. These entities presented themselves through dream characters who visited me in my nocturnal dreams, imaginal journeys, and omens. They built a personal rapport with me through the meaningful correspondence of dream instruction and waking phase events, often through second-hand stories of fantastic events such as physical bilocation or UAP sightings. I personally trust that these entities are real in some way with the capacity to mediate our collective fortune for our benefit through magical and mythical means. However, I engage in a practice of self-reflection and interpretation of what they say because my personal consciousness influences my understanding of their messages.

I have found precedents for the Book of Galactic Light, as a record of imaginal interactions with entities in dreams that teaches on nonduality, has direct precedents in Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Neoplatonism. Dreams are associated with miraculous healing, embodiment of divinity, spiritual teachings, supernatural entity encounters, and other life-changing mythical or magical events.  While most traditions interpret dreams involving supernatural entities as either being illusory or truly divine, only some traditions perform an additional step of self-reflection about the nature of the entities as formless or nondual. 

My most potent experiences with the entities associated with the Book of Galactic Light are strange, dark-yet-luminous, formless dreams that resolve into a kaleidoscope of intuition, imagination, visions, and communion. The entities primarily identify with unity consciousness, with the understanding that their appearance in my world is similar to the incarnation of a soul into a single life.

My own work aligns best with Neoplatonic theurgy through the examples of Iamblicus and John Dee. In this view, any ritual work would focus on the embodiment of divinity with the assistance of daemonic entities capable of real and nondual transpersonal communications. Even though I may expect these entities to be associated with supernatural, yet real, events, I must also engage in a process of discernment and interpretation regarding how their appearances arise from my personal consciousness or collective transpersonal consciousness. According to typical dream shamanic perspectives, dreams may mediate positive or negative fortune for the community. Any communications that arise from the dream-like ritual work of theurgy or associated nocturnal dreams must be interpreted in order to mediate the fortune associated with the dream. 

The themes of The Book of Galactic Light include nondual awareness expressed as unity consciousness and the use of dreams as a philosophic example for nonduality. My personal experience involved spirit-to-spirit communication with supernatural entities in dreams and dream-like experiences. They provided direct experiences or glimpse of nondual awareness, then invited me to simple meditation practices similar to mindfulness and lucid dream practices. Interestingly, the only way I can verify their claims regarding nonduality is to embody nondual awareness. The fact that I can receive meditation instructions in dreams but not yet consciously practice the meditation indicates to me that I am dealing with semi-autonomous entities and not figments of my personal imagination. They taught me through many dreams, before and after the ritual, that this world is a dream and that all dualities will collapse upon enlightenment just like the subject-object duality within a dream collapses upon waking.

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Appendix A

Chapter 3 excerpts from Book of Galactic Light

This text is the transcription of a visionary ritual experience based on the angelic communication rituals of John Dee. The ritual involved 30 days of 1-2 hour trance experiences that were audio-video recorded. Most chapters involved dream-like visions of angels and extra-terrestrial entities. On the third-to-last day, the angels invited me to ask questions. 

3 ZOM

I see a tower. I see a tower under the night sky. It is a beautiful starfield. The tower is surrounded by a community of beings. The image is of a feudal monastery. There is a sense of pastoral peace. There is one that comes forward from that tower and invites me in.

He takes me into that tower and into a room where we can sit together. It is a room surrounded by many books with a large table, fit for 24 guests. This one and I sit together, across the table. He asked me if I have questions and I do.

What is the most beneficial thing for us to know or do here and now to move into the New Earth? 

This one opens the Book of Galactic Light that sits between us. He says the only thing that needs to happen, the only thing we need to do, is to love and accept ourselves. To love and accept ourselves as fully integrated beings of light and dark. To understand that this universe and experience comes from one source and all that is in it is an expression of this one mind. There is emphasis here. This is not an invitation strictly for intellectual understanding, but an invitation for a deep understanding in the bones and in the heart and in the mind and in the soul.

The one who sits with me is emphatic that the illusion of self, the illusion of separate self, is truly an illusion. We must accept that it is unreal, this persona, the ego, the identity with this body. The true identity is God. There is no other identity. Anything else is an illusion. 

Therefore, in the duality of self and other, of light and dark, of victim and perpetrator, there is only God. The difference between those two poles is an illusion created in love and light for the purpose of deeper peace, love, unity, and knowing. There is no other way that this is possible, that we could even experience the same worlds together if we were not already God. 

This is a sufficient answer. 

Thank you. 

What is the nature of our reality in terms of dream or simulation?

This one here with me says that it is a dream, a dream of God, very simply put. It is like a simulation. But the consequences of these experiences are real. Much like one might experience healing or knowledge within a dream, so too, actual movements within the soul of God occur in ways that are incomprehensible to the human mind right now. 

Therefore, in order to understand its nature, you must shift the identity from the individual human mind to the mind of God. You can do that simply by the practices already mentioned. You can receive the understanding of God through messaging and communication with beings who surround you and guide you and love you, who are in a field of unity consciousness, and are capable of providing understanding, wisdom, and guidance. This invitation is wide open to all humans everywhere. Simply turn within. Simply ask for help.

Address and invoke us the most specific way you know possible, calling upon angels or extraterrestrials or elementals, whatever. These are all expressions of unity consciousness through the world, through the Earth, and through Gaia.

There is no sense of unreality when waking up. So, the nature of this experience is a dream. The unreality is an experience of disconnection from unity consciousness. Waking up to that illusion does not make the experience of life illusory or simulated. Rather, it deepens its reality at levels that are incomprehensible, but are very very potent. 

Next question.