Who Were Those Mean Men?

"Michael, " mom said, "Don't you remember your recurring nightmares as a kid?"

"Uh, what nightmares?" I mumbled.

"I think your nightmares were really Soul Travel experiences," she commented. She had the book, In My Soul I Am Free by Paul Twitchell in her hands.


Stuck In A Body -- Or Not?

This was many years later that my mother reminded me of the bad nightmares I used to have. She had been reading an Eckankar book which emphasizes that our human lives, in truth, are animated by Soul, an individualized spiritual essence. That's the real you and me.

The cool part: Soul isn't stuck in the body until death. Far from it. Soul Travel is the phrase used to described the experiences that we have, as Soul, outside the range of our normal human consciousness.

Reading about that must have jogged my mother's memory.

"Remind me again," I asked.

"Let's see," she said, with her finger tapping her lower lip.
"You said there was this loud music, and zooming real fast down a tunnel . . . .

And it all came back to me. I'd completely forgotten.


Oh, No -- It's Happening Again!

I would awaken in a dream, zooming around. I thought of it as a roller rink or ice skating rink. Smooth and slick and fast -- and sort of out of control -- just like I felt on roller skates.

There was this loud organ music playing, real echo-y, like it might be inside a cavernous roller skating rink. And when I heard that music each time, I'd say to myself, 'I'm gonna have another one of those bad dreams!'

Then I'd zoom off into a dark tunnel. I think I screamed the entire way. . .

And that was it.

The last thing I'd remember each time was being ruthlessly shoved into a tight, suffocating place by these 'mean men.' Then I'd wake up in my bed. Terrified. And rush to my parents bedroom.


Who Were Those Mean Men?

Mom explained it this way, after reading the Eckankar book:

● The music was the Sound Current. The spiritual Sound often precedes or accompanies spiritual experiences, just like the spiritual Light often does.

● The dark tunnel is similar to commonly reported near-death experiences of entering a higher realm beyond death.

● The 'mean men' were most likely Spiritual Masters or Guides, who insisted I return to my human state of being.

● I probably didn't remember what happened in the heavenly worlds because my childhood mind could not relate to, or accept, the unfamiliar experiences.

● And quite possibly, I would have rather stayed in the heavenly states of being, instead of returning to earth, thereby explaining my childish accusation for the 'mean men.'

It's not unusual for young boys to have nightmares, so my parents were advised not to worry. But it was odd that I described the same dream again and again over several years before and just after I started school.


The Light Comes On

Just like that, it all made sense -- like an odd piece to a puzzle that finally fits somewhere. A new idea in a book replaced a confusing memory with understanding. And a kind of satisfaction.

Later, I practiced spiritual exercises with the primary intent of experiencing the Light and Sound of God. I learned that this was the most direct communion with God. Beyond a spoken word or idea, this 'Voice of God' leaves an individual changed in some way. For the better, of course.

As a child I couldn't appreciate these gifts. However, it's with a great fondness that I remember it today.


-- Could any of your confusing memories have a spiritual explanation?

-- Have you heard any unexplained sounds with your spiritual experiences? Maybe like a wind, or a flute, or bells, or a humming?


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