Studies in Metaphysical Dreams-3
Dr K.Loganathan 2005
11
The Metaphysics of the Pyramid ( Su-Meru)
I always felt that there is a metaphysical meaning to Pyramids so distinctive of the Nubian-Kemetian-Sumerian-Dravidian cultures where to this day the Tamils retain this in their temple architecture. Looking at the imposing towers that one meets with at first glance of a temple, one experiences wonders in the mind and where we see not only aesthetics at play but also a spiritual elevation, a transgression away from the burden of physical existence. I can never forget the great feelings that were aroused in me when I saw the immense pyramidal structure of the Periyak Koyil in Tanjore built by Raja Raja Chola, a great warrior and at the same time very humble Saivite.
So it was a great surprise to me when towards the end of August after I had enjoyed a month of deep sleep provided by the Aticedan, the Huge Snake and the figure of the Black Tirumaal, many metaphysical dreams related to the pyramid erupted catching me with surprise. Since then such dreams have been occurring and continue to re-occur. Since some personal events indicate that I am about to lead a new kind of life as indicated by such dreams, I have taken now the courage to write about them
The First Series of Pyramidal Dreams
The first series was a follow up on the immense KuNdalini Sakti that was poured into my soul and body to rejuvenate it and by way of allowing me to recover the near-death experiences caused by chronic diabetes and related matters. Then one day I had a dream where huge blocks of diamond, cubical in structure got piled up on top of the other , broad at the base and tapering towards a point at the top. It was unmistakably a SOLID pyramid with no steps and path ways to climb up and so forth. However as I lay pondering at these majestic structures, several layers or platforms began to appear and perhaps numbering about seven Then in the middle there appeared passage way with small steps ending up at a platform but continuing right towards the top.
The color was most often diamond but sometimes also gold.
Then I was led to move up the pyramid by an apsaras, a young Sakti clad in red silk saree as if the deity Laxmi herself. With immense good health and enjoying a diamond body I begin to climb up and at which point more apsaras join the climb numbering about six or seven. However as I climb up towards the peak, these apsaras drop out one by one with only two remaining right at the top level and where I appear a white-bearded old man with these two ladies or sakties also in pure white dress. It appears that right at the top , sexuality was no more as indicated by the white beard and so forth
The Second Series
A month later the same kind of dreams re-occurred but with a twist. As I completed translating with commentary the Patikam of Sundarar, this second series occurred. Here I am shown to have climbed up something like mount Everest or Kailash and hoisted a flag with SUN shining brilliantly in the middle and where the background color was blue. I took that this is the Civanjaanam that is the substance of Tevaram corpus and that with the study of Sacred Tamil, I have climbed up the worldly existence as such and has reached the steps of genuine metaphysical life.
However as I stood there with snow covering my frame, then there appeared again the same pyramid, so bright and shining diamond . As I lay captivated and immensely puzzled then there again appeared a Sakti who took my hands and led me towards the Pyramid urging me to climb it. Now again as I began to climb up the steps more sakties joined me in the climb again and except for the two , the rest disappearing as I reach the top
The Third Series
In the third series of dreams related to this theme, the focus was the final stages of the climb. As before I appear an old man with glowing white beard and the two ladies in pure white. As we reach the peak, then all of a sudden a huge white lotus descends from the heavens and provides a bed for all three of us. As we climb up and sleep on it then we are taken to the heavens and where the physical body disappears and we are there with a mantra-body. It was also shown that we reach the Civalookam where are Siva Parvati and the whole group of celestial deities and Rishies. It was also shown that I become the young KaNNan with the ladies becoming charming Gopies and we travel the whole of the vast cosmos as mantra figures with no obstacles provided by the physical body!
