The Silent Self
The entire account is a grand and complex display of the mind's power to project worlds, conflicts, and identities. The only salient point is the constant arising of the 'I'-thought, which claims these experiences as its own. All visions of cosmic battles, saviorship, and transformation are merely thoughts appearing in the one, unchanging Self.
All that Paul describes—the shaman's prophecy, the spiritual warfare, the closing of portals, and the transformation into a dragon—are phenomenal events. They are appearances in consciousness, no different in substance from a dream. The fundamental error is to grant them reality and, more importantly, to identify a personal 'I' as the actor within this drama. The 'I' that fought a demon, saved the world, and forgave everyone is the same 'I'-thought that creates the illusion of separation and suffering in the first place.
The entire narrative is a distraction from the only pertinent question: 'To whom do these experiences appear?' Instead of investigating the seer, the mind becomes entranced by the scenery. The visions of apocalyptic endings, the battles with entities, and the subsequent feelings of cosmic power are all activities of the ego solidifying its own story. True liberation is not found by winning a psychic war or becoming a benevolent dictator of the cosmos; it is found by abiding in the silence that remains when the 'I'-thought, the creator of all these worlds, subsides. The experience, however intense, only served to reinforce the 'I', giving it a more grandiose and subtle form.
The Self, or pure Awareness, is the only unchanging reality; all phenomena, including thoughts and visions, are transient appearances.
All suffering and bondage stem from the mistaken identification of the Self with the 'I'-thought and its creations (the body-mind).
The only direct path to liberation is Self-inquiry, which traces the 'I'-thought back to its source, causing it to dissolve.
The ego becomes massively inflated by identifying with the role of a cosmic savior, warrior, or 'good king.'
Mistaking a powerful mental or energetic experience for final liberation, leading to a subtle form of bondage.
Seeking further external experiences and phenomena rather than turning attention inward to the source of the Self.
This perspective cannot properly value the emotional richness or potential psychological catharsis of the experience. It dismisses the narrative of trauma, service, and transformation as mere story, potentially frustrating one who found deep personal meaning in it. By focusing solely on the ultimate reality of the Self, it overlooks the relative value of the journey, the lessons learned within the dream, and the practical, human need for integration and relational understanding following such a profound event.