If life is a dream, who's the dreamer?

[snowflake]

If life is a dream (the dream of form like Eckhart Tolle says), then who is dreaming?

When I'm asleep and dreaming, the people in my dreams aren't real. They exist only because I'm dreaming about them. So as the observer of my reality, does this mean that the people in my life and the people I see all around me are just manifestations of my observation? But then does that mean that I'm alone and dreaming all of this? Are you all part of my imagination?

But if we all exist and all see reality through our own eyes, then are we all in each other's dream or is there just one dreamer? If reality is created by each observer, then how is it possible that two or more people can look at something and see the exact same thing, like a pink flower for example?

[Josey]

Eckhart Tolle also says that Humanity is One organism.
One Dreamer dreaming lots of dreamers.

Is anything but this moment real? There may not be a world “out there”-save for the Dreamer’s dream. We’re in the fiction section.

[snowflake]

So if there is only one dreamer, that means we are not separate and that separateness is an illusion. So if it's an illusion, that means that every person I see, is actually me. I am my mother, my father etc. and they are me??

[Anagogy]

Originally Posted by snowflake

So if there is only one dreamer, that means we are not separate and that separateness is an illusion. So if it's an illusion, that means that every person I see, is actually me. I am my mother, my father etc. and they are me??

Yes, this is true. With one caveat:

Your own ego is also being dreamed!

So the real "you" is more expansive than is immediately apparent. Your mother, father, ect. are not less real than the ego known as "snowflake". We are all parts of the dream. For some people, this engenders fear about what happens when the dreamer "wakes up". Is this the death of that individuality I have worked so hard to create? But there is no need to fear -- not only is waking up completely voluntary, your REAL self is not the ego you perceive yourself to be. The dreamer is the real you, and it is eternal. When the time comes to awaken, it will be accepted without fear as the natural next step in the spiritual game of evolution.

The analogy of humans dreaming at night is useful to a certain point, but its important to not encumber the universal dream with the limitations inherent in a human's dream. In a human dream, we tend to only experience one singular first person perspective. That is all we are used to experiencing, based on our human adventures. The Dreamer (and here I am referring to the universal dream) is not encumbered by such limitations, and is effortlessly capable of entertaining an infinity of conscious first person perspectives. It has no inherent limitations or boundaries of existence. It is literally an opening into infinite energy.

[Ariel Bravy]

Originally Posted by snowflake

If life is a dream (the dream of form like Eckhart Tolle says), then who is dreaming?

Dreams are arising but who is the dreamer? Things are being done, but who is the doer? Thoughts are being thought, but who is the thinker? Choices are being made, but who is the chooser?

The biggest and most fundamental assumption is that there is "someone" dreaming/doing/thinking/choosing. There is no one here!

This is what asking "Who am I?" shows us.

Not that we find the self who is doing all this, but that there is no one here. Nothingness. Emptiness. The unmanifest.

It's all just a play of form and formlessness arising within awareness.

Originally Posted by snowflake

When I'm asleep and dreaming, the people in my dreams aren't real.

Yeah, this is a fascinating thing about the way the mind works. It, for whatever reason, thinks that physical reality is more real than the imagination, than day dreams, than night dreams, than astral projection, than visualization, and so on.

It's amazing... a beautiful dream of one dream being more real than another.

Originally Posted by snowflake

They exist only because I'm dreaming about them. So as the observer of my reality, does this mean that the people in my life and the people I see all around me are just manifestations of my observation? But then does that mean that I'm alone and dreaming all of this? Are you all part of my imagination?

That's it! The whole world is but shape, color, and sound overlaid upon the empty screen of consciousness.

Originally Posted by snowflake

But if we all exist and all see reality through our own eyes, then are we all in each other's dream or is there just one dreamer? If reality is created by each observer, then how is it possible that two or more people can look at something and see the exact same thing, like a pink flower for example?

Somehow, awareness has this ability to become aware of itself through an infinite number of angles.

There is one awareness. Ultimately one eye. One ultimate I.

Like one infinite observer peering through the eyes of billions of humans. One seeing.

How this happens mechanically, I really don't know yet. This mind hasn't yet caught up to what is being clearly seen, and that is okay. Not sure if it ever will or if it even needs to.

It's kinda like knowing gravity exists and having it be utterly obvious, yet not yet having the full mental understanding of the science behind mass and gravity.

All I can tell you is that it just works this way. There is only One observer, despite appearances.

"The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me." -Meister Eckhart

This quote makes me smile. It's SO bang on...

