Ask the Author: Question and Response
 

Hello,

In your book "You Have Chosen to Remember," you write about how this reality we are experiencing is more like a mix between reality and the dream state, than a fully real world. Can you please expound on, and clarify that thought a bit more. I found it interesting. Thank you.

- Anonymous, USA
 

From my perspective, there are three possible mental states: the unconscious or dream state, the conscious-unconscious state, and the conscious or awakened state.

1.  The Unconscious or Dream State.

In the unconscious or dream state, your body and mind sleep, but your mind does not know or recognize that you are sleeping. A dream is simply an unconscious mental projection of your mind. There is no reality to it. Yet once in it, you participate and react to it as if it was real. You may be unconscious/asleep, but once your body wakes up, you might acknowledge that you were the creator of the world you participated in, and that you gave definition to every character in the dream. In the unconscious or dream state, you give the characters in your dream all the power they have. You react to them, believing you are apart from them. You become upset with 'them', but what you do not see is that you are upset - not because of what they do to you, but because of what you are doing to and through them, and how you are reacting within your own creation. Once your body wakes up from sleeping, you do not take 'their' little games or insults seriously. You do not hold grudges. Most likely, you do not waste your time continuing to judge or fear any of the people or things in your dream. What dreams can show you is that you have the power to make the world the way you would have it be, and that you are, in every moment, reacting to your own creation.

In dreams of judgment, punishment and anger, you see yourself being attacked by something that is not you. You then perceive yourself as the victim. You take no responsibility for the reaction you experience to the behaviors of 'others'. In your mind, there appears a clear separation: you are innocent, the 'other' person is guilty. This 'other' person is the cause of my reaction, their actions justifies my anger and reactions. You do not see or take responsibility for how the story unfolds within your dreams. You would not react to figures in a dream if you knew that you were dreaming. They can be as bad as they want, but they can have no effect on you if you do realize it is your dream. Applying this lesson to your waking state will set you free. This realization takes away massive amounts of sorrow and pain. That is why the form of the 'insult/problem' does not matter. The answer is always the same, consciously awaken and realize that you are doing this to yourself.

You are the dreamer of your dream. The cause of suffering is then in your mind. Rejoice that this is so. For, if you have done this to yourself, then you can also undo it. How differently will you see the world when you recognize that you are not a victim, that you have control over how you see and participate within the dream?

2.  The Conscious-Unconscious State.

In the conscious-unconscious state, when your body and mind are not sleeping, the body and mind continue to hold onto some of the belief systems of the dream state. And so in this state, the body and mind slip from moments of being awake, to moments of being asleep. In this state, although you are physically awake, mentally and spiritually you are dozing in and out of unconsciousness, in and out of reality. When you doze off into unconsciousness, you experience judgment, anger, stress, regret and any other illusionary ‘negative’ feeling, reaction or emotion. When you consciously awaken, you experience love, compassion, forgiveness and any other ‘positive’ feeling, reaction or emotion. When you doze off into unconsciousness, you are reacting from an unconscious habitual belief system, created in the past, and that you now bring forth and substitute for the present moment. When you are consciously awake - you react, live and participate in the present moment, free from past illusions or future imaginings.

In the conscious-unconscious state, when your body wakes up, the dream is gone, but the belief system that made the dream has not fully left with it. What made the dream is still within you, and so your body wakes up to the same type of judgmental and fear-based world you see in dreams. Thus your ‘awake’ life is really being spent in various stages of the conscious-unconscious state.

If when your body wakes up from sleeping, you are still participating in fear-based attack thoughts - in anger, stress, guilt, regret, etc. - you are still partaking in the dream state without knowing that you’re doing so. You are in a conscious-unconscious state. You see yourself as awake, but you are not consciously awake, you are simply dozing in and out of reality. When you are dozing out of reality, you are still finding judgment and guilt in God’s innocent creations. You imprison yourself in the dream state by holding them prisoners of what you think you wish to see. ‘They’ attacked you, you are the victim here, thus ‘they’ deserve to be imprisoned by your judgment of them. You refuse to accept the truth in them, and instead choose to define each and every person in your life the way you so desire. You create different stories for different people in your dream. You blame them for your reactions to their actions, and do not see that your reactions to their actions are what is truly telling and painting the story of your dream, not their individual actions. And so you, not they, are responsible for what kind of experience you are having.

Just as in your dreams, you are the creator, not the victim of the world you see. For how could you be a victim if you can, in any moment, undo/wake up from the world you made? Every moment brings you this opportunity, the choice to consciously awaken or to remain asleep. The one choice is simply this: Are your brothers and sisters as God created them, or are they who you, through the dream, perceive them to be? Nothing holds you prisoner to the world you see except your choice. In any moment, you can undo the chains, open the cell’s door and walk away from the prison you have made. There are no guards keeping you imprisoned except your choice to separate yourself from the truth of God’s creation. Recognize that you, and your brother and sister are as God created you. That is all you need do to consciously awaken to the world God has prepared for you.

