Sri Vasudeva:
Dreams of the future can help you sometimes. Sometimes if you try to avoid something, it may still happen and we say it is something that is meant to happen. But perhaps if you knew before, you may be able to handle it in a different way than if you didn’t know because you enter it with more awareness. Sometimes you may get visitations from spiritual beings or teachers. And when they come to you, it is because they think you are deserving. Only when the student is ready, the master will appear. So when those visitations come to you, you need to think in some way that … if I do deserve it. It’s another opportunity to use the counsel that you get, to uplift yourself and to grow.
Question:
In the morning, should we analyse all the dreams that we had (the night before)?
Sri Vasudeva: I think you should give attention to the ones that you feel have deeper meaning and you will have a sense of which ones. Say you had a dream and it stayed with you or it impacted you in a certain way. Let us say you got uplifting advice about doing something in a different way. And you think, this may be a solution to my problem and you begin to use it and it changes the outcome. So you may get a sense that this is the right thing to do or this is an answer to my question. On the other hand, some dreams may come and seem to have no relevance and it does not seem important – just let them go.
CAUSAL BODY
Question:
We can observe our physical body, we can observe our astral body. Can we also observe the causal body?
Sri Vasudeva:
Yes, the observance of the physical body is simple. I see my foot move so I am observing my physical body. When you become more aware, you can actually feel your energy body. For example you can incorporate the energy body in exercise and when you are able to do this, you can actually feel that it is more than the physical body that is involved. When you are in the inspiration mode, you can actually feel the next steps that are coming in a very natural way, effortlessly, the steps are happening. Some singers find the music coming out without they even doing it. That’s a movement of the subtle energy body that is supporting the physical.
You can’t know the causal body like that but when things come up from your memory, you ask, “Do I know that person? I think I know the name of that person. I’ve seen this person before.” And then up comes a name. And you say, “Oh yes, that is the name.” The name came from somewhere. Or you are trying to revisit certain experiences. “Let me go back to last week and see if I can recall a certain event.” And then it comes up in clarity as you begin to recall it. Sometimes, for example, I want to revisit India, in my mind. So I go back in my mind and replay it and I can actually feel where I was, how I felt, who I met and it’s almost as if it’s real. That has been stored somewhere that I can recall. But if I didn’t have the ability to recall these, if I didn’t have a body to store this, then it wouldn’t be anywhere for me to bring back.
Question:
But we can direct that information from our causal body when it’s needed …
Sri Vasudeva:
I do believe it can extend beyond lifetimes and hypnotic regression is able to show that.
Question:
Can we do it directly?
Sri Vasudeva:
I think some people may have an easy access to that and others may not. Some people may go to a place and right away they say, “I feel something here. I was here before. This is what I’m feeling now,” and it comes straight like intuition to them. That seems to be a more direct access than to go through hypnosis. I would say that that possibility is also there – that people can have recall not from this lifetime but from previous lifetimes. And I’ve seen a documentary on hypnotic regression where they regressed the people, experiences came, and they tried to validate these by taking the person blindfolded to the exact place they had said they were born in a previous lifetime and then when they opened their eyes, the person started to recall events and could tell things that were happening around. They just started to come up from inside of them.
THE EGO
Question:
And the observer – is it part of the ego or is it the Source?
Sri Vasudeva:
No, the observer is part of the ego, which is in connection with the Source. The Source is always connected to us through that same consciousness. The Source is a consciousness being and the ego is a quality of the consciousness that is contracted into the idea of self identification. So the ego is a part of the consciousness that has come into limitation and thinking, in terms of an individual ‘I.’ It is the consciousness, so it has a Source in it at its very depth but it is the consciousness of the Source, now in contraction. That forms the ego. So if you were to take away all the contraction, there is merging and the ego is gone. If the ego in the limited experience is able to connect with the Source, it will actually feel that it exists in the Source. The ego will have this awareness, “I exist in this power,” and then it begins to work in conjunction or in harmony with this power and that’s what we call enlightenment, or freedom. The freedom that the ego feels in working in harmony with the Source, this is what enlightenment is. It still exists but now it is in complete harmony with the Source.
DREAMS
Question:
We spoke of how thoughts influence your dreams and I wondered if it would be possible, while you are sleeping, that your intellect could influence your dreams?
