Shall We Dream?

This much is certain – Spirit is never going to allow us to stop evolving this side of enlightenment.

Since this fact is inescapable, I want to suggest practical ways in which we can move towards Christ-consciousness. This involves both aspects of the space-time continuum. I suggest that, as individuals and as groups, we need to create sacred spaces and sacred times.

Can you find a special place (forest, mountains, river, lake, ocean, church, mosque, temple) where you feel the presence of the numinous? Visit it often, alone. Then reproduce it, on a small scale, in your home. Dedicate a room or a corner of a room and make it a sanctuary. Honor its sacredness by creating a special ambiance there through icons, flowers, incense, a water feature.

Visit it often, alone.

Then you can begin creating sacred times. An ideal to aim at is:
1. One hour each day
2. A half day each week
3. A weekend each month
4. A week each year

Most of us could create all of that time simply by reducing our TV, radio, or newspaper time. It actually is not that difficult to achieve, and the results are immediate and amazing.

So what will you do in that space and at that time? Why, dream your dream, of course!

Dreams come in many guises through many kinds of exercises. They come through fantasizing, through active imagination, through silence, through meditation, through gardening, through creative writing.

If your dream is too small, scrap it.

The energy that fashioned our universe (and according to quantum mechanical theory, innumerable others) loves a challenge! Your wildest imaginings won’t put the slightest dent in its abilities. A source that gave us William Butler Yeats and daffodils, hippopotami and supernovae is not going to scratch its head in frustration at your modest request.

But your dream has to be in alignment with your beliefs. If your beliefs tell you that your dreams can’t come true, then the universe can only give you back your ambivalence. If dreams don’t shape your beliefs, then certainly beliefs will shape your dreams.

Everything of value in our world has been contributed by those whose dreams modulated their beliefs. Jesus called this dream-belief, “faith” and assured us that the energy which made mountains could shift mountains when this faith was applied.

All frustration in the world is the outcome of the gap between dream and belief.

There is no more wretched person on the planet than one who doesn’t have the courage to set out in pursuit of the dream. And this courage only comes when beliefs and dreams are aligned.

So, how to “follow your bliss?” First, you’ve got to “. . .leave your father’s house.” This was Jesus’ teaching about the first stage of marriage. It means you have to step outside the box which has defined you up to now, whether that is a body image, a sense of self, a cloying relationship, or a dead-end job. It means listening to love not to fear. And it means having a plan to translate the dream into real life, e.g. what mentor do I need? What timeline have I in mind? What will be my very first action?

And as you set out, remember to not selfishly trample on other people’s dreams in the pursuit of your own. Of course, there will be people who choose to be upset and even alarmed at the changes you are making. They will attempt to force you, persuade you, or guilt trip you back into the old box. That, however, is their stuff. As long as you are sensitive to their real rights and your real responsibilities, you can ignore the outraged protests of “I liked you better before,” or “I’m glad your poor old mother isn’t around to see you now!” As Brendan Behan the Irish playwright said, “F. . . the begrudgers!”

Finally you must dream a dream for Gaia. The truly great dreams are the ones that come through us for her. As, in the past, the shaman dreamed for the tribe, today we dream for the planet. For far too long Gaia has been living in a nightmare dreamed by small, fearful minds. If you want to dream the greatest dream of your life, dream a dream of a quantum leap in planetary consciousness.

Victims define themselves by their personal nightmares; visionaries define themselves by their cosmic dreams.