The Reality of Imagination

Science has proven that if a person sits down and imagines themselves in a heated argument, that the exact same centers of the brain are activated as when a person is actually in a heated argument. While the flow of neuron interactions may be different between real and imagined events as this article indicates,:

https://www.livescience.com/49244-imagination-reality-brain-flow-direction.html

...the same neurological networks within the brain are engaged. Indeed, anyone who has found themselves thinking of any kind of emotionally-charged interaction after the fact, can confirm that the exact same emotions that they experienced during the interaction will surface while simply thinking about it. On a similar note, all of the incredible, very real inventions that make our lives so good have been discovered by way of the imagination of the inventor. In both instances, imagination becomes reality. 

My experience has been that my consciousness does not differentiate between ‘real’ and ‘imagined’. Both seem to occur with equal reality to my mind. If I think about an upsetting event (real or imagined), I get upset. If I think about playing with my favorite pet, I get all warm and happy inside. So it kinda makes me wonder, when I leave my physical body at night and have experiences in the subtle world (i.e. dreaming), just how real are these experiences? However bizarre the circumstances, however strange the juxtaposition of events or things, my mind perceives and experiences them as being real. 

What does that mean for me in a practical sense? After giving this some thought, I think this question is best answered with a question: what do I want in life? Like most people, my answer involves the goal of happiness. So how do I get this happiness in my life?

The way I see it, the quality of my dreams - good or bad - just like the quality of my life in the physical world, depends wholly upon me. When my thoughts tend toward the positive, and I genuinely feel drawn to goodness, be it beauty, truth, benevolence, I will find myself attracted to people, things, and situations that reflect these qualities. On the other hand, if my thoughts are drawn to things such as addictions, hate, or anger, then I find myself being drawn to other people, things, and situations that reflect those qualities. I have been able to actually observe this in my life. 

For instance, I used to have a fascination for news stories about people who did crazy stuff while on drugs. I would be browsing the news and find a bizarre headline with a couple of weird pictures that I couldn’t resist clicking on, and I’d read the story and marvel at whatever the story had to offer. Then at night, I would quite often find myself (in my dreams) hanging out with people who were doing drugs. So I tried a thought-experiment - I stopped clicking on and reading stories of that nature. And you guessed it - I stopped having dreams about being around those kinds of folks. In fact, I found myself having a much broader variety of experiences that included some pretty amazing things! 

Suddenly my thoughts became far more important than they used to be. And I guess I finally, really accepted that I am “the captain of my own ship” when it comes to what kinds of thoughts I have. If I’m after happiness in the physical or subtle worlds, then I need to go to where I want to be - with my mind. Simple as that.

I'm aching for another subtle world experience like the one I described here that took place several months ago.  In that instance, I practiced affirmations about being out of body and having full awareness for 2 weeks before it happened.

So, now, I have my alarm set to every hour to remind me to do these affirmations.  "I am out of body now!!"  "Full awareness now!"  "Clarity Now!".  These are exercises recommended in William Buhlman's book Adventures Beyond the Body -a great reference and guide-book for anyone who wants to get serious about having experiences in the subtle world.  

It is absolutely possible to become 100% consciouss and aware in the dream state.  I'm speaking from that one experience I've had when I say, it's an experience that is just as real and alive as the waking state.  It blew my mind when I found myself there, fully aware.  I'm determined to have more experiences like that one.

I have a question that I am hoping science can answer one day. If scientists are studying our sleep patterns and how to predict whether we can remember dreams, then I would sincerely like to add this to their to-do list. 

You don't have to do much research to find some pretty hair-raising stories about sleepwalking. And this makes the word 'sleepwalking' a sort of misnomer, doesn't it? What I mean is, people do all kinds of things while they are asleep and we tend to use the word 'sleepwalking' to describe all of these activities. Everything from crocheting in a completely dark room to washing dishes to driving to sex - all of these things are called sleepwalking when the person is in that state of consciousness that is akin to sleep. That is, not fully conscious as in a waking state. While some people have even carried on quite lengthy conversations while in this state, in most cases they report having no recollection of their experiences upon waking.

People have done some fairly amazing things while sleeping that they would never attempt while awake. In 2005 a 15 year old girl was rescued from atop a 130 foot crane after she climbed it while sleepwalking. A passerby noticed her sleeping on the couterweight of the crane and called the police. The firemen who came to her aid were afraid to wake her for fear she would get startled and fall to her death. They ended up calling her cell phone so that a familiar sound would get her attention, and once she was aware of her situation she was safely brought down by the firemen.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-354802/Sleepwalker-age-15-curled-crane.html

I have a real question here: scientifically speaking, how do people do it?

Normally, during sleep our bodies become relaxed and our muscles don't do much until we wake up. But the kinds of activities sleepwalkers do are sometimes very intricate tasks that require lots of cognitive ability and fine motor skills. Even a seemingly mundane thing like crocheting takes a lot of concentration and patience - so how did a sleepwalking woman make considerable progress with her crocheting project in complete darkness? One could say something about 'muscle memory' but what about the colors being used? Climbing a 130 foot crane not only takes a certain amount of bravery, but to walk 40 feet horizontally along its arm would take the balance and steeled nerves of an experienced acrobat.

A doctor who studies sleep disorders who was interviewed for the story of the 15 year old girl said, "Anything you can do while awake, you can do while sleepwalking, and of course, without the fear factor."

Why did the doctor say, "of course, without the fear factor"? I believe it's because we are in a totally different state of consciousness that is more aligned with the subtle world. Have you ever had a dream that you were doing something normally considered dangerous in the physical world, and yet you were totally unafraid in the dream? Because in the subtle world, there are all kinds possibilities that simply don't exist in the physical world - and we all innately know this because we spend (on average) 37% of our lives in the subtle world.

I need to take this a step further - hey science, I'm talkin to you!

Those activities that require so much movement and concentration - how do we accomplish them while we are not engaging with full awareness of our surroundings? It seems to me that the ability to control one's body is not only coming from a different state of consciousness, but also a different part of the brain from the one we normally use to accomplish those tasks. Some of these tasks, such as driving, require all of our senses and concentration while awake, and one small lapse of attention can cause a lot of pain and damange. What part of our mind takes over, has no fear, and safely guides the individual through doing these things while asleep? And, noting that most people don't remember their sleepwalking acitivites, why is sleepwalking commonly associated with a type of short-term amnesia?

I wonder what kinds of things might be found to treat things like paralysis, Parkinson's, MS, or even plain old, run-of-the-mill anxiety. Let's get on this please...