Sri Vasudeva:
Yes, sometimes we become conscious in the dreams and we feel more consciousness in the dream and then we are able to manage the dream to be what we want it to be. Many of us have the experience of feeling more consciousness in the dream and we change the dream to what we want it to be. So that is also a possibility in the dream state. So we can have the same tools in the dream state as in the waking state and the same kind of consciousness to control it.
SUBTLE BODY INFLUENCING PHYSICAL BODY
Question:
You said that the subtle body drives the physical body. Do you mean you can use the energy from the subtle level into your physical?
Sri Vasudeva:
Absolutely. When you are able to feel the energy centers very strongly, you can actually feel them influencing the physical body. For example, I can feel my brow chakra holding my attention very firmly. And in the early days, before the brow centre was active, my mind would feel much more scattered. But now, the moment I focus on this point, (eyebrow chakra) my mind immediately comes to focus and I can feel my brain being impacted in doing that. So it’s influencing my brain.
CAUSAL BODY
Question:
How do you make contact with the causal level?
Sri Vasudeva:
The causal level is not like a place that you can just jump in there and search, as you want to search. You can begin to try to enter by summoning something, by calling it from inside but you have to wait to see what comes out. But your causal level is constantly being pulled into expression by the many things that you do around you – people who trigger you, circumstances that lift you, things that depress you - they pull out patterns from the causal level. So everything around you triggers stuff from the causal level and if you want to go deeper, you have to prompt that. Begin to think about certain things and see how you feel.
The causal level brings up the things that you need to work on or to use, when it comes. So you can call but whatever comes, you need to accept that as grace because there is so much inside of there. But in a certain lifetime it shows that the whole karmic process is really trying to engage you in what is before you – relationships, children, work, spiritual life. So you have enough stuff to engage your causal body to bring out things. So the whole karmic plan is that where life places you, that is the area it wants the causal body to come into expression - by the various things that are around you.
Question:
So I get information about things in the causal level through life itself.
Sri Vasudeva:
… through life itself. And those are the relevant ones. Those are the ones that life is really trying to show you. Here is the where you are placed to learn. Or here is the place that you have brought yourself into, to learn.
Question:
So they’re like mirrors. They reflect what you have to work on.
Sri Vasudeva:
Yes.
THE CAUSAL BODY
Question:
During meditation or during chanting, as I go deeper, I feel I reach a place like the causal body because a deep emotion and desire comes up and it is a lot. I have to transcend this somehow. My question is, how to transcend the causal desires besides in satisfying them? You spoke a little of this. Could you say more?
Sri Vasudeva:
So as you go deeper inside, you do awaken deeper things from the causal body. So it is an experience of the causal body when you feel this but the only thing that can really dismantle deep causal desires that may be obstruction, would be the discrimination faculty. That’s our gift on the way. The more that your third eye center is opened, the more discriminative power you will have. And it’s only when we can see that something is an obstruction and we use our discriminating power. I’m thinking, “This is an obstruction. I want to really understand that I need to go beyond this, that this is holding me back.” And when you begin to think in that way, that it is holding you back and you can really verify to yourself that it is an obstruction, then you can go beyond it. You need to verify that it is an obstruction.
You need to want to go beyond it and you need to do the things that are required to go beyond it so you give less attention – you give something higher, more attention. So that’s where the secret is. But if there is weakness within you that you can’t go beyond it, then that holds you back in the pull of the causal desire. So there must be a desire to want to go beyond it and there must be a desire to see how it’s holding you back and there must be a desire for the state beyond it - the state of freedom. There must be a desire for complete freedom and there must be the desire to want to disband this. So all those are involved. But the intellect here is the powerful tool in doing this.
Question:
Is the goal to accept or observe that all arises from the causal levels?
Sri Vasudeva:
Well, it is to observe, it is to accept but it is also to do something about it. And just like what I said to the last question, everything in the causal body that obstructs you on your way to freedom, and freedom means, not being disturbed by anything in the causal body – being able to maintain this beautiful state of witnessing all the different bodies within you and all the different energies within you – that joyous state of seeing all of this and remaining established in the deepest part of you, that is the goal. So when this is really the goal within you – the goal for freedom and bliss, then everything, which is an obstruction, you want to deal with. Not just to accept it, you want to deal with obstructions. So you need to be open to them, see them, to accept them, and to deal with them using the power of discrimination.
Question:
This morning, you said, “Eventually, the causal level is cleared - lived out desires.” If things are not strong enough to draw us back, does it have to be cleared?