The Meaning
Bewildered I have been pondering over the MEANING of this whole series of dreams and where my studies of Tirumular came in handy. Tirumular observes that the normal existence is conditioned by the Three Nadies, the PiGkalai formed by the Bindu , the Idakalai formed by Natam and Cuzi Munai formed by the joint presence and in equal measures of both Natam and Bindu. However he also notes that once one frees from these Nadies or motivational dynamics, one ends up with Meru Nadi , also known as Guru Nadi , the highest of the motivational dynamics where the whole of life becomes organized as if for Moksa and nothing else. Thus the climb in the pyramid is a kind of metaphysical life where it is purely spiritual with no more any of the earthly or physical interests.
That as we reach the top we become pure white also indicates that this kind of life is a life where every shade of sexuality is drenched away so that the initial sexuality is transformed into LOVE and nothing else. Thus the climb in the metaphysical pyramid is a climb where there is TRANSMUTATION of the sexual libido into Universal Love and hence akin to BEING understood as Anbee Sivam ( BEING is nothing but LOVE)
That death is being transported into the heavens on a huge white lotus also indicated that this is the Final Death, the deprivation of the physical body so that there is no more re-birth with re-embodiment etc. The soul survives such a death as a pure mantra body free to travel the vast cosmos assuming whatever shape it desires.
Perhaps this is what the ancient Egyptians understood as the most authentic shape of the souls and hence embodiment as a FALL from this authenticity and for which reason death is not something to be mourned at but rather to be celebrated.
12
The Metaphysics of Female Sexuality and Its Transmutation
Let me begin by saying that I have a vast range of metaphysical dreams not only about myself but also about people with whom I interact , males and females young and old. I want to describe now a series of metaphysical dreams of outstanding interest about a young lady just turned 21 because of the various ancient archetypal images these dreams included. These dreams had various kinds of animals trees and icons and which are available in the ancient mythical tales and which are also available as objects of worship in temples even to this day.
Love and the False Marriage
The matter is this : Miss X loved a man unfortunately a divorcee who had helped her in many ways. The love grew deeper and deeper over the years and she was prepared to marry him or at least live with him However this was not to the liking of her parents who forced her to marry a young man of their own choice and who happened to love her but one-sidedly. Unable to overcome the immense parental pressure along with that of the siblings, she somehow but very reluctantly agreed to a simple wedding but immediately after which she told the young man that she loves someone else and is already a wife to him mentally . Bewildered and angry this young man finally divorced her and after which she went to live with the man she loved but now brave enough to even discard the admonitions of her parents and siblings
This whole story that took about three months and the intermediate developments was projected into me through a large range of metaphysical dreams after which I would contact her over the phone and ascertain the truths of it.
The Buffaloes and Donkeys
The marriage was already a false marriage , a marriage not condoned by the divine forces. The wedding that took place in a simple temple with only close relatives present was attacked by a herd of buffaloes and later by donkeys. The young man also tries to ride a donkey but failing to make it move gives up trying to make the young lady his wife. She too immediately after the ceremony tore the Tali, or marriage chain and was bold enough to announce among all that she does not approve at all the marriage and that she is at heart not married to him at all.
This disapproval of the marriage perhaps is the DESTRUCTION of the marriage where normally it remained blessed by the gods.
Vultures Crows and Bats
Now again despite her violent protest and several attempts to run away she was forced to live with him in a home especially set up for them. However on the first day itself she told him that he should never touch her and that if he forced her into sexual life he would find her dead. She was very serious and such a thing is something she had done before. So frightened the young man also promised that he would never touch her.
This state of affairs was indicated to me by the house being attacked by vultures bats and crows , all black in color and which is the shape of Killer Poison, the Malam and which is different from the Majestic Black, the Ambrosia etc.
The Scorpions and Poisonous Spiders
When under tremendous parental pressure and because somehow the wedding has taken place , sometimes she would end up blaming her fate and compromise and somehow adjust herself to this married life. However each time she began to think like this, the whole body would become dark and invaded by scorpions and huge poisonous spiders that would bite, stink her and which she would experience as mental tortures and ill health. In her working place she twice collapsed and ended up getting medical attention in the clinics. Because of ill health she could not also continue working anywhere.
