Dream Interpretation - the riot

I normally do not share my dreams in my blog, but this is an exception because it conjures hard hitting images and conflicts.

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[Start of dream]

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I was cycling along a familiar stretch of a dual carriageway road near my home. I was reaching a traffic light regulated T junction when I was confronted with a big truck coming straight on me violating the flow of the carriageway. I was perturbed but skirted along the side of the truck and proceeded forward.

Then I saw two collided cars, one of them burned to charred black and both drivers were having a punch-up. Then did I realized that the truck was wilfully coming in the wrong direction to block everyone from going forward.

Having gone passed the truck, I have gone into the point of no return and had to go forward and turned right at the T-junction to get home. As soon as I turned right, the usual surroundings of the otherwise familiar road changed. Instead of trees and residence, I saw shop houses on both sides of the road and people fighting.

By the time I saw all that, I was in the middle of a riot. I had no better choice but to keep cycling, avoiding the smashed glass debris on the road, hoping that they don’t puncture my tyres and immobilize my bicycle. To play it safe, I thought I would keep off the road and cycled along the corridors of the shop houses.

It wasn't better along the shop house corridors, as there was also fighting in there. It became apparent to me that there was a younger more ferocious group beating up another milder, older and more pacifist group in saffron coloured robes. They appeared to have Himalayan facial features. These youngsters were mercilessly punching their older compatriots who were petrified and were clasping their hands to beg their assailants to stop.

I was in no position to save them, so I continued cycling, and by now, a little scared that I may be mistakenly dragged into the fighting. As I hurriedly cycled passed those shops, weaving around the spots of violent actions that were sometimes only about six inches away from me. Then, I saw that some of the shop lots were Buddhist shrines and temples with golden Buddha statues. At that point, a voice communicated to me that the youngsters were beating up the shrine keepers for their supporting a regime that held golden statues while the masses starve. The young rebels felt that the gold used to plate the statues could better be melted and sold in exchange for food.

Then, as I got out at the other end of the corridor, I was once again out on the road and going over a bridge over a big canal. As I crossed the canal, there was no fighting on the bridge and on the other side of the canal. At the end of the bridge on the other side, there was a group of concerned Chinese looking onlookers watching the ransacking of a Buddhist temple on the 9^th floor of a building at the other side of the canal by a group of Bangladeshis. At that time, the temple was already smoldering in smoke and flames while the temple keepers were crying for help.

[End of dream]

How would you interprete this dream?

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Dream Interpretation 2

Dreams reflect our thoughts either symbolically or literally. It is useful to keep a dream log if you want to understand your sub-conscious thoughts, which you are not conscious of (well how else can I put it?).

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Journaling

Here are some tips on keeping a dream log, based on my own experiences:

1. Relax before you sleep. If you are tense, you can't remember your dreams well. Also, you may have nightmares if you are tense.
2. Suggest to yourself that you will remember your dream before you fall asleep, and sleep before 11pm. Put some rose quartz crystals under your pillow. It helps to remember your dreams better. I have tried that and it seems to work.
3. Put a voice recorder or writing pad and pen next to your bed. Record your dreams immediately when you wake up, don't even get out of bed if you can help it. The more you move, the more you will forget.
4. Record everything you can remember. Do not be inhibited, rational or logical. Record as it is: what you see, who you see, the colours you see, the emotions you had,... etc. Be as detailed as you can. Draw it out if you can. Don't worry about the interpretations and logic. Leave that later. If you have trouble remembering, start from the last scene, then work backwards.

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Interpretation:

1. Your journal may not make sense to you immediately, but when you read back later, you will notice a pattern that recurs. For instance, you may always dream of going back to college, or missing the exams etc. Over time, you will be able to interprete your dreams.
2. Dream dictionaries are only useful as a guide, as different people regard different symbols differently. For instance, "death" may be terminal for some people, but for others who believe in reincarnation, it is just a gateway and transition to another state - so literally, the dream may mean that he is moving into a new house or office.
3. Focus on your emotions during your dream. They are the key to what the dream really mean.

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Benefits

I understand myself better since I started dream journaling. Sometimes, I foresee people in my dreams, that I later met up with in my waking hours, months later. Sometimes, I foresee the happy times that are ahead. But these can be considered as just petty dramas in life, as we should all take life as they come instead of worrying about the future. However, it is spiritually enriching to understand ourselves better through our subconscious. Dream journaling enables that.

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Some Dreams I had:

I heard a friend of mine telling me that his wife was asking for a divorce, in my dreams sometime ago. Eight months later, she really asked him for a divorce.

