Which is the Dream?

I am fascinated by dreaming!  I have now taken several courses on dreaming and I have read about forty books on dreaming.  Shaman and medicine men/women believe that this world that we walk in is the dream, and that what we see in dream time is the reality.  Some of them base this belief on the fact that when several of us are in the same situation, for example, a conversation or argument, each of us will have a different view and memory of the incident.  However, if two of us have the same dream, and if we are both in it, our memories of the dream are usually the same.

The following story is quite thought provoking.  What do you think this story says?

 

This beautiful picture of dreaming is from creoleindc.typepad.com

Dreaming

The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a butterfly fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality as a person. He was only a butterfly. Suddenly, he awoke and found himself laying there, a person once again. But then he thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"

Happy dreaming!

Many blessings,

Judy

A Story About Prosperity

  Picture of prosperity from www.deplicque.net

We all have different ideas of what prosperity is.  The www.thefreedictionary.com defines prosperity as “the condition of prospering; having good fortune”.  You see, I was writing a workshop on healing with different energies from trees, and several trees are associated with prosperity. Given that some of these powers were attributed to the trees by our Ancestors, I wanted to make sure that the definition of the word was the same.

I then came across a Zen Buddhism story that put everything that I know about prosperity, wealth, riches, and abundance into perspective.

I hope that you enjoy this story!

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A rich man asked a Zen master to write something down that could encourage the prosperity of his family for years to come. It would be something that the family could cherish for generations. On a large piece of paper, the master wrote, "Father dies, son dies, grandson dies."

The rich man became angry when he saw the master's work. "I asked you to write something down that could bring happiness and prosperity to my family. Why do you give me something depressing like this?"  

"If your son should die before you," the master answered, "this would bring unbearable grief to your family. If your grandson should die before your son, this also would bring great sorrow. If your family, generation after generation, disappears in the order I have described, it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness and prosperity."

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Many blessings,

Judy 

Word of the Day is “Primal”

  Sea or Sky?

Picture from www.windows2universe.org

 

Today, in my meditation, the word “primal” kept coming up in the images that I saw and the words that I heard.  The images moved from pictures of forests and animals to caves and mountains, and then to oceans and skies, with a mix of people and birds and fish.  The movie in my meditation would have made Disney proud!  And, I heard the word “primal” in different voices, tones, and chants.

When I completed my meditation, I went and looked up the word at www.thefreedictionary.com because I wondered if I really understood what the word meant after the visions that I saw.  Here is the second meaning of the word.

primal - having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state; "aboriginal forests"; "primal eras before the appearance of life on earth"; "the forest primeval"; "primordial matter"; "primordial forms of life"

I realized that the message that was in the meditation was that I needed to understand all that was primal – in me, around me, and that I really need to allow it to be part of me.  I realized too, that what we see as primal or not primal is simply a judgement, and that perhaps two primal things – like the clouds and the ocean in the picture above look exactly the same from a distance.  I think that sometimes we are too close to an object to see it as it really is.  I am learning that I am all that is primal.  The closer that I get to that feeling, the more alive (the more life) I seem to have, and my energy abounds.

I am sure that I do not understand everything that I saw in my vision.  I am still working with the idea that there are three primal colours, and all the rest of the colours are shades.  I have many images that I need to work with.

I am so grateful, however, that “primal” entered my life right now because I am looking at everything in its aspect of newness.

Have a primal week!

Many Blessings,

Judy