Life is but a Dream: Shiva Sutra 3.41, Part 1
It’s time for a thought experiment— ready? Imagine for a moment that you are in a dream, and that this is that rare occasion in a dream setting where you actually realize it. We all know how rare that is, and how valuable that moment is within a dream. And we all know how slippery that realization is within a dream, how an emotion, or person, or sensation can completely distract you from that awakening at any and every moment. So you have to hold onto it, you have to keep coming back to it— this thought experiment— this is a dream, you are in a dream right now.
Usually when we realize we are in a dream we assume one of two things will occur next. Either, A, we accept that we are in a dream and try to fly, or something else that would be fantastic in such a setting. Or, B, we reject the dream and try to wake up, especially if the dream is scary. In this thought experiment, which we are currently doing right at this very moment, we are going to try to entertain a third option— you are in a dream, and you’re not going to try to accept or reject it, your simply going to maintain the awareness that you are in a dream and that’s all. So wherever you are right now, and however you are experiencing these words, that is what is happening in this current dream you are in.
Normally when we look around ourselves we see a world of objects, but since we are in a dream, when you look around yourself you can consider that everything around you is you— its all your dream. This is all a manifestation of yourself, and isn’t that how it feels when you look around right now? Don’t you feel a subtle connection to everything, but without the ego grip you are accustomed to? That’s the witness state, that’s surrender, and that where this Sutra is taking us when it teaches “If you, with continuous awareness, imagine this universe is nothing but your own self, your own nature, then by continuing to meditate in this way, a time will come when you will become one with God consciousness.”
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