RC101 – Lesson Five
Life as a Waking Dream – Dreams
Many of you are probably familiar with the validity of dreams, and the importance of the symbology contained within, from either a psychological perspective, or possibly a new age one. From a conscious creation perspective, dreams are an alternate focus of consciousness, a focus into the non-physical realms usually. In dreams, it’s often easier to manifest our desires, because we suspend the framework of beliefs that each of us uses within physical reality. In dreams, especially lucid dreams, we can see that when we focus on something, that’s what we get, instantly!
Dreams are also a method in which we communicate/become aware of information that is applicable in waking life. The messages are most often symbolic rather than literal (although literal dreams certainly do happen) and require some interpretation on the part of the dreamer. Often, once you understand that message, there is an epiphany, or “aha” moment where everything sort of falls into place. As conscious creators, we learn to recognize that since the physical world ‘around us’ is our creation, the same sort of symbology exists for us in waking life as it does in our dreams.
Living in a Waking Dream
You’ll recall from the last class that because of the nature of probable realities, nothing in physical reality is actually as fixed or solid as it might appear or as we’ve conditioned ourselves to think they are. And yet, you are probably used to that sort of interaction in the dream state. For example, you might be driving a car, and then suddenly riding a bicycle, without any sense of transition from one to the other. Most of us don’t expect our dreams to be as linear and ‘logical’ as our waking life “appears” to be. Despite the illusion of linear progression that physical reality presents though, once you recognize reality as your own creation, interpreting the value of the symbols around it becomes almost a game to help us become aware, instead of just taking objects, events, and people more or less for granted.
What are the symbols in your life? What means home to you? It could be the house you are living in now, or the one that you grew up in. It could be fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, or the sound of humming birds flying around the porch. Your symbols are always uniquely your own, and recognizing them AND THEIR MEANINGS will give you a great deal of insight into your own conscious creation process.
Here’s a recent example from my own life: We live in a rural area of California which is primarily ranch and cattle country. This year we had an abundance of wild boars who came into our yard each night and dug up the ground in search of roots and other goodies. <grin> As a waking dream symbol I was stumped at first, although I recognized that I had been curious about seeing a boar for the longest time, so I wasn’t really surprised that I manifested the experience. But, like a recurring dream, they would return every day faithfully, digging up larger areas of our yard and the fields around it.
At the same time, I had been going through a lot of changes internally. I was in a process of examining myself, and things that I had always assumed to be true. I suddenly realized that I was uprooting everything internally as well, digging up assumptions and beliefs that I had been ignoring for a long time. The boars were a perfect reflection of my own self examination! Kristen and I also have felt that we might be moving in the near future, uprooting ourselves so to speak, in this manner the boars appearance had multiple meanings for us.
This type of symbology applies to the people in your life as well as the objects. If you have a significant other or partner, think about the type of symbol that this person represents for you. This person might be a ‘partner in crime,’ or a mother/father figure, or a wild lover who expresses the spontaneous side that you are afraid to express yourself. Of course, this person could be any mixture of these images and more.
Symbols of Externalized Power
What are the symbols of power in your life? (If you said “Myself!” and MEANT IT then you get a gold star!) Look around at the structures and institutions that you associate with power or with being powerful. It could be the government, the police, a religion, multi-national conspiracies, your parents, a local bully, your boss, the weather, or even “the universe.” If you feel as if any of these things (or others) are bigger/greater/stronger than YOU, then these are your symbols of power.
How you relate to these symbols is important. For example, if you believe in the power of religion (any religion) and believe that it is a positive and beneficial force in your life, then this represents a measure of trust with your own creative being. If, on the other hand, you believe in the power of government, for instance, but your experience of it is as currupt and distorted, you are then experiencing your own beliefs in power, projected outside for you to see. This may demonstrate a lack of trust in your own sense of power. You might believe that “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and are manifesting it perfectly in your waking experience. Remember that as “real” as these things appear, or as much as you’ve taken these symbols as simply a part of “the way things are,” they are still reflections of your own deeply held beliefs.
One of the goals in being a conscious creator is to recognize that YOU are the real power, especially in areas where you have been believing that something has power over you. This does not mean that you have to go out and struggle against this power and try to tear it down. That is only reacting in physical reality against the original belief, rather than releasing the old belief and changing it instead to a belief that supports your ability to create.
Once you have recognized your own sense of power in the symbols around you, you might want to take a few moments and really think about your own vision for the world. How would you LIKE to perceive it? What sort of role would you want to play in it? Keep in mind that there is symbolic value in these roles as well, some of which can be very revealing about your own beliefs in having power.
The Roles People Play
One of the most noticeable areas in which you can observe life as a waking dream, is to notice the type of roles that people play in your life. For instance, you may have had several different people play the role of being best friend/confidant over the years, or one person who has consistently played the role of a mentor. You can also spot the roles you are playing for other people as well. Perhaps you play the loyal son and provided support for your mother whenever she and your father were arguing. Once again, like recurring dreams, we play these various roles until we’ve learned what we wanted from them and then move on. Consider this another method we can use to “wake up” in the dream of physical reality.
Sometimes you may have grown tired of playing a role but the person you have been interacting with has not. This might lead to disagreements or even a separation. The other person might have to find a new person to play the role that you have given up, unless they are ready to let go of the terms of that old relationship as well.
Becoming aware of the roles you have been playing, as well as the roles you have been letting others play will give you a much greater sense of who you really are, and what sort of roles you want to play. Suddenly you are not just an actor in the play, but the director as well, free to re-write the script, and introduce or release characters as you choose. For example, you may have grown up with a very practical father, one who told you always have a good secure job and not to go running off after any foolish dreams. As you grew up, you may have chosen a friend or co-worker who had a similar attitude, all playing the role of the “Voice of Reason” in your life. If this role has a “negative” affect on you, you can look at these people symbolically and say: “Oh, they are echoing my own doubts, my own non-belief in myself and my abilities to live my dreams.” Recognizing this, you can look toward the beliefs that these people have been echoing, and change those beliefs into something that enhances, rather than inhibits you. Then, watch as the symbols you experience in physical reality change to reflect your own changing beliefs.
Homework: Spend a few minutes telling yourself that everything around you is a dream. Bring the feeling of a dream to your waking focus in physical reality – this will bring a whole new “feel” to your usual outlook. Then look at your surroundings and try to interpret the meaning of as many symbols as possible. Remember that there is never just one right answer – whatever something means to you IS the right answer.
End of Lesson Five