Paul Levy

If we have an unconscious wound in our psyche, when we go to sleep at night, this wound will definitely show up in some form in our night dreams. For our night dreams are nothing other than our inner process projecting itself out into and as the dreamscape. In exactly the same way, we dream up our unconscious wounds and incomplete processes onto the screen of our waking life. To quote Jung, "everything unconscious, once it was activated, was projected into matter- that is to say, it approached people from outside."

To the extent that we are disconnected and dis-associated from ourselves, we are incongruent, which will evoke and attract other peoples projections and processes onto our out of phase inkblot, as we get dreamed into a role in their dream, and they in ours. We unconsciously react to and amplify in our waking dream exactly what needs to be played out so as to express in embodied form our inner process. We all project, or dream onto the inkblot of life, connecting the dots in such a way as to literally "dream up" into materialization our very inner process onto and as the seemingly outer universe.

Christ says "Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am." To be gathered in his name is to see beyond the illusion of the separate self and realize that deep down, we are not separate but are actually interdependent and interconnected. This realization collapses the boundary between spirit and matter, between the inner and the outer, between the self in here and the world out there. This is to literally find ourselves inside of our own mind and realize that we are dreaming.

To realize that we are dreaming is to recognize that everyone seemingly out there is nothing other than an embodied mirrored reflection or emanation of ourselves that we've projected outwards so as to see and interact with it. This is what Christ means when he tells his followers "A mirror am I to thee that perceivest me."  The word "mirror" actually means shadow holder, and this points to the profound connection between the shadow and awakening.

Being that the inner is the outer, to the extent that we are inwardly polarized, we will marginalize expressions of the shadow in the field, afraid that they are the source of disharmony. This point of view insures that these shadow energies get unconsciously acted out in a problematic and separative way, perpetuating the very problem we are seeking to avoid.

If we are fortunate enough to hang out with people who are awake as to this process, we have found the true mystic sangha of the Buddha, where "everything you do to the least of my brethren you do unto me."  We can put our realization together and begin to welcome and embrace these formerly marginalized energies, recognizing that the inevitable eruption of the shadow in the dreamfield paradoxically belongs to all of us as well as not belonging to any of us in the ultimate sense. This is the place where the boundary between our separate, personal processes and the group, or collective process dissolves, and these unconscious shadow energies reveal themselves to be the hidden source of our deepest gifts, waiting to be unfolded. To the extent that these shadow energies become consciously seen, worked with, and embraced, their omnipotence and autonomy is taken away and they become integrated and assimilated into our psyche, which is nothing other than true incarnation. Like genuine alchemists, we have liberated their energy, making it more available for the creative celebration of love.

Paul Levy is an artist whose medium is dreaming. A healer, he is in private practice, assisting others who are spiritually awakening. He will be speaking on "Awakening in the Dream," at New Renaissance Bookshop on October 20^th. He can be reached at 503-234-6480.