Sri Vasudeva:
If things are not strong enough to draw us back, then they don’t have real power, and you don’t have to clear those or give them much attention, in my opinion. It’s like going into meditation and having thoughts in your mind. They are not so important, they can’t really distract you as you are seeing that they are there and you allow them to be there. They are not really distracting, they are not causing any real problem but it takes a little bit of your attention away and if you really want to be completely attentive to anything else, you just move them away. So that’s what I would say about causal things that come up. They don’t have any real power but sometimes they can occupy your attention and energy. So in that case, you want to sweep them away for that moment. And then that brings another point, in that everything that we have done are there as patterns - causal imprints. But when we take the seed of power away from them, when they are not so important anymore, the image is still there, the experiences are still there, we can revisit them but they have no power. So those will continue to be with us. We can go back and look at them but they will have no power over us anymore.
Question:
Does having good thoughts make it easier to contact the Source?
Sri Vasudeva:
When you have good thoughts, it is easier. But it’s not just having good thoughts in your mind that will bring you in contact with the Source. It is the desire to know the Source. Good thoughts generally keep your mind positive and keep you energized but they does not mean it will take you to the Source. Your desire for the Source is what will drive you to the Source. But good thoughts are generally good for your health and for your well being.
Question:
We look at the stars with the physical eyes. If we look with our astral body, will we see the astral body of the stars and all the things in the universe?
Sri Vasudeva:
All the things in the universe will also have an astral energy associated with it. So in the astral dimension that’s what we pick up. Even in the physical dimension we can pick up the subtle energy field of the other. Sometimes you say, “You have a nice aura around you.” That means we are sensing the astral body. When we say it to a planet, “You have a nice influence on me.” We are really speaking about astral bodies.
Question:
So when you look at a plant, a flower or a nice bird and you are touched by it, is this the astral part that is coming to you?
Sri Vasudeva:
Not necessarily. Your expectation might be satisfied. Not that you are actually communicating with the plant. But if you go to the plant and you feel this vibration coming from the plant, then that’s a different story to if you wanted to see a plant and when you see it you are happy.
Comment:
I find it nice to hear that subtle body has also duality in it and it needs rest.
Sri Vasudeva:
And I think sometimes, and again, this is my opinion, that when souls leave the world, and they are so stressed by their experience of the world, they go in that place of complete rest in the other world because they have had a whole lifetime of stressful experiences. It requires a certain rest in the after world.
Question:
Also the physical body has one life and the subtle body has…..
Sri Vasudeva:
… the subtle body has the experience of many lifetimes.
Question:
I used to dream a lot but at the moment I’m not dreaming anymore.
Sri Vasudeva:
It seems you don’t require dreams because you are not dreaming consciously. But dreaming is not the goal.
Question:
When you are dreaming, you repeat some of the experience of the day again. Does that mean that it again has the same effect on your energy level?
Sri Vasudeva:
If your physical experiences were positive and uplifting and it continued in the dream, that means it’s being sustained.
Question:
Can we heal ourselves in our dreams?
Sri Vasudeva:
Absolutely. Because the subtle energy body is part of you. So if you begin to make changes in the subtle energy body during dreams, the changes appear in the physical body.
Question:
And does it work stronger than during the waking state?
Sri Vasudeva:
Hypnotic suggestions, for example, or auto suggestion, or suggesting to people in that sort of state like dreams, brings about change, more easily than during the waking state because then the mind is more receptive. She was speaking of healing taking place in dreams and I am sure some of you may have that experience of healing happening in a dream so I do believe that that is possible.
Question:
When you begin to transform the physical world, does it reflect in your dreams?
Sri Vasudeva:
When you become more stable in the physical realm, you will find that it continues in your dream especially when your consciousness becomes strong and you are able to command thoughts and command things. Then the same carries over in the dream.
Question:
When your emotions and your thoughts are stable, there is no need to dream, right?
Sri Vasudeva:
Dreaming is not the goal. But from dreams you can tell a little bit about your progress. So when you find that you become more stable in your dreams and you are doing things in your dreams like chanting and meditating and loving and serving, it shows that what you are doing in the physical is really stable because you are seeing it in your dream. For example, if in the waking state, you have been saying a mantra and you find yourself dreaming the mantra and saying it, that means it has really gone deep.
Question:
So is it then that causal desires don’t really have to be satisfied to get rid of them and is it then that the main way of dealing with causal desires is by developing the eyebrow chakra and using the power of discrimination?
