Life is But a Dream
by Susan Scharfman
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” – Eckhart Tolle
It’s clear the old ways don’t work anymore. The need to make “me” right and the other guy wrong, to insist that my way is the only way, are fear-phobia habits at the core of most of the civilized world’s problems.
As society becomes progressively dysfunctional, suspicion and fear contribute to the same worn-out behavior patterns. Destructive as they are, the familiar feels safe. When we focus on our differences rather than our essential oneness, we are not allowing our true self to be.
To Be or Not To Be
Many people question William Shakespeare's existence, suggesting that someone else wrote his plays and sonnets. Intriguing for scholars maybe, but does it matter who wrote them? A literary genius was at work in Stratford, England in the sixteenth century. That person brought incredible joy to hundreds of millions down through the centuries, throughout the world and in every language. There is no doubt he was someone in touch with truth of what is.
In “As You Like It,” you hear the familiar: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.”
How many times have you felt your life a dream in which you are on a treadmill, or simply drifting through life like the clouds in the sky? You make your entrance and your exit without ever having known what you missed—your Divinity.
Here’s the Bard at work again in Hamlet, Act II. “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” I reference this quote often to make the point that it’s the busy mind that gets in the way of knowing our Divinity. Only when we stop thinking, stop focusing our attention on the noise machine (thoughts/mind), do we know the stuff of which we are made, our essence–pure consciousness.
You Are Not The Doer
A reviewer once said of actor Jude Law’s performance on Broadway: “Hamlet is 400-ish years old. How does he stay so young?” Apparently every reviewer has fallen in love with Law’s earthy performance. And when entire American audiences can understand and enjoy Mr. Shakespeare that's a bloody miracle! When a performer is that good, you know he isn’t the doer. Ask any artist, ask any writer what happens when they are in touch with their creative self. When I am writing, I am not doing it. I don’t hear or see anything outside myself. Whatever comes forth comes from the source within, not from the thinking mind.
So Who’s Doing It?
It isn’t about telling ourselves to stop thinking. That’s a sure path to insanity. Some people find peace and quiet in meditation. That’s a good thing and I do it as well. But you can also be in touch with your inner stillness while your eyes are wide open—as long as your mouth is closed. Stop talking, be quiet, be present. Present awareness is our Sacred Self, always with us even as we listen to someone speaking to us.
Among many child psychiatrists, Dr. Edward Hoffman, author of “Visions of Innocence” found in his research that children have insights and experiences that leave them with a remarkable sense of certainty regarding spiritual reality, with lasting influences that shape their lives. When I was eight years old I floated out of my bedroom, down the stairs and out into the city streets, passing people who did not see me. My parents said it was a dream. Though I can’t explain it, I’m convinced otherwise. There were many mystical experiences in my adult life including an appearance of my deceased stepmother.
The Consciousness We All Share
Commenting on his Album “Magic,” Bruce Springsteen told N.Y. Times reviewer A. O. Scott he had a “re-infatuation with pop music.” If you’re a fan of Springsteen, you will applaud this album. But its somber declarations are ubiquitous and a depressing reflection of the present mood of the country.
In contrast, when guitarist Grammy winner Carlos Santana appeared with Los Lonely Boys at the Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, here’s what he said:
"When you come to see a Santana concert, it’s a celebration of the highest things we are as humans. We need bands that are accentuating the Divine side of human beings. Spirituality doesn't only belong to the Dalai Lama, or to the Pope. We all have the ability to create miracles. All of us are wired to heal ourselves and our planet."
We can all celebrate the highest by embracing what we have in common, our oneness; in this way we can know at the deepest level what miraculous beings we are.
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” – Eckhart Tolle
It’s clear the old ways don’t work anymore. The need to make “me” right and the other guy wrong, to insist that my way is the only way, are fear-phobia habits at the core of most of the civilized world’s problems.
As society becomes progressively dysfunctional, suspicion and fear contribute to the same worn-out behavior patterns. Destructive as they are, the familiar feels safe. When we focus on our differences rather than our essential oneness, we are not allowing our true self to be.
To Be or Not To Be
Many people question William Shakespeare's existence, suggesting that someone else wrote his plays and sonnets. Intriguing for scholars maybe, but does it matter who wrote them? A literary genius was at work in Stratford, England in the sixteenth century. That person brought incredible joy to hundreds of millions down through the centuries, throughout the world and in every language. There is no doubt he was someone in touch with truth of what is.
In “As You Like It,” you hear the familiar: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.”
How many times have you felt your life a dream in which you are on a treadmill, or simply drifting through life like the clouds in the sky? You make your entrance and your exit without ever having known what you missed—your Divinity.
Here’s the Bard at work again in Hamlet, Act II. “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” I reference this quote often to make the point that it’s the busy mind that gets in the way of knowing our Divinity. Only when we stop thinking, stop focusing our attention on the noise machine (thoughts/mind), do we know the stuff of which we are made, our essence–pure consciousness.
You Are Not The Doer
A reviewer once said of actor Jude Law’s performance on Broadway: “Hamlet is 400-ish years old. How does he stay so young?” Apparently every reviewer has fallen in love with Law’s earthy performance. And when entire American audiences can understand and enjoy Mr. Shakespeare that's a bloody miracle! When a performer is that good, you know he isn’t the doer. Ask any artist, ask any writer what happens when they are in touch with their creative self. When I am writing, I am not doing it. I don’t hear or see anything outside myself. Whatever comes forth comes from the source within, not from the thinking mind.
So Who’s Doing It?
It isn’t about telling ourselves to stop thinking. That’s a sure path to insanity. Some people find peace and quiet in meditation. That’s a good thing and I do it as well. But you can also be in touch with your inner stillness while your eyes are wide open—as long as your mouth is closed. Stop talking, be quiet, be present. Present awareness is our Sacred Self, always with us even as we listen to someone speaking to us.
Among many child psychiatrists, Dr. Edward Hoffman, author of “Visions of Innocence” found in his research that children have insights and experiences that leave them with a remarkable sense of certainty regarding spiritual reality, with lasting influences that shape their lives. When I was eight years old I floated out of my bedroom, down the stairs and out into the city streets, passing people who did not see me. My parents said it was a dream. Though I can’t explain it, I’m convinced otherwise. There were many mystical experiences in my adult life including an appearance of my deceased stepmother.
The Consciousness We All Share
Commenting on his Album “Magic,” Bruce Springsteen told N.Y. Times reviewer A. O. Scott he had a “re-infatuation with pop music.” If you’re a fan of Springsteen, you will applaud this album. But its somber declarations are ubiquitous and a depressing reflection of the present mood of the country.
In contrast, when guitarist Grammy winner Carlos Santana appeared with Los Lonely Boys at the Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, here’s what he said:
"When you come to see a Santana concert, it’s a celebration of the highest things we are as humans. We need bands that are accentuating the Divine side of human beings. Spirituality doesn't only belong to the Dalai Lama, or to the Pope. We all have the ability to create miracles. All of us are wired to heal ourselves and our planet."
We can all celebrate the highest by embracing what we have in common, our oneness; in this way we can know at the deepest level what miraculous beings we are.