Deja Vu as Precursor to Awakening/Enlightenment?

[Jhanon]

I was researching someone when I came cross the following. I'm not interested in discussing the individual, but the idea.

He said in one of his talks that awakening is preceded by a recurring feeling of "haven't I been here before?" When I read this, I was recalled to others saying similar things who have awakened. Then I saw that until about 2 years ago I had déjà vu daily, and as I got closer to the realization, they increased in frequency and profundity. It got to the point I would say "NO! I have been here before. I'm absolutely certain of it."

Additionally, all students whose authentic awakening I know the details of also experienced déjà vu-like phenomena. I used to theorize the feeling was from unremembered dreams of the future. Which could still be true. But on a deeper level, it seems related to getting in touch with omniscience or omnipresence, whatever you wish to call it.

There is one more phenomena I've experienced which is similar to deja vu, and that is the experience of "Home." I've only experienced this 2-3 times, although it wasn't until the "experience" was over that I immediately realized "that was Home."

Now, my theory here is that deja vu experiences might be a universal pre-cursor or phenomena, of which the concept most people are familiar with. Therefor, it could be helpful in identifying individuals which are "primed" for Stream-Entry, or are already in the stream.

So, what do we think?
1) Did you or someone you know who is awakened or enlightened experience deja vu often?
2) When did they experience it? Before or after an awakening experience?
3) Do we think deja vu is a phenomena of unconscious omniscience?
4) Does deja vu, at a certain point of self-awareness, cease? Is it just something to "get the attention" of an individual?
5) Lastly, do we think deja vu, "haven't I been here before," and "Home" are the same sensation?

Again, please keep this discussion centered around the observations and ideas presented here, not the individual who I was researching.

[bodhimind]

I'm not awakened but I experience a lot of deja vu. I've experienced it ever since I became lucid in a dream when I was younger. I would see things, locations and people and then suddenly have a huge wave of deja vu in real life when I meet them or come to a place. It's like I wouldn't really remember the place... Then suddenly it just strikes me, "I've been here before!" or "I KNOW this person!" I think that we might catch glimpses of it as we slide in and out of states.

Sometimes I think that just as space itself is just a construct, so is time, so is consciousness. Einstein proved that by travelling at different speeds, both experience different realities of time. Hence, it might actually be possible to catch a glimpse of the future? Maybe? I haven't reached such deep states so I wouldn't know if it is possible. But seeing that masters can see the past and future lives of people, I don't see why deja vu is not related to that kind of extrasensory perception.

Perhaps it is within the collective unconscious. Carl Jung talked about several case studies with Synchronicity in his works, which does seem a little Deja-Vu-ish.

I'm not sure what you mean by it ceasing. Most of the time I would just disregard it as a dream. When it does repeat, I would have quite a bit of a surprise moment.

I don't think about it as a "home" sensation, more of a glimpse into the effects of current conditions. I have this thinking that the whole world is linked by conditions as if they are mathematical equations. Like dominoes, events set off many others. Although it would be hard to calculate the future from a linear perspective, it should technically be logical that whatever conditions exist right now inevitably project into a definite future... Hence predictable in a sort of form? I don't know how to describe it well.

[Jhanon]

What I mean by it ceasing, is that my déjà vu ended upon awakening. This is a very important detail. To awaken, one must have persistent mindfulness and awareness, rather than unconsciously passing through states. So once awakened, let's say a dream of a possible future, is experienced consciously. Because of this, it cannot feel like déjà vu. Instead it's recognized as a premonition.

So, the theory based on my experiences is déjà vu is the result of spiritual faculties the aspirant is not yet conscious of. Let's use premonition as the example. The content of say, a "dream," may be premonitory, but the aspirant doesn't have enough conscious awareness to "log" it in conscious memory. Instead it slips into the unconscious mind until the event happens, and déja vu occurs via the stimulation of the unconscious memory. 

While a premonition is seeing something consciously, and realizing it as premonition when it later occurs.

