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Chuck’s Place: The Discipline of Awe

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Find the pot of gold in every dream…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Suspend judgment, and entertain this dream, the current consensus reality, with the Discipline of Awe:*

An incredibly aggressive, take no prisoners energy, has swept control of world leadership. Mightily, it rests the validity of its case upon the strength of its heated economy, the ultimate defense against want and need.

Meanwhile, the Earth heats up, as the oceans rise and the lands tremble. Denial is the proffered tool of this new consensus reality, promised to stave off all disruptions to normal life. Can that really work?

Enter stage East, the coronavirus, in the home of the heart of world manufacturing. Could a tiny virus seriously challenge the very financial  order that upholds world leadership? Will aggression, denial, and science be able to circumvent collapse? What’s going to happen next?!!!!

The greatest defense against anxious infection from the dream we are in, our current consensus reality, is to rest upon the perch of Awe, which for shamans is the very definition of discipline. Awe is the calmness of Buddha, as he faced, without resistance, but also without attachment, all the extreme dreams of Maya, as they presented themselves to him.

The potential trapping generated by the dream of current reality lies in how powerfully it invites fear and offense. As soon as one succumbs to those emotions they lose their edge. To spend one’s emotional energy in bursts of extremes actually feeds the consensus reality of that dream, a dream dependent upon the energy of both unbridled and tortured emotion.

Yes, the dream we are in now may be experienced as utterly ruthless. Yet, as monstrous as that dream interpretation might be, the current dream’s medicinal value lies in its ability to test us; to drive us to greater awareness, if we refuse to relinquish our emotional energy to it.

Of course, this lands one in a lonely, inadequate position. Because, if one separates oneself from the tenets of the dream—the consensus reality it constructs—one is excommunicated from the safety of the party line. One is sentenced to think for oneself; an overwhelmingly lonely and fragile task.

It’s not that one loses one’s connection to emotion through the discipline of awe, but one does lay claim to one’s emotional self. One is no longer a victim of the formula that siphons one’s energy, but instead becomes totally responsible for one’s own energy.

For example, when we watch a movie, we suspend judgment and temporarily enter the consensus reality of the story. While watching the movie, we will likely have the emotions prescribed by the archetypal theme being dramatized. However, generally, soon after we leave the movie, we are restored to our familiar selves, detached from the characters or emotions of the movie. We reclaim our emotional autonomy and reaffirm our interpretation of reality.

To take possession of one’s emotional self is to have one’s emotions, without subscribing to upholding the reality being presented. In this respect, one exercises one’s ability to have a romance with emotion, without attaching to the dream or story as my agreed-upon reality.

By grabbing onto one’s personal intent, one is freed from the framework and limitations ‘imposed’ by the consensus dream. With intent, one is freed to respectfully change dreams. This is in no way a denial of the consensus dream; it remains quite real. However, it is experienced as only one of many alternatives. There are other consensual realities to join, or perhaps just visit, as a warrior-traveler, embarked upon the definitive journey of freedom.

To remain fully in this consensus dream, the current reality, but to refuse an interpretation of it that renders one a depleted victim, is a form of changing dreams. To see its predatory dominance as an expression of the true condition of life, one that can be used to sharpen awareness by getting over self-importance, transforms the dream into an evolutionary opportunity.

One does not have to agree to attach to a glum interpretation of this consensus dream either; that’s the true course of freedom. That’s the real revolution:  to refuse to be a victim of the consensus dream; to not attach and to not allow one’s emotional energy to be offended, thus sinking into a hopeless interpretation of reality.

The shift beyond this consensus dream is aided by using death as an advisor. Indeed, it is the ultimate shamanic maneuver. In the Tensegrity workshops I attended for many years, every speaker would introduce themselves by stating their name, followed by the qualifier, “…a being who is going to die.”

I have to admit that my own self-importance interfered with my being able to mimic this style of introduction. I never could do it; it seemed rather trite and morbid. However, like all things those shamans did, there was a truly pragmatic value to this ritual.