An infinite number of dreams with one infinite awareness. It's all the One playing with itself, in the biggest game of masturbation ever. It's all the One looking at itself, in the ultimate case of narcissism ever.

LOL... I love this game!

[Ariel Bravy]

Originally Posted by snowflake

So if there is only one dreamer, that means we are not separate and that separateness is an illusion. So if it's an illusion, that means that every person I see, is actually me. I am my mother, my father etc. and they are me??

yes and no... this is where is gets a bit hairy and getting into the nature of non-duality using words becomes more tricky.

Everything is everything.

Every individual thing is actually All That Is, right then and there. The cup is all of existence. The body typing this message is All That Is. The body/mind reading this post is All That Is.

Because snowflake is All That Is and snowflake's mom is All That Is, and snowflake's dad is All That Is, everything you can name is everything else in existence.

It's not that the "me" called snowflake is actually the "me" called mom or the "me" called that, but because that which you TRULY are is so much deeper than that limited sense of self that appears, everything is actually everything else.

And everything is nothing... but that's a whole 'nother can of worms...

[Anagogy]

Originally Posted by Ariel Bravy

yes and no... this is where is gets a bit hairy and getting into the nature of non-duality using words becomes more tricky.

Everything is everything.

Every individual thing is actually All That Is, right then and there. The cup is all of existence. The body typing this message is All That Is. The body/mind reading this post is All That Is.

Because snowflake is All That Is and snowflake's mom is All That Is, and snowflake's dad is All That Is, everything you can name is everything else in existence.

It's not that the "me" called snowflake is actually the "me" called mom or the "me" called that, but because that which you TRULY are is so much deeper than that limited sense of self that appears, everything is actually everything else.

And everything is nothing... but that's a whole 'nother can of worms...

Ariel, from your perspective, why does duality arise?

I really like asking people this question because it usually yields interesting and thought provoking question/answers.

[young]

The fact you think there is a dreamer is what causes suffering.

There is only dream! No-thing is experiencing it.

[Ariel Bravy]

Originally Posted by Anagogy

Ariel, from your perspective, why does duality arise?

I really like asking people this question because it usually yields interesting and thought provoking question/answers.

Duality arises with the creation of a sense of self, of "me."

My thoughts, my actions, my creations, my reality, my consciousness, my awareness, etc.

Thoughts, actions, creations, reality, consciousness, and awareness can be experienced dualisticaly or non-dualisticaly. What matters is if there is a buying into the thoughts of if there is "someone" here to experience all of it. Even a someone who is "one with all that is" is still another someone with a sense of identity of this as opposed to that. It's a "unified me" as opposed to a "separate me." No, it's about dropping the me altogether, not simply changing its identity to a more spiritual one.

It is only when there is an energetic contraction around something which arises and an identification with that contraction as the "me" that the world of duality arises yet again. When you separate yourself from All That Is, the world of duality is born.

I've written about this separation process in more detail here, looking very closely into the creation of the self.

Watching a Separate Self Be Created | You Are Truly Loved

It is by undoing the illusion of self, not by silencing the mind, that the world of duality vanishes.

[themaster]

Originally Posted by snowflake

When I'm asleep and dreaming, the people in my dreams aren't real. They exist only because I'm dreaming about them.

They do exist.. or they are apart of you..

Originally Posted by snowflake

But then does that mean that I'm alone and dreaming all of this? Are you all part of my imagination?

We are all apart of you.. as you are of us..

Originally Posted by snowflake

If reality is created by each observer, then how is it possible that two or more people can look at something and see the exact same thing, like a pink flower for example?

They don't always see the exact same thing.. they can disagree about anything.. they can also agree.. I'm sure from the flower's perspective it doesn't feel pink

[Jaiysun4]

I just wanna say that in my opinion Ariel Bravy has described it really well!

[Anagogy]

Originally Posted by Ariel Bravy

Duality arises with the creation of a sense of self, of "me."

My thoughts, my actions, my creations, my reality, my consciousness, my awareness, etc.

Thoughts, actions, creations, reality, consciousness, and awareness can be experienced dualisticaly or non-dualisticaly. What matters is if there is a buying into the thoughts of if there is "someone" here to experience all of it. Even a someone who is "one with all that is" is still another someone with a sense of identity of this as opposed to that. It's a "unified me" as opposed to a "separate me." No, it's about dropping the me altogether, not simply changing its identity to a more spiritual one.