The main point is spiritual faculties and abilities begin to arise far before an aspirant is aware of it. While the increased conscious awareness of an awakened one is skilled with such subtle faculties and abilities.

It's sort of like the difference between experiencing something while completely drunk, or totally lucid. The next day the designated driver recalls everything, while those drunk have vague feelings of what happened. And whomever drank less is more likely to remember than those who were really drunk. Drunkenness is a drastic reduction in conscious awareness, so you can see how this is working.

An ordinary person is an alcoholic, while an aspirant is like a moderate drinker, and an enlightened one rarely if ever consumes alcohol. That's just some imagery.

So the main point of this thread is as follows. A total alcohol ordinary person rarely of ever has déjà vu. An aspirant who is a moderate drinker will experience déjà vu. This means they are ready to awaken. Once awakened, déjà vu ceases and premonition begins. So by finding those who have déjà vu often, we can carefully determine they are ready to awaken. Which, so far in my experience, is not very difficult if insightful guidance is provided.

[Jhanon]

I could have written this much more clearly and succinctly. But hopefully the alcohol simile does the trick.

[Jhanananda]

The main point is spiritual faculties and abilities begin to arise far before an aspirant is aware of it. While the increased conscious awareness of an awakened one is skilled with such subtle faculties and abilities.

I will agree with this.

[Jhanananda]

I'm not awakened but I experience a lot of deja vu. I've experienced it ever since I became lucid in a dream when I was younger. I would see things, locations and people and then suddenly have a huge wave of deja vu in real life when I meet them or come to a place. It's like I wouldn't really remember the place... Then suddenly it just strikes me, "I've been here before!" or "I KNOW this person!" I think that we might catch glimpses of it as we slide in and out of states.

This has certainly been my experience of intuitive, revelatory insight.  It can drive one mad, if one does not have a great deal of equanimity as well.

[bodhimind]

What I mean by it ceasing, is that my déjà vu ended upon awakening. This is a very important detail. To awaken, one must have persistent mindfulness and awareness, rather than unconsciously passing through states. So once awakened, let's say a dream of a possible future, is experienced consciously. Because of this, it cannot feel like déjà vu. Instead it's recognized as a premonition.

So, the theory based on my experiences is déjà vu is the result of spiritual faculties the aspirant is not yet conscious of. Let's use premonition as the example. The content of say, a "dream," may be premonitory, but the aspirant doesn't have enough conscious awareness to "log" it in conscious memory. Instead it slips into the unconscious mind until the event happens, and déja vu occurs via the stimulation of the unconscious memory. 

While a premonition is seeing something consciously, and realizing it as premonition when it later occurs.

The main point is spiritual faculties and abilities begin to arise far before an aspirant is aware of it. While the increased conscious awareness of an awakened one is skilled with such subtle faculties and abilities.

It's sort of like the difference between experiencing something while completely drunk, or totally lucid. The next day the designated driver recalls everything, while those drunk have vague feelings of what happened. And whomever drank less is more likely to remember than those who were really drunk. Drunkenness is a drastic reduction in conscious awareness, so you can see how this is working.

An ordinary person is an alcoholic, while an aspirant is like a moderate drinker, and an enlightened one rarely if ever consumes alcohol. That's just some imagery.

So the main point of this thread is as follows. A total alcohol ordinary person rarely of ever has déjà vu. An aspirant who is a moderate drinker will experience déjà vu. This means they are ready to awaken. Once awakened, déjà vu ceases and premonition begins. So by finding those who have déjà vu often, we can carefully determine they are ready to awaken. Which, so far in my experience, is not very difficult if insightful guidance is provided.

That sounds very much like lucid dreaming, but with premonitory dreams. I understand what you mean now by it being premonitory. That theory sounds very sensible.

