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Dear readers, rather than asking you a question I would like to ask your opinion on the following subject.
The Toltec, a pre-Colombian culture, stated that we are a dream of God. We can also be his nightmare and what distinguishes the good dream from the nightmare is our presence in this world. In a way, fulfilling our personal legend brings us closer to the good dream of God.
Yet many don’t do that and they blame others for this frustration: they put the blame on their family, on their boss, etc… Of course, all these excuses prevent us from doing what can truly fulfill us.
So, share here your opinion on this issue: where is society heading to? Are people fulfilling their personal legend or do you think that – on the whole – people are still paralyzed by the fear society infuse in them?
Lorca (about La Rambla): “the only street in the world which I wish would never end.” Also – an intermittent water flow… The same feeling is when you meet the same Soul after many centuries. And then you know: love lives.
La Rambla, the Columbus monument… Here standing for the first time, I remembered Bogota – the capital of Colombia. In my dialect “As asmu bogota” means “I’m rich”. And that’s how I feel: “Bogotá (rich), 2600 meters closer to the stars.” — That helped to see Santiago’s Star Belt: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. That brought success to him.
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Did I tell you about the Chimney Sweeper from Casablanca? I met him far away. He was also wearing black… and the ladders were always with him… But can imagine? – he didn’t believe in happiness!
“Could scarcely cry ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
(…)
And so he [Tom] was quiet; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free (…)”
/Songs of Innocence, William Blake/
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All shepherds meet in their “C a s a b l a n c a”. The road to it is made by Daedalus. It starts in Ithaca and ends in Arcadia. There [in Arcadia] you can meet Urania.
well as much as we try and analyze we’ll never be able to decifer God and His creation. But we are all on the same path but different distances. We are all,some unknowingly, ultimately driven to that mystic power. to fulfill our dream. that one thing we believe will give us eternal happiness. we all have had our share of fears n some moved ahead some still stuck. our journeys are alike essentially.
and to overcome ur fear is what makes us grow spiritually.
I thinK many man of today are falling to met the dream of and it is because of that, tha makes us get confused and stuck at many points of life, here bellow, is my opinion and sorry that it’s very long.
Where are we? With the quest to know where we belong, looking around on all the seeming negative and positive attributes invented by men and we find ourselves here by ourselves, individually with fragile critic minds, perhaps thinking we’re stuck or we’re the best progressing amongst all the Guru’s lore’s, waiting to tackle some deceivers down.
There is a deceiving protocol in a human spirit that cannot be seen even with tries of physicians, and cannot be denied, it just depends on what experience of life you’ve gathered so far. It’s very sweet when it plods through the mouth and awareness should be a must in every man.
The unnecessary pillars of religions (impacted like a race of different endemics) cycling our minds and we know there lay the labyrinth contrary, since we began to understand the roots of life is when our quest to where we came from and where we’re going began. We were just thrown in the maze and got polluted with muddled arts of men, but the way is one way forward, there are keys in these mazes in our minds and somehow we’ve got to find them and utilise them wisely as life goes on.
There are keys of revelation, the revelation of the masterwork of the Creator, meditation though considered as funny or tripe, the way you want to call it if you’re a critique of it, it is one of the solutions. You can be able to communicate with the high power and make changes in whatever situation you’re in or someone else.
After all, seek not the end of creations; if it is difficult don’t go far, the beginning is the only alternative, good to the end, the end will be at the beginning. Seeking the way to the end would never extend us to the superior of the Creator, but leaves us extremely unsettled with firm obstacles high than where our planes inventory had ever reached, the rocket launcher or whatever beyond, however knowing, the importance and advantages of virtue.
We’re not alone in this world and had never been, whether in a closed cave or an abyss, there is air you’re breathing there, and it has eyes.
In other way, let’s live the present not by stuff that is beyond way forward, or to come after us, however aware not to spoil or to be spoiled the virtue that had been bestowed in our spirits. Ephesians 4 v 13-14 says (Till we all come to the unity of faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.)
Here we see the Government corruptions, the religions boasting up on the other hand, save criminal activities, prostitutes and all to do with sins. This drives me to think of this Beelzebub story, when Jesus, says, if Satan drives out Satan, how can a kingdom stand? Well, the ideal here is how can humanity be equal and happiness prevail, when amongst in the law, there are people who are possessing corruption. Yes, the ones who distribute drugs and yet there are calling up “Drugs erodes your future—stoooop!” anti prostitution, when amongst them some are contended with various sorts of sexually diseases that had been gathered from a lot they slept with. And in religions, someone here is calling, come God is here not there, this is vanity, not all who preach good things are capable of doing it, they is something drawn there by deceiving.
We know there are many with this, there are many today and many there had been and the blame for us not getting exactly the first call, we shove it back to those who had lived before us and the one’s still following their steps.
We know we’re right, there are the once to blame. That’s where the truth we seek today began to be corrupted and where are we today? Seeking or mending, if we’re mending or the better picking up the pieces. We’ve got an interesting subject then; have ever one try to seek a pen in his hand latter to find out how stupid he had been?
Well, I guess that’s where we are, maybe, nothing is lost and nothing is broken, we’re trying to find a spot in things that had been purified already, thus spoiling with too many footprints which are to be followed as well by those after us.
Many of us don’t accept the radiance of glory within us; we resist it, we live by men made naturalism, we fall in their wit tramps. History has got it all, but, all the centuries that had prevailed, truth and liars got mixed together like the grains of sugar and salt and should we let our offspring keep on inheriting what we have. I know this is very complicated, but if we don’t, then the worse has them.
As the scripture of John mentioned, at the rejection of Christ by the Pharisees, behold a high Priest came and said.
“Nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish”
The Pharisees knew of the advent of Christ, but when Jesus emerges amongst them, they couldn’t believe, I guess they expected a star to fall from heaven to earth, claiming it is the Son of God or an extraordinary UFO to make rounds attracting every eye before it launches on the earth.
Now is the time, now that you’ve grown up in too many complicated experiences of life, now is the time, for you and me to ask ourselves where we are? Of course, do so, all what your sight and hearing had collected to now on, by how I had explained bellow, muster the works of gathering and group them as group A, that you had accepted from others, mark as, B. Now, what had you achieved so far? Which group has the highest elements that had kept you strong and achieved the best you have? And is that the best you had wished all along? Are you satisfied? Didn’t they brainwashed you? Or you had found your own truth? Or you still got a lot you want to learn?
The truth is, it’s not enough what you’ve got so far, no matter how old you are, in your thoughts you still determine to extract the aspects of life, because you know there is a lot in it, by doing so you’re wrong in some levels, for some of these things you seek to know are none of your business, there are the creator’s business, stay away this hurts! Unless you’re strong, reader, go on tell us, where are you?
pleasant nights and good days.
Am reading some other replies now and want to add some things :-)
I do think we all have our personal legend, and only ones heart can tell what that is.
And I also think that it is important to let go of set religions…study them all and take what makes sense to you.
Amen.
Sorry for being so not modest.
My humble opinion is that it has lots to do with how one gets raised by their parents. If they let you totally free in dreaming and following those dreams, without any interference, it is a lot easier in later life to continue following you own heart. Ok, you bump your head a couple of times, but at least you feel free.
Tossing out the tv helps. And realising how much we get brainwashed all the time helps, and always second guessing what one tells you.
I also think we all have the entire universe within each and every one of us. Like a wave, that’s not an individual thing even though it has it’s own name, but it is part of the ocean..we all know that. I think we are the wave. And I think as soon as we accept that, and we all love others like we love ourself, the world will be one big happy dreaming family all fullfilling their life in the different ways we were meant to. And no dictator will be able to do anything about that than.
But maybe I believe in fairytales too much…
Well, most people grow up with expectations, and then it depends how free you are in the spirit….. I belive – how much you can follow your inner light.
Me, I started late in life to free my spirit. Some people do not like that, because their expectations must be corrected – when I correct my life, and that is a threat to themselves, they loose what they have – and do not always like what is new.
So my experience is that both sides will come into situasions that are less comfortable, and fair is one of the problems I/we have to fight against. Well, since it is my will to change, I can go throught that, worse for those who wants everything to stay as it is in their life, and get colored of my choices. It is like people get addicted to each other.
In sociaty, well – not popular either. People get suspicious, and it raise questions about your person/personality. Feks if you are trust worthy, a dreamer, so on…. The small steps are hardest, but worth it, then when it become natural for myselves, it is easier, and will become natural for others.
Best regards May Tove
Best regards May Tove
I think that most people are paralyzed by fear and thus fail to follow their personal legend. I, for one, am one of those terrified at the prospect of not becoming a successful businessman because I have dreams of becoming a writer like you. With the incessant focus on material well-being and accumulation of political power, how am I supposed to suddenly gain the strength and insight to undergo a journey of discovery and inspiration and authenticity?
(What happened to me that set me on the path of my personal legened was a humiliating bankruptcy, a painful breakup, a cancer diagnosis, a case of alcoholism, and a host of other demonic episodes that almost led to my suicide. What kept me alive was the understanding that these things had to happen so I could follow my personal legend unencumbered by the past.)
Where is society heading to? Are people fulfilling their personal legend or do you think that – on the whole – people are still paralyzed by the fear society infuse in them?
God is not a leader, but I read that the Bible teaches God speaks to us in 3 ways: prophesy, dreams, and the thummim and urim. You taught me that by telling me about the thummim and urim and then I searched to find that information about the Bible.
I don’t know what is so important about hearing God’s voice or fulfilling God’s purpose for us on earth, if he has one, but I do know that I used to have leaders that I looked up to and responded to, but that I don’t have leaders anymore. I lost the leaders whose every word I would hold dear because they didn’t teach me the very important information that I have on girasas and they won’t allow me to teach them what I learned and so they don’t know me or understand me.
Now whenever I go somewhere I am looking for new leaders; in every face, at every gathering, in every meeting. When I find the new leaders, I think I will be happier.
God held me as a follower and now it’s hard to change.
I believe the majority of people still lack to fulfill their personal legend. However, even though we still have a long way to go, before we realize that we can anything we choose to believe, somehow we are moving toward a new era where, intuitively, we perceive and are more attuned to the fact that there is something beyond of what our five senses and comprehension can understand and explain.
Our world and life on the earth are in need of a huge shift in perception of how powerful we all are, and, apparently, more and more like minded people are coming together and the movement is growing fast.
On the other hand, even thought today we have science to support the belief that the power is within us, I believe a long time will pass before the old paradigm can be broken. Unfortunately, the idea that our power is controlled by something we cannot change, for example our genes, will continue to paralyze and victimize an impressive number of people.
