“What if Our Universe & the Dream World Are the Same Thing?…” My Thoughts About Why We Dream at Night (Part I of II)

March 11, 2024 / 2 Comments

“One way to tell if you’re dreaming is to look at a watch or a clock on the wall and if the numbers don’t make sense, like, if they look like alien symbols or something, then you know you’re dreaming and you can try to take control of your dream.”

This was something my co-worker Chris told me one day back in 2019, when we were both working as IT Tech Support technicians at the University of Pennsylvania. I had just told him that I began conducting research about dreams and intended to write a blog about it, and I wondered if he had anything to say about the subject. Thinking that he wouldn’t have anything to say, I was shocked when he told me that he used to practice “lucid dreaming” in the past (which, as mentioned in his opening line, is the ability to control a dream and do anything you want in it), but he eventually gave that up because he found it too difficult to master.

His advice stuck with me, though, and later helped me take control of a dream where I was able to fly for the first time ever. It was one of the most amazing and memorable experiences of my life, but was short-lived, of course, because I became too conscious. When I awoke from that dream I sucked in a deep breath of air and as I exhaled, I smiled widely and thought, “I did it, I finally flew,” and felt warm tears streaming down the sides of my face.

I then realized that my body was shaking, as it was surging with adrenaline, and that my arms were crossed over my chest. My fists were balled up and clenched so tightly that it took almost an entire minute before I could regain control of my hands again, and that’s because my body actually believed that what I had experienced was real! It was simply reacting in its own hormonal-chemical way to a “fight or flight” situation, which in this case was literally a flight situation.

That’s how powerful dreams are, they have the power to change and suspend our belief in reality, make us do things that we’d never attempt or be able to do while we’re awake, and most importantly, make us believe in the impossible…When it comes to the human mind, the most mysterious and complex thing ever (something that Easterners and deep thinkers across the world figured out a long time ago), there’s nothing more powerful than that.

“So why exactly do we have dreams?” you might be wondering. Well, my friend and fellow dreamer, allow me to share my unique thoughts with you…

What if Our Universe & the Dream World Are the Same Thing?…My Thoughts About Why We Dream at Night – Part I

by Kendall Beaver

Welcome to my short blog series where I’ll attempt to explain why we have dreams, which I don’t claim to have the answer to explain why we have dreams, nor do I believe that any one person has the answer to explain why we have dreams. I do, however, believe that there is an answer out there and it will require each of us to come together and combine all our unique thoughts, ideas, and experiences about dreams to form “the ultimate answer.” So if you think of the ultimate answer as a large jigsaw puzzle, then think of this blog post as one of those pieces which I am constantly refining and rewriting my own thesis about this topic.

I do believe that there is a reason why we have dreams. They’re not an accident and do more than help us form memories on a nightly basis to ensure our survival the following day. I believe that dreams are a mirror to our consciousness, to a side of ourselves that we can never know while we’re in a waking state of consciousness, that they’re a gateway into the infinite abyss of our consciousness.

Most importantly, I believe that dreams hold the answer to many of life’s greatest questions, such as what is time, space, and our entire universe; what is dark matter and dark energy; what could’ve existed before the Big Bang; and what exactly are “souls.”

This brings up a good point: A lot of what I will have to say in this blog and subsequent blog posts cannot be tested or measured by the standard scientific method alone, because dreams are a subjective experience, not an objective one, so my writings will reflect this same nature. I’ll include neuroscience and physiological research when I can, but I’ll be relying more on my intuition and personal experiences to explain my belief about dreams, and I encourage you to bring your own intuition and personal dream experiences as you read my blog posts.

In other words, don’t just read with your brain, read with your heart, too—something hard to do in a society that worships the intelligence of the brain and neglects the intelligence of the heart and rest of the body (studies have shown that the heart actually has a brain of its own, something called neurocardiology, and that it has more control over the brain in our skull than the other way around).

Anyways, I’d like to explain how I’m going to present my dream blog series which will be broken up into four blog posts:

Part I, this blog post, is a simple introduction to what this blog series is all about.
Part II & III are the most important blog posts as they focus on understanding what exactly consciousness is, which I believe to be “two sides” of the same coin: that is, we have a physical and non-physical consciousness. And if we can begin to understand what our non-physical consciousness is, then we can begin to understand what dreams are and why we have them.
Part IV will detail more of my dream experiences that will include premonitions that have come true from my dreams, how I’ve recently been visited by malevolent forces that some would call the “shadows,” and other random thoughts and ideas that I have about dreams.

This is where I’m going to end this introductory blog post for now, which I know has been short-lived, but if I allowed myself to, I know that I’d spend the rest of my life conducting research on this topic and may never actually post anything because I’d want it to be perfect. I felt that now was the right time to get this posted, then at least everyone and the entire world can hold me accountable to getting the rest of the series completed—also know that I’m currently in grad school and don’t have much time between that and work, but I won’t quit until I see this through.

Before I go, though, I am going to leave you with a little treat: a story about one of my favorite dreams where I met a group of people who claimed they could jump between dreams, then I met a unique, wise woman who seemed to have the answers to my questions about dreams. And now that I think about it, there is no better way to share my thoughts and experiences about dreams than through an illustration of my own dreams, so enjoy!

