The Dream, the Illusion

A reoccuring dream I have is that I am living in a city called Abilene.  I had parents when I was very small that told me my name is Diane. I lived in a lot of other places, did so many amazing things, and I think that my memory of it all is real.  In this dream  it is the present,  and I am  57 years old, a female, and I am married to a wonderful man.  We share our lives with three dogs and two cats.  I have three grown daughters. It seems and feels so real. Within this dream, at night I lie down  in a comfortable bed and I dream other dreams about other faraway places, doing amazing things like flying, ice skating, and playing with childhood friends, all while my physical body lies still on the bed. The night dreams feel just as real as the daytime dreams.

Then I awake within this dream and I think that I am in a physical body.  I believe I am awake, while actually I am living in another dream. Tthe illusion that most of us have, though, is that THIS dream is what is REAL. 

 Most people never understand this.  They keep creating an illusion of having a life, sometimes one full of problems, suffering,  and sometimes fleeting happiness that comes and goes. Think of this:  how can you have a life when you are Life? 

"Wherever it leads you, it will be a dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the world, and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of the dream and not another. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs be done."

                
              ~Nisargadatta Maharaj