We have a hand in forming all events to one extent or another, and at certain levels we are therefore involved in the construction of those global events that affect the world, whether they be of so-called natural or cultural nature.
In earlier blogs I spoke about the importance of dreams in man’s and woman’s early background, and their importance to us as a species. Here, I want to stress the social aspects of dreams, and to point out the fact that dreams also show us some of the processes that are involved in the actual formation of physical events: We actually come into an event, therefore, long before the event physically happens, at other levels of consciousness, and a good deal of this prior activity takes place in the state of dreaming.
Yet (remembering what I said about seeming contradictions), our dreams are also social events of a kind, and the state of dreaming can almost be thought of as an inner public forum in which each man and woman has his or her say, and in which each opinion, however unpopular, is taken into consideration. If we want to call any one dream event a private event, then I would have to tell you that that private event actually was our personal contribution to a larger multi-sided dream event, many-layered, so that one level might deal with the interests of a group to which we belong — say our family, or our political or religious organization — reaching ” outward” to the realm of national government and world affairs. As our private conscious life is lived in a community setting of one kind or another as a rule, so do our dreams take place in the same context, so that as we dream for ourselves, to some extent we also dream for our own family, for our community, and for the world.
Group dreaming was at one time taken for granted as a natural human characteristic — in a tribe, for example, when new locations were being sought, perhaps in time of drought. The various tribal members would have dreams tackling whatever aspect of the problem that best suited his or her abilities and personal intents. The dreamers would travel our-of-body in various directions to see the extent of drought conditions, and to ascertain the best direction for the tribe to take in any needed migration.
Their dreams would then be shared by the tribe in the morning, or at special meetings, when each dreamer would give a rendition of the dream or dreams that seemed to be involved. In the same way, other dreamers would simply check with the dreamers of other villages or tribes — perhaps a hundred or even more miles distant. Some such dreams were extremely direct, others were clothed in symbolism according to the style of the dreamer, but in any case the dream was understood to have a public significance as well as a private one.
The same still applies, though often dreams themselves are forgotten. Instead, for example, for news or for advice we watch our morning television news, which provides us with a kind of manufactured dream that to some extent technologically serves the same purpose. Instead of sending camera-people and newspaper people to the farthest corners of the earth, early man and woman sent out aspects of himself or herself to gather the news and to form it into dream dramas. Oftentimes much of the material did not need to become conscious: It was “unconsciously” acted upon, turned directly into action. Now such dreams simply act as backup systems, rising to the fore whenever they are needed. their purpose was and is to increase the value fulfillment of the species and of the individual.
Psychologists often speak of the needs of man and woman. Here I would like to speak instead of the pleasures of man and woman, for one of the distinguishing characteristics of value fulfillment is its pleasurable effect. It is not so much that man and woman or nature seeks to satisfy needs, but to exuberantly, rambunctiously seek pleasure — and through following its pleasure each organism finds and satisfies its need as well. Far more is involved in the experience of life, however, than the satisfaction of bare needs, for life is everywhere possessed with a desire toward quality — a quality that acknowledges the affirming characteristics of pleasure itself.
In our terms, there is a great pleasure to be found in both work and play, in excitement and calm, in exertion and rest, yet the word “pleasure” itself has often fallen into disrepute, and is frowned at by the virtuous.
One of the main purposes of dreaming, therefore, is to increase man’s and woman’s pleasure, which means to increase the quality of living itself. Dreams are mental work and play combined, psychic and emotional rich creative dramas. They also involved us in the most productive of enterprises as we begin to play with versions of events that are being considered for physical actualization, as one a personal level we “view” the probable events which our family, tribe, organization, community and country will actualize.
As physical creatures we human beings cannot bear to directly confront the basic, vast, unimaginably awesome and creative consciousness of All That Is. Since we cannot bear to face the great raw power of nuclear energy either. I’ve often wondered whether this situation can be an earthly, imperfect and time-ridden analog to what must be the reality of All That Is.