Analogies | You Are Presence

You are dreaming that you are chased by a werewolf in a dark forest, you feel fear, and you try to find a shelter or a weapon, it is all very real for you, but is it? What are the components of that experience? We have the chased, the chaser, the forest, all the emotions and thoughts that arise, and…the dreamer, the witness.

If we dig a little bit into the nature of the dream experience we realize that the substance of the dream is not to be found in its drama and content but in the essence of the witness. Many movies can be projected on a screen but the screen always stays the screen, it is not affected by the movie. The chaser, the chased, the emotions and thoughts present in the situation, and the forest are one, in essence, they all arise in and from the consciousness of the witness.

If, while dreaming, you realize that you are essentially the witness experiencing a dream then you are having what is called lucid dreaming. You realize that you created the chased, the chaser, and the dark forest. You were identified for a time with the chased but now you might, if you want, become the chaser or the bat in the tree or you might even…try another dream 🙂

The analogy of the dream can be used to approach the nature of our daily experience as a defined individual, a mind, in a body, in a world. Are we dreaming? Who is the witness? Could awakening be a form of lucid dreaming?

The analogy of the dream can be used as a seed of meditation to approach the reality of Presence which is essentially witness and witnessed, the One reality behind appearances.

Calwen

If approached correctly from an intuitive level, as an analogy, the little experiment I am describing here can act as a powerful doorway to PRESENCE.

Ask a friend or your partner to hide a little object under a box in front of you without telling you what it is.

In order to label an object, the mind needs to be able to frame a couple of attributes for that particular object, for example, its colour, its weight, its size, its shape. Because it is hidden under the box all the attributes of the object are unavailable and obviously the mind can’t label it. But does it really prevent you to acknowledge the reality of the presence of the object? if you pause for a little while and look at the box it will become very obvious to you that the presence of the object cannot be hidden from you, only its attributes. Although the mind cannot label the object, you can feel that the object is present. It does not need to be perceived by the senses to be present, its presence is just self-evident.

This analogy can be applied to Presence. It does not need to be labelled or “found” to be present.

WHAT IS does not need to be acknowledged, found, recognized or approved to BE THAT WHICH IS.

Calwen

You Are Presence

Beyond Spiritual Awakening

Category Archives: Analogies

Presence and the Dream Analogy

Presence and the Hidden Object Analogy