It is only when there is an energetic contraction around something which arises and an identification with that contraction as the "me" that the world of duality arises yet again. When you separate yourself from All That Is, the world of duality is born.

I've written about this separation process in more detail here, looking very closely into the creation of the self.

Watching a Separate Self Be Created | You Are Truly Loved

It is by undoing the illusion of self, not by silencing the mind, that the world of duality vanishes.

Thanks for the response and link to your article. I have a couple of questions about it.

Foundation

At the core (heh.. there is no core, there is no center, but I don’t know what other word to use…), there’s this vast emptiness. Literally nothingness. Just an infinite spaciousness.

Within the space, everything arises and everything passes. Everything exists in the nothingness, the same way that all form in physical reality is surrounded by space and even full of space.

Within nothingness, bodies appear, thoughts arise, and all temporary passings show up within the eternal silence.

Why do the thoughts arise and disappear?

Clinging Begins

The question “Who am I?” then arose in thought and some answers arose accordingly, and they all just passed through with some, but very little clinging, and they were quickly let go of when the clinging was recognized for what it is.

One answer which came up was, “I am no self. There is no self here. Nothing is here.”

The mind then took this idea of “no self” and made it into a something to identify with. At first this something was let go of and it passed right on through, just like everything else, except there was a temporary resistance in order to hold onto it as it passed through.

From your perspective, would identifying with All That Is also constitute a form of "self" or would you define that differently?

So what exactly is this false sense of self?

It is the concept “I” as something that can be defined, and anything that one would possess, such as “my” energy, my body, my thoughts, my consciousness, my opinions, or anything else that one can be in possession of.

For example, “the keys that are being held here” is a very different statement than “my keys.” You can even play the disassociation game to help make yourself more conscious of this difference.

The separate self is identification with something that arises within nothingness, including even the idea of nothingness, which is yet another subtle ego trick.

An idea is something. Nothing is not something. This is KEY!

I like a lot of what you write, but I'm still not altogether clear how the illusion of duality arises from the emptiness you spoke of earlier.

What is the impetus for identification in the first place? That's what I'm really curious about.

[Jack]

Ariel Bravy:
Every individual thing is actually All That Is, right then and there. The cup is all of existence. The body typing this message is All That Is. The body/mind reading this post is All That Is.

Is All-That-Is same with awareness-nothingness or is All-That-Is below awareness-nothingness level?

[Ariel Bravy]

Originally Posted by Anagogy

Why do the thoughts arise and disappear?

Because it's impossible to have an experiential reality otherwise. Thoughts are an inseparable part of Creation.

Without thought, through the intense negation of what is, one finds themselves in the Void, in nothingness, completely and utterly devoid of any thing whatsoever.

All these dream worlds require thought to arise from the Void.

Originally Posted by Anagogy

From your perspective, would identifying with All That Is also constitute a form of "self" or would you define that differently?

All That Is is beyond mind, and yet it includes it. The mind's identities exists only within mind, and are thus inherently limited compared to your true nature, even if your identity is "All That Is" or "The infinite."

Can a mind even wrap itself around the concept infinity?

Infinity can be felt and recognized by going beyond the mind, but it can not be understood or explained.

Regarding identifying with what you really are, a baby doesn't have to identity with "open, free, loving being." It just is by its very nature. The identity, once learned, is secondary to being, and actually quite unnecessary to actually be what you are.

Yet adults try to go in reverse, by imagining what an "open, free, loving being" would be like, and then trying to shoe-horn themselves into a mental concept of how they should or would like to be.

What's being suggested is to look beyond any mental concept, allowing the concepts to point beyond themselves to that which is nonconceptual, and recognize that you are that.

You are what you are, regardless of if you identify mentally with your true nature or not.

Originally Posted by Anagogy

What is the impetus for identification in the first place? That's what I'm really curious about.

Seems to simply be part of how the human experiment operates.

It's almost like we put on a costume for halloween, and then forget that we're actually the person inside the costume! We experience a pretty intense form of forgetfulness, forgetting that which is beyond external appearance.

Being a limited self is yet another way All That Is can experience itself... by being that which it is not: finite.

It is through the contrast of finding out what we are not that the grandeur of that which we are is that much more deeply appreciated.

You yourself are the greatest gift imaginable.

[Ariel Bravy]

Originally Posted by Jack

Is All-That-Is same with awareness-nothingness or is All-That-Is below awareness-nothingness level?

If there was anything that was outside of All That Is, would All That Is still be All That Is?