Page 728 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

pulses over their backs so they had continuous sensory input from the visual world. The patients started to
behave as if they could really see, after a while. For example, there was a zoom lens in one of the devices so
as to move closer the image. When the zoom is operated without informing the patient beforehand, the pa-
tient had an urge to protect himself with two arms because the image on the subject's back expanded sud-

denly as though the world was looming in. 15
As it is seen from this experiment, we can form sensations even when they are not caused by material
equivalents in the outside world. All stimuli can be created artificially.

"The world of senses" that we experience in dreams

A person can experience all senses vividly without the presence of the outside world. The most obvious
example of this is dreams. A person lies on his bed with closed eyes while dreaming. However, in spite of
this, that person senses many things which he or she experiences in real life, and experiences them so real-

istically that the dreams are indistinguishable from the real life experience. Everyone who reads this book
will often bear witness to this truth in their own dreams. For example, a person lying down alone on a bed
in a calm and quiet atmosphere at night might, in his dream, see himself in danger in a very crowded place.
He could experience the event as if it were real, fleeing from danger in desperation and hiding behind a

wall. Moreover, the images in his dreams are so realistic that he feels fear and panic as if he really was in
danger. He has his heart in his mouth with every noise, is shaken with fear, his heart beats fast, he sweats
and demonstrates the other physical affects that the human body undergoes in a dangerous situation.
However, there is no external equivalent of the events in his dream. They exist only in his mind.

A person who falls from a high place in his dream feels it with all his body, even though he is lying in
bed without moving. Alternatively, one might see oneself slipping into a puddle, getting soaked and feeling
cold because of a cold wind. However, in such a case, there is neither a puddle, nor is there wind.
Furthermore, despite sleeping in a very hot room, one experiences the wetness and the cold, as if one were

awake.
Someone who believes he is dealing with the original of the material world in his dream can be very
sure of himself. He can put his hand on his friend's shoulder when the friend tells him that "matter is an
image; it isn't possible to deal with the original

of the world", and then ask "Am I an image
now? Don't you feel my hand on your shoul-
der? If so, how can you be an image? What

When a person has a dream of being in a garden
on a bitingly cold morning in the winter, he can
feel the cold and start shaking. However, there is
neither wind nor cold in his particular location.
He might be even sleeping in a very warm room.
Nevertheless, he feels the cold in all its reality.
There is no difference between the cold he feels
in the real world and the cold he is feeling in his
dream.

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