Love,
Rosanne
What a grand gesture it is to label the history of our own failure as “having chased other people’s dreams”! Today’s nightmares were actually our own (stubbornly cherished and defended) dreams of yesterday. Why is it that we only come to the conclusion that we were wrong and followed a faulty path when it does not lead us to our goals? Or was the problem rather that we had taken other people’s goals as our own? In any case, the decision to follow that path was ours, and as any decision, there is no bad or good one. It is always the result, in retrospect, which makes its value. The good thing is anyhow that everybody seems to agree in that we need to dream to survive this world, even though very few actually take the time to “sleep” so to have the possibility of dreaming. We run a lot. We are becoming more and more like airline passengers who finally get to their destination, just to find out that their luggage has not arrived, and even more disturbing, when complaining to the crew, we find out that we didn’t even check in any!!! Anyhow, we are all becoming member of the cult of “odd-ones”. We love to cherish the different, as long as it is not us. The choice of being different is ours, has always been, and will be in the future. We are not paralyzed by the fear which the society infuses on us. We are (if ever) paralyzed since it is the easiest way to be social, to add to (or at least not take away, and hence be different) the homogeny of the society. What a nightmare it would be “not to belong”, right?!! We wouldn’t have the replacement of the family which we love to have, an institution which honestly has not been well for some time. Here is a new idea: Why don’t we all start making our own decisions and live with the consequences, and at the end of our days be proud that we lived the life and saw the answers instead of chasing them in our dreams?
It seems that most people are playing a role. Or running on a rodent’s wheel. But I’ve read recently that the worse it gets in that way, the closer we are to a change for the better. And I hope that is true.
It is not the question to be asked that where are we heading ? It is the question to understand where would we land up.
I do not know if God exits in this world but I certainly know that I exist. I am here and some where deep inside me there is another person who always talks with me.
I do not know if that person is God, of Super God or Father or just me.
The inside person who always I want to opens his door and lets me in. He never says no, he never dislikes the food, he never dislikes the environment, he never dislikes the face I see around the world, he never dislikes the smell and he never dislikes anything. He is perfect- a perfect human being.
He never tells me that weather or not I should do anything for him. He is very pure and he is very kind. He for me is like the father who can give me advice all the time.
Always listening to him, makes me think that, “It is my mood that creates the climate”. It is me somewhere hidden to come out and show to the world that I am what I am and not what others makes of me.
But, as I see others- I try to see same me, as they are also the human beings as I am. But again, why do they do look different? Why are they upset with there job, with there boss or even with there wife?
What is wrong with them when I do not see any wrong on me? What is the wrong with the food when it does not speak anything by itself? What is that we think we should do all the time when we should think about that perfect man inside us?
Why to get angry with other person when you cannot talk with the best person inside you? or Do you even know it exits? or May be we think him as if a God or Diving or Supreme.
Whatever it is, Whoever it is, It is inside me; it is inside all of us. We just need to think if he exits.
We are not heading anywhere and God will not ask anything from us. He only shows us the path, this path is based on truth. When somebody follows and listens to him carefully, he achieves what he desires, at that moment, his desires are not only his but might be of that perfect man too.
Caríssimo Paulo,
O filho que é obediente e manso, calmo e suave, tranquilo no seu viver, é aquele filho que faz orgulhar-se o pai dedicado, posto que este pai tudo lhe entrega, de todo o mal lhe protege, lhe dá todas as direções e caminhos, lhe dá morada e está sempre a consolá-lo na dura caminhada da vida…
À este filho se diz ser o sonho de todo o pai, como luz que surge ante de toda pergunta e bálsamo para todas as feridas…
Já ao filho ingrato e desobediente, não digno das honras dadas por seu pai, que a tudo confronta sem humildade e em pior momento do proprio pai se esqueçe, fazendo com que toda gloria por ele dada seja em vão…
Este filho torna-se então o pesadelo de qualquer pai.
Sendo assim, somos, ao esquecermos as palavras do Pai, que morreu para nos redimir de todos os nossos pecados, seu pior pesadelo.
Tal como o filho ingrato, somos uma sociedade ingrata para com o Criador e ao esquecê-lo, nos tornamos o pior pesadelo de sua criação.
I don’t think we are so different after all. I think we are all ONE. My dream is your dream, your dream is my dream, you and I are the same DNA segment separated in million of cells that forgot that they are an integer. We are supposed to be one Being, with God as the Person and us providing Him a body. But we are broken and the nightmare comes from the cancer that we areexperiencing. And each and all of us want to grow for himself/herself, like a cancer cell that wants to multiply up to infinity and grow her/his own type of cell despite and against the integer. And this is sick. The society should give the balance and by all means let the personal legends be fulfilled only within the limits of the health of the integer… God has a nightmare, indeed: our lack of faithfulness and true love…
I forgot to talk about personal legends, hehe. To be honest, i’m not totally convinced in the idea of a personal legend. It sounds very interpretational. i mean, i just think that i need to concern myself not with what i Should be doing, but with what i Am doing and Why. it has to do with Freud’s Superego and the Id. How can one be sure that one wants something without being sure of who one is? and relating to my last post (and Nick’s post), if what I am is just a reflection of my version of reality, how can i really be sure of anything? the answer (in my opinion) is to get rid of myself and to sacrifice myself to god, which is what most religions demand. Islam MEANS submission and surrender to God. I think that that’s very practical, because it lets you see more of the world. if you think of your ego as a balloon in front of your face, then the bigger the balloon is, the less you can see, if anything.
I wish i had found this site earlier, hehe.
Thanks, Mr. Coelho. I just bought The Pilgrimage about 20 minutes ago.
il y a peu de temps j’ai fais un rêve.j’étais à la station de la nouvelle gare st lazare,au pied des escalators, la place était vide,et je m’étonnais,”pourquoi il n’y a rien? aucun panneau de direction pour savoir ou l’on est et ou on va ect..?” l’architecte de la gare discutait avec des gens pour installer une sculpture abstraite, mais je ne les voyais pas, et il m’a répondu” si il n’y a pas d’indication c’est pour forcer l’imagination des gens, pour que leur esprit reste libre, pour qu’ils aient le choix.” j’ai ressenti à ce moment dans mon rêve mon esprit se libérer, une sensation très agréable et je me suis réveillée.on n’a la liberté de l’esprit, de découvrir, d’imaginer…à nous de choisir le bon chemin.
i think that in this world, there are many different paths, many different opportunities to learn. i thiink that alot of the time, i miss out on these opportunities because i have a huge ego. i read alot of posts that talked about living your life and understanding that love is the fabric of life; but I will never understand that if i don’t first rid myself of my ego.