Awaken and end the dreams of judgment, anger and criticism. When you see a world you can judge, you see a world that can judge you. When you see a world you can get mad in, you will see and feel anger being reflected back. When you see a world you can criticize because it does not fit the picture of what you think you wish to see, you will feel as if everyone can criticize who you are and how you choose to live. Is this the world you truly desire to continue to support? How can you appreciate and be at peace in the world God has prepared for you when you are constantly under attack by your own thoughts? How can you have peace when all your hopes and wishes seem to be at the mercy of a world you can’t control? But do not despair, for behind every image you have made, the truth continues unchanged. Behind every veil you have placed across God's gifts, their lights remain undimmed. For God is in everything and everyone, forever available for you to feel and experience. God has kept your inheritance safe. You have not lost the knowledge of who you are. You have not lost the knowledge of who your brothers and sisters are - simply because you have temporarily dozed off and forgotten it. Beneath the darkness of dreams, the eternal flame illuminates your true home. Beneath the veil of judgment, forgiveness patiently awaits. Beneath the veil of criticism, compassion enduringly stands. Beneath the veil of fear, love's light forever shines.

3.  The Conscious or Awakened State.

God created his sons and daughters through the act of love. Being love - God's sons and daughters' truth represents all that’s innocent, beautiful and true. Your brothers and sisters are trying to expand themselves into remembering their truth in the best way they currently know how. The only way to awaken is to realize that your brothers and sisters are now and have always been exactly as God created them. Your brothers and sisters' truth - is God’s gift to you, and is the key you are offered in every moment to awaken from the dream. Every moment, every interaction and thought of them allows you the opportunity to awaken. For this reason, gratitude, love and compassion are the response of the awakened mind.

Once you recall your innocence, you will stop seeing and judging the world as guilty. As you accept your inheritance - the knowledge that you are innocent, your brothers and sisters will be set free of all you think they did to you. Seen through forgiving eyes, the world’s holiness will shine from everyone and everything. You will see in all - the memory of the truth in you. You will be deeply grateful to your brothers and sisters for being available in every moment to assist you in remembering your truth. Gratitude will solidify your unity with them. You will remember that, in the moment, you too are offering them this same opportunity. You will become aware of your true connection to them, and your true connection to everyone and everything. It is this, the awakened world, you came to witness, participate in, and help your brothers and sisters find.

Once you recall your unity, you will stop dreaming of separation. If everything and everyone is here to be a reminder of the truth in us, than we are never alone. You may, in moments of confusion and unconsciousness, buy into the illusion that you are alone, and yes, in the dream, you may sometimes feel lonely, but know you are never alone. God eternally waits for you to awaken. Allow Him to be the gentle light which awakens you. The warmth of His love and perfect peace resides and shines forever in us. God is our Source. Choose to see yourself, and your brothers and sisters through His eyes and you will want no other way. Allow Him to see for you. Offer Him all judgments you have made, until you can remember how to see through forgiving eyes.

Forgiveness reflects God’s love on Earth. As you awaken, you will begin to see God’s reflection in all things. When you awaken, you will release all ideas of judgment and condemnation. You will begin to recall the love that you had forgotten, but that had never forgotten you. Everything and everyone will lean toward you and bless your every step. All women will become your mothers, sisters and daughters, and all men will become your fathers, brothers and sons. God’s voice will speak to you through everyone and everything, and everyone and everything will once again reflect back the truth in you.

Conclusion:

When you have decided that you’ve slept long enough, it is then that you will consciously awaken. The echoes of the past will fade and you will recall that you are the author of your dream, not just a victim or a lonely figure in the dream. When you decide to awaken, those things that once justified your anger will now justify your love. When you decide to awaken, those same calls to war that you thought you heard from your brother and sister will become calls to peace. When you decide to awaken, where your judgment once attacked, your forgiveness will now offer a blessing to your fellow traveler. The knowledge of your brothers and sisters' innocence will flow through you, bringing you peace of mind and joy. You will offer peace to everyone, gratitude to all. You will know that everybody is here to help you remember the truth in you. In everyone, you see the reflection of what is possible in you. You will become a witness to them that what they’re going through can be gotten through. You will become a witness that those who have been gifted everything - cannot be deprived or alone.
 

Note:  To read more about the Dream, you may want to read Chapter One Overview: The Dream.
 

   

View larger images of front & back cover 
of the great spiritual / self development book You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy by James Blanchard Cisneros.