I told my friend after he is divorced and he asked me why didn't I warn him before hand. Should I have told him at that time? I thought it was only a dream after all then. If I have told him, pehaps he would have taken measures to save the marriage. Now, it is better to believe that it all happens for a higher good. May be it is better for the marriage that was not working to end and move on to the next stage in life.

I met a girl five months after I saw her in my dream. She has the same Oriental features and even the same dress.

She is a girl I saw in my dream, but not my dream girl. Here, it is important not to be distracted and be judgmental, but take it as it comes.

In my dreams a few days ago, I saw a few parrots and parrakeets perched on a line. What struck me was how brilliant the colours were. They were pink, white, green and grey.

I knew immediately that the birds are symbolic of new things that will be liberated soon, as to me birds are symbols of being set free.

To me, the colours:

• Pink represents love and compassion
• White represents purity and a new beginning
• Green represents nature and healing
• Grey, ought to represent "dullness and depression" according to the dream dictionary, but it means "intelligence" and "wits" to me. I am familiar with African Grey parrots - they learn new tricks and sounds very quickly.

I will let you know how these signs will manifest itself when the time comes. What is to come will become clearer as I draw nearer to the manifestations. At the moment, I have some intelligent guesses as to what they will be.

So, you have to truly relate to your dream symbols according to your own encounters in your life. However, do not be bias towards what you want to, or like to hear. In other words, don't bluff yourself. Step back and be as objective as you can. Sometimes the truth can be undesirable or painful, but nevertheless is the truth. However, whatever happens will happen for the highest good.

To change your lives, change your thoughts. That's what dream journaling can help you - to have clarity of your own thoughts. As you change your thoughts, your dreams will change too.

Extras

You may also like to combine your dream journal with your waking life journal. I have started doing so recently, so that I can correlate what happened in the dream vs what happened during the day, and vice versa.

Keeping a diary is a way of appreciating ourselves without going into an ego trip. It is a way of enjoying our own company. Loneliness only comes to people who does not enjoy their own company. It is said that if you do not enjoy your own company, why inflict it on others? :)

Sometimes, I do non-dominant hand journaling, in the same book. That means writing with my left hand about anything that comes to mind. It is said that after ten minutes, what we write with our left hand comes straight from the sub-conscious. That will be evident when you read back what you have written, it will not seem like something you could possibly have written. It may also feel eerie the first time round. But do not fear, it is still yourself writing, albeit your hidden sub-conscious self. The same journaling techniques for clarity and detail apply here to non-dominant hand journaling.

Keeping these journals in the same book is fascinating. It makes me more mindful to be an observer in my own life.

Some Parting Shots...

When we are still, we see much more of everything around us and know alot about what is happening, sometimes even about things that will happen in the future. Journaling, just like meditation or chanting, can yet be another exercise in stilling the mind.

You may also like to read another post on dream interpretation - Click here

Bucky Group 18 - The Power of the Dream

This week we sang the song "The Power of the Dreams" by Celine Dion
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Deep within each heart
There lies a magic spark
That lights the fire of our imagination
And since the dawn of man
The strength of just "I can"
Has brought together people of all nations
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There’s nothing ordinary in the living of each day
There’s a special part
Every one of us will play
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Feel the flame forever burn teaching lessons we must learn
To bring us closer to the power of the dream
As the world gives us its best
To stand apart from all the rest
It is the power of the dream that brings us here
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Your mind will take you far
The rest is just pure heart
You’ll find your fate is all your own creation
Every boy and girl
As they come into this world
They bring the gift of hope and inspiration
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Feel the flame forever burn
Teaching lessons we must learn
To bring us closer to the power of the dream
The world unites in hope and peace
We pray that it will always be
It is the power of the dream that brings us here
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There’s so much strength in all of us
Every woman child and man
It’s the moment that you think you can’t
You’ll discover that you can
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Feel the flame forever burn
Teaching lessons we must learn
To bring us closer to the power of the dream
The world unites in hope and peace
We pray that it will always be
It is the power of the dream that brings us here
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Feel the flame forever burn
Teaching lessons we must learn
To bring us closer to the power of the dream
The world unites in hope and peace
We pray that it will always be
It is the power of the dream that brings us here
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The power of the dream
The faith in things unseen
The courage to embrace your fear
No matter where you are
To reach for your own star
To realize the power of the dream
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Discussion
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I wish that more people will realise that 'deep inside each of their heart, there lies their magic spark'. Depressed people forgets that they have this spark inside them. So overwhelmed by their depressive thoughts, this spark gets buried. I hope they would rediscover it to light up their lives again. To depressed people, it is the chemicals in their body that is causing their depression, not their mind. But aren't the chemicals created by their thoughts? Is it possible to spark up their lives on their own and change the chemicals?

