The other day a neighbor called me to ask me if I had heard the loud bang at around 4 am and all the dogs barking.  She wanted to make sure it had really happened and wasn’t just a dream.  She said that her husband felt the same way -that he wasn’t completely sure if it was a dream or if it had “really” happened.  Her teenage kids did not hear it.  I told that neither my wife nor I had heard anything that night.  “Hmm,” she said.  “Strange.”

It took me back to an experience I had back in college.  I distinctly remember being woken up at around 5 am by an enormous explosion.  I jumped out of bed thinking, “what in the world was that?!”  I later asked my friends if they had heard that large explosion.  They laughed and sarcastically said, “sure dude… we totally heard it.” 

Such a strange experience.  Has anybody else ever experienced something like that?  What do you think it could be?

So I’m thinking to myself, “Self, I know that when I meditate regularly, my ability to remember my dreams gets better, and when I don’t meditate this ability tends to go away. How can I find a way to back this up with science?”

So then my self had a great idea, and I went looking for proof on the Interwebz. Lo and Behold, I found an article over at Science Daily that supports this notion by saying that, “During meditation, theta waves were most abundant in the frontal and middle parts of the brain.” You can check it out here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100319210631.htm

When I read that, some of the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I recently wrote a couple of reviews of scientific studies that asked questions about how we can predict when people can remember their dreams, and increased theta activity in the frontal cortex was a predictive factor in both studies. My reviews are here and here. 

So there you have it, folks. If you want to remember your dreams and have a more active, rewarding experience when you’re in the subtle world, meditate regularly. Training the mind to be in a state where frontal theta activity is increased is a scientifically proven way to get there. No drugs, no crystals, no magic...just good old meditation. 

IT'S INTERESTING HOW IN NEARLY ALL CASES OF DREAM RECALL we describe the circumstances we found ourselves in by talking about what we saw. Although there may be remembered other sensations we had experienced – such as hearing music, tasting food, smelling some fragrance, etc. – one would be hard pressed to find records of people describing their dreams from only tactile or taste or smell or auditory memories. Likewise the distinctness of these memories is a result of some recalled experience having been either vivid or having been experienced in a state of some clarity of mind.

     We are certainly challenged on a daily basis in so many circumstances where sensory overload can easily lead to a mind being tugged at in several directions at once. If we add to that some particular problem we’re concentrating on and trying to solve or some new thing we’re trying to create either of which can be interrupted by our surroundings then it becomes easy for the mind to become fragmented and distracted. It would certainly make sense that entering the subtle world with an agitated or easily distracted mind could easily result in an agitated or distracted (disjointed, fragmented) experience.

      Conversely if we are able to cultivate a clear mind that can either be called into activity at will or silenced and held at bay at will then it makes sense any self-generated fragmentation of the dream experience might be significantly reduced.

     That kind of mental agility could certainly be practiced on a regular basis through efforts to think systematically and methodically on some thing – then to stop the mind and hold it clear for a short amount of time – then to again purposefully exercise the mind … and repeat this cycle many times. Over time this could become habit. Since so much of what we do in the subtle realm is habitual then it’s possible such mental habits would also carry over there. And that would have a direct impact on the clarity of our experiences and therefore our recall afterwards.

I have had some pretty amazing experiences in the subtle world. Things are different there as you know. I’d like to share a couple of memorable things and ask whether anyone out there has had a similar experience. 

I have been able to communicate with people that, in the physical world, I should not have been able to communicate with. For instance, I remember suddenly being with some Asian people I did not know. I somehow knew that they didn’t speak English. It wasn’t because of their looks or attire, but something inside just told me this was true. And yet I was able to tell them exactly what was on my mind, and I was able to understand them too without any trouble. They seemed to just know what I was thinking, and vice versa. The details of this conversation I do not remember, but I do recall being astonished that we could ‘talk’. 

Another time, I was flying. And I mean flying incredibly fast through the countryside. But the landscape was strange - like it kept changing shape far below. I didn’t care, it seemed perfectly natural. I kept flying until I found a train on the ground (I don’t recall any tracks) that was traveling about as fast as I was and I decided to race it. I caught up to the tail end and proceeded to fly right next to it as I tried to catch up with the front of the train. The funny thing was that it was ridiculously long. As in, this train was miles and miles long and it look a good long while before I could catch up even though I was flying so fast it would make your head spin! I cannot describe the giddy laughter and  happiness that welled up inside as I raced this funny train. Because at the time, I knew I was dreaming, and I was in complete control and was having an awful lot of fun!

I’m curious to know, has anyone ever had a similar experience in their dreams? 

I have not read any books about this subject myself, but I thought I’d write a quick post about my actual experience trying this experiment.

In general, after a 2 - 6 week initial adjustment to the diet, my dreams become more vivid and they are easier to remember in the morning. When I’m eating meat, they are generally darker (they contain less light) and are much harder to recall.  On a vegetarian diet, my dreams are more often peaceful, serene, or even uplifting.  When eating meat, it’s more common for me to experience dreams relating to anxiety and fear (nightmares).  I also require less sleep when vegetarian -6.5 hours on average- and I wake up refreshed and full of energy; when eating meat, I need 8 - 8.5 hours and get up very slowly and feel heavy and tired.

These are observations, but I don’t have a theory for why this happens the way it does.  I’ll write some conjecture, but please leave comments down below if you have any other ideas.

My first idea is that the emanations of terror, panic, and suffering animals undergo when slaughtered is somehow “lodged” into the tissues and fibers of the meat that I then later eat. Those emanations are then absorbed into my own body and I feel them as fear and anxiety of my own.  Fear and anxiety are antithetical to a free-flowing, peaceful, and joyful life –the very things that are conducive to an active and productive waking and dreaming life.  

My second idea is that decay in general, but decaying meat in particular, attract unwelcome guests from the subtle world.  Guests who resonate with the emanations of death and decay, as opposed to life, love, and joy.  It’s a possibility, but I need more time and research to flesh out the details of this conjecture.