Reaching Beyond The Dream (hard cover)

We are undergoing a leap in human consciousness that is facilitating a comprehension of spiritual truth unprecedented in history. Individuals and groups are awakening to the power of higher intelligence. They are moving beyond simple explanations handed down by their respective cultures, religions, and metaphysical writings. They are earnestly yearning for more meaningful answers and deeper wisdom that will enrich their lives and catapult them ahead on their spiritual journey. They want answers for age-old questions that are both in accord with enlightened teachings and immensely practical in their application. Hence they continue to ask questions such as:

• What is my spiritual destiny?
• What is the nature of my consciousness?
• How do I actually experience reality?
• How do my beliefs, thoughts and emotions shape my experience?
• How do I cultivate a truly spiritual relationship with my partner?
• How can I experience true intimacy and divine lovemaking?
• What are the spiritual laws that govern all of life?
• What spiritual pathways are available and which is best suited for me?
• Is it really possible to achieve a state of Self-realisation in this lifetime?
• What tools, techniques or practices will help me get there sooner?

Reaching Beyond the Dream is designed to answer these questions and more. It breathes new life and higher understanding into the answers, giving them the depth of wisdom required to satisfy the most discerning student.

It presents a compelling case for the dawning of an expanded consciousness, and a new way of relating to and being in the world.  It acknowledges and builds upon the wisdom of Eastern and Western philosophy, religion, and New Age thought, adding dimension and scope to the theme of the book.  Furthermore, in order to assist individuals to realise the practical implications of the ideas and put them into action, it approaches subjects from multiple points of view in the form of discussions and thought provoking questions.

The book was inspired and written by two accomplished spiritual teachers, a husband and wife, who chose to withdraw indefinitely from public life and retreat into solitude with the sole objective to awaken their spiritual potential.

During their solitude, which lasted a little over three years, they underwent a metamorphosis in consciousness that transformed their understanding of reality. Their comprehension of spiritual truths dramatically expanded and the old ego personalities were replaced with a self-revealing presence that illuminated their consciousness. Reaching Beyond the Dream fulfils the authors’ fervent desire to present original and authentic material borne out of their deeper understanding and spiritual insight, as well as give a clear perspective of both modern and ancient teachings.

Throughout the book, they ask questions that prompt the reader to look deeper within for answers. They also demonstrate how one can move from a state of fear to a state of love, from attachment to alignment, from egoic relationships to spiritual relationships, and from ignorance to wisdom.

The book also takes a departure from the traditional spiritual teachings by exploring human sexual behaviour. The material will challenge many people as it exposes a core of repression and distortion that exists in almost everyone. This is then bought into perspective and integrated with the higher spiritual understanding. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate how sexual energy and positive sexual behaviour can be cultivated and converted into ecstatic states of Divine Union.

Reaching Beyond the Dream is not merely a self-help book, nor is it based on fanciful ideas and non-verifiable truth; rather it is a truly enlightening spiritual book based on sound principles derived from deep personal insight and the authors’ decades of experience as spiritual teachers. Much of the book is written in the form of philosophical discussion based on higher spiritual wisdom. Other portions are in the form of practical information and sound reasoning derived from a lifetime of study, self-enquiry, and devotion to truth.

The principles are simple yet profound and are arranged systematically. They are also presented in as many contexts as possible with certain threads and themes reappearing regularly throughout the book.

Spirituality and personal growth are primarily fuelled by a desire to know deeper truths. From there on, it requires dedication and, most importantly, proper education. There are no books or teachers that can provide dedication, but they can provide proper education.

Reaching Beyond the Dream is a book that offers just that. It is very clear, concise and pragmatic, and offers deep spiritual insights that can help transform the consciousness and prepare the reader to embark on a profound inner journey, where real change occurs and the Self is revealed.

The inspiration and enthusiasm of the authors speaks directly to the reader’s heart. It is beyond the words written down on the pages and beyond the concepts and teachings presented; it reaches into the spirit of human passion and touches the soul. It stirs the mind and awakens spiritual energies. This is what makes Reaching Beyond the Dream such a compelling and valuable resource both for the experienced spiritual seeker and for anyone who is just starting the journey toward true self-discovery. While the authors originally had intended to write this book solely about reaching a state of higher awareness, they realised that they could not convey the full essence of the teachings without building a framework around it. Thus, the book is sectioned into three parts.

Following a brief account of the author’s spiritual transformation, the first part of the book focuses on building an understanding about the nature of subjective human experience, which includes the nature of ego and its belief systems, along with a detailed explanation of how the human mind processes thought. This is a crucial topic for it acts as a platform for building more advanced concepts presented in subsequent chapters. The second part of the book reveals deep insights into the nature of the human relationship and sexuality and addresses specific ways in which one can transmute raw sexual energy into higher spiritual energy. Also, it illuminates ways to develop and abide within a spiritual relationship.