Could it be like how "insight" suddenly comes to you in meditation? Like a flash of inspiration? I remember that in the past, I would be carried in the flow of things in real life as if I was in a dream. Then I would have a slight deja vu moment where I realized whatever I said a few hours ago happened exactly as it did in front of me. It would be really random details such as mentioning a person's name, a location, an event, a place, and many others. It used to have spaces of around a month's period but as I got more conscious of it, I realized that these things could happen as fast as the next hour. I really have no idea how that works.

Maybe it is like what you've said, that these insights come into the mind but often the person is not very aware of it. As I became more "conscious" of it, I would actually connect the dots between these random ramblings and the actual things happening. Sometimes I would sketch things and they would appear later. It really freaked me out, but since it's not that consistent I've managed to condition myself to not be surprised.

This has certainly been my experience of intuitive, revelatory insight.  It can drive one mad, if one does not have a great deal of equanimity as well.

It did hit me like bricks and when I told everyone around me about it they would just dismiss it with one of those neuroscience fun-facts where memories are created at the spot but recognized as a past memory. I do wonder if we have false deja-vu experiences in that case, or maybe it could be related? Maybe it's the reverse - that the brain reacts to the deja vu and changes in that way to appear like a "changed memory".

[Jhanon]

Last night I received insight that what I TRIED to express with the alcohol imagery was true. I sat down and opened my book in progress, creating a new chapter. I knew if I just wrote then, that nothing compelling or insightful enough would come. So I close my eyes and absorbed. Within a few seconds, to my intense gratitude, I began having blasts of kundalini energy and the hairs went on end as the hands seemingly typed on their own. This was heart-wrenching in a beautiful way. I had finally learned how to access this creative kundalini energy state and allow the insights to come out as they wished.

Within an hour I had the bones of a book--the hardest part in my experience when writing an essay or book.

We WILL have our funding. Maybe not through my efforts, but maybe so.

[Jhanananda]

Could it be like how "insight" suddenly comes to you in meditation? Like a flash of inspiration?

This is how I experience insight.

Last night I received insight that what I TRIED to express with the alcohol imagery was true. I sat down and opened my book in progress, creating a new chapter. I knew if I just wrote then, that nothing compelling or insightful enough would come. So I close my eyes and absorbed. Within a few seconds, to my intense gratitude, I began having blasts of kundalini energy and the hairs went on end as the hands seemingly typed on their own. This was heart-wrenching in a beautiful way. I had finally learned how to access this creative kundalini energy state and allow the insights to come out as they wished.

Good work.  Keep it flowing.

[Jhanon]

My experiences also agree with Jhananda's response.

Jhananda:
I am. I also learned how to kickstart the intuition through a special kind of walk I take. This is helpful for beginners, or when my surroundings are too distracting and loud for the foundation meditation (first one of the day.) That's also in the book, now--which is getting large very quickly. But it's not wordy, termy, or complex, thanks to recent writing courses and improving the intuitive faculties. It utilizes well-known concepts and words to achieve stream-entry for the reader.

I am quite excited to share it, but I will wait until I have a full draft.

[Jhanananda]

My aspiration is that many people who have been influenced in this work will write about their experience with it.  So, I am glad to hear that you are writing it down.  I have thought of one of the things this forum could be useful for is as a writing workshop for people who are writing about their lifestyle that produces religious experiences, and their religious experiences.

[Jhanon]

My aspiration is that many people who have been influenced in this work will write about their experience with it.  So, I am glad to hear that you are writing it down.  I have thought of one of the things this forum could be useful for is as a writing workshop for people who are writing about their lifestyle that produces religious experiences, and their religious experiences.

I tried--I just don't have the words. This place, these friends, the knowledge available--is of the greatest holistic significance available to a human. It would take many lifetimes to use words in explaining how and why.

[Jhanon]

PS On the subject of Deja Vu. I was writing yesterday in the book, and realized I had already seen myself writing the content. It wasn't really deja vu, although the initial moment of "Wait..." felt almost the same. But it wasn't followed by the typical confusion of deja vu. Instead, it felt like sacred confidence, and a sense of providence.

I'm at a loss. I don't fully understand. I admit that moment was...novel.