Earlier i read this story that Fluxman posted talking about Shiva and the churning of the ocean. i view that story as a churning of ourselves, and the discovery that there is both aspects that we like about ourselves and aspects that we do not like. i believe (probably erroneously because i haven’t experienced much of life)that my ego and even my identity as Anish Parekh is false in the sense that if god is everything (which limits god because my perception of everything is limited) then I am god. if i create my own identity as myself, then i am moving away from my concept of god.
What is society? a whole bunch of people trying to live out their lives? i can only speak for myself, because i have created my identity. Hinduism describes an idea called maya, which states that every perception results in attachment, whether it is a relationship or a physicality. with that reasoning, society to me is maya; it’s an attachment. like Krishnamurti said, my opinion of god is so limited and so erroneous that i might as well not even have one. i think that there’s alot of truth in that. Socrates said that true humility is knowing that you know nothing compared to god. my ego arises because i think that i know more than my fellow humans, but if everyone has secrets that they’ve never told anyone (like i have), and there are around 7 billion humans on the planet, i really don’t know anything about anything. i only know a limited portion about myself, and this identity that i have created to help me make sense of the world.
It’s comparable to how the englishman transformed his thinking concerning Santiago’s learning from the caravan and his learning from books–to really evolve from lead to gold, i must forget attachments that i have to my own knowledge and unravel the layers that i have placed around myself.
Thank you for your book. I’ve read it twice, and both times i went through a crucible.
Firstly, who is to say what is good or bad, what is dream or nightmare? We *think* we know the difference and search for justification for our conclusion, but each step leads forward in just the way that is designed – to wake us up!
What we are really talking about with blame is a victim mentality, yes? I had to have someone really shake me up to make me recognize that my mind was playing tricks on me by convincing me that things were the fault of other people. It wasn’t pleasant – but once I recognized it fully, it became my goal to irradicate it. Having a strong, clever mind – this has not always been an easy task, but attention & progress is what is important to me.
I think for the majority of people “paralyzed” and “numb” can be the same thing. It is seductive to be addicted to comfort. For many it is the search for “Happily ever after”. Who can blame us? My favorite story about the Toltecs was one of initiation. When selected to work with a teacher they were led in dark of night to the top of one of 2 pyramids next to each other. In essence they were asked by the teacher “Do you trust me to guide you? If you do, you must run as fast as you can and jump from the top of this pyramid to the top of the next.” A daunting task that seemed humanly impossible, but it had to be done to start the teaching. I imagine many stopped right then and there. This was the true Leap of Faith. What they didn’t know was that there was water below so they wouldn’t be dashed upon the stones as they imagined. The courage it takes to do the thing we know we need to do can be daunting at best, so I have compassion for the paralyzed and try to nudge them from their sleep when I see them paralyzed in fear.
When I look at most people, I can’t see who they really are because what I see so much in America is people who are playing a part, acting a role, or many roles all at the same time. From an inundation of media, it seems to me that people are confused about who they “should be”, and rather than have the confidence to develop their own spirits, I see so many people trying to emulate celebrites or just trying to look, talk, and be like other people whose lives are validated by society. What I see are sheep, herding together in sameness, and not realizing the great gift of diversity that exists inside each of them. I do not see most people living their personal legends because society, especially this unsure society of America today, does not value the vision of people who want to create and inspire greatness. America demands conformity, while preaching freedom, and while chastising the bold visionaries who come along to show a way to make dreams real. I think many people are disillusioned because things get more hopeless and more frustrating every day: our leaders are out of control, corruption depletes the funds for programs that could be really great for society, and everywhere people struggle just to find a niche where they can feel safe and happy. I don’t see a lot of happy people anymore. I don’t see a lot of people with hope anymore. I see men, who, as Thoreau said, “live lives of quiet desperation.” And sometimes it is not so quiet anymore. People seem angry … hurt … depressed. I don’t think it’s so much that they are blaming others for their lives … well, maybe they are … but I think it’s because they desperately need something to explain to them WHY things are the way they are. So on the one hand, that is good, because it means that really, deep inside themselves, there is a part of them that wants to emerge “from those who are keeping them from their dreams.” What they don’t realize is that all true change comes from within, and sometimes it’s hard, but you have to just let all those negative people go: your friends, your family, society. Perhaps more people should take a personal sojourn, like you did when you went to Anza-Borrego to find your Personal Angel. (The Valkyries) I think this goes back to the Toltecs, in a way. I believe that the Toltecs idea of “dream” is different from mine, or ours. the Toltecs believed that the dream world was real, too. So when they say that man is a dream of God, it means that man lives in a parallel dimension from that of God. Really, I believe that, too. I think that many people would agree, if they thought about this. I think the hope for humankind and society lies with the ability of people to inspire us to develop our greatness; we are all, literally, made of the same stuff as the stars. If humankind really thought a little bit more about who and what we are, we would realize that our dreams are limitless. And just think about what kind of society …what kind of world … it would be, if we all thought that way … :D
While at the library today, I saw a young man wearing a T-shirt that read: “Trying to act like a normal person day-after-day is getting very tiring.” This, I think, is precisely why so many of us are so tired–tired of our jobs, tired of our society, our government, our spouses, tired even of our own faces in the mirror. So many people are so tired, tired of everything, and tired mostly of continuing on as though everything is as it should be and nothing is wrong. So how did this come to be? When did we all grow so weary and life-worn. The moment we stopped taking risks–that’s when. The moment we just gave in to the norms and conventions, and said, “Okay, you win! I’ll do what you want me to do; I’ll be what you want me to be. It was in that moment that we ceased to become, because becoming is something that happens on the inside–like a flower growing. It doesn’t grow from the outside in. And the moment it ceases to grow, it becomes bored–it begins to die. I don’t know it this answer describes the majority of society–I’d like to think not. Essentially, it doesn’t matter. As individuals we can’t change society as a whole, no matter how hard we try. We can only change ourselves. My prayer is simply that I never cease becoming–never, not even up until the day that I shall die.
