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How do we transform our FEAR ? The three big dinosaur-crocodile parable-dream 5/23/2014 1:32:03 AM
a dream showed me how to cope with fear ... AS THERE ARE DEFINING MOMENTS IN OUR LIVES, THERE ARE DEFINING MOMENTS IN OUR DREAMS. This was a very particular dream, very vivid in details, and with a story that I could not forget. And this dream marked a massive `defining` moment for me, the moment when something clicked inside that made me able to change perception so effortlessly, thus bringing about a huge change of heart. My whole perspective changed in the span of a second, and by this experience only, I know that my soul made a step further in its evolutionary growth.
This `transforming our fear` concept/insight ..…well, had I read this in a book or had I heard it said and explained in a workshop, the `aha` moment would have been so much more unconvincing. Possibly just one of the many intellectual concepts that I could agree on. Just that. It would not have made a big impact on my life, mainly because it would have probably stayed on the surface of my intellectual mind without going any deeper.
But in a dream, when the teaching is embodied in an actual experience which is lived from the inside out , well, that is a totally different story . And its message reaches such depths intellectual concepts have no hope to ever attain . Dreams are indeed the ultimate state-of-the-art Teachers, at least for me!
FROM MY JOURNAL
February 24, 2010 6-7 am.
The three crocodiles
I find myself in a desolate, bleak, deserted place.
For some reason, I am a man.
I see in the distance three colossal DINOSAUR-CROCODILES chasing people. They are really huge and people are terrified. Everybody is running around trying to escape. I get scared too, and as I see them come closer, I fear for my life and run.
I run away and hide in this little wooden hut with a few wooden steps outside. In front of the door there is a small sort of patio-veranda.
I get inside but feel terrified, so I rush to go lock the door.
But as I do so, I hear noises outside and realize that one of the crocodiles is already right in front of my door. I stiffen in panic. There is nowhere I can run. My mind is totally overwhelmed with fear.
Then, all of a sudden, a change of heart simply `happens` inside me …
I see the futility of it all, and open the door.
The crocodile has turned into a big mean-looking man.
I invite him in and he sits on a wooden chair in front of this little wooden table inside my hut. In a corner of my mind, I still wonder whether it will end OK ( like in me not being `eaten up` :-) ), but the feeling is definitely not scary anymore; I feel strangely detached and somehow in control.
I ask him if I can offer him anything to eat or drink.
Most incredibly, he very humbly says that Yes, he is thirsty and hungry and that he truly appreciates my offering. He actually thanks me !!!
The me in the dream seems to take this very nonchalantly, but the observing me is dumbfounded.
I HAD TRANFORMED MY FEAR ! and it had been so easy…why didn’t I see it before? And how did that moment of clarity `happen` ? what brought it forth so suddenly?
… How could the change of heart happen in one tiny second without any rational thoughts to set it off ?
WOW! Talk of transformation !
I woke up in an exhilarant mood and started going over and over again all the details in the dream.
REFLECTIONS
I know what the dream is telling me, that I have to learn to face and confront my fears. If I keep running away, my fears will keep chasing me .
In a way, this dream shows me how by a simple change of perception, my whole world changes … well actually, how I experience the world changes.
Wow… in this sense I am indeed the creator of my experience, the creator of my world. So dumbfounding.
It is about action rather than reaction. The important thing is to be consciously acting in life rather than unconsciously re-acting to stimulations.
I guess that whenever I feel fear inside, I need to take a step back and observe the scene more objectively, I need to feel more detached and let Compassion take over.
This dream also shows me how useless it is to worry, given that it won’t change my predicament. On the other hand, I must honestly admit that even if in this moment I seem to `get` it, come another scary experience and I will probably feel the Fear again.
Nevertheless, I also know that a little `shift` has occurred inside of me for sure. I know that I am not who I was before this dream. So step by step, I will try to keep this in mind and exercise myself in the practice of `transforming my fear`.
And even if I cannot suppose to be the perfect student, I UNDERSTAND THEIR TEACHINGS AND I VALUE THEIR WISDOM.
Yes, I get it, without fear I would have a totally different perception of the world.