The Crabs of Suspicions
Now during the course of such painful and miserable life , the only source of happiness was her lover to whom she felt she was already married. One day there was an intimate conversation during which she poured out how deeply she loves him even now and how she remains faithful to him ready even to die should she lose her chastity. Now unfortunately this conversation was recorded by the young man after which quarrels after quarrels emerged. However the most important was that he was assailed by a large number of huge crabs which initially surround him but later began to eat him up . This deep suspicion also led him to fall sick and become weak and was indicated by dreams in which a large herd of buffaloes would enter his body and make him weak unable to sleep and so forth.
The Slap by the Lion and The Destruction of the Home
At this point he also began to see her as a devilish woman, a Killer Power who would ride a LION and make the lion chase him and slap him to death. He also began to see her as a kind of poisonous woman who would in fact kill him should he continue to live together with her. She also entertained such fears , that he would poison her and make her die because of the hatred he had towards sher.
It is at this point that I had dreams to the effect that there would be a psychic fissure whereby a huge mountain range separates them making even a kind of communication non-existent. Sure enough there was a nasty quarrel after which there was practically no communication at all between the two. Also the fear that gripped the young man led him seek divorce from her and to which she gladly consented having anticipated such a possibility right from the beginning.
The Tree of Red Apples
Another series dreams indicated to me that these painful and heart-breaking experiences were not meaningless. There were fundamental transmutations in sexual dynamics and where LOVE became more pronounced than sexual desires per se. Before this false wedding she was a Mango Tree, a Durian Tree and a Jack fruit Tree where all the fruits are very sweet and tasty. In my Tree Test I have noticed people who draw such fruit trees are people who are attached to the body and who insist on enjoying all kinds of sensual pleasures. Young ladies who draw such trees not only get married very early but also begin to have many children. They must enjoy sexual life and at the same time conceive and bear children and thus physical pleasures becoming very important in their life.
However at the end of two months of such miserable married life such fruits were burned to ashes and replaced with a Tree of Red Apples. At this point she was more determined than before that she loves only the divorcee and would have sex only with him and nobody else. At this point she realized that her love for him is so deep that she is willing to severe her ties with her parents and siblings just in order to live with her lover.
She also became not just a simple snake but a thousand-headed Huge Snake who would crawl into the Lover who now stood as a huge and strong black SivalinGkam
Moral Conflicts and the Transmutation of Sexuality
Clearly when seen against these dreams the events in the life of this young lady is a DIVINE PLAY whereby through a series of moral conflicts and anguish there is a transmutation of basic sexual dynamics so that it becomes more LOVE based. The moral conflicts emerge in terms of obligations to parents, subscribing to the ritual meanings of the institution of marriage and her fidelity towards her lover to whom she already feels she is married. Torn between all these moral obligations and suffering immense moral anguish that lands her even in the hospital, she finally triumphs her inner conflicts whereby she puts LOVE above all else and begins to enjoy a life of deep love with a man whom she has been in fact loving for so long.
13
The Metaphysics of White Horse and White Elephant
As I pour over the large range of metaphysical dreams and my struggles to interpret and understand them, it appears to me that I enter into a kind of Metaphorical Thinking where the different images like various kinds of animals deities plants and so forth have METAPHORICAL meanings which can be easily confused with the natural. The vultures e.g. that occur in metaphysical dreams are not cognitive images of the natural vultures but rather a metaphor for something like a power that brings about miseries diseases and so forth. Seeing that such figures occur in ancient art and mythologies even going back to the Neolithic period when cave art began, the human thinking was essentially metaphorical and only later it became rational and logical losing at the same time losing the metaphorical in that process. Now the human mind seems to be very uncomfortable with the metaphorical thinking because the semantics is very different lacking in the precisison of the logical. My metaphysical dreams are possibilities for all and certainly something already there and which can be enjoyed by anyone provided one develops oneself in that direction. And this is also to be related to enjoying good physical and mental health.
