Fighting Satan in my dreams

[steviedisco]

Excuse me for sounding like a complete nutter, but I have a bit of a problem.

I believe that I am very close to achieving an enlightened state - have been on the path for years and have studied and practiced hard.

However, I've recently been admitted into hospital for a manic episode (labelled that, but in my opinion more of a spiritual cleansing) - where I met a very dark young man who knew how to get into the deepest recesses of my mind. Since then I have been plagued with visions of hell and the like.

Last night I had two very very vivid dreams/nightmares about the nature of what it must be to be a god, with a brother called Satan. I basically spent the night fighting with Satan over whether I was going to hell for eternity or not. I recall telling myself that I do not believe in Satan during the course of the dream, but overwhelming evidence is there to suggest that it does.

I feel that if I can conquer this problem, it will be to the benefit of my fellow man - as though I am fighting the apocalypse inside my head.

Would anyone have any wise words to help a fellow wanderer overcome these obstacles and to continue to lead a peaceful, loving life?

Many thanks

[Kelly Jones]

Try to ignore the monsters of your imagination, and get some good rest while you're in hospital. Manic episodes blow things out of all proportion.

When you're stable and unexcitable, then return to the self-examination if you wish. At present it doesn't sound like anything to do with spirituality, as defined for the purposes of this forum, but it does very much sound like you're frightening yourself into a right state.

[Pincho Paxton]

See... I told you that this enlightenment journey was dangerous. You are constantly playing mental illusions on your mind. None of this stuff is real. Study nature instead, get some reality back.

[Cahoot]

steviedisco wrote:

Would anyone have any wise words to help a fellow wanderer overcome these obstacles and to continue to lead a peaceful, loving life?

You are most fortunate, steviedisco.

Still your eyes and your mind will also still.

Gaze at whatever appears before you. Do this even when hyper energetic and you’ll find your mind stills, your body stills, the energy hums inside you, and like a hovering hummingbird all your awareness comes to bear upon where ever your attention has been placed.

When attention is upon the reality directly before you, and awareness turns to reality directly before you, the imagination quiets down, illusions are stilled, the mind dives deep into the reality of what has presented to you.

Various sounds will harmonically tune your extraordinary energy to surroundings, so if possible control your surroundings to advantage, as Pincho Paxton has advised with studying nature. For example, find a stream away from traffic noises so that the sound of naturally running water will connect you to the reality of direct perception rather than imaginings.

As you have communicated your perceptions in dualistic and Christian terms, i.e. God/Satan, you may want to study the biblical passages that reference Satan’s temptation of Christ. A google search will take you there.

Buddha faced a similar bout with illusion just prior to enlightenment, you may want to read about that, or review it again if you have already read about it.

Good luck. Great effort and attention are required and then there will come a time, most likely when you are sleeping, when all effort falls away, along with doubt. You will then find yourself laughing and smiling quite a bit.

To expand slightly on David's succinct advice from another thread, all desires will coalesce into one burning desire, and then awareness simply transmutes this one remaining desire into energy that fuels awareness. And you’ll find that in the desireless presence of being, the effort and searching has ended. Any aural and visual energy that you perceive, whether it be that of a brook or the discordant noises of a city, will then be transmuted to the advantage of awareness.

You are most fortunate to have access to a well of liberated energy to feed awareness. Think of yourself as the hummingbird, still yet vibrating with extraordinary energy, effortlessly aware of all that enters your attention.

[Kelly Jones]

It's a common fallacy that mental illness are spiritual or enlightening in nature. This belief has arisen because people believe in the idea of revelation. They believe that extreme states of mind must reveal something transcendental and absolute about the world and their place in it.

These states appear to transport a person into a kind of special, completely private realm, where they feel like they've transcended ordinary consciousness. So they believe they're in touch with some kind of spirit world of truth-tellers. It's interesting that. Literally giving physical form and personality to their own ideas, just as steviedisco's feelings and beliefs have taken on archetypal form, like Satan or an Angel of Light.

People also believe that there must be something deeply enlightened about those states, because of the clarity of the ideas. Unfortunately, this is not the clarity of samadhi, but the desperation of the sick mind to find solace and permanence in the unstable and quick-sand-like foundation of such an extreme emotional life. It's extreme focus, so the sick ideas are burnt into the brain.

[HUNTEDvsINVIS]

What disturbs me is that you have not yet asked God for assistance so you can fight Satan.

[Cahoot]

There are many variations of body/mind condition, however all situations, even those involving a sick mind or sick body, are workable in and of themselves, though any particular situation may be less than desirable in comparison to memories or imaginings of another situation.

[mensa-maniac]

Excuse me for sounding like a complete nutter, but I have a bit of a problem.

