Quote: What exhausts us as human beings, is that we are trying to escape the dream in the dream, this is like trying to think your way out of thinking.
In the quiet space of being undistracted, there’s a moment of stillness where I humbly ask the question:
“Wait, what’s really going on here?”
On the one hand, there is a barrage of thinking, thoughts that spin a narrative about all manner of things. Then, before and beyond all of those thoughts, there’s this profound simplicity of presence that’s just… here.
“What am I experiencing?”
Another question that fascinates me.
Why? Because, on the surface, it appears that I’m experiencing a story as if it were true. Really though, it feels more accurate to say that I’m experiencing a story much like how I might experience a dream.
Innocently Lost
In the dream, I don’t know that I’m dreaming, and I find myself captivated by the imagination as if it were real. In the dream, I can easily proclaim that it’s reality, that it’s really happening; innocently though because, of course, it truly seems that way.
I find the same experience in most moments as I go about my day, relatively convinced that something real is happening, that is, in fact, only something that I imagine to be happening.
To see this, to really see this, is where I find the most profound discovery, which I would also say, is the fundamental invitation of spirituality.
You see, any flavor of suffering, everything from a minor frustration to the most unbearable heartbreak, can be traced back to my assumption that confuses the dream for reality.
A Beautiful Awareness
Case in point, I woke up this morning with the pain of feeling rejected, the pain of feeling that who I am is not enough, based on the words spoken by someone I love. In that pain, what I find to be so obvious, thankfully, is that…
What I’m responding to is not the reality of life, the reality of what is, but rather, I’m responding to my thoughts and interpretations; my dream.
Beautifully, in the awareness of this, I’m presented with a choice.
- Fight for what I want in the dream, which is to fight for something I only imagine is there and will eventually evaporate anyway.
- Or… Surrender the dream, the thoughts and the pain, and allow myself to come back to reality.
Sure, in practice, and depending on the depth to which we can see the dream for the dream, this might not be nearly as easy as it sounds. However, still, what remains is the simplicity of this choice.
Unnecessary Complexity
You see, within the mind is an infinite number of thoughts that can build extraordinary complexity. This complexity can often feel like an inescapable maze, where there is simply no way out of the dream we’ve created; especially if we cannot see that the dream is a dream.
The more I can see the dream for the dream, it becomes easier and easier to lay the dream down.
What exhausts us as human beings, is that we are trying to escape the dream in the dream, this is like trying to think your way out of thinking. The more you think about it, the more you reinforce the assumption that the dream matters, or that the dream is real.
I have so much compassion for you, or for anyone who feels lost in this dream and disconnected from the simplicity of Life itself.
Of course, this is why I do the work I do; doing what I can to support myself and others in their ability to connect with reality. To connect with the truth of what they are, beyond the painful dream that makes life way more complicated than it needs to be.
You’re Not Alone
Do you need, or desire more of a… helping hand/heart?
Gosh, I playfully beg 🙏🙊 you to come on retreat with me this May, in Greece.
Come and see yourself and life more clearly, come and see just how much Life desires for you to wake up and fall in love with this miracle we are swimming in.
If you’re inspired by the invitation to join me, don’t let the dream of “you’re not enough” stop you from opening yourself up to all that Life wants to share with you.
And, if you really can’t make it, but maybe you still want some more direct support from me, either in my Deep Divers’ Group where we meet up regularly to look beyond the dream, or working with me 1 on 1, then let’s explore that possibility.
We are in this together, we are one. When I support you, this is simply you supporting you.
Sending you the biggest hug 🤗 from an imaginary distance ✨
— Tiger 🐯