I meant to tell you all about how these Toltecs made me think of a small town in southern Arizona, named Toltec. Once, I went there to see the new house a friend of mine is building in Toltec. I remember we stopped at a small little shop called ‘Toltec Water and Ice’, to get refreshments in the hot Arizona sun. Very charming. In the shop, locals was talking about how they appreciate living in a rural small town, where everybody knows everybody. This is part of the reason why they chose to live in Toltec.
Now, a huge amusement park, the size of Disney World, is planned in the neighborhood town, Eloy. This park will be named, Decades Music Theme Park, and is expected to bring in several thousand jobs, and pretty much will turn the area upside down. Most of the locals are against the park, but their voice hasn’t been heard. Arizona needs business, jobs and an amusement park, and politicians cannot please the few who actually have built and lived in the area for years and years.
Personally I’m for the park, but I do feel guilty my opinion and the majority’s opinion, will take away the dream of the little local town man, for another dream of the big business man, and also for all Rock music lovers.
Ok. Let me try a Toltec venture, and follow the teaching that life can be a dream of heaven on earth, an expression of every possibility and opportunity. A dream filled with abundance of peace, happiness, grace and love. (www.sherirosenthal.com/toltec.html) By visiting our mind’s asleep-dream, to uncover the real forces that guide our behavior in the awake dream. We can develop a new set of programming for our minds and create a new dream of our own choosing…experience sacred energy… (www.toltecheartwisdom.com/articles/dreaming.html)
***
I woke up this morning from a nightmare. My gorgeous navy blue V8 convertible Mustang had been stolen, and I was deserted in the middle of nowhere, not able to get a lift. The explanation for the dream is easy. When I went to bed last night I had fears of going to work today, because it is Indian Holiday, and all my co workers would be off work, and I would have to be all alone in the office on a Native American reservation. In my head I had thoughts about being raped, about my car being stolen by a youth gang, and pretty much being stripped of anything. The dream helped me over the fear. I looked out of the window this morning, the sun was shining, it was a lovely calm morning. At the reservation, everything was as normal, the natives had their stands up in the marked, and as always were kind and humble and very calm today. I drove through the beautiful nature and did my job as always. And as most of the times, I could through my worries in the trash can, and conclude they had been of no use.
***
Trying to take this a bit further to the question of where we are journeying to? I’d like to share with you I was thinking about the term ‘the Promised Land’ lately. God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis of all the land He will give to him and to his family for ever. This is a metaphor of heaven on earth, a place where complete satisfaction and happiness will be achieved. Traveling for 400 years, Abraham never arrived the Promised Land himself, but his own offspring did. Abraham who had no son, at first didn’t understand God’s promise, but was told to look toward heaven, and count the stars, and then he’d have an idea of how his family would multiply. Because Abraham believed in the Lord, in him all families of the earth were blessed.
***
Some Native Americans still feel very hurt how they were robbed their sacred Mother earth. Please, help me all forces of the universe, to communicate to them, to move on and get over it. Let their anger towards the white man go. Please stop their self destruction and bring back to life the beautiful culture in the dept of your soul.
En realidad creo que somos un sueño de Dios, de no ser así, como podriamos explicar las cosas maravillosas que nos suceden a lo largo del camino…Como todo sueño, creo que la sociedad está cumpliendo su trabajo al paralizarnos ante la busqueda de nuestra leyenda, el sueño de Dios nos es manifestado a traves de señales que no siempre logramos comprender, pero que de igual forma están allí para ser vista por los que realmente creen en Dios.
Creo que de cada uno de nosotros dependerá dejar que la sociedad nos detenga en busca de nuestro sueño, poniendonos siempre cualquier excusa, cualquier artificio, e incliso explicaciones científicas que no nos permitirán ver el camino que nos guia hasta nuestra libertad, nuestra verdadera felicidad.
A pesar de ser un sueño de Dios solo en nosotros está la verdadera respuesta y el verdadero poder para seguir adelante y triunfar sobre las ideas de toda civiliación.
Estimado Sr. Coelho,
Recuerdo en Mexico, cuando era pequena, el miedo que me inculcaron, desde desobecer a las hermanas en el colegio, hasta a los adultos y en catecismo a tenerlo miedo a Dios como si fuera un anciano rabioso y como dijeran en Espana, un mala leche que solo esperaba agarrarme en mi proximo error. Hasta muchos anos despues, en mis 30+ empece a darme cuenta de que el miedo que me inculcaron no era otra cosa mas que una manera de mantenerme en linea y controlarme… mas adelante empece a pensar que quiza la sociedad en si, tiene miedo del cambio pues el status quo da una continuidad.. Dicen en Mexico “Mas vale diablo por conocido que angel por conocer”….. Sin embargo los ancianos comenzaban muchas de sus frases con ‘ojala hubiera’….