For one thing, shamans state their names to affirm their full presence in the reality or particular dream they are currently embodying. Secondly, when they remind themselves of their impending deaths, they are accessing being present to this living moment from the perspective of a dying being, a being who is transitioning into a new reality, seeing the ultimate relativity of the dream they are exiting.

From that perspective of relativity they are freed from an all-consuming attachment to present reality; as it is seen as just a moment—albeit significant, as all moments are—unfolding into the greater unfolding of oncoming time, that which is infinity and beyond! Such an encounter with infinity borrows a perspective from beyond this dream that tempers the emotional energy expended in holding onto, or compulsively needing to change, the outcome of the present dream.

Present reality is merely a dream that exists, with equanimity, among an infinity of dreams, all of which offer golden nuggets of awareness. Exploit the current opportunity to the fullest, regardless of outcome. Defeat and conquest are meaningless outcomes next to an infinity of dreams waiting to be lived.

With this expanded perspective, we’ve come full circle, back to awe, the coveted position from which to truly resume, unfettered, our magical journey, appreciative of all the gifts from our many, rich and colorful dreams.

beingINTENT upon AWE,

Chuck

*As with all my blogs, my ideas presented here are deeply influenced by my experience and appreciation for the path of heart Carlos Castaneda gifted the world.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Relativity and Dream Space

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What Einstein proposed, and proved, is that time is relative. When matter moves at great velocity it ages slower than it ages on Earth. Time is relative to the velocity we travel at. It is not constant under all conditions.

Frozen leaf energy body?
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

This is most noticeable in dreaming. One might drop into a REM dream state for but a few real-time moments and then awaken. As  dreams experienced just moments before are recalled and recorded, one might find oneself writing for an hour or more, as one documents the many adventures from the just dreamed dreams.

The time it would have required to actually experience these adventures in real time would have taken hours. Nonetheless, as dream recall proves, they were fully experienced, almost instantaneously, in dream time. This is an example of how consciousness can travel and live in different, even very elongated timezones. Consciousness, the active force of the soul, lives and travels in different dimensions.

As Einstein discovered, the significant variable in shifting time dimensions is velocity. In dream state terms, this is experienced vibrationally. When we go to sleep our soul energy body prepares to leave the timezone of waking life by revving up the velocity of its vibrations to a very high frequency.

This increased vibrational state normally occurs when we fall asleep. If, however, one remains conscious during this process it is frequently experienced as increasingly higher vibrations sweeping over the physical body, as the soul energy body prepares and then launches out of the sleeping physical body. Energy body dimensions then experienced are increasingly subtle, with their own different timezones.

The first energy body timezone is actually the real-time zone of waking life, where out-of-body explorers travel our world and solar system in real time. More subtle dimensions—where time is elongated and many dream adventures occur in very few real-time minutes—reflect energy-body adventures beyond this real-time dimension.

The ancient Hindus called these more subtle dimensions the astral dimensions, where one engages in interactions with deeper parts of one’s own soul, as well as with guides and teachers intent on supporting life in this densest energy region, that of real-time waking life in the physical body.

In the truest sense, the soul never sleeps. When the physical body goes into deep sleep it enters a state known as REM sleep paralysis, where the motor cells of the body are switched off, as the soul ventures in infinity. Basic logic explains the need for this temporary paralysis, as without it the downloads of dream energy-body experiences to the sleeping physical body would result in physical movement that might be both awkward and potentially hazardous. In fact, sleepwalking is an example of what happens when the normal shutting down of motor activity in the body does not occur and the physical body acts out the energy body’s movements.

Normally, the body is completely still and asleep in unconscious semi-paralysis while the soul ventures in infinity, both processing the previous day’s waking life experiences, as well as being schooled and guided in spiritual advancement by the higher self and guides that live in the higher astral dimensions.

If you successfully meet a challenge in a dream, it is likely to reflect in similar success the next day. It matters little if we remember the actual dream, the lesson has been learned and will unconsciously benefit the ego’s knowing in the challenges of the day ahead. Sometimes the experience of deja vu reflects this awareness, that I have been here before; yes, in my dreams!

Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, such as simply having to pee, our soul may be called abruptly back to the body before a dream is complete, or before the body is ready for reintegration with its soul. This is often experienced as a powerful waking vibrational state in the consciousness of the energy body, as it is confronted with the physical body’s inability to move.

This is a very temporary out-of-phase experience that quickly passes, as we are restored to full body motility. Should this happen, simply realize what is happening, stay calm, and await the transition into familiar normalcy. It may take a few moments. It simply reflects the recalibration of soul with physical body.

Whether we are aware that we are in our soul state when physically sleeping or not, our soul has its rich experiences, which both rejuvenate mind and body from the prior day’s activity and present guidance and exercises to prepare us for the coming day’s challenges. We can enhance and more volitionally participate in these journeys if we cultivate the intent to remain conscious in our dream and out-of-body states.

As the outer world continues its major transformational activity at this time, relativity and dream space offer us avenues of exploration and preparation to meet the challenges of oncoming time in waking reality. Intend awareness in your energy body and see what happens! The soul offers many blessings.

Pleasant dreams,

Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: The Dreamer Behind The Dream

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Gathering and deciphering the jewels…

I am deeply thankful to the dreamer behind the dream who leaves me with my last dream, closest to waking consciousness, that will guide me to clarity in making a most painful but necessary decision. In the movie Lincoln, Daniel Day Lewis’s physical representation of Lincoln leaves no doubt that he was crucified by the weight of his decisions. However right, we must all bear the pain of our decisions. Lincoln’s only solace, as a visionary acquiescing to his role in correcting the course of human affairs, was in knowing, at the deepest level, that his decisions were really not his at all, but were his own surrender to the dreamer behind the dream.

This morning, I pondered Einstein’s theory of relativity and the dreaming body, wondering if it was worthy of a blog. I opened William Buhlman’s book, Adventures Beyond the Body, at random. The dreamer behind the dream winked at me as the page I opened to had the heading: Einstein’s Dream! So, here it is. Now that was an easy decision!

Einstein proposed that time simply is relative. If we traveled in a spaceship at the speed of light for 40 earth years, we would actually only physically age several hours of earth time. Nonetheless, we will have had experiences of the equivalent of 40 earth years in those few hours. We will return young and refreshed, while earth and those upon it would have aged 40 years. This is what happens in our dreams every night.

As our physical body enters sleep, our dreaming body takes flight through universes of experiences—we are indeed multidimensional beings. In but a few minutes of earth time we will have traveled through years of dream experience. Years ago, I realized that if I tried to remember all my dreams in the night there was no time left in the day for anything else. My current intent in dreaming is to journey with awareness and bring back only the most important key elements. Every night presents new opportunities for journeys and discoveries.

Dreaming with awareness is the science of the 21st Century, though actually it’s just a rediscovery of ancient knowledge and practice. For instance, the ancient Hindus knew more about relativity than Einstein. The dreaming body, what the Hindus call the astral body, is actually capable of traveling beyond the speed of light, breaking Einstein’s cardinal rule that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. In an instant the dreaming body can project itself to the moon.

Often in dreaming, the dreamer behind the dream takes charge and sends us to waking consciousness with strange experiences and symbols, challenging us to crack the nut open for our answers to dense reality problems—that is, the problems of waking life. These strange jewels are the gifts accumulated through a night’s dreaming, as we travel through our life in other dimensions. They are meant to guide our decisions, which in turn will effect our greater interconnected whole being. In my dream, the dreamer behind the dream presented me with just the jewels I needed to make both my most challenging decision and the decision about what to write for this blog.

We discover through these journeys in dreaming that we are never alone, and some day, I’m quite certain, we will all meet face to face with the dreamer behind the dream of this infinite adventure. Until then, we are free to enjoy, discover, and explore infinity with abandon, every night, relatively free!

Intend to dream with awareness,
Chuck