Opening thoughts on fundamental concepts: dream interpretations, the spiritual, faith, trust, and honesty

PaulKH

Member
...you know, light topics. 😄

Hello, my fellow dream explorers! Last night I had an intriguing dream, both detailed and summarizing/symbolic, confusing and enlightening and encouraging, satisfying in what it told me even while not offering many answers. The inspiration for this topic: the delicate stage we often call Death. It has been my observation that, for many who are attuned and are dying slowly yet not in a distracting level of pain, they tend to have a varied yet clear form of transition. This dream was showing that changing-stage to me and *about* me--while returning me to my quite-alive form afterwards to be able to delve and mull over this exceptional vision.

It is also the trigger to finally write out the response I have been dwelling on over the past few days, a way for us dream-enthusiasts to truly meet, intention-to-intention, when we cannot (should not even bother) meeting face-to-face. And this means being as clearly communicating as we can be on the topics in the title and how we perceive them to be related to each other. This level of communication will help us bond and begin to understand our perspectives so we can better grow simultaneously in the future--if indeed we are interested in accepting this opportunity. If not, then in this format, one can always stay silent and simply keep their own counsel, as the saying goes. No harm; nor should any harm be found in trying to talk about what these fundamentals mean in our own lives, and how best to describe them.

But first, the dream.

I was dead. Either that, or near enough that spiritual preparation was underway for the inevitable. Now, this is not a tried-and-true process, no matter what some religions might tell you (they might have the intent of offering comfort to the scared, but they are wrong nonetheless in how they go about it; flawed methods equal flawed results, in the long run). This dying-accepting-greeting process feels subtle (one must "be still and know", and something one can easily miss if distracted) and unique to the essence that is uncoupling from the physical world. This was no "graduation" ceremony where you know it has been done many times before, but an intensely personal moment in life. There is no need to fear that intensely unique stage in our spiritual journey, but to honor/respect and maybe celebrate it (if the life-experience built upon is worthy of savoring)--the dream overall was completely clear on this: there was no fear or unbearable pain-of-loss or regret, but only a slight worry that I would not do something right (that slight level of tension always existing when we strive to be right-and-righteous). And something extra at the very end of the dream...

But for now, I will mention the "dwelling" with loved ones, those who interconnect me to the human species. I think I remember both those who I would need to part from, and at least a whisper of those who had already passed before me: warm breath of a Mother-type (matriarch?), close and ready to comfort me in whatever sense that would mean; murmurings of a father-figure who died young, before he could fulfill being the father; anticipations of "friends" who soon have much to share--these were not a clear things, but more of a confident impression. Hence, part of the confusion to my analyzing mind, because I'm having a difficult time putting it into words how one can be both mystified/in the dark and yet confident. The answer to discussing this lies in my deep understanding of trust (more on that later). My grieving biological mother was there, and to her I gave most of my attention and comfort, *willing* her not to be distraught that she must bury her son as she did her husband/my father so long ago. To do this, I strolled leisurely with her, in a dream sense, through calm/serene surroundings that signified state of mind-->acceptance-->peace. In this moment, I was a guide, giving her my final time in hopes she would heal and by happy for me (something that is two aspects of the same acceptance). Yet, always during this there were gentle "now-is-time" pulls toward the distant, the not-here (the dream made it clear to me that this was my decision, how I chose to spend my final moments, and how I made a gift of those).

There were many details and other symbols here, but I was unprepared for this kind of dream and so lost many particulars before I could dwell on them and record them. (I was merely wanting to catch up on sleep, and so this dream caught me by surprise, and so I must again *trust* in the few impression-lessons I could retain enough of to talk about.) I remember sharing some of my transition impressions with my mother, who was trying her best not to be/sound miserable, but who had a very hard time dealing with this. We talked about ancestors, the excitement of what might be, and how not to grieve in a way that undermines this gift, this life shared and now ending moment shared--this I felt perfectly: a gratitude of the moment (and grief threatens to spoil this/not let it exist). This is why I walked with her, a physical activity that I could still feel, even though I was pretty sure I was partly ethereal (simply meaning "mostly-unbound").

I knew the symbolic "direction" I must travel, simply because that was toward the pull and toward the encouragement/whispers, but I lingered for a moment, wondering if I had done everything right--would I be leaving everything in the best order I could? I glanced at the green nature and then down at one of my cats, the boy huddled as if cold-and-scared near a small pond's edge, and so I thought, "One final pet, one final shared comfort before I go". As I bent to pet him, he backed away and hissed in fright, and then I knew he had no concept of this, no spirit-link with which to identify, and the realization made me sad, because part of the love we give to our pets is the ability to share, and in this I could not share it with him.

So instead, I straightened, turned with purpose, and headed toward the draw of the distant.

------

First of all, there was no steering done in this dream; I knew it was me, experienced all the thoughts and emotions of the process, but had no dreamer-control over them, only an acceptance of what I was witnessing.

Also, at the very end before consciousness returned there was a small worry that I had forgotten something or wasn't doing something right, but the peace of the vision assured me this wasn't the case, and that I was traveling beyond the petty levels and restrictions we tend to place upon our mortal lives, into something more pure and exposed (having nothing to hide or that can even *be* hidden). In this study is yet another echo/reinforcement of the trust-mechanic I have been deepening-my-understanding-of: something that is more measured/earned and less frivolous that what many people mean when they use the term "faith".

When interacting in a sincere-communicative way with someone who doesn't have a kind of unsupportable acceptance, too many people try to force it, as if making someone else believe somehow validates the believer, which has never been accurate (true validation has never come with a crowd-size requirement, and this principle is one of the ways you can tell a false faith from a true one). So, a better format, or base, is needed to bridge the gap between those who can believe and draw comfort from that, and those who cannot, who likely see it as a deeply flawed way of experiencing life. Here is what we know and can prove (and do so all the time in science): we are born/awakened into an existence far too complex to fit into any limited understanding we gain--this is where trust and curiosity can thrive with no conflict. The basic dysfunction of most "faith" is to close the mind to this reality, pretend that you "know", and therefore taint anything thought process which follows. Trust is a much more *accurate* way to deal with the truths and speculations of our existence in a healthy, sharing way, and individual-belief-pushed-as-faith plays no beneficial role in this (for the obvious point that it is and should be personal, at most).

The reason might be obvious to some, but I will state it anyway: faith can ruin/corrupt both integrity and authenticity, while trust has no such conflict and can coexist in harmony (at any stage, from given-hope-trust to proven-vindicated-trust). And anyone who is a true explorer is vested, first and foremost, in honesty (having integrity, being authentic), for lies/deceit fundamentally invalidate any experience (and with no exception I have found). Please dwell on this as long as it take for this reasoning to resonate through you, for much of an open and intelligent way of exploring the mysterious (including dreams) must first go through this filter (what some have called their "bullshit filter" heh). Value and even *authority* depend on integrity if it is to be benevolent. All else hurts our movement forward, both as individuals and as a species. So, if we grow closer together, we must find ways to harmonize about this, even if we disagree, and keep a healthy integrity even as we delve into the fantastical/ethereal/mind-boggling/magnificence!

I wish you happy-insightful dreams, and even more growth-stimulating wakefulness.
 
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