Waking up from the dream

Dear Self is the spiritual version of “Dear Abby”

Dear Self: “Why is your awakening realisation not shared by everyone, if such awakening reveals a perfect Oneness?”

On the Disappearance of the Universe (the title to this question is inspired by the same title given to a book written by Gary Renard): Regarding our nightly dreams, and upon waking up from them, we realise that even though there were many people in the dream, there was only one mind dreaming it, and the dream disappears upon waking up leaving the one mind as the sole reality/presence of all that is.

1) When waking up from this living dream, Cindy Teevens, don’t you find it strange that there are still other parts of you who claim to be ignorant/asleep in the dream you share? In other words, you are awake, but others, who are not separated from you (that you are one with), claim not to be awake, which seems to be in apparent paradox with your awakening, and how that can be!? Unlike the awakening from the nightly dream from which a single mind awakens, awakening from the living dream appears to be an individual phenomenon/feat, leaving so called “others” still stuck in the dream?
To summarise, “Why is your awakening realisation not shared by everyone, if such awakening reveals a perfect Oneness?”

2) Would this paradox be fully resolved when every part/human of the impersonal/divine Awareness awakens to its Truth and Oneness with God, such that, the Universe as the living dream will disappear, leaving behind only the universal Reality/Presence, the One Mind, just like in the case of the nightly dream? Or alternatively, will this living dream go on eternally, with always someone(s) “apparently” stuck in it (believing the reality of the dream and separation)?


Cindy Teevens The world is not a dream like your nightly dream. The world will not disappear upon what is called “awakening.” It will just not look like “the world,” as separate, or as “other than” you. It does not mean there are no bodies, or that they will disappear. Realization is the extinction of the idea of a separate individual, which is like a computer program that runs on the computer called a body-mind. Each body-mind can run this program, but being a mere idea, it is a temporary phenomena of no substance.

There is no paradox. All there is, is the One. The appearance of others and therefore the apparent paradox, via mental separation, are both unreal. That is what is left behind. There is nothing wrong with the world that it needs to “become one,” for it is not separate. When you stop seeing separation, you stop seeing “others,” much less others who are stuck. I know you are not.

If I took a ball and drew a pen around the circumference and only ever looked upon it as two parts, I would never see the actual truth of the whole. As long as you see from the perspective of a separate individual, located within a body, you will appear to see other separate individual bodies, and all manner of problems and paradoxes will appear. And they will be endless. Rather than entertain the endless mental problems that separation presents, begin to question your assumptions of separation in the first place. Challenge them with your direct experience. Listening to a friend, can you separate their words from your hearing? Contemplate that. Look for your very self, when you say “I”. Can you find who or what you are?


Questioner: Perfect response, thank you Cindy. And does this false idea/belief of separation fall away when the body/mind computer ceases to exist as in physical death, or does the belief in separation continue energetically from one body to the next as in the theory of reincarnation, if awakening has not yet happened during one’s lifetime?
John de Ruiter says that awakening happens during/after physical death, whereas my mentor had said (before he passed away) that death being an illusion cannot accomplish anything, that it cannot bring about an awakening, or realisation of Truth!?
p.s. if we act on direct experience alone, it seems that the answer to above question can never be known!!!


Cindy Teevens The false “I” entity can fall away right now. Physical death is not required. As it can happen any moment, it is advised that one use this life to discover truth now, and not risk finding out if it will fall away for you at bodily death or not. The “i” who believes it was born, and is afraid of dying, is the ego, the idea of an individual. It is temporary; it “dies” and disappears every night in deep sleep. And it reboots and re-installs in the morning. The ego is an illusion of the mind; it has no real existence. What use is it for an ego to say whether there is reincarnation or not?

Ever heard of the parable of the poison arrow?

“It’s just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.’ He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me… until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short… until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored… until I know his home village, town, or city… until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow… until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark… until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated… until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird… until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.’ He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.’ The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.”

Do not waste your time with outer or future speculation. Be concerned with this moment and the only thing that matters. Find out who you are now and all else that needs knowing will be known. Delve deeply within, into who you think you are; because you are not who you think you are.


Questioner: Cindy your texts are some of the most beautiful responses I have heard/read since the passing of my spiritual mentor 8 years ago… thank you.


Cindy Teevens  The beauty is only in the perceiving: )


Dear Self Facebook Group

Dear Self is a facebook group, a community of sincere seekers.

You are seeking answers to why you feel, act, and react the way you do, or maybe you are even questioning who you are.  When the student is ready, the teacher appears (to appear). No matter where answers appear to come from–your mentor, a book, your friend, enemy, dog, or a tree–ultimately, they come from within, from your Self. So ask away, because the Truth is available, here and now. Welcome to the catalystic conversation that can unveil it.

Join the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DearSelf

Perhaps you’ve noticed that no matter how hard you try, you can’t stop thoughts, and you are not impressed with many of them. Disillusioned with the temporary material world, you might be asking, “Is this really all there is to life?” You may feel empty and frustrated, perhaps with a sense that something is off, or missing.  The big questions, “Why am I here, how did I get here, where do I go from here?” may be arising. You can ask these questions, and more, here. You are not necessarily religious, yet you sense there must be something more, and you might even use the word spiritual. Maybe you’ve heard of the cosmic joke, awakening, or enlightenment, but it all sounds like Greek to you.

Yet still, there must be more…Something real, and true, and lasting.

There is. It is awaiting your recognition.

Learn to use the five powers you were born with an online course, and get personally guided by Cindy through the practice called Alchemy.

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