meditation vision

i got into med. when i was 17. a couple times i had visions, one of which appears to be a memory of a past life. im hoping someone can help me decipher this other vision i had, cuz i think it may mean something.

when i had gotten down into the meditative state, my friend who was coaching me, asked what i saw. i told him i was in a tree. in my periphery i could see white feathers-i was a white bird. i told him this and he said it was my spirit animal-the white dove. he then asked me if i could see a red hawk (which is his spirit animal). as soon as he said that i saw one fly by, and told him yes. he said to follow it. i then willed myself to fly-though i felt no sensation of doing do. i you think of being in a flight simulator, it was like that. i flew higher and higher until i was with a huge flock of swallows. the sky was orange (sunset?) the birds were pastel shades-some lavendar, some pink, some yellow, etc.i dont know if they were colored that way or if the sunset was casting these colors onto them the way it does with clouds. above and below us was a thick layer of clouds. i passed up thru the upper layer and found myself flying with another several 100 swallows. then i passed thru the layer of clouds that was above it and again there were 100s of swallows. i think i repeated this about 7 times or so. then i passed thru the upper clouds yet again and now i found myself flying alone. it was night the sky was black and clear, the stars shone bright and in the distance the full moon shone. a few ft below me was the blanket of clouds i had just flown thru. it was silent except for the wind whooshing quietly under my wings. it was very peaceful.

Glad to see you've had such a positive experience, regardless of it's meaning. Always nice to read about some like that ;)

Anyway, there are roughly two possiblities (with many 'sub reasons' of course) in my eyes:

1- From a logic point of view:

I know from experience that it's possible to enter a dream or (day)dream-like state from meditation. I know it's possible to WILD from a trance(like) state as well.

Now, what you could have done is entered a (lucid) dream or dream-like state from your meditation, while remaining aware of your friend's voice. Now, as you know in a regular lucid dream our minds make up the world we are in, and every aspect is brought forth from your own thoughts and mental world (I'm talking regular LDs, not spiritual experiences).

Through expection, your mind made the visions you saw. This could be comfirmed by the fact that you saw red hawk as soon as he mentioned and you looked. Your mind was sparked by his voice and you thought about the hawk, and there it is. Something that happens frequently in a LD.

Everything that followed could have been a LD of some sort. While lucid dreaming we often see landscapes and views magical, colorful and beautiful. Much like the one you described :) The fact that it is a dream (or meditation induced dream like vision in your case) does not make it less beautiful, or peaceful. In fact, we should enjoy it all we can!

That's one explanation, most likely most people would go with this. However..

2- From a more paranormal/spiritual/symbolic point of view

From this point of view, I suppose it could have been anything.. this is a very open field that requires you to work with your heart, and then translate those feelings with your head. It's hard to say, what it could have meant. And many different people will give you many different explantions.

One might say you visited another plane, or had an OBE. Which a lot of people say is perfectly possible from meditation. Birds represent freedom, as does flying of course. But also, being up in the clouds and detatched from reality. There are many meanings possible. A lot of people say colors have meaning, and if the general theme in your dream was orangy-yellow indeed, that would go with happiness and freedom. Orange and yellow are happy colors :D

If you feel this was more than just explanation 1, then that's ok. It'll just be hard to tell you the real meaning behind it all. Just consider it a great experience, and continue exploring this wonderful world when you have the chance. Maybe you'll learn something, or find out what it means to you. Like I said, follow your heart in this and you'll learn eventually.

Who knows really knows what it's like 'on the other side'? Good luck ;)

yeah, i can see how my friends suggestion could have put the hawk in my vision.

somebody said i may have projected my psyche into the dove...interesting. i guess there's really no telling for sure what happened, cuz a lot of things can happen when you meditate.

do you believe in reincarnation? if so, then would you be interested in reading another vision i saw under the same circumstances? can i PM it to you? i truly feel this was a memory. if so, then it more than explains a lot of what ive felt in this life, as ive noticed that past lives can affect how you think and feel in a current life. that even some fears can be a result of something that happened in a past life.....like my fear of fire and of being around explosive chemicals, like kerosine, gasoline and propane.

ive never had a dream in which i was an animal or another person other than my own self, so i really dont think either of these were any kind of dream.

what does WILD stand for.

Wake Initiated Lucid Dream

Thanks for the link, Distant Clone ;) Yup, that's it. WILD is a technique to achieve lucidity in dreams without actually going to sleep first. More details can be found in the tutorial, but if you prefer hearing from a more personal point of view, I can tell you a little about :)

Anyway..

Yes, I do believe in reincarnation :) So if you want me to take a look at your other experience(s) I'll be happy to. Just PM them to me, and I'll take a look at it and tell you what I think. Don't expect any big revelations though :wink: But, sometimes just sharing is good. So, anytime! ^_^