In connection with this I want to relate now a number of dreams I had lately in which white horses and white elephants appear and where the manner in which they occur clearly indicated to me that what is communicated is something metaphorical and hence certainly not to be confused with the biological.
The White Horse and White Elephant
For a long time I had dreams in which I would sit on a majestic white horse and carrying an apsaras would try to land her and the horse in my home. However the moment I mount on it, ithe horse would become a donkey and refuse to move. Then it would disappear replaced with a Black Male Elephant which would carry the apsaras into my home. It appears that then I lacked something that would make it possible to make me enjoy being a white horse and that I had to depend on divine help in the form of Ganesha to enjoy perhaps a kind of Sakti as represented by the Apsaras. However lately this picture changed where I mount the majestic white horse and carrying two beautiful apsaras I would ride it beautifully and reach home and make the apsaras dismount and stay in my home. Then my figure would merge with the White Horse and gallop majestically around.
Now along with this I would also mount a huge white elephant again with two apsaras and land in the home where again I merge with the White Elephant.
Body Cure and Becoming the White Horse and Elephant.
As if explaining to me the meaning of these animal figures , I had another series of metaphysical dreams very unusual bizarre and occurring for the first time. I lay like a giant on the floor and three devas first enter my body like atomic figures and traveling into every part of my body like physicians would repair all the different parts of the body and make good the defects so that I would enjoy a faultless body. Then it would be followed by several sakties who again travel into every part of my body and inject various kinds of powers into those parts of the body that would need them to function well. And strangely enough as the processes come to a close I rise as a white horse and then a white elephant indicating that these animal figures have something to do with my body and fate.
The Banyan Tree Again
Now at about the same time I had the repetition of a dream I had earlier but with a twist. The Banyan Tree represents a healthy body where the deep and wide roots indicate the blood vessels reaching even the extremities like the feet and fingers that supply the necessary blood so they remain active and alive. Now however it was shown that my feet are filled with capillary-like thin roots and which struggle to reach the fingers and toes so that blood supply to these parts are restored. At the same time there were larger roots in both my legs where the leg bones become strong again so that I can run dance jump and so forth like a young man again
The Meanings
Thus the White Horse is in fact my body which is restored so that it is youthful again- agile and active , moving about like before without any problems. My body becomes a White Horse known for it agility and speed. The white color stands here for the Purity that my body has begun to enjoy - a purity in the sense of Free of the Malam , the killer energy. It appears that divine forces , the devas and devis, enter my body and cleanse every part of this Malam so that the body emerges vitalized and energized so that I can gallop and move about without hindrance exhaustion and so forth.
Now the meaning of the White Horse may be this, which meaning does not fit that of the White Elephant. However I was helped by the mythical tale where the White Elephant, Iravatam is the vehicle of Indrani, the Lady of Riches. It appears that the White Elephant represents a kind of FATE in which I become the recipient of some kind of riches and happiness making existence free of financial problems and so forth
It appears to me overall that there are mantra-forces which assume the shape of horses and elephants and occurring in metaphysical dreams communicate Metaphysical Truths pertaining to changes in the condition of the body and fate that rules worldly existence itself.
14
The Metaphysics of the Burning Grounds and Animal Sacrifice
I must explain that I am an enjoyer of both kinds of dreams - those which occur while deep asleep and those which occur while awake. Most often they are metaphysical dreams where the night dreams are closer to reality than the latter with both quite often dealing with the same theme but speaking somewhat different but allied languages.
Now over many years I have dreams of Burning Grounds of various types and which theme is celebrated in Saivism as one kind of Dance of Siva, that he does as the Cudalaiyadi. Such dreams contrast with another series where sexuality is celebrated and with that JOYS in life and which are the blessing of Tirumaal.
