Night Terrors

I've never felt quite so helpless as when my daughter Erin suffered from nightmares.

About halfway through my law school career -- sometime in 2002 -- Erin began having bad dreams. She was about four years old, and just about an hour and a half after she'd fall asleep, it would start.

They were more than bad dreams or plain nightmares. It was as if she were being attacked. Literally. Her eyes would be open, terrified at some sight invisible to my wife and me. For 15 minutes or so, Erin struggled to physically push her unseen attacker off of herself.

It looked to me as if someone was pawing at her and she was struggling for her life. And I was powerless to intervene.

I chanted silently in her ear. I synchronized my breathing with hers, opened my heart, and identified myself with her. We tried various fragrant essential oils and kept fresh flowers in the bedroom. Nothing worked though.

After months of this torture, I suggested that we ask Guru for help. Elaine agreed.

I looked through our recent snapshots and found a nice, close-up photo of Erin's face and her beautiful eyes. I then wrote a simple note to Guru, describing what was happening, expressing our feelings of helplessness, and plainly asking for his help.

The night terrors stopped immediately and never returned. (Erin has since morphed into a bit of a sleepwalker, but that's easy enough to deal with.)

Let me say straightaway, I don't believe in "miracles." As Sri Aurobindo has said, there's a process behind all phenomena. Sometimes, it's hidden or "occult," but that doesn't mean the underlying process doesn't exist.

At an energetic level -- over which I had no facility -- something frightening was happening to my daughter. Guru fixed it.

That's Erin and me above enjoying kites at the beach.

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