A really, really long story about my theory of mind, hallucinations and other things

In the last day, I have spoken with two people who have experiences that are real to them, but draw skepticism from most of the rest of the world. People call these things hallucinations or psychotic breaks and attach other scary words to them. However, I believe that what these people are likely to be experiencing is due to sleep paralysis. 
 
Sleep paralysis brings you awake while you are actually asleep. It creates a rather intense form of lucid dreaming that seems as real as things get. It can take a long time to come to believe these are hallucinations and not things happening in the real world. I've provided a few links about sleep paralysis below. Note the types of images that people see. Some of the experiences the people who have written me about recently have been mentioned by many others in the literature. 
 
I believe that sleep paralysis opens a door that gives us access to the "second mind" of my title. I prefer to call it the non-linguistic brain. This is a part of us that normally we are unaware of because our linguistic brains chatter too much. Our non-linguistic brains are often trying to tell us something, and if we can learn to understand it (it speaks in images -- kind of like an oracle -- that are confusing), it will be a guide for is in life. We don't have to be afraid of it. If we understand it for what it is, it can help us. 
 
I believe that people with these experiences should continue to think of the characters they see as real. The characters come from their minds, so one might say they are not real in the sense that no one else sees them.  However, I believe it makes sense to say they are real in the same way that we consider dreams to be real.  We really experience these things. I believe the source of these experiences comes from the nonlinguistic mind and that the nonlinguistic mind is deeply in tune with the universe. I.e., I think it is a consciousness that is aware of or sensitive to much more than our immediate environment. Perhaps this awareness comes from experience of the world. In any case, I believe that this nonlinguistic mind understands the connections with things in the environment much more comprehensively than our linguistic minds can comprehend. 

It's kind of like the difference between the BP that drills because they can and because they can make money.  As compared to the fact that the oil blowout is affecting the sea and the shorelines of many states, and it will continue to spread into the Atlantic. There will be myriad consequences that our linguistic minds can not predict.  Our nonlinguistic minds can't predict them either, but it feels them.
 
The problem is that the nonlinguistic mind can not speak. I can barely manipulate symbols at all.  Really it can't. The best it can do is present images. But our linguistic minds don't understand these images, but even more to the point -- the linguistic mind rarely, if ever, becomes cognizant of the nonlinguistic mind. You have to really still your linguistic mind to even be able to become aware of the nonlinguistic mind. Dreams are one place. Medication can help. Dance and music can help still the linguistic mind.  Running.  Most things that involve intense physical effort can do it.

There are very few people who can do it easily and naturally, but I think that so-called psychotics and schizophrenics and people with sleep paralysis are some of the few with easy access to their nonlinguistic minds. Of course, without training and without knowing what they are into, it is really scary and can easily make them freak out.  
 
Therefore, I think that people with these experiences should be sympathetic to them. To them, I say: They are you. Be kind to them. They are you. This is why when you start to give in to them, it's not so bad. You don't want to be fighting yourself. I think you can even control the characters in your visions to some degree, if you understand more about what they are. Lucid dreams are where you become aware you are dreaming and you take the dreams where you want to go. You can do this. You can actually make the these characters tell you what you want to know, although I wouldn't "tell them" to do that. I would ask them nicely. It's always better when people voluntarily do what you want them to do.
 
Even for those who see scary visions, such as demons. The demons are part of those people. It is natural to try to push those visions away and not deal with them. However, I do not believe these folks have to be afraid of what they experience, either. I think it is possible to invite the demons in and ask them to teach what they know. If a person is open to that, I think they will be be very surprised at what they find out.
 
I think that people with these experiences can see them as a practice that allows them to understand their place in the world better. It can help them gain perspective on their own lives, and help them focus in on what they want to do or what they are called to do. I think it can help them solve real world problems -- if they can figure out how to interpret the images. That's the problem. The images come in an oracular form -- which can be very confusing. Sometimes it is no more than a Rorschach blot. Even so, the process of interpretation can discipline thoughts and help someone come up with something useful.
 
This phenomenon may be much more common than I thought. I would be a bit jealous of people with these experiences, except I don't think I would like the scary part. I think that the way I access this nonlinguistic mind is much less scary. Once (and only once) I allowed a spirit to enter my body and take it over. I trusted the spirit because it was my spirit guide (who I originally met in a guided meditation that was part of a workshop about myth) and because I knew it was a part of me and I didn't think I would hurt myself. My spirit guide is a mud man, and since he's mud, he had no idea of how a body worked. It was interesting feeling him learning about a body. I felt like I was a baby with no idea what to do with my muscles.
 
I have different processes for accessing my nonlinguistic mind. It's harder for me than for people who can just go to sleep and be there. One way I do it is quite counterintuitive. I get there, I suppose, by using my linguistic mind until it is so focused it doesn't remember who it is. I write and write until my nonlinguistic mind gives me things -- possible insights. Writing is a way of focusing for me. Just as dance and music are. This focus allows me access to my nonlinguistic mind. The trick, though, is to not have preconceptions about what the images mean. It's when we place our linguistic mind images on these things that we get into trouble. 
 