The peculiar importance of this dream that I have singled out for special mention is that it combines both in addition to adding the theme of animal sacrifice
This dream is about a young man who married a young lady against her wishes and because of which the marriage failed and ended up in divorce by mutual consent just in about three months of cohabitation
The Dream
a)
The young man after several activities that are not clear decides to move out to a neighboring country and walks down with his friend to reach the main street to catch the bus etc. On the way he passes through a Garden of Fruit Trees mostly that of rambutan, a kind of tropical fruit with hairy skin but with sweet and juicy pulp inside. As he passes by , the owner of the Garden runs after him and pointing at the various heaps of fruits he has piled up by the road side, urges him to buy them. However the young man declines saying that they too expensive.
b)
Now as he walks down further the small hillock, he meets a strange cemetery with a red-brick burning chamber. Attracted he moves into that area and examines with immense curiosity everything there. He notices that just next to the Brick crematory there is a ground where animals are sacrificed and where only the bones are left behind. He sees the skull of some cows there.
Now behind the brick cemetery he also notes a huge Durian Fruit, a tropical fruit extremely sweet with a thorny skin. When he examines it he notes many worm holes and disgusted moves past it in great haste.
Now he peeps into the brick cemetery and notices the bones of many animals and where some are just being burnt. In some even the bones are burning. He also notes most of the animals are female animals-cows deer etc
Meaning:
The meanings are reasonably clear. In the first part there is an offer by the celestial forces a life of joys particularly the sexual kind symbolized by the sweet and juicy fruits. That the young man declines it means that he is disenchanted with such expectations and certainly because of the very miserable three months of co-habitation in which the young lady was not only nasty but also refused to have any sex with him. Repeated failures made him become disenchanted with such allurements where in fact they become “too expensive’ hence something beyond him.
In the second part, the huge durian fruit with worm holes is possibly the young lady whom he sees as ‘corrupt, immoral, evil’ and so forth because she continues to be faithful to another man she loved earlier even after marriage.
It is also interesting that all the animals sacrificed and burnt are FEMALE animals. Thus perhaps they stand for various kinds of LOVE for FEMALES that any young man would have as part of his unconscious, like being seductively charming, sexually provocative, pleasing in love talk, sweet with endearing words and so forth. When they are sacrificed probably they are REMOVED from his psyche and when burned perhaps just rooted out from his soul so that he becomes effectively ascetic
Siva and Tirumaal
In the metaphysical dreams that accompanied this dream, both are shown to sign the divorce document in images that are typically Saivite. The young man appears as bald- headed man with sacred ash all over the body and sporting the Garland of Rudraksa in his forehead etc. The young woman appears in pure white saree but wearing garland of Rudraksa on her neck and hands. However subsequent to this event, the young lady becomes Laxmi and joins her lover who appears in the image of Tirumaal. The young man too goes away far but after sometime ends up marrying another young lady where he stands in the shape of Blue KaNNan etc.
So it appears to me BEING-as-Tirumaal here blesses people with LOVE and hence various kinds of JOYS in existence and which is energizing. Such a kind of life is one of EXULTATION enjoyment and so forth and made possible by the KuNdalini Sakti that shows itself as Aticedan and which forms the BED for Tirumaal.
However if one continues ENJOYING as such there cannot be CLEANSING, becoming Clean and Pure. This function of PURIFYING , cleansing etc is the function of Siva as the Cudalaiyaadi, the Dancer in the Cremation Grounds
BEING who is ABOVE these iconic forms assumes these alternatively to allow the souls to live with joy and then SUFFER so that they burn off all the binding desires and with that become Free and Pure.
15
The Metaphysics of Brain Travel The Pyramid and The Cave
The metaphysical travel of the ancients, particularly the people of NKSD cultures, seems to have been a culmination of many pre-historic developments related to the worship of deities on hill-top temples and deep inside the caves, a habit that still continues in many parts of the world and in particular Tantrism. There seems to be a connection between such behaviors and the travel of the soul into the deeper part of the BRAIN and where the brain in fact can be initially and vaguely understood as a cave and as a hill and which intuitive grasp came to be more sophisticated and stylized in the monumental art of the Pyramid and Temple. The Dravidian temples today combine both where the huge and tall towers are the PYRAMID and the various inner chambers leading to the sanctum sanctorum the CAVE
I am led o understand the matter thus in view of many metaphysical dreams the chief one being the one below. I had this dream towards the end of September this year, 2005 and after I enjoyed for several days deep and long sleep blessed by the Huge Snake, the Aticedan which provides the bed on which I repose as the Black Tirumaal, enjoying a sleep that is called Ananta Cayanam, Sleep of Bliss.
