Joseph B. Majdalani (JBM)
ISBN 978-9953-405-37-9
“Dreams and Visions…” is the title of the 35th book within the (Arabic) breadth of the Esoteric Sciences, written by Dr. Joseph B. Majdalani (JBM), in 208 pages (medium size) and published by Society of Friends of the White Knowledge, Beirut. Exceptional in its elaboration and daring in its revelations, this book is fundamental as it dissects dreams in their global reality in light of the verity of the inner depths of Man. Such verity is no longer concealed to the intellectuals… and is unrelated to stereotyped explanations, assumptions and conjectures of the common run of people.
The book “Dreams and Visions…” emphasizes on the fact that each who believes or contributes in limiting the dream within the frame of conjectures and astromancy, or horoscopy and fortune-telling, lives in a superstitious distraction that denudes the intellect of its deep-thinking energy… since the dream is a message strictly confined to the dreamer, from his subconscious domain to his outer consciousness… meaning that no one can unravel the reality of another.
For the dream eventuates from a reaction coupled with the developments that the subject dreamer has undergone in his life. However, the book unveils how one could explain his dreams by himself. It would suffice to state that perceiving the dream as a truth, as a message exclusively assigned to its recipient falls in the scope of consciousness alone, to practically enhance one’s life, and deepen his understanding of his being.
The Book delves in the reality of the types and categories of dreams, and prompts the wonder of the frequenting thinking faculty: Is dream a human necessity alike hope and freedom? Is there a distinction between hope (while awake) as a fancy or fabrication of dream, and between the images and scenes (while asleep) as a state of dream?!… Is the state of the subconscious devoid of dreaming similar to the state of death to the body? Does the vanishing of the dream means the cessation of the innermost interaction manifested consciously at the level of the esoteric dimensions (layers of consciousness), and unconsciously at the level of the body?! How could dream be the nourishing of the subconscious, or a frightening nightmare, or a meaningless illusion, or “a social life” with tranquil or boisterous scenes? And what is meant when few allege that they do not dream?!
Several questions find their answers in the realistic logic of the book and in practical application, noting that learning and guidance are put forth to the reader as to how to interpret his dreams by himself, and how to control his dreams and life. The book offers as well few practical exercises in this respect. No doubt that the key lies in the gist of the dream, and in the moral behind it which dwells in the release of the communication between the inner and outer duality of man, like day and night in nature… elucidating that the verities of existence cannot be disparted one from the others, but rather extend from each other… because they are not constrained between a beginning and an end.
For division is the production of Man’s mundane thought which is incapable of assimilating the concept of communication and extension – or at least the notion behind the interrelation between the inner and outer through dreams or other manifestations. The Esoteric expounds on the fact that dream is the language of the human subconscious in expressive metaphors… It is an unconscious interplay between the subjective and objective sides. Therefore, deciphering the mysteries of dreams and laying bare its significations and symbols relies on perceiving its concealed correlation with the objective consciousness together with the happenings of the world at large… thereby perceiving it as an integral part from the overall kinetic interaction of the human being in both of his inner and outer states.
On the other hand, the author sheds a bright and revealing light on the illusions modeled by dreams… for these build on mere hopes of feelings and desires of sensations… driven by an aflame imagination expressing a vent of untamed desire that one lusts for achieving in state of awakeness! And this category of dreams drains considerable inner energy and leads to abortive effort and exhaustion of the healthy thinking faculty.
The Book “Dreams and Visions…” discloses the distinction between the dream and the vision (whether through meditation while awake, or through dreams while asleep), between the mundane dream limited in the earthly world, and the human dream manifesting in the domain of unbound space… expounding on the spectrum of dreams starting from the earthly purely corporeal dream, reaching the lucid dream, then the dream of vision, and finally the cosmic dream… The book guides the reader to fathom the seven dimensions of the dream, explaining each dimension and the state that overwhelms the dreamer therewhile, so that he learns how to elevate his dreams to bring them closer to the ascent of his thinking and consciousness, in accordance with the practical exercises for remembering dreams as included in the book.
To enable one perceiving the genre of his dreams, the book “Dreams and Visions…” classifies dreams in two main categories: The ordinary mundane dreams and the human dreams which are revealing and visionary… and this latter is the one that represents the genuine kinetic interaction of the dream, being applied beyond the scope of the sensations, emotions and limited thought. As for the mundane dream, it is an attraction between the vertical ascent and the horizontal disperse… between confinement and constriction, as a negative kinetic interaction that occurred in the dream on account of the negative misconducts deep-seated in Thought and Emotion… which makes the dream a reflection of the mundane self’s worries during sleep, and keeps it within the confines of inner perturbation which imposes on the mundane self a heavy burden charged with mental anxieties and daily disturbances of the emotions.
The aim of the Esoteric is to build the edifice of Man with practical application through the truth of consciousness, from the Base – the physical body – to the Apex, the soul… all the way through all components, diversities and precise details whether apparent or concealed. All this constitutes the beginning of delving in the principles of dreams and delineating its bottom line. As to isolating the dream from the truths of the dimensions of the Subconscious, one feels driven down into an abyss of ambiguity and mystery, deflecting him from his wide and righteous path of perceiving his own truth through dreams and its symbols… and deviating him into thin, bent and disjointed tracks…
Those are the familiar means that the layman uses in interpreting dreams… those means that deal in a superficial stereotype with the dream, unknowing its special effects and influence in the human being. Consciousness is compulsory for self-realization; optional for the mundane self; and rejected by the negative unconscious acts – and without the awareness of the subject person that these acts lie behind attracting suffering and pain as a result of a conflict between consciousness and unconsciousness, whether in dreams or in the awake state!
And if one interrogates the causes behind pain and suffering in his self, he would hear the answer from within: “I am the end-product of your misconduct… and you’ll eliminate me with good conduct!”
