Being Lucid in the Dream State
Push Me, Pull You: Being Lucid in the Dream State
Today, I want to address something that can feel a little bit complicated but once you understand it, I think that you will get the basics. I want to start exploration of the dream state and the concept of becoming lucid within this state. This journey is what might be called spiritual adulthood or awakened living. As we delve into this topic, I invite you to open your mind and pose questions to yourself, allowing this conversation to spark something…insights, revelations or just a new perception.
In our discussions, we often focus on abiding non-dual awareness. This state of being is the elimination of duality or conflict. Duality requires a separation, a dichotomy: good and bad, life and death, success and failure. This constant division creates conflict and, ultimately, suffering. Duality is the foundation of our subjective experience, where you, the character, see yourself as separate from everything else. This separation is the root of all suffering. And unfortunately, I need to tell you that the human being itself tends to be a dualistic interpreter of all things. This is quite a conundrum because if left unchecked life continues to be a suffering path.
Understanding abiding non-dual awareness means stripping away every conflict or duality that arises in the mind. Duality exists only in the mind when the character assigns meaning to things: coffee is good, tea is bad. This judgment creates conflict, no matter how slight, and leads to suffering. The dream state, then, is this constant living in a subjective reality shaped by these meanings and judgments. And also besides being a dualistic interpreter, the human being itself is a meaning making machine. This is something that needs to be addressed. Assigning meaning to everything becomes its purpose. And this is where the conundrum of duality begins.
To illustrate, consider the "Push-Me-Pull-You" animal from the original "Doctor Dolittle." Yes, I’m old enough to remember the original Dr. Dolittle film with Rex Harrison. Even if you haven’t seen it let me describe to you what this animal was. This creature, with heads at both ends, epitomizes the push and pull of duality. It was this incredible creature that was created that basically looked like a llama that had no backside. The backside of one was the front side of the other. They were both looking in different directions. Therefore, every time one would want to move in one direction the other one would want to move in the other direction, and they would get nowhere… think about that for a moment. In life, we are the same. We are constantly torn between conflicting desires and beliefs, creating a perpetual state of suffering. This push and pull can manifest in finances, emotions, relationships, and self-perception. The dream state is the endless dance of these dualities. This is very basic in psychology, we’re either moving toward a carrot or running away from a stick that is threatening us.
But! Being lucid in the dream state means becoming aware of this constant conflict and seeing through the illusion of duality. Lucid awareness is about waking up to the truth that these dualities are not even real. They are constructs of the mind. They are the remnants of our meaning-making machine that is completely subjective to us and has nothing to do with the truth. When you start to see this, you are invited to become more objective, understanding the game that's being played. Because that’s what it really is a game. That’s why it referred to as the game of life…
Coming back to being a kid, let’s look at the ant farm from childhood: two pieces of plexiglass with sand and ants burrowing away, believing they are building something meaningful. This is the dream state. Those little ants believe they are really accomplishing something. They are digging away and creating pathways for other ants and believing that they’re actually accomplishing something and that these pathways are going to lead somewhere someday… when in reality they are not accomplishing anything. They are just ants digging around. Sadly, that is what most human beings are doing with their life. However, when you become lucid, you start to question, "What is really going on here?" You can see the futility of the ants' efforts and recognize the same pattern in your own life.
This awakening can happen consciously or unconsciously. It’s a realization that the character you play in life is done with the meaningless race. Success and failure, pleasure and pain, they all lose their grip on you. This realization Can do many things. It can activate fear and it can create depression and or anxiety but past those things, it truly can bring about abiding non-dual awareness. And this is the greatest freedom.
In the Bible, it is said that to gain life, you must lose it. This means stripping away all meaning and conditioning to see clearly. When you let go of all judgments and dualities, you begin to experience life as it truly is: unconditioned and free. After all that’s what every ant is looking for…
Interestingly, traditional spirituality often perpetuates the search for meaning. It keeps you looking for something outside yourself or even within, but always just out of reach. True awakening, however, is realizing there is no meaning to find. Life just is. The character's search for purpose is a moot point. When you stop searching and simply allow life to unfold, you start to live in the present moment, experiencing true freedom.
Living in the present moment, or as A Course in Miracles states it, the “holy instant'“, there is a freedom from the constraints of duality, which is the essence of abiding non-dual awareness. It is the key to everything because it is nothing and everything simultaneously. When you are fully present, the subjective meanings and judgments fall away, revealing the truth of non-duality.
Perception plays a crucial role in waking up within the dream state. By choosing different perceptions, you start to awaken to the reality beyond duality. This process can take years of practice or happen in an instant. The key is to recognize that everything is just as it is, regardless of your opinions or judgments is the most delicious realization ever. When you fully embrace this unconditioned living, you no longer cling to success or fear failure. Life's ups and downs lose their significance, and you begin to live in a state of equanimity. This is the ultimate freedom, the end of the search, and the beginning of true awakening.
So, I invite you to reflect on these ideas. Consider how duality shapes your experience and how letting go of judgments can lead to a more awakened state. This journey towards abiding non-dual awareness is the path to true spiritual adulthood, where you live fully present, free from the push and pull of duality.
I always think questions are so valuable. So here are three questions I want to leave with you with to be contemplated.
Here are three compelling and challenging questions:
1. Reflect on a recent conflict or struggle in your life: can you identify the dualities at play (such as good vs. bad, success vs. failure)? How might reinterpreting or letting go of these dualities transform your experience?
2. Consider a belief or judgment you hold strongly—perhaps something you’ve never questioned. How does this belief create division or suffering in your life? What might happen if you viewed it from a perspective of non-duality?
3. Think about a situation where you felt torn between two desires or decisions, much like the "Push-Me-Pull-You" animal. What insights emerge when you see this conflict as part of the dream state? How can lucidity within this state alter your approach to such dilemmas?
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