Dreams

This is what Wikipedia has to say, (in part,) about dreams:

“A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, although they have been a topic of scientific, philosophical and religious interest throughout recorded history. Dream interpretation is the attempt at drawing meaning from dreams and searching for an underlying message. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology.”

If you want to read the entire article, you may use this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream

Part of what is stated in the definition above, “…usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.” Key points to consider are that it occurs involuntarily and it occurs in the mind. The point that led me to write this is because I realized last night during one of my dreams, in which I was running away from someone for fear of being caught, that there was no “someone” to be running away from. That is to say, I was making it up in my mind. The amazing thing to me is that we are so good at doing this making up stuff, that we get immersed into it so thoroughly that we experience fear, joy, anxiety, dread, etc. via the dreamscape we’ve created within our own mind. So, no one was chasing me, I was doing that to myself.

Then I wondered why do I do this to myself? Why do I envision such scenarios which cause me to feel like I have to escape, to run away? If I am making this up within my own mind, I could just as easily make it a wonderful experience. The thing is, when dreaming, one has to realize whatever is happening doesn’t involve anyone else it is all within the mind. Once I realized this, the fear and need to run away vanished.

How much of that realization could we bring into our waking state in being? How much of what we experience in our waking life expression is self-induced? I’m going to venture a guess that it is a lot more than we may take credit for.

When we are fully present in the here now moment by moment unfolding, where the actual experiencing is taking place, whether it is in the dream state, waking state, or some other state in being, we are in a position via this presence awareness, to make choices about how it all unfolds. That is to say, we can choose to be afraid, or not, we can choose to be happy or not. In the presence awareness, we are able to make choices which direct the course of the unfolding experience in a more life supporting, well-being engendering expression in being, or we can just ride the wave of whatever is unfolding without making a choice either way, about what is unfolding. And, without making choices, we become victims of circumstance. If one isn’t fully aware and present in the moment by moment unfolding, one is likely to get caught up in the scenario and thereby suffer the penalty associated within the unfolding experience.

I had to be aware enough to separate my awareness from the scenario, enough so that I could realize it was all within my mind, I was scaring myself, I was running away from what seemed to me to be someone I was afraid of. This reminds me of that scene in Star Wars where Luke was in that mystical sort of cave where he met and then faced off with Darth Vader. It came to pass that it wasn’t Darth Vader at all, but rather, HE was what he feared.

What is the source of dream content? I think it could be a variety of things such as, a movie or TV show we watched and got engrossed in. It could be something we ate which somehow expressed itself in our dream state. It could be caused by emotional experiences we had during the day which made a strong impression upon us.

What does that tell you? It suggests to me, being fully present in the here now moment by moment unfolding, and therein making conscious choices as it all unfolds, will facilitate the ability wherein external stimuli such as expressed above, doesn’t involuntarily write the scripts for our dreams. This may show a correlation between cause and effect as it applies not only to our dreams, but life experiencing as well.

In conclusion, what I suggest be taken away from all of these words is this; being centered in the here, now moment by moment unfolding is necessary to be the author of the scripts of our dreams and our lives. What happens to you doesn’t have to be involuntary, you get to choose whether it is or not. Alternately, you can just ride the waves of life expressing and experience whatever it is that unfolds for you whether it is perceived as good or bad by you.

If you’ve read this, you may be awake enough to make conscious choices about how your dreams and life unfolds. I hope you are, because in the Oneness in being, there is only ONE being, which means there isn’t a separate “you and me”.

Blessings to us all!