Dear sir,
I am a doctor and I can help you to a certain extent.
There is a condition called Hypnagogic Hallucinations(do not get me wrong..it is not a mental disorder) which is a disorder of sleep patterns where one experiences what you are explaining.
It is often also an overlap between the dream state and waking up state.
Often one wakes up acutely and might even feel as if he had fallen back right into the bed.
When eyes are opened one might see lots of dark shadows of varying shapes.
Sometimes it takes shape of humans or even a cobweb pattern and sometimes one sees black images floating which looks like a network of branches cos thats's the pattern of the brain blood supply.
I can bet you if you see any doctor very few will be able to tell you this cos mostly this chapter is often ignored by most doctors and patients are often misdiagnosed.
I have a special personal interest in dream states,spirituality and also the occult so I have read up on this lots and also have come across people who have this state.
I have even discussed this phenomenon with a Tibetian Buddhist Rinpoche and he explained to me that some people have the ability to travel outside of body during sleep..what we call Astral Travel.
At initial stages it might appear like that..a feeling of falling into the bed...feeling being pulled by entities.
That is just when the astral body leaves the physical body so you are feeling that separation as if your life is being taken away from you.
Also during initial stages of Astral travel we tend to enter the lower lokas which is inhabited by some lower beings..so do not fear..it is not that they are looking for you but rather you going into their realm.
It disturbs your sleep quality at the beginning but once you get a used to it you might even start to enjoy your travel and you will be surprised that there was nothing to fear at all to start with.
Do this tonight..observe the dark shadows you see.
Do NOT be scared..you will surely notice that they will slowly disintegrate right in front of your eyes.
It might look as if the shadow is going to attack you but it will just disintegrate.
When we in dream state our mind is seeing images and when we are woken up suddenly..the mind is still in dream state and the brain retains the images it is seeing and those are the images you are seeing for some 5-10 seconds.
Some people even hear voices and see even snakes,animals etc and also some ghost like shadows.
At time you can even hear your own named being called loudly.
You also have to rule out sleep apnea and also sleep paralysis.
Firstly see a good ENT surgeon to rule out Sleep Apnea and also a good Neurologist to rule out Sleep Paralysis and Hypnagogic Hallucinations(It comes under Neurology and not Psychiatry).
But as I told you before most doctors might not really remember studying Hypnagogic Hallucinations so be prepared for a doctor to be asking you "What??? Is this true?? I never heard of it before!"
Check up online all what I told you and see a doctor.
I still advise you to see a Swamiji..some people need some guidance and meditation techniques to help the Astral Travel part but for some people after a while they can handle it and for some its just part of life cos they have been able to do this since childhood.
Take care..feel free to ask me any question..I am here to help.
Don't worry I am not like most other doctors who do not believe in Astral Travel and Evil Entities.
Just to add..you can take the advise the advise of C Ravi and at the same time visit the ENT Surgeon and a Neurologist.
Some people do injure themselves during Sleep Apnoe when there is an acute lack of oxygen to the brain.
Some get up hitting themselves here and there and get injured.
Dear Shri Avatar,
I am quoting Smt. Renuka's well-thought out reply to your problem and wish to add just a few points. This astral travel comes to most people but we also tend to lose that ability in due course of time. Sudden noises may cause lots of problems if such noises cause you to wake up from sleep. (FYI, there was a time when I used to regularly dream of a vast plain full of greenery with one lone tree standing in the middle and Krishna standing under that tree shade, looking like an ordinary school boy of those days, but with a flute and cows grazing around and hence I call that Krishna.) But this died out after some months for no known reason. Of course, I was not a devotee of Krishna then, nor am I now, but that experience was very elevating for me.
Second, you may try chanting indraakshee & Sivakavacam daily - either in the mornings or in the evenings, if this is convenient for you and there is no religious/personal objections to it.
There are cases in which the horoscope will show, on prima facie analysis, a great many yogas but in actual practice none of those will fructify. (My brother's son has a very excellent horoscope, as certified by astrologers, but he is a mentally retarded person ina moderately good shelter home for such differently enabled persons.) Astrologers usually say this is due to poorvajanma paapam, gurusaapam, pitrusaapam, etc., while some may point to billisoonyam, baadhai, pretam, etc. Somehow your spiritual advisor has chosen the last option, possibly because he knows about your sleep problems.
So, I will sincerely advise you to "get out of" the mental block of 'billi soonyam' etc., and think practically. If you so decide, you may consider visiting the temple of Shirdi Sai Baba at Shirdi, Maharashtra, India.
