Hello
I have been doing decades of dreamwork and analysis, spiritual pursuits etc. I tend to recall most of my dreams each night in vivid detail - so much so it can create problems with my thought process is waking life. I no longer have nightmares or feel fear in the typical sense, even when the dreams shift to the extreme. I have been passively studying my dreams for years and recently, likely triggered in combination with other spiritual pursuits / exercises, I have arrived at a very jolting conclusion in regards to the 'I' in my dream state. I have one specific and another general example that has lead me to my conclusion. I will refrain from providing specific context of the dreams as I feel its irrelevant.
Essentially I have come to the conclusion that whoever the entity that is 'I' in the dream state is a different person from who 'I' am in the waking state. After considerable meditation on the concept I am completely convinced I am not the same as the I in my dreams. I have arrived here for a couple of reasons. First over the thousands of dreams I have analyzed, there are regular and routine situations where I know with certainty I would not respond or behave the same way in waking life. My dream 'self' or the perceived 'I' in the dream state reacts with much more what I will call raw emotion which I find on many occasions completely unrelatable in my waking life. There has also been a very specific situation recently where I had become completely detached for the dreaming 'I' due to a very specific traumatic event which occurred to the dreaming 'self'. The dreaming self turned to the walking 'self' for help and asked permission (in a sense) to use my voice (to call out) and my arms (to try and touch my wife) to force a physical awaking from the dream. I granted permission (in an unspoken sense) but left it to the dreaming self to use their own will to attempt the effort. I cannot report if my arms moved or if I did in fact call out as my wife did not wake me. I do recall it taking considerable amount of effort of the dream self to attempt this. This dramatic detachment strongly reinforced my belief I am not my dreaming self.
Wanted to share here as a means to reflect on my own experiences and articulate in writing as I don't maintain dream journeys.
I have been doing decades of dreamwork and analysis, spiritual pursuits etc. I tend to recall most of my dreams each night in vivid detail - so much so it can create problems with my thought process is waking life. I no longer have nightmares or feel fear in the typical sense, even when the dreams shift to the extreme. I have been passively studying my dreams for years and recently, likely triggered in combination with other spiritual pursuits / exercises, I have arrived at a very jolting conclusion in regards to the 'I' in my dream state. I have one specific and another general example that has lead me to my conclusion. I will refrain from providing specific context of the dreams as I feel its irrelevant.
Essentially I have come to the conclusion that whoever the entity that is 'I' in the dream state is a different person from who 'I' am in the waking state. After considerable meditation on the concept I am completely convinced I am not the same as the I in my dreams. I have arrived here for a couple of reasons. First over the thousands of dreams I have analyzed, there are regular and routine situations where I know with certainty I would not respond or behave the same way in waking life. My dream 'self' or the perceived 'I' in the dream state reacts with much more what I will call raw emotion which I find on many occasions completely unrelatable in my waking life. There has also been a very specific situation recently where I had become completely detached for the dreaming 'I' due to a very specific traumatic event which occurred to the dreaming 'self'. The dreaming self turned to the walking 'self' for help and asked permission (in a sense) to use my voice (to call out) and my arms (to try and touch my wife) to force a physical awaking from the dream. I granted permission (in an unspoken sense) but left it to the dreaming self to use their own will to attempt the effort. I cannot report if my arms moved or if I did in fact call out as my wife did not wake me. I do recall it taking considerable amount of effort of the dream self to attempt this. This dramatic detachment strongly reinforced my belief I am not my dreaming self.
Wanted to share here as a means to reflect on my own experiences and articulate in writing as I don't maintain dream journeys.