I love the idea that our dreams can transcend space and time. Baha’u’llah discusses this theme in a fascinating passage from Gleanings:
“As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Consider thy state when asleep. Verily, I say, this phenomenon is the most mysterious of the signs of God amongst men, were they to ponder it in their hearts. Behold how the thing which thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time, fully realized.”
In the above section, He explains that sometimes we dream things that later come true. I don’t believe in psychic phenomena, ghosts, or that I have any special powers. I DO think that we don’t understand the nature of the soul and abilities of the mind.
“Had the world in which thou didst find thyself in thy dream been identical with the world in which thou livest, it would have been necessary for the event occurring in that dream to have transpired in this world at the very moment of its occurrence. Were it so, you yourself would have borne witness unto it. This being not the case, however, it must necessarily follow that the world in which thou livest is different and apart from that which thou hast experienced in thy dream. This latter world hath neither beginning nor end.”
He then points out that since that dream did not happen in this world (as we would have experienced it in this one if it had), it must have happened in another “place”.
“It would be true if thou wert to contend that this same world is, as decreed by the All-Glorious and Almighty God, within thy proper self and is wrapped up within thee. It would equally be true to maintain that thy spirit, having transcended the limitations of sleep and having stripped itself of all earthly attachment, hath, by the act of God, been made to traverse a realm which lieth hidden in the innermost reality of this world.”
Ok, I have to admit that this kind of baffling, in an awesome way. On one hand He is saying that this other world is inside of us, and on the other that our spirit goes to another place while we sleep!
“Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the All-Searching, the All-Wise. Do thou meditate on that which We have revealed unto thee, that thou mayest discover the purpose of God, thy Lord, and the Lord of all worlds. In these words the mysteries of Divine Wisdom have been treasured. We have refrained from dwelling upon this theme owing to the sorrow that hath encompassed Us from the actions of them that have been created through Our words, if ye be of them that will hearken unto Our Voice.”
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 151)
Wow. Helps check the ego a bit, doesn’t it? We’re God’s creation, and He loves us, but there are other creatures out there. And we really don’t understand a lot of things about our own existence. That isn’t frightening to me, though. It just means that the human race has more potential than we know.
So I’ve just given my very limited input on the subject. What do you think?
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Hey! Awesome photo on NYLON PARLA — I also appreciate your blog as I think we are both writing for the same purpose.
So this theme on the inner/outer world has been on my mind lately as well. Been having a lot of what I feel are intuitions and symbolic dreams. I agree to your words, “We don’t understand the nature of the soul” In Gems of Divine Mysteries that I feel touches on this subject, saying that ultimately we cannot mix the outer and inner, seen and unseen realities:
“All these hold true in their respective planes. It behoveth thine eminence in this station to consider each created thing in its own place, neither abasing nor exalting its true rank. For instance, if thou wert to reduce the unseen world to the realm of creation, this would be an act of sheer blasphemy, and the converse would likewise be the essence of impiety. Wert thou, however, to describe the unseen world and the realm of creation within their own stations, this would be the undoubted truth. In other words, wert thou to witness any transformation in the realm of the divine unity, no greater sin could be conceived in all creation, but wert thou to consider transformation in its own place and understand it accordingly, no harm could befall thee.”