In the third part of the book, the authors’ focal point is directed to topics relevant to the spiritual journey. These include spiritual transformation; its effects, changes, and integration phases; and the distractions and pitfalls that can often delay one’s progress.

Each part along with its corresponding chapters builds upon the previous to create a comprehensive curriculum for spiritual advancement.

Anyone reading this book will be guided toward a permanent shift in conscious awareness and will have been offered a sound spiritual framework that is in alignment with their personal makeup. In addition, it will bring them to a place of true appreciation, not only of their spiritual nature but also for their human condition.

There is an underlying urge in each of us that is pulling toward something greater, something that we are unable to grasp with the thinking mind and something we are unable to touch with our outer sense, but nonetheless it draws us like a magnet.

Deep within the human psyche, there is a remembrance of a state of being that is completely free from fear, anxiety and suffering. However, the memory is fleeting, elusive, and sometimes dream-like, but it is beginning to grip humanity like never before.

The glorious revealing of this higher awareness is beyond any dream we might have dreamed and is the foundation and birthing of a new consciousness.

Perhaps in a moment of stillness and connection, we have experienced glimpses of this reality, where the attachment of past and future dissolved away and everything became bright with pure life. Where the doors of heaven opened and everything therein was ours and wanting was no more. A moment where eternity replaced time, where infinite intelligence was everywhere and love was all-encompassing.

This is the real world and when our awareness touches it, even for a moment, it changes our entire mental structure and brain function. The world we normally perceive is not the real world. The real world will not become visible to us until we raise our consciousness beyond the dreams of the human ego-mind.

It is the egoic aspect of our conscious mind that is dreaming and it is the dreaming that we have to awaken from. Contrary to what many people believe, the egoic mind will not completely disappear when the consciousness awakens; rather it will stand aside, allowing our higher awareness to guide our thoughts and actions.

We all eagerly desire to awaken and to have better conditions in life; but until our belief patterns and attitudes begin to come into alignment with that which we truly desire, we will continue to experience the old familiar conditions. To desire something whilst holding opposite beliefs in mind will negate any possibility of it manifesting. Therefore, if we want to change something in our life, we must consciously prevent the mind from continually focusing on the subject or object that it doesn’t want. For as long as the mind is split between wanting something different than it is focused upon, there is bound to be conflict and stagnation. When we sow a seed, it grows because of the power and focus within; and the seed reproduces itself, thereby attracting like unto itself. If we find ourselves experiencing undesirable conditions, it simply means that the seeds we have sown in the past were discordant and out of alignment with our inner being. The more focus we place on something, the more the soil becomes fertile; hence the quicker the seed will germinate and produce its corresponding reality. When we realise that it is the seeds that have germinated that form the basis of our happiness or unhappiness and not the external conditions, then we understand that in order for us to harvest new experiences we have to sow new seeds. In order to do that, we must first recognise our egotistical positions and the beliefs that hold them in place and then we must be willing to relinquish them. Initially, it may only be an intellectual concept, but as we deepen our understanding about the nature of experience and we develop more wisdom, we will be able to bring our mind back in alignment, and choose anew.

This is not necessarily an easy process, especially if there are habituated thought patterns that have taken root in the psyche. However, the mind can be retrained to give attention to only that which it is wanting. All it requires is the desire, willingness, commitment and dedication.

Consciousness along with all manifestation is continually expanding and will go on expanding eternally because that is its nature. It is through our ever-changing personal experience that we contribute to this expansion and become greater and greater. Hence, Life offers us a great variety of opportunities and choices that provide us with the potential to raise our awareness and break free from misperceptions that keep us stuck in the illusory reality.

We are not, nor have we ever been limited to the forms we appear to inhabit in the physical expression, nor are we stuck in any set reality; rather we are part of an immense source of intelligence and infinite power that has absolutely no limits.

It is this source of intelligence and infinite power that directs our consciousness every moment of our lives, not our physical brain or conscious self. It’s time that we stop clinging to an imaginary and limited ideal of what we should be and open the mind to see beyond ourselves as we really are. It takes courage, for we have to become willing to know all aspects of our self before we can go beyond the illusory self. This is where some people get caught and stumble. They become afraid to take off the masks they have been accustomed to wear in case they find something that they don’t like. They continue to hide behind the façade and miss the opportunity to uncover the real beauty the lays underneath it all.

The mysteries and teachings of enlightened masters and scriptures will not be understood and revealed to us until the fear drops away. Only then will consciousness give way to greater understanding of reality.

If we are to reach beyond the dream, we have to awaken to this truth and not be confined to just a physical body and to intellectual experience that does not comprehend anything except what it has learned to believe and accept as true. For when we allow ourselves to be confined and limited to our sensory perceptions, we diminish our expansion and deny the greater part of who we are. It is not until we become attuned to the greater part of us, that just as the seed attracts like unto itself, so too will we attract and bring the fullness of God’s love into our heart and experience.

