The Power and Wisdom of Dreams
Dreams can deliver powerful messages to us, if we have the ears to hear, the eyes to see, and the openness and wisdom to understand...
This summer, I have had many powerful and sometimes disturbing dreams. Each and every one of them has arrived, knocking on the doors of my heart, bearing insights I cannot ignore...
Some dreams have been frightening, waking me up with a dreadful start. All of them - vivid and lucid - arrived delivering unmistakable messages. I believe that once I gave the intention earlier this summer to no longer depend on others for direction, and trust my intuitions instead, my dreams - taking center stage - manifested incredible power, authority, and wisdom from the Other Side...
In one recent and memorable dream, the father of a dear friend of mine, who transitioned a few years back, came to me in a beautiful garden, populated by very happy beings. He gave me a very poignant message and spiritual advice. I was later told that he has visited a number of my friend's cherished ones, offering needed guidance to all those in need...
This past week I had a dream so rich with symbolism and meaning, it has haunted me for days...
In this dream, I was driving on a nondescript road that ended abruptly and without warning. All of a sudden - the road just simply disappeared and I could not apply the brakes on the car. Instead, I let go, driving off into the vast empty expanse before me - as if I were Thelma without Louise, driving into the Grand Canyon, enveloped in an endless and luminous sky.
Upon reflection, I came to understand the significance of this part of the dream, very symbolic of arriving at the end of a road or life journey. I am in transition in more ways than one - and not quite sure of what I will be doing or where I am going. It became clear to me that driving off the road and into the endless sky invited me to trust in the unknown and wherever I was being led...
The car did finally land after some time in free-fall or suspended animation, coming to rest in a tunnel, also symbolic of transitions. I recall thinking - it all ends here, since I had nothing to ensure my survival. Suddenly, I realized I was in a dream and having a lucid moment! I told myself - that the experience I was having wasn't real. And to prove it to myself, I decided to intentionally touch the roof of the car. Since this was a dream after all - I knew I couldn't have any tangible sensations of something so concrete and physical. But, much to my surprise, every time I reached up to touch the roof of the car - I could feel the texture of the fabric, and how it very distinctly felt under my fingers. My hand did not go through the roof as if I had been endowed with super powers. So, I was confused.
For a moment - I felt total shock. Wasn't this a dream after all?
But then, don't so many of the ancient yogic texts, and contemporary spiritual writers tell us - that what we think and define as our reality - is really nothing more than an illusion?
What is real then? And what is unreal? Was my dream real? Or is the world and the reality that I inhabit not real instead?
This simple mantra from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad then came to mind:
In a split second, I realized, that what I thought was real - was simply not real at all. In that one instant, I knew that what is Unseen - is more real than the drama that I live out and play every day of my life.
Paramahansa Yogananda, in his writings, often describes the events of our lives as nothing more than a movie that is projected onto a screen - born out of the Eternal for our own lessons. He often admonished his followers and readers, not to get caught up into the drama of those events, for in time, they fade - as events in all lifetimes invariably will.
In my "dream" I eventually stepped out of the car and was instantly transported to a beautiful place, and welcomed by lovely people who were all very content and at peace. This was the second time this summer I delighted in the beauty of another plane of existence.
There are so many messages for us waiting to be discovered. We are offered so many opportunities if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear...
While in Hilton Head last month, I went for a walk along the beach on the night of the Full Moon. I took several pictures of the sun going down with my camera and when I returned home, I was annoyed because the pictures looked as if they had been ruined by what I first thought were lots of raindrops. But the odd thing was, it wasn't raining! And the waves never sprayed my camera.
On closer inspection, I noticed the pictures were filled with orbs, which are believed by many, to represent beings from the spirit realms. One of the pictures in particular, was so densely covered by the orbs, I was both shocked and stunned. I knew that even though I was walking alone on the shoreline of the beach, I had truly not been alone, and that many angels, guides, and beings of all kinds were walking alongside me, making their presence known in these photographs!
So what are the lessons conveyed in this dream and these pictures?
Trust in the Unseen. Ask to be led from the unreal to the Real. Know that you are never alone. And ask for guidance. Ask to be shown the way. Ask for what you need. But always, remember, that you must ask!
