Greetings, my beautiful friends,
Last night was an interesting night, of sleeping in shifts, and of dreaming some particularly interesting dreams. Sometimes...OK, often...OK...most of the time...I wake up with bits of phrases and dialogue, repeating over and over. Often, they are "rememberings" - messages of understanding and joy and freedom...and of course, LOVE! And just as often, they are the impetus for the morning's meditation.
This morning I was "awake" before being awake...I was lucid dreaming. For how long, I can not tell, but I was aware of myself dreaming, while dreaming...consciousness within subconsciousness. I know folks, who have made it a part of their personal spiritual practice, to consciously practice this. I have not, and yet it happens...on a fairly regular basis. I simply do my best, to pay attention to it, when it does happen.
One of my favorite experiences, of waking while already being awake, is hearing these bits of wisdom, flowing from my mouth...repeating, over and over...like we do, when we want to remember something. It is a strange and wonderful thing, to hear myself repeating and repeating, these words, and even more amazing is that they act like a carrier wave, helping to transport the substance, the thoughts and feelings, at the core of the words.
In these moments, the shift from dream awareness, to this awareness, is almost seamless, and the words feel like the very little bit of thread, weaving the two experiences together. It is quite wonderful, and although I have been practicing meditation for more than twenty-five years, it is always a wonder, always a fresh experience. Like I am experiencing it for the first time, every time. No need to think about it, it just is. Easy peasy!
Imagine that, instead of transporting water from a well, you simply transport the well...all of it...the bucket, the rope, the pulley, the stones around the hole in the ground, the hole in the ground, the ground, the water...all of it. Imagine that you are able to carry the essence and the form, of that well, from one place to another, while losing nary a drop. This is one way to describe how it feels, to carry these "rememberings" from the dream experience, to this experience.
Or, if you like, imagine crossing the border, from one country, into another, while also still being in the country you just left. Imagine leaving that place, for another, while still being in that place...AND in the new place. Imagine being able to reach behind you, grab the back of your shirt, and lift yourself off the ground (yes, like in cartoons). Now, feel how that feels...the strangeness of it...the wonder of it. That is akin to how it can feel to consciously flow from dream to waking.
Which brings me to this morning's particular "remembering". It is a variation, on a theme that has become the center of my own understanding, and of my service and teaching. As I have written, I woke up, hearing my own voice repeating this over and over, and although it is a "new" way of saying it, if you are familiar with any of my writing, you will notice that the essence is the same.
Since this phrase...this well of wisdom...was transported by voice, across the seaming border, of dream and waking, I invite you to read it out loud, yourself. Repeat it, over and over, and pay attention to how you feel, when you hear yourself saying the words. Remember, this came from dream experience, and has that feel (although, as I look at it now, I am beginning to realize that a lot of my writing has that feel). Without further ado, here it is:
"My awareness, of you, lives in my knowing of you as LOVE!"
Beautiful, eh? I love it, and although it is very similar to "I AM LOVE, and know you as LOVE!", it has its own feeling. When I hold the two together, I get a kind of stereopsis...a "depth of field" experience...that is in line with living from "AND" (as in, "this AND that"). Both of these phrases, and the way they feel, do flow from the phrase, "I AM LOVE, and know all as LOVE!", and this phrase, in turn, flows from the truth, that LOVE is all, and knows all as LOVE!
The upshot of all of this? I have a new experience, with a familiar understanding of an essential truth, and it has been a thrilling morning of travel between worlds, and of remembering that I AM all the worlds. Now, it is time to walk this out. Time for some walking meditation on this beautiful November day, and for letting the walking do the talking...so to speak.
Thank you for sharing this morning's experience, with me. It has been a joy, to share it with you, and I AM grateful for the beauty and majesty of you. Your presence is a blessing, to me. And, it seems most appropriate to express my feelings, about you, by sharing, "My awareness, of you, lives in my knowing of you as LOVE!" "I AM LOVE, and know you as LOVE!"
Blessings, Oh Light Of The World! Hail, Oh LOVE In The Human Experience! Remember yourSelf as LOVE, and remember your world as yourSelf!
With LOVE,
Patrick