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Johnson brought out that in the Nazi camps, it was those who were not sent to the gas chambers and who survived, are those who had hope of living. Kong interjected that while hope is important, 'hope' is also a dangerous emotion used by conmen and religious cult. It is because of the hope of money or a purported messiah coming to save them that they get conned. So hope has to be threaded on carefully. Perhaps, more than hope, there should be a purpose. When there is a purpose to survive, people will stay alive for the purpose.

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Hinlan added that ultimately there must be action. Without action, hope and purpose will not manifest to the results we want.

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Elaine brought out a true story during the war when the Japanese were gathering Chinese men up the truck to be brought on a 'journey of no return' (death). The Chinese men were all seated and gathered on the ground waiting for the trucks to come and ferry them. Then when it came to this particular man, feeling totally despondent and resigned to die, he was about to stand up to go up the truck when a Japanese man came and touched him on his shoulders and indicated to him not to move. He then looked at the Japanese man, connected instantly and had hope and trust suddenly. He trusted the Japanese so much suddenly, he did not go up the truck. And that was the last truck. There were no more trucks coming back. He survived. The rest of them who went up the truck were never seen again! So, listen to your heart and trust.

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Joo Hwa interjected and asked, "If you were put in such a situation, what would you do to escape?"

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[No answer. We are all very wary of Joo Hwa's questions. Usually there is a catch somewhere! :) So, it was better not to answer! :)]

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So he continued, "by asking that you need to go to the toilet! Usually that will work. I tried it so many times!" and illustrated by raising his hands up high, as if asking the platoon commander on the spot.

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Clara brought up the issue of expectations. When she cleaned up after her son, in the first round, she is ok (patient and unperturbed). However, if she has to do it third and fourth time, then she started to get frustrated, as she would start to develop expectations of her son. Then she realised that it is her expectations that then got frustrated.

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Johnson raised the question of hope further. In a scenario of a fight between the samurai and the soldiers, the samurai seemingly had hope and charged forward against the brandishing machine guns and got shot dead. So does hope work?

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I commented that it depends of what he means by hope. Hope to win or hope to be matyred. Did they know they are going to die? May be they think it was still a better chance to win, by charging forward rather than waiting for the machine guns to shoot them, thereby they will definitely die. So they will rather try than do nothing and die.

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Chin Soon added that it depends on what we mean by winning. In the end, the soldiers all came down to pay their respects to the samurai for his bravery. So the samurai still won. He won the respect of the solidiers.

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Someone brought out that he likes the part where it says:

"It’s the moment that you think you can’t You’ll discover that you can "

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However, Flip disagrees with that part. He would be more inclined to believe what Henry Ford said about "If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you are right too!"

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I think it all depends on the context. Sometimes, when you think you can't, you 'gave up' and let go of everything. It is not so much the giving up, but more of 'letting go' that you discover you can do it.

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Joo Hock brought out the example of contestants in the American Idol. When they were told that they could not make it, but asked to sing again, they did it so much better. Then they have let go of everything and give their best.

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Also brought up that it is important to "Feel the flame forever burn". As we go on with our daily lives we meet problems and can get bogged down to forget to keep the flame burning. That is why we come to the Bucky Group sessions. This is called "Re-creation". That is to re-create ourselves regularly to keep the flame burning. Click here

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The session was moving towards the end and many are feeling restless. I wanted to share something, but couldn't get past saying, "I would like to say something...", as there immediately, came more chatter. I then repeated that I wanted to say something, but yet more chatter. So, I had to force my way to say what I wanted to say. That is, that many people had commented that I could recall with amazing detail of our Bucky session discussions and had asked me how I could remember so much, since they don't see me taking any notes.

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The secret lies in simply 'listening'. I actually listen very intently during the sessions. Many I have observed, chose to talk when others are talking and therefore cannot capture the same clarity and detail. I feel it is important to listen while others are talking, and when we do, will discover the richness of what the speaker says.

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Announcements made:

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1. A few of us in the Group went to Tanjung Sutera Resort recently. It was wonderfully peaceful and close to Singapore. Definitely worth going. Rather inexpensive too.

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2. My blog post, "The Green Temple" was noticed by a reader and listed on blog aggregator, tomorrow.sg. The reporter from the local New Paper also contacted me to quote a part of my post. Subsequently, Channel News Asia did a documentary on the temple. There is a visit planned by a group this coming 6 March 2008. However, not many spaces are available, so we may arrange another trip just for the Bucky Group.

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3. My House warming - on the 2 March 2008. The event will start at 4pm. There will be a screening of the movie "Osama". Poh Piah and Kueh Lapis will be served.