That you find yourself reading this article (perhaps with enough curiousity to read it twice), has not occurred by accident. In the right place, at the right time, conditions align. Such may be a sign that the real YOU is becoming weary of playing the persona you have erroneously assumed yourself to be. It may, indeed, be time to awaken to true Self and knowingly recognize that you are not the egoic self of name and form with whom you’re familiar. How can this possibly be?
From the human perspective, it’s often convenient to believe that we are responsible for the favourable circumstances of our lives. We naturally assume credit because it feels good to do so. However, when unpleasant circumstances arise, we may wonder what we did to deserve such horrible conditions, or blame ourselves for being fools. Upon the shifting sands of ever-changing circumstances, we attempt to forge rich and fulfilling lives. From the point of the Absolute, nothing occurs by accident. As challenging as this may be to contemplate (much less accept), the nature and quality of our predominant thoughts and beliefs have everything to do with the apparent events that arise in our lives.
To help deepen our understanding of our essential nature and of how events–both personal and collective–occur, I offer the following passages:
“We do not wake up into a really waking state. In the waking state the world emerges due to ignorance and takes one into a waking-dream state. Both sleep and waking are misnomers. We are only dreaming. True waking and true sleeping only the gnani knows. We dream that we are awake, we dream that we are asleep. The three states are only varieties of the dream state. Treating everything as a dream liberates. As long as you give reality to dreams, you are their slave. By imagining that you are born as so-and-so, you become a slave to the so-and-so.”
(I Am That,” by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)
***
“Is there any reason to doubt that our dreaming mind functions uninterruptedly throughout the twenty-four hours of our time, that is, from birth, or before it, to death?“
(Why Lazarus Laughed, by Wei Wu Wei)
***
“You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality. Is it your decision to do so? You recognize from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep. Yet the instant you awaken you realize that everything that seemed to happen did not happen at all. You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to were violated while you slept. Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to another, without really waking?“
(A Course in Miracles, by Helen Schucman)
***
“No one doubts the reality of the world. They see trees and mountains, and they are certain that all of it exists. Only when this certainty is challenged is the dream doubted. Wake up, and find it was a dream.”
(Wake up and Roar, Satsang with Papaji, by Eli Jaxon-Bear)
***
“Every appearance on the physical or astral plane is just a dream before the soul. It is ignorance when it takes this experience to be real.”
(The Heart of Sufism, by Hazrat Inayat Khan)
***
“The fact of the matter is that our waking reality is as much a creation of our mind as our dreams.”
(The One in the Mirror, by Ramesh S. Balsekar)
***
Dear Readers: To identify with the perspective of the person is to invite suffering. Life may proceed smoothly for many years; but circumstances eventually change. When we recognize That which we truly are (Spirit, Awareness, Consciousness), we process the circumstances of life more easily. To help this occur for YOU is the reason that I share this information.
The One had no other way to apparently become a multiplicity and diversity of various forms except through the power of imagination. You are not who you think yourself to be. You are an Infinite Being, dreaming a human life. When our attention is turned inward, we can recognize a much deeper dimension of Self. The Bible states this in Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.” Through Grace you may realize that NOW.
Dare to Dream (and care for one another).
With heartfelt regards,
Art
Copyright © – 2023 – R. Arthur Russell
P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. My YouTube videos may be found through this link. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. 🙏🏿🧡
Think2wice 
Thank you, Art, especially for this from Balsekar: “The fact of the matter is that our waking reality is as much a creation of our mind as our dreams.” A good way to start my Tuesday morning. 😊
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You’re very welcome, Victoria. Yes, I’ve read many of Ramesh S. Balsekar’s books and found them very helpful (especially when it comes to our essential nature). He worked alongside Sri Nisargdatta Maharaj for many years; and then the Maharaj finally asked him to give talks about Oneness. Ramesh found great wisdom expressed in the teachings of Wei Wu Wei (Terence Gray)–especially through this book entitled “Open Secret.” 🙏🏻
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I appreciate the thought-provoking perspectives you offer, Art.
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I’m glad that you find them useful or interesting, Michele. My purpose in sharing them has become very clear: I truly hope that “beings” will be able to know themselves at a much deeper level. We are not the body-mind, aka “person.” The person is within Consciousness. To awaken means to awaken from the dream of personhood. It’s an knowing–not a belief. 🙏🏻
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“By imagining that you are born as so-and-so, you become a slave to the so-and-so.” This line is great. I love the collection of thought provoking quotes you’ve shared here art. I must say when treat my life/existence as a kind of dream – a deep peace washed over me. Thank you for helping us wake up Art 🙏
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Thank you, AP2. I’m so glad that you found the content helpful. What you shared about a deep peace washing over you made me smile. It seems like a sign that you’re awaking from the delusional belief in being the person. I’m attaching the link to a video I made about my enlightenment experience in case it can be of use to you. 🙏🏻
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