Y las cadenas de la esclavitud pensamos no se pueden romper… mas Dios no crea nada defectuoso… estoy convencida que nos ha dado a todos las habilidades necesarias para romper un eslavon… el eslavon que no solo nos dara libertad a nosotros mismos, pero a las futuras generaciones…. la pregunta es entonces…. estamos dispuestos a pagar el precio de la sociedad para aduenarnos de los suenos, las ilusiones, el Camino que nos ha puesto Dios enfrente?
Como en el Camino de Santiago, tomamos el autobus cuando estamos ampollados y muertos de cansancio pensando que no llegaremos al proximo albergue?…. o nos tomamos un descanso y tenemos una charla con Dios… claro, en el silencio donde le podamos escuchar? y mas aun…. le seguiremos o le daremos pie a la pereza?
Cual es la legacia que quiero dejarle a mis hijos?
Of course Paulo there are a lot of people out of there personal legend. To be in is the hardest part of our life, but i do belive it is also the most excited and pleaseble thing to do. So unfortunatly people sink their lives trying to have what the society wants, they show to them that they are happy, because of this they wake up happy everyday and live how never they had to live (Dalai Lama).
Muriel, follow you heart.
When we are coherent, we stop being ill and peace come to our soul.
Big hug!!
I believe people are paralyzed by fear, I am a lot of the time, but I also believe there is a change happening, I again learned something this morning, I was having a fight with my daughter about going to school, she said she was ill and I told her she wasn’t ill enough to stay home and started shouting to her, she then said: “why are you shouting”. She said a lot of things that I didn’t want to hear so I shouted more and went on about respect and that she couldn’t say those things as I was older and had more experience in life. After walking away I started thinking, why had I said that to her, why did I get so angry, she had spoken the truth, had pointed out my weaknesses and I had gotten worried that if I let her stay home, people would say I wasn’t a good mother, I couldn’t go out and see my friend like I had planned to, so she was right I was being led by my fears and selfish thoughts, and then denied that to her and asked for respect, what was I doing I now asked myself. So I’ve told her she was right and that I didn’t want to hear the truth, and that it was the fear of what others might think that made me shout. I told her I was sorry for shouting. I told her it had hurt me to hear it but that I will try better to control my fear before shouting at her. I am not sure if I am doing the right thing and doubts come flodding into my head because I was taught differently as a child, but on the other hand I believe that if I cannot be honest with my daughter how can she learn to make a change in the world of tomorrow. Because it is full of fears and lies and I cannot do anything about it unless I start with myself. I find it difficult but it feels right.
Yesterday I got rear ended by a van. Fortunately I was not hurt but the car was. My first reaction was anger and frustration because I can’t work without a car and I lost money I could ill afford to because I couldn’t get to my clients. But as I calmed down I remembered the dream I wanted to manifest, had committed to manifesting – one of love, abundance, health and joy – and realised that if I could not do it right then when could I?
So as I waited for the breakdown services to arrive I realised the sun was shining (a rare event in Britain this summer) and decided to enjoy that – after all I could have been inside with clients. Once I was home I determined to continue enjoying the weather and just being in it and bringing that joy and love to the earth. THat afternoon I was offered two courtesy cars, the insurance company took care of everything, a solicitor paid for by my insurance told me I could reclaim the money I lost and all I had to do was be present and answer the phone.
God dreams through us, and each of us has the ability to create a better dream no matter what the circumstances. I am very greatful for the opportunity to prove that to myself.
Love and blessings
Rebecca
P.S.
And I think that oportunism is also one obstacle on the way of fulfiling personal legend, weakness of going against wind, against current…not fear.
Also I think that youn generation is stronger in their wish to follow their own path, to combat for it and not easily give up their dreams.
That is the reason they love your books, your words, your filosophy.
Love
Luce
Dear, dear Paulo,
I think that society is heading towards new way of living and not towards its destruction.
As so many generations before us, sometimes we think that world will finish with us.
IT WILL NOT !
It might finish for us if we do not fulfil our personal legend as you call it.
I do not think that fear has anything to do with it but lazyness and inertia, the Jante Low and commodity of everyday life though it might be boring.
LET US GIVE SOME CREDIT TO YOUNG GENERATION IT IS THEIR WORLD TOO…!
We should give them hand and faith and hope and love, make them stronger, not fill them with doubth, hate, nothingness and expectance of catastrophee.
I love you for your strength, for your optimism and for your fight !
With lots of love I wish you joy and happiness with all my heart !
Luce
I believe that this new young society is becoming more aware of their surroundings, more open to listening the voice within each of us, more connected with God. My life is a vivid example that some of us are fulfilling our personal legend… getting close to the dream of God. Yes, it is hard to do and yes, it takes a strong mind and soul to overcome the situations that present in front of us to continue focus on the right path; but as I have gotten closer to fulfill my personal legend I have noticed also that I don’t walk alone and that there are so many others trying to do the same.
We’ve created this network of happy souls living in harmony. However, I’ve witnessed also how some of those close to my heart cannot see the big reason why they are in this world and it frustrates me because no matter how much I want to open their eyes they are so affraid to let go their ‘comfort zone’ and they live a meaningless or monotonous life: sleep, work, take care of your family, shop, watch tv, sleep.. and repeat the cycle. It’s terrible!
All of us have a purpose in this world, whether is the one of teaching so the soul matures, guide others so they don’t get lost, or to simply balance the world with virtue and love. We all have a more spiritual and strong task to pursue and I believe we are learnign this in a much larger scale now than in previous generations.
