The Universe Is As We Dream It by Paul Levy

I find myself having a dream in my life that I would like to share. In
this
dream, I keep on feeling that I am waking up in a dream that all of my
fellow dream characters call "reality." When I don't fall into the
habitual
pattern of invalidating my imagination and thinking I am just
hallucinating
and going crazy, but amplify the imagination and allow it to unfold,
something very interesting begins to happen: the boundary between my
imagination and the seeming reality that I live in begins to blur to
the
point where I can't tell the difference between the two. Clearly this
is the
point of genuine psychosis, is it not? Can I share my dream with you?

I start off by imagining a meditating Buddha, who is having a dream,
or
an
imagination. The dream is THIS universe, with six billion people on
planet
earth, spinning around the sun in our solar system, in this galaxy,
etc.
This meditating Buddha does not really exist as an independent,
separate
object, but as the dreamer of the dream, is a metaphor for the
formless
matrix out of which all creation springs. This formless, meditating
Buddha,
who is at the same time one with all the forms of the dream, manifests
as,
and is indivisible from the dream itself, just as the rays of the sun
are
not separate from, but are the unmediated expression, of the sun. In
this
dream of this meditating Buddha, all six billion dream characters
think
that
they are awake, experience themselves as being separate from each
other, and
think that the world that they inhabit has some sort of objective
reality.
This, of course, is how most of us experience our ordinary, waking
life.

I then find myself wondering what would it be like if one of these
dream
characters became lucid and realized that the universe that he found
himself
in was a dream (of the meditating Buddha). Upon deeply imagining this
experience, it is clear that he would discover that who he had been
imagining that he was, which we could call the skin-encapsulated ego,
or
separate self, was being dreamed by a deeper part of himself (the
meditating
Buddha). Upon closer inspection, he would have a radical shift of
identity
and discover that he, in essence, was this formless, meditating
Buddha,
and
he would realize that there are not six billion meditating Buddhas
dreaming
each one of us, but that there is only one meditating Buddha, and it
is
all
of our "True Nature state."

Being part of the dream, this person who has become lucid sees that
the
dream universe that he has woken up in doesn't exist "out there,"
separate
from himself. He sees that the dream is totally fluid and malleable,
and is
mysteriously and intimately affected by the way both he, as well as
his
fellow dream characters, observe it, or dream it up. He is beginning
to
have
the astonishing realization that the universe that he has woken up in
is
manifesting in such a limited, problematic, and solid- seeming way
because
he, as well as all of the other six billion dream characters, are
mutually
dreaming it up that way. He realizes that all of his fellow dream
characters, who are none other than parts of himself, are actually
under a
spell or enchantment, based on fear and separation. He sees that
everyone is
hypnotically inducing and unconsciously reinforcing this spell onto
each
other in what has become a closed, infinitely self- perpetuating,
feedback
loop. He sees that people in the dream are so asleep to the nature of
their
situation that nobody has any idea that the agreed upon consensual
reality
that everyone thinks of as being the objectively existing real world,
is
nothing other than a reflection of their own limited and habitual
pattern of
perceiving.

Then I find myself imagining what would happen if two people become
lucid in
the same dream and get together. Or ten. Or one hundred. They would
realize,
like I've pointed out, that the dream is manifesting in such a
limited,
fear-based way because this is the way all of the dream characters
have
been
conditioned to dream it up. The way to understand this realization is
through your imagination. Please imagine that you are in a dream and
you
have become fully lucid, and then imagine that more and more of your
dream
characters are sharing in your realization. What do you imagine would
happen
in the dream? What do you imagine would happen when a critical mass of
people (hundredth monkey phenomena) who are lucid in the dream, people
who
have the realization that the universe is nothing other than their own
consciousness, that there is no such thing as a universe out there,
that the
universe is totally malleable and in actual fact is as we dream it,
what
then?

One of the key points to be clear on is who is this "you" who has
awakened.
It is of the utmost importance to really understand this, as a lot of
people
have some degree of realization and then superimpose it onto their
ego,
having their ego take credit for a realization that has nothing to do
with
it whatsoever. When you wake up in a dream, you have snapped out of
the
trance state of believing that you are a separate self and you simply
discover what has always, already been the case, that you are that
meditating Buddha, which you realize is who we all are, only some of
us
don't realize it yet. The question becomes, how does who you've now
discovered yourself to be, this meditating Buddha, the dreamer of the
dream,
want to dream the dream? Let me suggest once again to please dream
into
this, to imagine that you've woken up fully in the dream and you've
discovered your identity with this meditating Buddha. How does this
meditating Buddha, who is none other than your own true nature, want
to
dream the dream?