Personally, I am investigating what may be a new (to me) way of accessing the nonlinguistic mind. I am about to take a dream workshop. The dream interpreters emphasize one ethical issues involved here. One of the tenets of dream interpretation is that you should never try to make anyone say more than they want to. Your dreams are yours. If you choose to give part or all of them away, that is your choice. No one else has any right to them, no matter how interested they might be. I think this is important because I think this is so strange to many people, and they think people with these experiences are mentally ill.  As most of us with this experience know, normal people don't treat us the way they treat other people. Historically, they have thought they had a right to incarcerate us. We should remember that what is in our heads is ours, and we don't have to give it away to anyone, no matter how much they pester us.
 
Doing a dream workshop is a bit strange for me, since I don't remember my dreams at all. However, I think I do have a facility for dream interpretation and I would like to learn more about it. I am not sure how useful I think dream interpretation is, especially if it is someone else doing the interpreting. I'll see, I guess.
 
For me this is a theoretical approach to the issue. I can't say I have any evidence for or against my theory. However I have found it useful in understanding the world -- even if it is only a metaphor. I think a lot of people know about this other kind of consciousness that I call "nonlinguistic thinking." I wish I knew of a way to test for this kind of thing, such as the kind of tests people do on meditators. But these are essentially personal experiences and we are the only ones capable of interpreting our own experience. I just hope we can lift some of the stigma from the ways normal people refer to these experiences and we can help people with these experiences to gain more from them and diminish the fear and anxiety they are suffering from. Crazy Liberation! Let's reclaim our strengths!
 
Sources of information about sleep paralysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
wikipedia -- what can I say?

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-paralysis
reputable medical site
 
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1740
a little more scientific

http://www.wikihow.com/Cope-with-Sleep-Paralysis
how to cope with it
  

Wikihow Advice on How to Cope with Sleep Paralysis

The wikihow advice:

Don't stay up and move to the point of exhaustion, as this can increase the likelihood of sleep paralysis. 

Reduce stress.
 
Eat healthy. Avoid going to bed hungry. Avoid caffeine 5 hours before sleep.
 
Remember that, although it can feel dangerous, it isn't.
 
Most episodes can be stopped by coughing the word 'cough' repeatedly. Although you may still go into another episode if you try to immediately go back to sleep. Coughing is both a voluntary and involuntary response, which such responses break the sleeping state.
Note: Some may not be able to speak under sleep paralysis, rendering this method useless.
 
Talk about it with others.
 
An improper sleeping schedule can be a cause of sleep paralysis. Try to get 8-10 hours of sleep every night at the same time of night every night, and sleep paralysis may go away.
 
Concentrating on trying to move or "shake" yourself may break you out of it in no time.
 
Sleep paralysis is most common while sleeping on your back. Try to avoid sleeping this way
 
Try to avoid coffee or medications that affect your heart rate.
 
Consider having a sleep study to diagnose whether the cause of the sleep paralysis may be sleep apnea. With proper treatment of a diagnosed sleep apnea condition, the sleep paralysis events may subside and/or disappear.
 
Often you may be able to sense the onset of sleep paralysis. You may feel tense vibrations, a sudden movement that jolts him, or even a pitch black shade that slowly goes over his eyes. If you sense it coming you can do one of two things: 1) You can give in to the feeling, or 2)Try your best to fight it off with a strong will and determination.
 
If you find you are experiencing paralysis as you are falling asleep try sitting up and staring at a bright light for a minute or so before lying down again. No one is sure why, but this does help some people.
 
Always remember to relax because sleep paralysis last only a few seconds or minutes and will fade away momentarily.

Some people that frequently deal with sleep paralysis have found the following technique to be helpful. Take a moment each day to relax and imagine the sensations of your sleep paralysis. Focus on your breathing, then take a deep breath while picturing that breath lifting you up to consciousness as you open your eyes. Practicing your escape procedure when not experiencing the paralysis can greatly reduce the anxiety that can accompany an episode.
 
Make sure that you are actually awake. Sleep paralysis could very well be a dream, and you will likely be able to discern whether or not it is a dream by moving into the next room. Focus on moving into the next room, or in general, away from the location of paralysis.
 
Be cool about it. Some people report having amazing spiritual experiences and/or mystical experiences. You can think of it as a rare lifetime experience and a ideal time to have a lucid dream, after that your symptoms will likely disappear and you might even want to induce sleep paralysis, although this may not be true for most people.
 
Don't fight it and it will pass. Fighting against it makes it worse than it is.
 
Although you may feel that you are not able to move, you can try concentrating on moving one finger (or any small part of your body) - when this succeeds and you experience the small movement, the paralysis recedes. Of course, you need to be lucid to do this.
 
Inhale deeply then exhale forcefully (do not hyperventilate). Repeat this several times; most of the time this can get you out of sleep paralysis.

Medical marijuana has been proven successful in preventing episodes in states that allow its use as prescribed by a doctor.
 
Always remember that sleep paralysis is a medical phenomena and just that. Do not associate it with supernatural things like ghosts and evils. It will only make it worse. Keep reminding yourself that it's just a medical phenomena.
 
If you experience disassociation( "out of body" feelings), Try to "feel" the texture of your sheets, clothes, or furniture around you- you'll find that you wake up faster from tuning into a sense. Alternately, ignore the sense of paralysis, and allow yourself to follow the "out of body" feelings; you can turn an unpleasant surprise into an enjoyable lucid dream, which you may be able to control. Try visiting friends or pleasant spots you have visited. No harm can come to you, so don't be afraid.
 
If you can 'fall asleep' in your dream, when you wake up, you will wake from your dream as well. Almost like falling asleep twice - expect when you wake up in your dream, you wake up in real life.