The world as a whole I believe took a nightmare pill. It had a choice between learning through pain and suffering- or a much simpler path of seeing ‘the other’ in the self. Which would project society into a new stage of social evolution. Thus fulfilling humanity’s ‘personal legend,’ which is to realize that we are ultimately creators in an infinite web of potentiality. This however requires man to actually realize that the ’self’ is constructed of three conflicting wants of body, mind and soul. (Which have at times contradictory needs/wants)
We would have to realize that the mind pretending to be the soul will just lead to suffering. That true desire ought to be based on what the spirit would like. Too often we see our egoistic wants to be said ‘personal legend’ and that just leads to an unpleasant experience.
Having said all that, of course the world is scared- Part of this is through information we are fed by media sources and the other is self-induced.
We’d like to follow personal legends, but the idea that others have ‘no’ part in the creation of that legend would be foolish- they do for better or for worse. This doesn’t excuse personal responsibility but it DOES create problems at times.
I do believe it’s possible however to succeed on a personal level and do what one can on a larger scale.
Thanks for the question,
-C
PS- I believe all religions hold that God is dreaming it’s just mysticism has become a dirty word in today’s religions because they’re run by fanatics and fundamentalists.
im elham from iran.
read all of your stories and i love them
I had, in my life, oportunities to stop blaming everything and everyone for my weakness. So I decided to give me a chance. Then for me, the Creation, the Cosmos is a matter of choice. And for those who choose to keep blaming, it is still a matter of choice and they are merely making their part. Everything is relative but God is absolut.
Love.
Acho que tudo tem a ver com o senso comum a experiência quotididana,nós somos obrigados pela regras da sociedade , a não sair do senso somum, se não nos tornamos insanos.
TEMOS que saber como tratar as pessoas com as quais nos relacionamos, temos que saber como nos devemos comportar em cada uma das circunstâncias em que nos situamos no nosso dia-a-dia: a forma como nos comportamos em nossa casa é diferente da forma como nos comportamos numa repartição pública, numa discoteca, num cinema, na escola, etc.
Temos que nos libertar,e enxergar não só a si mesmo, e procurar outras respostas para cada situação, agir de outras maneiras, a sair do “sempre foi assim e assim sera” poderemos ir mais adiante e descobir mais coisas que a vida pode nos trazer de bom´!
É isso…a vida é muito bela e somos nós que a transformamos, somos nós mesmos que levamos o que trazemos.
First, we must free our minds of the thought that man-made rules, passed on through society, are binding on us. It really sounds easier said than done, but it is a necessary first step towards freeing ourselves from this bondage. Personally, it is when I finally surrendered my whole life to God that I was able to do this. This is not to say that I am no longer affected by the opinions of others, but I have learned to take it in stride, and it doesn’t affect my decisions anymore. I pray solemnly to God and magically, the answers appear before me, and no man or woman on this planet can ever do that for me.
Dear All,
i am glad that this question has been raised by Paulo.
:-)
Society? System? Rules? Habits? Expected behavior? Fear? Control over masses? That is all here, it exists around us.
People are blinded, fed with fake informations…they are suppressing their real talents, dreams, emotions, desires..in order to “fit” into system…they accept someone else to guide their way, that is why they rather blame others for their own pitfalls…
To face truth ain’t easy…in order to find God, you need to find true you, your source, energy, your drive, purpose, mission in life…which can serve the best for others…
Be generous, start with yourself…universe will mirror what you show to it…it is neutral..give and you will be given…take and it will be taken away from you
Hey folks,
live your life in truth, don’t just follow the crowd…those who follow the crowd will get only what those in front of them left behind…
Live your unique life on this planet, create your reality, have faith in you, and God will be present in you…
It is scary to realise, that we have great energy force within us…Cherish every sunrise, have your eyes and heart opened…I guarantee you that only then will be able to lead life in your own remarkable way…
Go for it!:-)
Be remembered!
Be different!
Be YOU:-)
Cheers,
i.
Many people are still paralyzed. Human beings find it easier to believe their fears rather than their possiblities. The beliefs popularly dipicted the world over, through all mediums is that society is always to blame.
The world is moving towards efficieny. Everyone expects things to happen fast, if something is proving difficult, it is time to move to something different. The perfect ideals dipicted in the media daily constantly tell the people that things must happen fast. As a result, many individuals spend their lifetime switching from path to path, career to career and, partner to partner. Because accepting imperfection and faults is an idea no one wants to settle with anymore.
i have faith that people will still follow and fulfill their personal legend..one way or another.
There are basically two ideas when considering the dream vs. nightmare question- heroism (in the form of self sacrifice, self actualization, and service) vs. tragedy. Of course, tragic events happen to people who are on the hero quest (Christ, for example, was crucified) and good fortune may visit the tragic hero, but the tragic hero. When someone’s personal legend leads down the path of tragedy, they cannot be happy, and rarely do they take responsibility for their own unhappiness (hence, blaming friends, family, spouses, etc.)… I suppose not realizing your own personal destiny leads to tragedy as well…some people can be happy without realizing their destiny (like the baker in the Alchemist) but many people will have underlying anger and bitterness.
The larger question, where is society headed? Well, there is reasons to be optimistic, and reasons to be pessimistic- the health of the planet is in decline, and a large part of the world feels isolated- they ignore their personal destiny.
However, there are great signs of hope in the world- younger generations feel an obligation to take care of the world and each other that didn’t exist 70 years ago- the world is becoming a global community, and its citizens are realizing that people on the other side of the world should be treated like members of the community.
You can either be part of the solution, apathetic, or part of the problem. There are a lot of people who are apathetic, but they are beginning to become part of the solution, they are beginning to realize that we all are responsible for our actions- they are recycling, using clean transportation, helping the poor, helping those who need help. The universal spiritual concept that we are all one is realized by more people than ever before- muslims, jews, and christians are one- and some actually realize this. Different races, religions, economic classes, sexes, sexual preferences, etc. are all becoming aware of their own connection to the world and its people. People are realizing their similarities to each other instead of their differences, and instead of tearing others down while clawing their way up, people are working together to try and realize the personal legend of all peoples. Perhaps this is the personal legend of the world- I believe it will be heroic, and not tragic.
