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| ~ ღ ~ Awakening From the Dream of Life 2/2 ~ ღ ~ |
During several subsequent years, I began to observe my surroundings even closer than before, and what I found was shocking to say the least. Whenever I looked around, no matter where I looked, I saw people sleepwalking through their lives, with each passing day, fervently and relentlessly running in the “rat race,” denying themselves of what they really wanted on the inside. What I mean by the idiom “rat race,” is that most people seem to be so deeply immersed in their busy daily lives, running against time and keeping pace with time and deadlines, tough competition, latest trends and what is popular that they have very little, if any, thought of the deeper aspects of life — or time and interest for that matter, you see?
As years went by, it became ever so clear to me that most people live through their lives in an unconscious state, which means that such people aren’t aware of their life as part of a bigger context within a larger whole; they repeat the same activities daily with little or no conscious control over them. Now, having said that, it is paramount to emphasize that being conscious is not about being physically awake — many people are physically awake, yet living unconsciously; to live consciously means being aware of everything that may have an influence on one’s life. And, yes, whilst living unconsciously, these people are part and parcel of society, and they fulfill that purpose and function exceedingly well, if not too well — being part of a machine that grinds mercilessly day after day, week after week. This, in turn, helps keeping people’s focus on the endless and pointless pursuit of material satisfactions, which inevitably always, ultimately, without fail, ends up with disappointment, thereby strengthening and deepening the vicious cycle.
The conclusion being: one doesn’t need to have a keen eye for detail to see that most people seem to live their daily lives with little thought of who they are, why they are here, or where they are going. One can easily get the impression that most people are, indeed, moving through their lives completely unconscious, without present moment awareness. Isn’t it fascinating that all too many accept the work-eat-entertainment-sleep-and-repeat-cycle as life and have no desire for a deeper understanding of it? Isn’t it intriguing that hardly anyone is wondering what we are actually doing in this world? Isn’t it interesting that all too many have no desire for a deeper understanding of our purpose in this universe? Isn’t it intriguing that all too many accept the status-quo and settle for less?
Indeed, from cradle to grave, people are sleepwalking through their lives — as though this would be the default setting, as it were. Whether unable or unwilling to wake up, people are slumbering in an illusory dream, day after day, week after week. It’s like people in droves would go about their day in ‘autopilot’ mode, as though people would voluntarily prefer to live their lives in an unconscious state. It is no wonder, then, that the cycle of repeated birth into mundane existence prevails. As we have learned earlier in the book, this chain of lives or “samsara” as it is called in Sanskrit, refers to the idea that human life is a repeated story, or a series of stories that are more or less related, intertwined and interconnected; the one we all have been caught up — a dream from which we are unable or unwilling to wake up.
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This perpetual cycle of interconnected and interrelated chain of lives is caused by a lack of knowledge, lack of awareness, and most of all, ignorance that is caused by our desire for fulfillment outside of ourselves, grasping at fleeting experiences. Now, let me ask you this: Is it not true that we all want the same things in life: health, happiness, and love — very much in that order, and most of all, contentment and fulfillment? Is it not also true that none of them are dependent upon external factors such as money or belongings? Yet, the peculiar thing is that most people seek these things from the world outside themselves through various means, methods, and activities. And so you see, when people are looking outside, they never have to look inside.
And so it goes that yearning for fulfillment outside of ourselves only generates more desire, making the cycle of desire a continuous, perpetual self-sustaining loop. As such, we continue to embody ourselves, or be reborn in this infinite and eternal universe as a result of these unfulfilled desires — the chain of births lets us resume the pursuit, until such time when we can become aware enough to awaken from this never-ending dream, and realize that we ourselves hold the key that can end this perpetual cycle, resulting in the cessation of suffering that arises from our ignorance of the true nature of reality, and which is caused by our desire and attachments — see?
Influenced by external stimuli, external circumstances, primal drives and desires, people don’t really understand how precious human life really is — far too many take it for granted — failing to see, recognize, and acknowledge the immeasurable value of human life. Whether people don’t have the time or interest, or they are just simply ignorant. Either way, their attitude and actions are keeping the vicious cycle alive — keeping them distracted, keeping their minds focused on anything but the true nature of their existence — preventing them from seeing the true value of their lives. As a result, most people have never realized the True Self — our innate Spiritual Nature, the Living Essence beyond name and form, words, ideas and thinking.
All this leads us to conclude that, it is, indeed, possible to Awaken From the Dream of Life; it is, indeed, possible to realize our True Self, and it is, indeed, possible to become free of suffering. Awakening from the dream of life is simply becoming aware; and being aware, each moment, of what we are doing as we are doing it, of what we are thinking as we are thinking it, and how we are feeling as we are feeling it, you see? Remaining aware each moment is Self-Mastery, which can eventually lead to Self-Realization and Self-Actualization. Thus, if we awake from the illusory aspect of life (dream — unconscious, unaware state), the quality of our consciousness is elevated; likewise, the quality of our mind is elevated, and in turn, the quality of our thoughts, words, and actions is elevated.
It is only by becoming more aware, more conscious, of ourselves and our surroundings, which will lead us to grow and evolve, realize our true potential, and fulfill the telos of human existence. This is something that can only be achieved through awareness, and hence it is important to highlight the following truth: all development and progress, growth and maturation — whether spiritual, mental, or physical, comes from within the individual. This goes on to say that spiritual development is a process like any other — it arises from discipline and continuous self-improvement. Mindfulness, meditation, concentration, and contemplation are the keys through which, and by which, one can make real progress — see?
It is through these methods that one is able to discover their true essence, which is just pure beingness, pure awareness — unchanging state free from all ideas, concepts, and definitions. And so it goes that of all the words we have in our vocabulary, awareness is best suited to describe our core essence, for you see, whatsoever you can see, whatsoever you can understand, and whatsoever you can interpret — will not be of much use. This is because the seer is not the seen, which goes on to say that whatsoever you can see — you are not that. This includes thoughts, feelings, dreams, desires, memories, imaginations, projections, and so on and so forth. What you are, though, is awareness; and awareness is transcendental to all that it can see — the observer is beyond the observed.
