I remember once during a concentration practice, falling slightly asleep and seeing a dream about an ego that was afflicting my mind continuously then, related to a cooperation problem I had with a colleague at my work at that time.
The dream was very alive, taking place at my work where I was doing several duties, and a very small cartoon-like person was continuously following me, jumping on my shoulder and speaking in my ear, not leaving me alone at all. It was very, very annoying.
Suddenly I couldn’t stand it anymore, and turned towards it, and flicked it far away with my two fingers.
Automatically I felt relieved, and woke up lightly. I realized then that I had been dreaming, and wondered how that could have happened, because I thought that I had been awake all this time in the room, trying to concentrate, during the whole practice.
I remained still recalling the details of the dream, looking carefully in it and I realized that this cartoon-like person was the ego that had been afflicting my mind continuously then.
I remember sensing how it was very much alive and familiar to me. I continued looking into the dream, and I understood better how this ego had been besieging me.
Seeing this, automatically the problem of cooperation I had with my co-worker seemed funny and not so big anymore, as opposed to how I felt before I had this dream, where these thoughts seemed difficult to get detached from.
After that I remember the thoughts of my colleague’s behavior stopped besieging my mind as it couldn’t affect me like it did before because the ego in me that was feeding off my annoyance was weakened by the understanding I gained through this dream which helped me to observe it.
Maria, very insightful dream. It seems that probably you had enough divine help into that practice but also into your attempt to understand deeper this particular ego.
Your movement to flick this ego away made me smile. But it also shows a deep and real willing to remove it.
Thank you for sharing this
Thanks for sharing that interesting experience Maria, it sounds like a great opportunity gained in being able to see it from that perspective and how it acted, its persistence, what it said to you and all that you saw being shown like that.
I can just imagine your relieve, Maria when you got that insight.
It must have been so amazing without that annoying little cartoon creature on your back all the time. I sometimes have exactly the same feeling of some of my egos states.
Hi, Maria. Thank you for sharing this experience. It made me smile reading how that ego was portrayed as a cartoon creature following you around. 🙂
It’s also happened to me to have a symbolic or significant dream or even just a dream image while doing a spiritual practice. Perhaps this is when we take a small step and are met half way with the help and guidance that we need.
Wish you all the best!
Very insightful Maria.
How our own thoughts which can be so sneaky and compulsive sustain a lot of that burden upon us. Like a flame that we’re unable to put out or have control over, or like you say a pesky creature annoying you. 🙂
Your experience is such a nice example of pulling through in managing to make use of some dream guidance.
That was very interesting how you got an understanding of the ego through your dream. Sometimes funny dreams can lighten up situations. I’ve also found that some times a dream can snap me out of an ego in the most unpredictable ways.
Thanks for sharing Maria.
I can relate to a dream helping to address a relationships in daily life. What stood out to me was how you needed to reflect on the dream afterwords – it did not just hit you as soon as you woke up. I also find this to be the case with the majority of dreams – I need to put in a certain effort in order for it to touch me in a significant way.
What a nice, insightful dream, Maria. I just wish that all troublesome feelings and thoughts could be removed with a simple flick of the fingers 🙂
I think dreams like that can be so insightful. Dreams connect us to the higher dimensions and can help us to see the reality of our physical lives from a different perspective: in those times, we can really see how silly some of our worries and concerns are.
I’m very glad you gained such perspective from that dream and were able to overcome the cooperation problems you had with your colleague as a result.
Very helpful, thank you for sharing Maria! I can totally relate to the feelings and thoughts of annoyance at other people’s (often repeated) behaviour. At times when I managed to detach from these compulsive nad self-righteous thoughts, similarly to you, I was also surprised at the insignificance of these little mind-quarrels, and how much more peaceful and freeing it is to not dwell on these things.
It must have been quite revealing for you to see this ego-trait of yours as that little bothering cartoonish character, the way it felt and everything… I imagine it must have provided you with a deeper understnding of the nature and energy of that particular ego.
It is amazing what we can learn from our dreams.
thanks for sharing Maria.
That’s good you were able to reduce your negative reactions towards your work colleague Maria, after gaining an understanding from the dream. Thanks for sharing your experience.