Namaste.
Fulfilling one’s personal legend is a terribly frightening prospect. It’s scary because we have no limits, and we are all so accustomed to following pre-described traditions and staying within societal bounds. Suddenly, no one is telling us what to do anymore, we only have ourself to turn to. I personally have lived many years suppressing parts of my legend while fostering others, believing the fragments to be the whole. I picked up “The Valkyries” yesterday and it changed the way I view the world. Now I have to find the courage to see what it is that I was created to do. Paulo, I am very grateful to you for having the courage to follow your legend. Sharing your story inspires many to wake up and live the life they have been passing through by rote.
Namaste and much love, Emily
I love the idea that we are God’s dream. I wonder though, after reading the responses tonight…many of you thought that God just needed to be loved. I wonder if, in addition to that thought I might add: Is it possible that s/he dreamed us in order to share her/his love with us? I find it hard to believe that love between God and us would be anything other than a love that is reciprocated.
I saw on a show a day or so ago, Dr. Phil, I think it was, that our average lifespan is 78 years which equates to 28,470 days in those years. I will take it even farther by saying that it equates to 683,280 hours which then equates to 40,996,800 minutes. My little calculator couldn’t do the seconds…I guess my point is this: Why waste one second of one minute of one hour of one day of one year in your life criticizing ourselves because we have to put food on the table and a roof over our heads. I don’t believe that God would ever criticize us.
I try to remember that my life is a gift and to spend a little time in gratitude and thankfulness. Today I am thankful for this body that I inhabit and for being able to place my feet on my path the best way that I know how to do at this moment. And, I am thankful for all of you, your thoughts and this thread that connects us here.
Have a great evening!
Believing in God makes us feel comfort. I understand what you mean by God having a good dream or a nightmare. What makes us act the way we do is our own segregation from each other mostly because of different religious beliefs. All the fears that society infuses in us comes from that, specially politics, but who in the world can judge and say they are the ones who are right……….nobody. We all fight against each other because for some reason we find it better than reasoning with love and peace. We rather argue, fight and blame others because that is easier than taking the time to resolve an issue. It is better to put excuses in this world, it is all lazy but nobody wants to work hard anymore. We all attack each other, race is a big one?……….why???, because society taught us to do that since we were little, specially in history class. Instead school should teach us how to survive in this century rather than teach us to feel guilty with religions or feel sad for other negative things that happened to certain races in history. God will always have a nightmare. I personally don’t believe in one, I’d rather think of God as the energy of all living things. We all have a light, but it is hard to make it shine bright.
I really like all of these replies as they seem to all point towards the same things about. I also like that alot of people are pointing out about the Ego and the part of us that tries to claim our attention as that being who we are. It is only what we perceive as being ourselves because that is the safest way to associate ourselves in this world.
I also love the fact that alot of people talk about God and about him telling us to shed ourselves, and thats so true because what we are in appearance isn’t who we really are and how simply true this tends to be. Shedding ourselves to realizing What we came from, of God the I Am. We are Life and Love, as God dwells in all of us. I don’t think its really a question of obstacles or whats right and wrong because those are only material things, it doesn’t affect who we actually are. The being that resides inside through awareness and consciousness.
I had just recently read about Buddha and his story by Deepak Chopra and it talks about shedding that outter self to realize the divine being within. I think that God is alot bigger than trying to explain whether He is dreaming or not, i don’t think He can even be restricted by such a concept. Our physical bodies can be restricted but whats the difference between this reality on earth and the one we live when we sleep. The only thing that dictates that, that world is a “dream” is that we agree that, that is what it is.
I also tend to agree with the toltec wisdoms (in which I’ve read many of don miguel ruiz’s books on this) when he says that each person makes his own personal hell or heaven through his perception. We are the one who dictates whether bad is bad and whether good is good and just because you hear information from a source doesn’t necessarily make it true. What is true for one person is not necessarily true for another. Its also interesting because in the toltec wisdoms i read about it talks about our inner voice, the voice that we sometimes like to think of as the voice of reason but if it was so reasonable, why would it victimize and judge us so often. So even then, we don’t need to trust our inner voice, just because it tells you that you can’t do something or tells you, that you’re worthless doesn’t make it so. Use knowledge as a tool but not as a structure to live your life. We are suppose to be life and to live through the beauty of everything in life as we are all the same presence or essence rather than be run by a structure that society deams what life is.
No one said the path would be easy, but just like we learn how to be masters of anger or jealous, we can always practice to become masters of what we truly are, which is Life and Love and to dive back into the divine of I Am :) This is entering into the harmonious vibration of the world that is God.
i think people are starting to fulfill their personal legend. love
You said something similar on another blog the other day. That god is a singer and that we are the song and that god is only happy when he is singing. Well, i have been thinking about that for some time now.. You, there are so many kinds of music. Heavy metal, soul, country, blues, and so on.. So, is it really possible to finish with all the nightmares? Is it possible to eliminate all the fear? Wouldnt be fear a kind of music that together with all the others makes the whole universe? Would the universe be complete without the one who is causing fear? Or am i totally wrong? Shouldn’t we learn to accept all the vibrations and qualitys of the music? If i would guess whats wrong, i would say that maybe, almost for sure, we are paying too much attention to fear, lets just change the station, im sure god is singing the good old The Beatles or maybe even Raul Seixas… what u guys think about it? =)