Sleep paralysis

[ucan]

Thanks for your post I_AM, an incredibly different perpective on it. I've never really thought of the experience as anything other than something that must be stopped. I think you are probably mostly right about how the Logical mind creates the fear.

I remeber another experience I had recently, a late night awakening but I wasn't "me" - I remeber looking at my mind "internally" and not see anything I recognize as me and feeling quite sad and wondering if my personallity has been erased - after a few minuites and waking up a bit more I felt normal and "me" again, but it was quite a "sad" experience.

I think I will take some of your advise I_Am and try to relax a bit more when I get these feelings.

[I_Am]

Thanks ucan for your reply; I really apprechiate your kind words.

Regarding the experience of "me".

This is how I look upon the idea of the "person", "me" that is:

The one looking out through these eyes. Experiencing this world. Thinking these thoughts. Having these memories...is really not me!
The soul, you might say, is NOT the person who I am right now.

Let's make a simple mind excercise:
Imagine you have to amputate a leg. It would still be you, missing a leg.
Imagine you have to get an implant kidney. Still you.
Imagine an implant heart - still you (although many should begin to question that statement at this point)
Imagine you'd get a brain damage. Alzheimer or whatever. You forget almost everything - from the names of your children to your friends etc. It would still be YOU sitting there confused.
You can also try to imagine yourself being a dolphin, a horse, a fly, or a tree. This proves (for me anyway) that my soul does not have to be connected with this body of mine, nor my person. My soul is a fluid thing. Very, very real. But not solid. And absolutely not stuck to a body or brain.

In the bible/torah/coran god says to moses: "I am who I am".
Descartes said: "I think, therefore I exist".

These are very clever statements. You are not your person. You - are YOU! Someone who experiences. This world. That's all you really can be asure of. You cannot be sure that I exists (not hard - I am just letters on your computer, right?). You cannot be sure that everything that is around you exists - hey: it might be a cosmic movie you are attending!

But the core of you - your soul - really, really exists. And experiences. The person is just the tool you use to act and function in this reality. You are NOT your memories, nor your body, but a mind! A soul! And that soul is a rather neutral thing. When you come close to the core of your soul, you will be rather surprised how little emotions that is still left. Scary for our persons, our emotion ridden little scared persons who cling with all our logic to this world, to our memories and hormones and endorphines and social rules and...things.

But you are not the person who you are linked to right now. You are much more. You EXIST.

This goes beyond religion, I believe. It might or might not be included into any belief system. We are souls who experiences, connected to the body, through the brain (acting as the cosmic LAN HUB). It is worth to spend a lot of time meditating on this. I have concluded myself (although I am not unique at all in this): that having realized that I am just a soul, an EXISTING SOUL, I must also in some respect BE IMMORTAL! As I exists now, I must also continue to exist. In some respect anyway.

Zen Budhists believe that we are like a wave on the ocean. When we are in this live we are on the top of the wave - able to look around a bit. And after that we goes back into to sea. We will still exist, but now as a part of something much, much bigger.

Khalil Gibrain, the wonderful author of the book "The Prophet" wrote in 1920: We are all the result of the creation's longing for observing itself (poor translation from swedish, sorry for that one).

Ucan, I think that the sensation you experienced, really was a state when your soul and your person hadn't connected yet. What really happens during much of the night. The state that many meditators are striving for. The sadness you felt is of course normal in this light, and is also withnessed by many who have had close to death experiences - it is like losing your seat in a wonderful consert or play before it's end. What it is, is problably the realisation that your person is not that long lasting. You will soon lose that connection, but your soul will prevail. So, take the oportunity to enjoy your person while you have him/her at your disposal! Live! Experience!

It is also a very sobering experience to have had the favour to physically have felt this! Be happy about it. Many, many people searches for this for years. Use it as an inspiration in your voyage into yourself.

Pew...what a long text this was - hopefully some of you read a bit of it. This is SOOO exiting, I think! What was it?....hmmmm...the meaning of life?

Thanks ucan, merlin and others for sharing and daring!

Originally Posted by ucan

...a late night awakening but I wasn't "me" - I remeber looking at my mind "internally" and not see anything I recognize as me and feeling quite sad and wondering if my personallity has been erased - after a few minuites and waking up a bit more I felt normal and "me" again, but it was quite a "sad" experience.
...

[mudra]

I am what a great post that is
May it fill Ucan with light and a new perspective.
For souls this is what we are and the only thing we are. We are not our bodies, nor our minds, nor our low toned emotions. We simply are pure spirits running our bodies using our minds.
We are and that is eternal. We unfold our Being into infinity through many forms in order to have experiences. Life is the challenge of finding who you are. When you are left with nothing that is it.
It's empty and yet it is full.
How can you find yourself? By being in your heart and in the Now. For you are Being and being is always Now. The moment you connect with the Now you connect with infinity and there is peace , and there is pure Love , and there is Oneness and there is the realm of Spirit.

Kindness
mudra