Perhaps we are not yet in a place where we can fully believe this, but if we are willing we will find a new strength emerging that we didn’t know was there. As we begin to know ourselves on all levels, we will come to know a confidence that will reveal to our souls mysteries that will far transcend what our human mind is able to conceive. For the ego mind cannot conceive that which is beyond its own dreams. It cannot live in the ever-present moment-to-moment reality. For to do so would require dying to everything to which it rigidly clings.

Indeed, we have been misusing the mind and our thinking, and separating ourself from the source of our being; and in doing so we have grown farther and farther apart from truth. But as we allow ourselves to be present and surrender the ideas of the past – the misaligned thinking, false beliefs and concepts – our resistance will drop away. Then the pain and the illusory world can dissolve like a fleeting dream. We will lose the fear to live and the fear to die. We will not feel any need to escape our circumstances or our physical existence; instead, we will awaken to a new level of conscious oneness.

Our soul desires unity and will forever guide us to come back into alignment with our inner being in order to express a fuller measure of the greater whole. When we come into alignment with the soul’s desire and relinquish our faith in the validity of our beliefs and egotistical positions, we open up to revelations of truth.

We have been prompted to dismiss the seductions of glamour and the illusions of false thinking, and to let go of inharmonious thoughts and programmed responses that have been holding us back from the reality of who we are. In doing so, we can come to know the real, which is beyond ego-mind. For without understanding and a shift in awareness, we will remain in the dream.

The real world is beyond the dream, beyond the mind, beyond ideas and concepts and comes into being from within and never from without. But we will not awaken to this truth until we are willing to move beyond the consciousness of this body and our current conditions.

The responsibility for the world we gaze upon rests solely with each of us. It is not the world that must change; it is we as individuals who must change. The world is simply a reflection of our inner reality, nothing more. As within, so without.

As we come to know what is false and what is real, we will find what is true; then we  will know what it is like to be without conflict and in perfect alignment with the source of our being. What could be more miraculous?

Acknowledgments    vii
Overview    ix
A Brief Account of our Spiritual Transformation    xv

Introduction    1

PART 1:  BEING HUMAN

Chapter 1:

The Nature Of Consciousness    9
Elements of Consciousness    12
Characteristics of Mind    13
Ego Consciousness    16
A Broader Context of Ego    17
Characteristics of Ego    19
Superiority and the Ego    23
The Ego’s Constitution    25
The Ego’s Inability to Know Truth    27

Chapter 2:

The Nature Of Subjective Experience    31
Perception Versus Truth    34
The Power of Belief    44
The Nature and Origin of Beliefs    46
Core Beliefs    49
Recognising our Beliefs    54
Changing our Beliefs    57

Chapter 3:

Thoughts and Emotions    65
Fearful Emotions    68
Dealing with Fearful Emotions    72
Dealing with Mental Conflicts    77
Intuitional Intelligence    87

PART 2:  RELATIONSHIPS, LOVE AND SEXUALITY

Chapter 4:

Expressions of Human Love    95
Games People Play    99
Misperceptions    106
The Crossroad    118
The Importance of Forgiveness in a Relationship    119
Accepting Full Responsibility    122
Cultivating and Abiding within a Spiritual Relationship    127
From Personal Interest to Alignment    128
The Eight Stages of Loving    134
Twin Souls Relationships    154

Chapter 5:

Love and Sexuality    163
The Sexual Schism    166
The Illusory Victory    169
Sexual Influence    171
Returning to a Pure State of Loving    174
Healing Gender Resentment    175
Sexual Energy    181
Sexual Self-Gratification    184
Being Present with Love    188
The Power of the United Light    191
Sacred Lovemaking    193

PART 3: THE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF MAN

Chapter 6:

Beyond Physical Reality    199
Spirituality    202
Karma the Missing Link    208
Karma and Universal Law    212
How do we Beget Karma    216
Balancing Karma    216

Chapter 7:

Aligning with a Spiritual Pathway    221
The Pathway of Devotion    223
Characteristics of Devotion    226
The Guiding Principles of Devotion    230
Prayer and Devotion    233
The Pathway of Selfless-Service    236
The Pathway of Knowledge and Wisdom    239
Difficulties and Pitfalls    243
The Pathway of Mysticism    244
Summary – Crossroads and Intersections    248
The Four ‘I’s’    250
Discernment    254
Seeking Spiritual Powers    257
Becoming Obsessed with Seeking    258
Complacency    259
States of Satori    260

Chapter 8:

Spiritual Transformation    265
Expressing the Fullness of Human Life    268
Integration    270
Living Beyond the Dream    272

APPENDIX:

About the Authors    279
Terence G. Atman    279
Angelica G. Atman    282