This summer, I have had many powerful and sometimes disturbing dreams. Each and every one of them has arrived, knocking on the doors of my heart, bearing insights I cannot ignore...
Some dreams have been frightening, waking me up with a dreadful start. All of them - vivid and lucid - arrived delivering unmistakable messages. I believe that once I gave the intention earlier this summer to no longer depend on others for direction, and trust my intuitions instead, my dreams - taking center stage - manifested incredible power, authority, and wisdom from the Other Side...
In one recent and memorable dream, the father of a dear friend of mine, who transitioned a few years back, came to me in a beautiful garden, populated by very happy beings. He gave me a very poignant message and spiritual advice. I was later told that he has visited a number of my friend's cherished ones, offering needed guidance to all those in need...
This past week I had a dream so rich with symbolism and meaning, it has haunted me for days...
In this dream, I was driving on a nondescript road that ended abruptly and without warning. All of a sudden - the road just simply disappeared and I could not apply the brakes on the car. Instead, I let go, driving off into the vast empty expanse before me - as if I were Thelma without Louise, driving into the Grand Canyon, enveloped in an endless and luminous sky.
Upon reflection, I came to understand the significance of this part of the dream, very symbolic of arriving at the end of a road or life journey. I am in transition in more ways than one - and not quite sure of what I will be doing or where I am going. It became clear to me that driving off the road and into the endless sky invited me to trust in the unknown and wherever I was being led...
The car did finally land after some time in free-fall or suspended animation, coming to rest in a tunnel, also symbolic of transitions. I recall thinking - it all ends here, since I had nothing to ensure my survival. Suddenly, I realized I was in a dream and having a lucid moment! I told myself - that the experience I was having wasn't real. And to prove it to myself, I decided to intentionally touch the roof of the car. Since this was a dream after all - I knew I couldn't have any tangible sensations of something so concrete and physical. But, much to my surprise, every time I reached up to touch the roof of the car - I could feel the texture of the fabric, and how it very distinctly felt under my fingers. My hand did not go through the roof as if I had been endowed with super powers. So, I was confused.
For a moment - I felt total shock. Wasn't this a dream after all?
But then, don't so many of the ancient yogic texts, and contemporary spiritual writers tell us - that what we think and define as our reality - is really nothing more than an illusion?
What is real then? And what is unreal? Was my dream real? Or is the world and the reality that I inhabit not real instead?
This simple mantra from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad then came to mind:
"Lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness to the Light.
Lead me from the temporary to the Eternal."
Lead me from darkness to the Light.
Lead me from the temporary to the Eternal."
Was this, not in essence, what my dream was conveying to me on some level?
In a split second, I realized, that what I thought was real - was simply not real at all. In that one instant, I knew that what is Unseen - is more real than the drama that I live out and play every day of my life.
Paramahansa Yogananda, in his writings, often describes the events of our lives as nothing more than a movie that is projected onto a screen - born out of the Eternal for our own lessons. He often admonished his followers and readers, not to get caught up into the drama of those events, for in time, they fade - as events in all lifetimes invariably will.
In my "dream" I eventually stepped out of the car and was instantly transported to a beautiful place, and welcomed by lovely people who were all very content and at peace. This was the second time this summer I delighted in the beauty of another plane of existence.
There are so many messages for us waiting to be discovered. We are offered so many opportunities if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear...
While in Hilton Head last month, I went for a walk along the beach on the night of the Full Moon. I took several pictures of the sun going down with my camera and when I returned home, I was annoyed because the pictures looked as if they had been ruined by what I first thought were lots of raindrops. But the odd thing was, it wasn't raining! And the waves never sprayed my camera.
On closer inspection, I noticed the pictures were filled with orbs, which are believed by many, to represent beings from the spirit realms. One of the pictures in particular, was so densely covered by the orbs, I was both shocked and stunned. I knew that even though I was walking alone on the shoreline of the beach, I had truly not been alone, and that many angels, guides, and beings of all kinds were walking alongside me, making their presence known in these photographs!
So what are the lessons conveyed in this dream and these pictures?
Trust in the Unseen. Ask to be led from the unreal to the Real. Know that you are never alone. And ask for guidance. Ask to be shown the way. Ask for what you need. But always, remember, that you must ask!
Comments
Bless your heart.