“Telling-forth Dreams” and Ian’s New Life

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Guest Post by Bob Switzer

When I chatted recently with Ian, the anniversary of a life-changing event had just passed. The course of his life shifted dramatically on the morning of September 11, 2014.

Ian felt an intense pain in his temple, a pain he describes as ten times a migraine, then collapsed. He slipped into a coma which lasted for two weeks. He later found out he was in hospital without life support as he was not expected to live.

During this time, Ian was present in the inner worlds (heavens), aware of being at a large ski chalet. He went outside, feeling as good as he has ever felt. Although it was nighttime in the inner worlds, it was much brighter there, and the colors were much more intense. 

“I knew I was going somewhere else, so I just waited for someone to get me,” he said. He remembers seeing Pierre Trudeau (the former Prime Minister of Canada) getting his papers together. Ian later learned that Trudeau had passed away during that time.

Ian came back to life on Earth and discovered that a stroke had left him partially blind in both eyes and paralyzed down his right side, unable to walk. He quickly realized that there were a number of things he was not going to be able to do anymore such as driving, but he told me he also realized that he was “in good shape compared to many others in the world.”

He spent the next year in rehab learning how to walk again. He also dealt with a mental fog, with the emotional shock of not being able to go back to work, and the loss of friends at work. “I was in a state of confusion not knowing what I was going to do regarding income—my life.”

Dreams Provided Acceptance

But Ian had been provided a look into his future which helped to give him a level of acceptance for his new life. Four years earlier, he experienced two dreams which stayed with him. Ian describes them as “telling-forth dreams.” 

In the first, he and his young son watched as a news reporter talked about an earthquake in his city, Vancouver. He went outside to see the damage; his building was intact but everywhere else was destroyed. In the second dream the whole landscape was gone—destroyed. 

Ian observed: “I knew something was going to happen but I was not sure what, but about a year after the stroke I could see that the dreams were preparing me for my future. My son in the first dream represented the new me, young and vibrant. Remembering these dreams gave me a level of acceptance of what had happened.”

Adopting a More Spiritual Life

Ian picked up his contemplation routine during his recovery and then increased contemplating to twice a day, singing HU to strengthen his connection with Spirit, and attending spiritual classes. Ian came to a realization during this time; he had wanted early retirement and now he had it. He was not happy about how he got it, but he got it! “Be careful what you wish for,” he cautions others. But he muses: “Now I can focus my attention on my spiritual life without job worries.”

Ian also knows that there is karma involved with his new life. While in rehab doing a lot of physiotherapy, Ian was asking in his contemplations how he could improve his condition. He asked to be taken to the Causal Plane to give him a better understanding of the causal seeds (past life influences) he was dealing with. Over the last few years, he had become aware he had gone through a series of spiritual tests. Confirmation came on one occasion when he was in a dream standing in front of a panel of what seemed like judges. They were discussing him and reaching a decision on whether he passed.

“With my efforts in daily contemplation, my higher senses have picked up enormously. Now, I pay attention to my intuition and “Waking Dreams,” signs from spirit in everyday life. I pay attention to random small thoughts to get myself in tune with the nudges Spirit provides.”

Ian confided, “I am not overly concerned with my physical body. I’m more detached now. I know I can always take care of myself.” What has been a big help for Ian in his spiritual progress are his dreams and the occasional out-of-body-experience. He records his spiritual experiences in his journal which make his spiritual life very real for him. “I’ve proved to myself life continues beyond death,” he told me.

Today, Ian says he tries not to hold on to beliefs, “because there is a chasm between believing and knowing, and my spiritual exercises (contemplations) have helped me to move to knowing.”

Ian admits the stroke has decided many things for him these days and changed him in many ways. He passes on junk food now and is living a moderate lifestyle. “Everything in the first part of my life is gone now” drinking, driving, television, work—I don’t need them now. I have to live life with what I have created—my present paralysis and partial blindness. I feel like I’m purifying my being, like flushing a toilet.”

Before, Ian’s life was work, and that’s all. Ian was focussed on what he wanted in life and gave those around him very little attention. His wife confesses that she was so detached when Ian was in a coma, she didn’t care if he lived or died. Things are very different today. Ian now very much appreciates his wife who spent hours with him helping him learn how to walk all over again.

Realizations along the Way

Ian has come to major realizations about his spiritual growth; he is more aware of the need to unfold spiritually. “From this comes detachment,” he told me, “and compassion.” Today Ian devotes a great deal of his time to his spiritual growth with volunteer activities, spiritual classes, contemplations and more, and as a result he is more at peace with himself. 

In looking back, he tells me his greatest areas of growth are: first, a heightened awareness and consciousness; second, being detached, not getting upset about a lot of things that used to bother him; third, living life with a lot less stress as a result; and last, a heightened level of creativity, tapping the creative power of soul.

His advice to others facing challenges is simple: “Be open to change and new information. Be resourceful and talk to others. Man, be true to thyself.”

He added as we finished our conversation, “I now know life down here is temporary.”

Today, although Ian has physical limitations, he has gained something more precious—a new degree of spiritual freedom.

As a long-time spiritual student of ECKANKAR, Bob Switzer believes there is a higher spiritual purpose for everything that happens in life including accidents, illness, and loss—there is something to be learned, something to be gained as Soul, our true identity. He has authored three books in his “Soul Perspective” series, available on Amazon sites worldwide. 

In Every Illness Has a Spiritual Solution, From the Head to the Heart, and The Messenger of Machu Picchu, he presents, through numerous curated stories from others, a spiritual force one can access that contains the solution for every life challenge. As a Canadian, the author enjoys retired life in both Canada and Mexico playing Pickleball and cycling.