I believe that I am very close to achieving an enlightened state - have been on the path for years and have studied and practiced hard.

However, I've recently been admitted into hospital for a manic episode (labelled that, but in my opinion more of a spiritual cleansing) - where I met a very dark young man who knew how to get into the deepest recesses of my mind. Since then I have been plagued with visions of hell and the like.

Mensa says: All you are doing here is focusing attention on your thoughts of evil manifested in your mind of the young man, I know this through the uses of the word 'dark' used to describe him. All you need to do is realize you are creating these thoughts, and simply stop it by replacing these evil thoughts with different ones of your own choice. You can do this by reading something which interests you, really interests you. It has to be something so interesting to you, that you will naturally let go of these detrimental reoccurring thoughts.

Last night I had two very very vivid dreams/nightmares about the nature of what it must be to be a god, with a brother called Satan. I basically spent the night fighting with Satan over whether I was going to hell for eternity or not. I recall telling myself that I do not believe in Satan during the course of the dream, but overwhelming evidence is there to suggest that it does.

Mensa says: Do you believe in God as Totality? You were tested by the almighty spirit.
Let me tell you about a vivid dream I had in my late twenties. Satan came to me in my dream offering me the ultimate orgasm for my soul. He wanted to be my lover. I was seriously tempted to give in to my desires for him and almost did, however, I rebuked him and screamed out Nooooooooooooooo get behind me Satan, and he fled immediately. And I was never bothered by Satan again.

Mensa says: I speak truth, even if it is in a dream.

I feel that if I can conquer this problem, it will be to the benefit of my fellow man - as though I am fighting the apocalypse inside my head.

Mensa says: What exactly do you feel is a problem? Creating ideas in your head is not a problem, it's the action of those ideas that can be a problem.

Mensa says: You indeed are fighting the apocalypse inside your head, which simply means you are thinking far to much on the subject, and only you can let go. You are creating images in your mind from to much input going into your brain stimulating it.

Would anyone have any wise words to help a fellow wanderer overcome these obstacles and to continue to lead a peaceful, loving life?

Mensa says: Yes, don't view your minds creations as obstacles, or they will haunt you like Satan himself. Don't give control to your thoughts, or your thoughts will fool you and you will become deluded, you must take control of your thoughts by getting rid of them, by replacing them with different thoughts created by what you read or what data input goes into your mind. The Bible is a good read, and will contribute to your changing your thoughts.

Many thanks

[Tomas]

Would anyone have any wise words to help a fellow wanderer overcome these obstacles and to continue to lead a peaceful, loving life?

Many thanks

Hey Steve,


I came across the book version, The Book of Enoch in 1976-1977...
Must say, first off that the section "Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries" was/is my favorite and opened my thought processes in a different way no other (any) writings have ever... My advice is to read from the beginning to the end as soon as possible (and don't take extended breaks to read through this). No shortcuts such as skipping around, just crack it open and have at it. It's a real, mind-bender :-)

I suggest you view the following with Text Size as Largest :-)

Filled with hallucinatory visions of heaven and hell, angels and devils, Enoch introduced concepts such as fallen angels, the appearance of a Messiah, Resurrection, a Final Judgment, and a Heavenly Kingdom on Earth. Interspersed with this material are quasi-scientific digressions on calendrical systems, geography, cosmology, astronomy, and meteorology.

The Book of Enoch >> http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe

Warm Regards,
Tomas

[Pincho Paxton]

What disturbs me is that you have not yet asked God for assistance so you can fight Satan.

Who, and who???
Ask yourself to stop wasting your life away.. then you get a real person answering back.

[Kunga]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4noQ0MD1_8s

[Animus]

Nightmares and other dreams arise from anxiety/fear.

You see, the Ego is so tricky and stubborn, it creates an external enemy "Satan" from which it "derives" fear. But in reality, the fear is the Ego, is Satan, and the external projection is a decoy. Use your perceived enemy to destroy your real enemy.

[steviedisco]

Many thanks to you all for your words, I must say that during the course of today I feel a hell of a lot stronger/calmer about the whole thing.

It feels as though my ego has turned on itself. I'm sure it'll pass, it's not the worst experience I've had in my life.

Thanks again

[SANDEEP]

i can say that heaven is nowhere in the universe...not even outside the universe but in your mind,in ur thoughts....dreams are just the interpretation of what do you think of more or least.....realty is that in an unconscious mind or subconscious mind impulses flow without control ...so different thoughts like you got are real in your domain only...not for the others who did not dreamt as you....if u try to dream as u want you cant.....if you can do so you are in a conscious state.....any way try feeling realty more... u can get some path to truth about god.....