Sri Vasudeva:
Yes, that is what I would say. I would say that the most powerful way is by discrimination because you don’t want to go through all the desires in your causal body to satisfy them and see if that will help. Sometimes in satisfying things, you want more and attachment comes and the desire for more comes. So the best way to manage these things is by using the discrimination faculty – intellect. And, yes, as you go deeper into the brow center, this power is there. This power is the best power we have on the journey of spirituality to deal with blocks and obstacles on the path. For those who are blessed by having powerful discrimination - the journey becomes easier for them.
Question:
A year ago, during meditation, I thought crowning was the strongest sign of Kundalini energy. During these 40 days, I don’t feel crowning, I feel body chills. What is this?
Sri Vasudeva:
If you feel body chills, it must mean that energy is flowing through different parts of the body and that too is a blessing. The body is being cleansed and energized and healed. So having energy from the energy body moving in different parts of your body, brings balance and healing and cleansing. But the crown activity is still there. Maybe not as visible as you used to feel it before or perhaps it’s more expansive. So those are good signs. And as cleansing takes place, it is easier to recharge. I do believe that when you feel the crown and you have been feeling it for some time, even if you now feel it’s not there, perhaps it is still there in a different way.
Question:
Google says dreams of dying means a new life.
Sri Vasudeva:
I do believe that’s a good meaning too – that dying can mean a new life. That can be a good interpretation.
Question:
(Request for clarification of these words from morning talk) “Then you are more aware of the power of thoughts ... and the life they have in the other dimension.”
Sri Vasudeva:
Let us say you are wishing for an ice cream but you couldn’t get it. And you fall into a sleep and you find yourself eating the ice cream and some kind of fulfillment is taking place. And you awaken with the sense of fulfillment that you actually ate an ice cream. The thoughts actually became powerful in your dream. Or let’s say that you want to meet someone and you actually met them in your dream and you spoke with them, you wake up with this sense of fulfillment even though the physical action didn’t take place but in the dream state there was this energy exchange from what you were doing that brought about the sense of fulfillment.
That’s why I am saying, in that dimension, that thoughts and emotions have a reality of their own and things can happen there that do not have the boundaries that they have in the physical world. But they can happen in the astral world. So your thoughts come alive. Your desires can bear fruit in that dimension. It is the same when I was speaking about healing. Suppose you were trying to get a healing and in the astral state the desire was so strong that somebody came and actually gave you a healing and when you awoke you felt that your body was better. In the thought world in that space, things happen that were so impacting that you awaken with the feeling of fulfillment and the result
.
Question:
Do you have to be conscious of that? Most of the thoughts we think, we are not really paying them …
Sri Vasudeva:
When you are conscious of something – that’s the power of attention. When you give attention to something, you are actually directing energy to it. So the more attention you give to something, the more likely that will be fulfilled. And if you put less attention to something – in your case, less conscious of it, then it doesn’t have the power of fulfillment. The thoughts are not powerful enough to draw it.
Question:
If our thoughts create everything, why do we create illness in our bodies? Is this to help us pay attention to our physical or causal body?
Sri Vasudeva:
We don’t desire to create illness in our bodies. Illness is created by disharmony within the body when we lack control. Most times, nobody wants to create illness although some people indulge to the extent of illness. But I don’t think that anybody wants illness. Illness results when we have gone out of balance. When we have done things out of weakness or otherwise, an imbalance is created in the system. So I don’t think that illness is something we desired or decided to create on our own.
Question:
Why do dreams of years ago sometimes surface during meditation?
Sri Vasudeva:
If it surfaces during meditation, it must be that it is associated with something that we were thinking. I do not think that it would come back just at random. Or it means that our higher self inside, if we think of guidance from a different level, is actually putting that to us to make us more aware of something. So we need to look at that. So it can be a random thing that comes with no real meaning or it can be a message from our higher self inside, through intuition, so it comes up or it can be associated with something we have been thinking about, but forgotten. So I think there are different possibilities for a thought coming up like that.
Question:
Is it possible to have a good meditation experience even though the mind is very busy?
Sri Vasudeva:
Yes it is possible. That can be like the momentum of the mind. When you pull the plug of a fan, the fan can continue to spin on its own momentum and will stop eventually. Sometimes there are thoughts in the mind that continue. They don’t have a real impact but they are only there from the momentum of thinking. We have been thinking so much that they are there. And we can be having a deeper experience at the same time whilst those thoughts are there.
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