ZEN Dreaming!

Quote by Chuang Tzu:

"I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky: then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?"

I've read this quote many times and always felt a special connection to the meaning of it. Often times when we are in our dream state, we are somewhat conscious at the same time and there are momentary lapses when we wonder are we dreaming or are we awake? 

I often daydream about when I die coming back as a loving energy, with the spirit of a butterfly or a hummingbird, to bring happiness and delight to those dear ones that I've left behind. They may say: am I dreaming or am I awake experiencing this momentary delightful visit from such a special gift of nature.

You may wonder, I know I often do, about where we really go when we dream? Is it our sub-conscious, are we unconscious, or are we in a semi-conscious state? Why are there times when we feel as if we are aware of what we're dreaming even while we know we are sleeping and not awake? And why sometimes do we easily remember our dreams as if they were reality; all the smells, the shapes, the colors, the people, all that we experienced? Then other times we can't get back to that place in our mind, or in that state of dream consciousness, to even recall what the dream was about, even though we have the sensation of what we felt, we can't recreate the actual images or people or situations that we dreamt about? 

I think dreaming is so fascinating, I would love to explore more about the dream state in human beings? I wonder if other species dream as humans. I remember many times watching my dog and cat sleeping and acting as if they were chasing something, or seeing something in their dreams! Is it just our imagination that creates these alternative realities while we sleep? Why are there some days when we don't dream it all? Why are there some dreams when we dream them, we know that they include bits and pieces of our day, and an entirely new story emerges which includes all of those happenings throughout that day creating different perspectives? 

What are we to deem from our dreams, are they lessons, are they clues, what exactly are they? I know there are many books written about dreams and the meanings of dreams, especially the recurring dreams that people have. It's all very fascinating and I would love to try to figure out what my dreams mean on a deeper soul level. There is another quote I recently read that intrigued me by James Allen: “Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”

There are times when I wake up and I just want to go right back to sleep, to get right back to that dream because it was so pleasant and delightful. I am grateful that most of my dreams are really good ones. If I remember them and take time to delve deeper, I can usually glean some kind of reason why I dreamt it. I'm very grateful I don't have nightmares, and I wonder why some people often do. I believe our dreams encompass our lifetime of experience and psyche of our soul, going all the way back to our childhood, and I guess we're continually working things out every night in our dreams. 

I wonder if there's such a thing as dream therapy where in the middle of the night the therapist can be informed of what you're dreaming, as you're dreaming it. Such a therapist would have to be a mind-reader, how would they know what you're dreaming unless you woke up to tell them? Of course we can keep a dream journal, and in a therapy session later, work through our dreams and nightmares, but it would be so interesting if in the moment of dreaming, you could get some therapeutic insight, and then go back to sleep and work through that same dream within the same time frame? It surely would be a powerful technique to heal deep past soul traumas and fears.

All in all I'd have to say dreams are extremely fascinating and I'm grateful to enjoy them, and see inside my soul each and every night when I go into that dream state or dimension. 

I love those moments when I might think, am I a woman dreaming of being a butterfly or am I a butterfly dreaming of being a woman?  Keep on ZEN DREAMING!