The Dream
While I lay thinking various kinds of things before sleeping off, this dream burst upon me while still awake. My whole body is shown as lying down but where my soul travels deeper and deeper into the BRAIN descending from the surface level ( the cerebral cortex ?) and reaching in stages the lowest part that joins with the brain stem( hyper thalamus?) Immediately that area is lighted by a brilliant sparkle and which travels through the brain stem and the spinal cord into the Muulam, the groin area lighting the whole space on the way. The area thus lighted up becomes diamond including the phallus that stands now erect like a diamond LiGkam.
Then the Pure Light travels the whole of my brain making it also shine brilliant like a diamond. At this point the whole body, particularly the legs and hands become also diamond-like, firm and strong. The whole nervous system become also diamond and at which point my body becomes that of Black KaNNan, young clean and immensely healthy.
Then something surprising happens and which explains some aspects of the iconic features of Tirumaal( VishNu)
The palms feet eyes and mouth become Red Lotus . So also the tip of my Phallus where the phallus itself is pitch black like the rest of the body
The Brain Travel
It appears to me that over the years and because of my preoccupation with Sacred Tamil where they are essentially metaphysical and studies of dreams and so forth, the soul has dislodged itself from being the prisoner of the cerebral cortex where only the sensory stimuli are processed and only the physical dimensions of the world understood. The soul thus freed managed to travel deeper and deeper enjoying VISIONS that are facilitated by these deeper layers of the brain. It so happens that there is a spot where the brain meets the spinal cord , perhaps the same as what Tirumular calls the Ten Potu, a brain spot of some peculiar importance. Once the soul reaches this point , the whole body and in stages become CLEAN and PURE and which not only rejuvenates the body but also recovers the youthful virility and so forth
Thus this kind of brain travel seems to contain within itself the secrets of live rejuvenation and which was probably the dream of the ancient pharaohs and many kings like the tantric SuriaVarman of Cambodia.
The Cave and the Pyramid
We can see that before a conscious understanding of this brain travel became available , perhaps it was intuitively and non-analytically grasped as travel into a Deep Cave where as one goes deeper and deeper into the cave, one leaves behind the sensory world. Such a physical travel may in fact be a means of activating deeper and deeper reaches of the brain and hence a kind of KuNdalini Yoga. This cave travel also comes along with enjoying more and more metaphysical visions and which are in themselves life- rejuvenating.
Perhaps this is a geometrical transform of DEPTHS into HEIGHTS and hence a climb up the Pyramid to reach the top most part. Here the Ten Potu, that part where the brain meets the spinal cord is the Top and on reaching which the whole body and soul gets cleansed and purified.
The Tempel as both the Cave and the Pyramid
The Dravidian temples distinguish themselves by having huge pyramidal towers at the gateways and which then leads a structured inner travel, chamber after chamber leading to the sanctum sanctorum where is installed the presiding deity. The doors of this KaruvaRai, the Dark Chamber normally remains closed or curtained and only on those special occasions the image is lighted up and prayers offered.
One can see here that the temple as such combines both the pyramidal climb as well as the cave travel both related to the BRAIN TRAVEL of a person who visits such a temple and worships the presiding deity. There seems to be a monumental and artistic way of influencing the cognitive processes of the person so that he is made, quite unconsciously, to reach the deeper layers of his own brain and in that also enjoy metaphysical experiences of the most beneficial kind.
Such spiritual experiences may be that which attracts the devotees to such temples and which they may not be able to articulate that clearly and in conceptual terms. This may also explain why there is CURE of the soul (and the body) that one frequently hears of in connection with such temple worship but normally ascribed to the powers of the presiding deities.