I would like to suggest that this imagination that I've been sharing
with
you is in fact our very situation; it is happening right now. When you
imagine deeply into this, you discover that the universe is dreaming
itself
awake, which it's doing through you and me. As a participant in this
process, I see no more elegant way to dream the dream than for it to
unfold
in a complete and utter global awakening. Anything less would be
unsatisfying.

Paul Levy is an artist and visionary who is helping to create an art
happening called "Global Awakening." He is in private practice,
assisting
people through their own process of spiritual awakening




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THE UNIVERSE IS DREAMING ITSELF AWAKE
by Paul Levy
When you begin to spiritually awaken, it is like waking up
inside of
a dream and recognizing that everything you are experiencing is
nothing
other than a very convincing projection, or display of your mind. The
boundary between inner and outer, between dreaming and waking starts
to
dissolve, and you begin to realize that the same dreaming mind that is
dreaming your dreams at night is dreaming your life. You realize that
there
is a Deeper Dreaming Self that is having a dream and we are it!
This Deeper Dreaming Self is active in us at all times and is
continually seeking to express it itself. If we recognize the dreaming
process that is happening right now, we can step into it and help it
unfold
consciously. It will activate our own inherent process of awakening
and
reconnect us with ourselves.
It is as though there is a dream that is trying to be dreamt
through
each and all of us -- both individually and collectively. The universe
is
seen as a field not separate from and through which this deeper,
dreaming
process is continually expressing it itself.
Recognizing the deeper dream, or archetypal myth that we have
been
unconsciously acting out in our waking life reconnects us not only
with
the
deeper ground of the psyche but also with other people, as everybody
is
seen
to be fellow actors in a divine drama. It takes one's life out of a
purely
personal framework and gives it a deeper sense of meaning, which makes
suffering so much more bearable.
When you begin to awaken to the dream-like nature of things you
realize that waking reality doesn't exist in the way you thought it
did, as
something separate from you. Saying it is a dream, your own
projection,
reflection, etc. is the same thing as saying it is nothing other than
your
own mind appearing in a convincing, externalized display. Everything
that
happens is seen to be the unmediated expression of your mind, which
you
now
understand can just as easily express it itself in outer events as it
does
in inner feelings, dreams or intuitions.
This is related to Jung's idea of synchronicity, those
"meaningful
coincidences," where an inner situation gets mirrored through an outer
event. They are examples of where there is a fissure in reality and
one
gets
a chance to glimpse the underlying unity.
By saying that our waking reality is some sort of a dream,
which
is
the same thing as saying that it is a projection of your mind, the
implication is that how you view it actually effects how it appears.
This is
very clear in lucid dreaming, where the dream is realized to be the
unmediated manifestation of your mind.
Once you realize this, you don't become conditioned by, and
react to,
the reflections as something solid, real, and autonomous (as a kitten
would
looking in a mirror), you just recognize them as your own energy
appearing
externally. Your relationship to the universe changes dramatically.
Waking reality is seen to be a manifestation of "something
deeper,"
just like the rays of the sun are the manifestation of the sun. In the
same
way that the rays are not separate from the sun, but rather are a
perfect
expression of it, waking reality is not separate from this "something
deeper" but is it itself a perfect expression of it.
The question then becomes: what would you do if you did wake up
in
THIS dream and recognize that IT was all your own mind? How would you
dream
it on if you were to have this realization? Imagine that there are all
these
other people in your dream who are so asleep that it is as though they
have
fallen under an enchantment. They've gotten absorbed into the dream
and
have
become so identified with their roles that they literally have
forgotten who
they are. They are truly suffering a case of mistaken identity. And
they're
all just aspects of you.
It is like your task is to try and wake up parts of yourself
that
have fallen asleep. How you do this is totally up to you; it is the
ultimate
creative challenge. In essence you are figuring out a way to wake
yourself
up, to break the spell you have fallen under.
As the Deeper Dreaming Self, we are always dreaming each other
up in
exactly the role that is needed. It is an amazing realization when you
discover that we can't help but play the role that other people have
dreamt
up for us.
For example, you, as the Deeper Dreaming Self (your True Self)
have
dreamt up this article right now -- at this very moment. And I, of
course,
by writing it, effortlessly stepped right into playing and fulfilling
exactly the role you dreamt up for me. Even to say that someone else
stepped
into a role that you dreamt up for them is to say too much. As it is
all
just you. There is no one else.
It is exactly as if you were having a dream and into your dream
walked a dream character who was having an awakening (he has become
lucid in
"his" dream). Let's make it even more real than that, let's imagine
that
this dream character expressed himself by sending you an article such
as
this. Who is this dream character other than the awake part of
