One World

23) Dreams of Long Ago

Posted 10th June 2016

When I was a teenager, I had a very vivid dream which I can still remember clearly: I was walking up a steep slope at the head of a long column of soldiers. They seemed to be British Redcoats. We were in a warm land, perhaps a tropical island? A large sail ship was moored in the bay, from which the soldiers were emanating. There was another branch of soldiers who went directly up the beach from the ship and into a forest. I had the strong sense I was being compelled to move forward. Perhaps I was their prisoner. Perhaps I was simply a low-ranking soldier who would be severely punished if I disobeyed orders. Either way, I feared that when I arrived at the approaching hill crest I might be killed. This was because I sensed I was being used to probe the crest of the hill, as the army didn't know if their enemy were somewhere on the other side. With great trepidation, but having little choice, I walked forward and arrived at the crest. At that instant all I saw was an all-encompassing very bright, but silent, white light and I awoke from my dream.

I have always wondered if that dream was something more: perhaps a memory of my last moments on Earth in a previous physical incarnation. In that dreadful finale, my fellow soldiers/prisoners would have witnessed an awful violent scene whilst I, by sharp contrast, experienced a very peaceful, hypnotic and non-frightening transition to a new state of being.

A few years ago, I dreamed I was in a battle trench. I think it was during World War 1. To my right was a machine gunner. Running towards us out of the woods were about 100 soldiers. In this dream, I think, I was a German soldier, and the attacking soldiers were, perhaps, British. The machine gunner fired frantically, and perhaps I was his spotter, directing his fire to the most urgent areas in our extreme fear of being over-run. Then I awoke. I'd felt no suffering, or realised I was about to be hit, my awareness of the environment simply ended. Again, I wonder if this was a memory of my last moments of a previous incarnation.

A year or so ago, I dreamed I was in the front room of a house, in a city suburb perhaps. I had a sense it might have been Arnhem or one of the cities involved in Operation Market Garden. I think I was a British soldier. A German soldier in a great coat, on the street outside, approached the open front door into the room. I quickly tried to hide. The only place I could find at such short notice was behind the back of an armchair - an appallingly obvious hiding place. The soldier entered the room calmly and I caught a glimpse of him (or I saw him from a 'slightly to the right of my hidden position' perspective) - he either saw me or knew I was behind the chair. I awoke. I now wonder if this was a recollection of the final moments of a previous incarnation, ending when a German soldier fired through an armchair at me, and suddenly ejected me from my then body.

To summarise: -

- In the first case, sometime between the sixteenth and mid-nineteenth century I was either a prisoner of the British, or a reluctant soldier;

- In the second case, sometime between 1914-1918, I was a frightened German soldier under attack by, perhaps, British soldiers;

- In the third case, possibly September 1944, I was a non-combative or unarmed British soldier, or perhaps a Dutch civilian.

Maybe these were just dreams. Or maybe not. When I was a boy, as I began to succumb to a dentist's anesthetic gas, I distinctly remember seeing the nurse who was holding my hand departing from me as I seemed to be being drawn backwards out of my body, as if down a tunnel. Then, it was night-time and I was suddenly looking at a downtown San Francisco(?) sidewalk from a low level - as if I was in the body of a small animal. Had my spirit been temporarily housed somewhere else?

So, what if the above dreams are glimpses of places where I, my spirit, lived previously?

If so, then what if, when your own present incarnation has ended, you would be reincarnated, apparently at random, anywhere else in the World? If you knew that to be true, e.g. that you might one day be born to an Indian family, or your father be born to a West African family, or your child born to a deprived American family etc., would you rethink your values? That is: -

· What would be the sense of supporting governments which capitalise on poverty stricken countries, if you might find yourself living in one of the impoverished countries 'next time'?

· What would be the sense of manipulating stocks and shares, or being a ruthless business person, if your victims are destined to be your new parents?

· And what would be the sense of going to war when your future child may be among the people you are leveling your gun at?

If it is the case that when one casts off their mortal coil, and die are cast ("die-ing") as to where they are reincarnated, then there is only one way to be sure of the safety and happiness of themselves and their loved ones: that there exists a World where EVERYONE on Earth is cared for. One World.

It's easy to be indifferent to the plight of others. Using your imagination, on the other hand, requires a bit of mental effort. I challenge you to imagine this: think of someone in this life who you love dearly - perhaps a parent, a sibling, your partner or your child. Now, imagine that person is one of the refugees risking their life on a boat in the Mediterranean; or is struggling to avoid starving in a barren land; or is having to work into old age to pay for health insurance, etc. If that makes you cry then you probably have a good imagination. And maybe that's a good start.