My dream from the night of Thursday, December 2, 2021

It was the middle of the night when I suddenly found myself standing on the roof of a building, and after looking around, realized that I was standing in the middle of a well-lit European-looking city. “Hmm…” I thought, sensing that something was “off” about being here, but wasn’t exactly sure what that was. I looked down at my hands and feet and thought for a moment…then it immediately hit me, “Oh my god – I’m dreaming!”

Growing excited about the possibilities of what could happen in my dream, I then noticed a group of about 8-10 people standing near me who weren’t standing there earlier. I approached them and asked who they were, and one young Caucasian man spoke up and said they were “advanced dreamers,” explaining that they like to meet up in people’s dreams and travel across the dream world together.

“Holy shit!” I thought. “I’ve always wanted to meet these people and they’re in my dream now!” They were getting ready to take off to do some exploring and one-by-one, began levitating up in the air, which obviously blew my mind!? I wanted to go with them but didn’t know how to fly, then I suddenly recalled the only dream where I was able to fly (the dream that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog) which occurred by just the mere thought of flying. And so, with that same exact thought, I simply levitated up into the air and flew with the advanced dreamers over the city.

We bounced up and down from rooftop to rooftop, giggling and having fun like Peter Pan, Wendy & the Lost Boys. It was the most exhilarating experience of my life! We soon stopped to take a break on top of a roof where an advanced dreamer approached me. She was a dark-skinned, African American woman who told me her name, which I couldn’t recall when I woke up and went to record this dream, but I do remember telling her my name.

We talked for a few moments which, again, I can’t recall the specifics, but the main point of our interaction is that she felt real. How can someone who I’d never met before in real life feel so real, a feeling that I believed to be true deep down in my core? This is a topic that I’ll explore later in my blog series, about why strangers we meet in a dream feel so real. (Spoiler alert: They probably are a real person or “soul” and may reside in something that I call Dimension 3.5, a “place” between the 3rd & 4th dimension of our reality where we can all connect.)

Anyways, back to my dream: We continued flying across the city and stopped to take another break. This time, a young, cocky Asian man approached me and told me that I wasn’t flying correctly. He began berating me and correcting my posture so that I can fly his way, the correct way. This caused me to think too hard about what I was doing and I felt myself becoming too conscious and losing control of the dream, then—

I suddenly found myself in another dream: I was standing inside a small shop that was in of an old, two-story house. My previous dream experience didn’t exactly carry over into this dream, but I still had some awareness that I was dreaming (I guess we have amnesia between dreams and can recall everything upon waking up).

I walked around a large wooden, circular table and moved my hands over various books, crystals, and objects on the table. “What is this place?” I wondered, then sensed that someone powerful was standing near me. I looked over and saw a young Caucasian woman looking at objects on a nearby cabinet. She had long, white hair and reminded me of a character from the Harry Potter films: Luna Lovegood.

I began talking to her and while I don’t remember what we initially talked about, we slowly moved around the table in a clockwise manner and looked at each other as we spoke. She was a calm and serene person, wise in how she carried herself, and I sensed that she was an advanced dreamer, or probably an advanced, ADVANCED dreamer.

I had a pressing question on my mind that I wanted to ask her which I believed she knew the answer to, and I stopped and asked, “How can I keep from waking up?”

In her soft-spoken voice, she calmly said, “It varies.”

I asked her to elaborate and tell me how, and as soon as she was about to answer—POOF!—I found myself standing outside of the store, in the middle of the street, during nighttime, surrounded by old, two-story houses.

I turned around and saw the young woman walking up the front steps of the house where the store was located. “Wait!” I yelled, and was about to chase after her when I heard a horrific shrill from above my head—RRRRKK! I saw two giant bats nosedive from the sky and crash into the roof of a house that was directly across from me.

I then heard them breaking wood apart, scratching and tearing through walls and doors, making their way downstairs so they can get through the front door and attack me and wake me up. I figured this was the case because, in that moment, I suddenly remembered what woke me up from the dream where I flew for the first time: two mysterious, dark figures who drove a truck towards me and snapped me out of my dream. I believed the same thing happening again, that the “Dream World” sent these creatures to wake me up and keep me from asking the questions on my mind.

Anyways, I ignored the bats, knowing that they were a distraction, and whipped around and ran after the young woman. “Wait!” I yelled, arriving behind her on the steps, then desperately asked her, “How can I keep from waking up? How can I prolong my dream?!!”

She stopped walking and looked over her right shoulder and gazed deeply into my eyes. She didn’t say anything and I knew that she never would, that the silence was the answer: there is no way to control a dream and keep from waking up. But that look that she gave me, there was something warm and comforting in her look, a look of love and forgiveness that seemed to say, “Don’t worry, it’ll all be okay.”

Then I felt myself beginning to lose control of the dream, that I would wake up soon. Using my eyes and my soul, I tried to convey the same look of love and warmth that she gave me and tell her that I was glad I met her and have this amazing dream experience.

A tunnel of darkness began to surround my vision and slowly closed in on the woman…Everything became dark for a moment then turned into a pink color as I felt my eyelids strongly pull themselves open and I/my consciousness returned back in our 4-dimensional reality.

I took a deep inhale and couldn’t help but smile widely. I exhaled coolly and felt tears spilling over from my tear ducts. I felt amazing and alive and free, and for that brief moment in time all of “life” made sense…Those blissful feelings were gone within moments, of course, but for those few moments that I laid there awake, I was glad to have had this beautiful dream experience and was simply glad to be alive.

See you in Part II, dear friend and fellow dreamer. Until then, sweet dreams…