yourself? He
knows that he's being dreamt by something deeper. He is a mirror, a
reflection, a manifestation of the awake part of you.
It is also no accident that he has delivered this article into
your
dream; he is trying to engage you. It is your own awakeness appearing
in
seemingly separate, externalized form. It is clearly your own
projection,
something you've thrown out of yourself. And it is trying to step back
into
you. Or better yet, you're trying to step back into yourself. It is a
situation that you, as the Deeper Dreaming Self, have clearly dreamt
up.
This dream character realizes that the "I" who he thought he
was,
including the body that he's been identifying with all this time, is
not
only not who he is, but is itself being dreamt by "something deeper" -
-
what
I call the "Deeper Dreaming Self." Becoming lucid means that he's
recognized
his true identity with the Deeper Dreaming Self, which is dreaming the
entire dream.
This is the same thing as saying that he has recognized his
unity
with the entire dream, which is realized to be nothing other than the
manifestation, or expression of the Deeper Dreaming Self, not separate
from
it in one iota. Just like the waves of the ocean are not separate
from,
and
are the expression or manifestation of the ocean. It is as if one wave
discovered that it was one with the entire ocean, and hence, with all
waves.
Nothing has to be added, one just discovers an already existing fact.
This awakening dream character has had an expansion of identity
from
a skin-encapsulated ego, or separate self -- which experiences it
itself as
being disconnected from the rest of the dreamscape -- to a larger,
much
more
all-embracing identity, which recognizes that the dream is nothing
other
than a very convincing display of his true nature. This is analogous
to
having an archetypal death/rebirth experience.
Our dream character also realizes that he can consciously step
into
this universal dream that we all are sharing and help it unfold. He
can
help
co-create and co-dream the dream to its highest unfolding, whatever
and
wherever that may be. When he realizes his identity with the Deeper
Dreaming
Self, he also recognizes that everybody else has the same Deeper
Dreaming
Self. He realizes that there is just one Deeper Dreaming Self and it
is
not
only his own True Self, but it is the True Self for everyone. He
understands
that he's not even the slightest bit special, as everybody else is in
the
same condition, but they just haven't recognized it yet.
At the point when you understand this, is when you become that
awakened dream character who can then step consciously into the next
person's dream. You then become the mirrored reflection of their own
awakened part. And what would you do other than to try and awaken them
in as
gentle, loving and creative a way as possible?
When enough people awaken to this situation, and this is simply
a
matter of when the Deeper Dreaming Self dreams that enough people
awaken to
it, we can begin to create an art happening that we can title "global
awakening". This is really a question of stepping into and owning not
only
your negative shadow, but your positive shadow also. It becomes so
easy
to
project your own enlightenment out there onto whatever guru. It is a
question of realizing who you are, for God's sake. I would like to
suggest
that there is nothing stopping us from doing this right now. And not
only
that, I would like to further suggest that IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW
and it
is simply a question of recognizing it.
Don't place any limits on yourself. It is your dream, please
dream it
all the way, go totally far out, over every edge. If you woke up and
realized that it was your dream, how would you then dream it on?
Remember, I
am not addressing you as the little egoistic self but as the True
Self.
I would like to suggest that if you are having a genuine
awakening,
you have no other recourse than to let the Deeper Dreaming Self dream
itself
through you. The question then becomes, if we are the dream of the
Self,
where is this dream going?
We need to really expand our realm of possibilities and realize
that
we are living a historic time, maybe more amazing then if we lived in
Palestine during the life of Christ. We are actually living in the
time
period where human beings wake up. We need to realize, to see that the
universe is dreaming itself awake through us. And it takes the most
visionary among us to help further the momentum of the process until
it
actually builds up a life of it is own, which it already has in us.
Isn't it just a question of whether you see the situation or
not? And
if you do see it -- it is not a question of thinking about it but of
seeing
it -- then at that very moment you become an awake, responsible player
in
this dream drama you've found yourself in. And not just a player, but
writer, director, producer and the audience, too. You begin to realize
that
this isn't a universe that you are just passively observing but one
that you
are also actively participating in and co-creating with. At this
moment
you
step into your Bodhisattvahood, which is who we are meant to be. You
realize
that there is no separate "self" or "other", just "Self". Out of this
awareness naturally arises genuine compassion.
Finally, you realize it is total insanity to be waiting for the
Messiah to arrive. We are the Messiah.
A healer, Paul Levy is a spiritual and political activist. He
is
in
private practice, helping other people who are also spiritually
awakening to
the dream-like nature of reality. He can be reached at
paul@awakeninthedream.com. Please feel free to pass this article along
to a
friend if you feel so inspired.
C 2004 Paul Levy