(Photo by hape_gera on Flickr)

I dreamed I was a butterfly. No longer flitting around, I flew with a clear idea of where I was going. It was to a place as if time had stood still, waiting for me to arrive. As soon as I entered, the place picked up the beautiful colors of my wings. No longer dull, it lit up.

It was a classroom setting. There were rows of individual desks. Each desk was occupied. No, I don’t recognize anyone. Then again, the occupants hardly looked ordinary to me. Although they had human faces, I perceived that they were not. I could not quite make out if they each had a unique appearance but they certainly looked illuminating. They also seemed to be wearing a uniform of some sort. However, because they were all seated, I did not have a clear picture of what the uniform really looked like.

All was quiet in the classroom. There was a blackboard right in front but no teacher around. Yet every BEing was looking straight to the front. With a serious look that they wore over their calm and serene faces, they appeared to be absorbing lessons.

My wings fluttering, I lingered for a bit. Soon, it was time to go. As I flew back to present reality, I seemed to lose the sense of being a butterfly. I was back again in my bed and waking up to the morning dawn. In my mind, the corners of my lips were curving up in a smile. I was smiling at the thought that came through: “I had just traveled to somewhere familiar. A place I have been countless times. A separate dimension. A parallel universe.”

Saturday Night: How I Came To Dream

The above description was a dream that I woke up to on Sunday morning. Prior to going to bed the night before, I had opened a message in my inbox, containing a link to the picture on the left. (Please note that for the purposes of publishing this post, I have been hoping to credit this image to its creator but could not find out who this person is). I became so enchanted by the changing colors of its wings that I searched for a quote that would go along with the image. I read so many lines – they were all so beautiful and inspiring – but the one that spoke to me most was this saying…

“I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?”
— Chuang Tzu quotes (China’s early interpreters of Taoism, 389-286 BC)

The quote reminded me of one of my favorite sayings, which I have also shared in a recent post Soul Revelations From Past Life Memories. Here is the saying once again….

“You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.”
— Teilhard de Chardin quotes (French Geologist, Priest, Philosopher and Mystic, 1881-1955)

After I switched off my PC late Saturday night, I decided to do a quiet sitting. However, exhausted after a long day, I could barely keep my eyes open and soon fell asleep while meditating.

Sunday And Thereafter: In Search Of Parallel Universes

Was it really a dream? I was intrigued that the term “parallel universe” came to me while I was sleeping. So after some intensive crawling on the web, I came upon some interesting finds.

1. Fact or Fiction?

In case you think I have gone bonkers about searching for something that is a myth more than anything, here is a set of 5 interesting videos from a BBC documentary that I found, revealing that parallel universes may just be backed by Science.

Youtube Video: Parallel Universes – Part 1

Here are the links to the other 4 parts:

Parallel Universes – Part 2

Parallel Universes – Part 3: Interestingly, this video shared that new discoveries in physics or science seldom come from a logical sequence of thinking. It is more like poetry, taking an imaginative leap!

Parallel Universes – Part 4

Parallel Universes – Part 5

In summary, the description to all 5 videos says “Scientists now believe there may really be a parallel universe – in fact, there may be an infinite number of parallel universes, and we just happen to live in one of them. These other universes contain space, time and strange forms of exotic matter. Some of them may even contain you, in a slightly different form. Astonishingly, scientists believe that these parallel universes exist less than one millimetre away from us. In fact, our gravity is just a weak signal leaking out of another universe into ours.”

2. Article Readings on Parallel Universes

Here are some article readings:

Do Parallel Universe really exist?

The Void: Imprint of Another Universe

Scientific American: Parallel Universes

3. Any Other Blogger Posting on Parallel Universes?

Then I started to ask myself which blogger might have written about parallel universes. Aha! Erin Pavlina!! She might have something. I went to her site and typed in “parallel universe” on the search box. The first result came out in this link Welcome to Naptown.

I did a click over. The post was written on August 9, 2006. Lo and behold, Erin had written in the first sentence…

“Last night I dreamed I was a butterfly, and now I do not know if I am a man who dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly now dreaming I am a man.” – Lao Tzu

In her post, she shared about a world that she had visited over and over again, while taking her naps. Hmmmm…interesting!

Your Thoughts Or Stories Please

1. I dreamed I was a butterfly. If you are a creative writer, would you like to explore where this sentence will take you? Write a short verse and either, share it in the comments below or do a trackback to this post. In the verse, your opening sentence should read “I dreamed I was a butterfly”.

2. Due to a sequence of triggers, the term “parallel universe” came to me while I was dreaming. What do you think? Do you believe that it exists? Or what about a multiverse, the co-existence of a number of parallel universes?

3. Have you traveled somewhere else, possibly to another dimension or universe, while in your dreams? Do share your personal stories below, if you have them.