The Waking Dream

The Waking Dream

by | Dec 26, 2012 | Blog, Enlightenment

Chrissy and I were sitting around a campfire near Noosa last night, talking about dreams.

Most people have no problem with the idea that the world that exists inside their dreams, including themselves, their friends, family, inanimate objects, etc, are merely thoughts, brain spasms over which they have no control. They would have no problem agreeing that the entire world inside their dream exists totally and completely inside their minds. They totally accept that all of those people, events, their own bodies, the entirety of the dream universe – have no reality outside of their mere thoughts.

Yet, when you suggest that the “waking” world also exists totally inside their minds, they struggle to accept it. Why? Because it feels different. It feels more vivid. But this feeling, too, exists only inside the dream. When you are in a dream, how often do you question the reality of the dream? Doesn’t it also feel vivid? Haven’t you woken up saying “wow, that seemed so real!”

And have you ever had one of those dreams where you know you are dreaming? You suddenly realise you are in a dream and you just accept it. You relax, saying to yourself “well it’s just a dream, so nothing is real, let’s see what happens next and enjoy it!”

Well that’s exactly what enlightenment is like. You realise that the waking state is also a dream – that you, your family, your friends, the entire world exist only as thoughts, as concepts – that in reality, they are all just atoms, frenetically interacting with each other, eternal, immutable, and completely governed by the laws of physics. Waking up from this dream, you think “wow, this is just a dream – let’s sit back, relax and enjoy whatever happens next!”

The enlightenment experience

The enlightenment experience

by | Sep 3, 2012 | Blog, Enlightenment, Guideposts

Once you get it, there is no going back.

Someone suggested to me recently that some people ‘have the enlightenment experience’ but then they go back to living the old way.

To me this seems unlikely. The ‘enlightenment experience’, if you want to call it that, is a one way street. Once you realize that you are not, never have been and never will be an individual entity as you had always assumed, it fundamentally changes your life experience. It is like waking up from the Matrix – once you know, you know. It’s a fundamental shift in your thinking. It’s like finding out one of your parents has died. You don’t forget and try to call them the next day or a few months later. You might retain certain mental habits. My dad died 11 years ago and I still sometimes have the thought that I’d like to talk to him, but, when I do, my brain immediately reminds me that he is dead.

The same is true of knowing that you are not an individual. Certain habits of thinking about yourself as an individual might remain, after all, they are hard wired into your brain, but if you’ve had ‘the experience’, then whenever those thought arise, they will immediately be countered by the new information.