2006-11-12-Daydreams & Imagination

From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to search

Lighterstill.jpg

Teaching buddha small.jpg

Heading

Topic: Daydreams & Imagination

Group: Rio Rancho TeaM

Facilitators

Teachers: Merium

TR: Gerdean

Session

Opening

The Music-Elena on Piano: "The Doll's Complaint" by Cesar Franck

Jesus, thank you for being with us this afternoon. Thank you for being a part of us always, for introducing us to each other that we might share our joy together of knowing you and of knowing each other as siblings in the Family of God.

MERIUM: I am Merium and I run out to greet you joyously on this vibrant autumn afternoon. It is exciting to feel the energy in the air in this your architectural sphere. It pleases me to share your life with you in these instances when we are invited into your lives.

I very much enjoyed the music, "The Doll's Complaint." It is my complaint, assuredly, for there is a sense of innocence and sadness that reflects in the mercy ministry of God-knowing people. We want everyone to share the joy of sonship, of knowing Our Father, and of rejoicing in that knowledge and sharing it without strife -- even assisting one another in lifting ourselves up to greater satisfaction and infinite delight -- to the extent that we have not been able to reach our goal or attain our ideal.

To that extent there is a certain sadness. To that extent there is a certain justifiable lament which might be construed as "complaint." And yet the substance, the heart of the truth of our being allows us to know the quiet joy, the inner peace which passes all understanding and allows us to live within that state of grace that embraces all the lost sheep, all the confused and maladjusted, all the angry, even the hostile, for there are no enemies in the Kingdom.

I am the doll, as you are the dolls. And like our compatriots, the little wooden soldiers, we find our place in Toyland, in the finite world of flesh and blood and material composition.

Lesson

MERIUM: I was thinking today about daydreaming. Daydreaming is a practice that is often discouraged in you finite children. "Pay attention!" "Sit up and pay attention!" "Stop your wool-gathering and bring your mind back to the business at hand," whatever that may be. These kinds of instructions come at you when you begin your formal education. "Don't be staring out the window." "Stop lollygagging." "Face facts." "Let's not dawdle." These admonitions are the adult voice alerting the youngster to be mindful of what one needs to be mindful of, but such admonitions tend to discourage a vital practice, which is in many ways a Stillness exercise.

It is necessary to have a degree of leisure in order to allow the spirit to impact your super-conscious realm, your super-conscious mind, in order for you to daydream properly. Leisure is a rare commodity in this fast culture of USA 2006. You must take time to daydream. Set aside time for your own mind to float adrift from the shackles and chains that bind you to the finite existence. The discipline of Stillness is an opportunity to spiritually justify your time away from the constraints of the material life.

Industry and ambition, discipline and structure are indeed essential elements to a happy life, for it provides boundaries and direction, even those which you establish for yourselves as areas in which you best flourish. But I encourage you that as you establish your orderly existence, you set aside time to daydream, time to allow your soul to soar.

If you find your daydreaming is in the habit of returning to the list of things you have to do, then you are not daydreaming. You are working. This is a discipline.

There is another element to consider, that you may encounter when you allow yourself the luxury of daydreaming, and that is to have "memory bubbles" rise up to frighten you. A lot of people don't want to schedule leisure time or daydream or do stillness because they are going to face "memory bubbles" they don't want to deal with.

It is the avoidance of these "tiny bubbles" that gives your lives the effect of being a hamster on a wheel. "Tiny bubbles" are will what reveal the path to the "happily ever after" end of the story. They are like the stones or breadcrumbs laid down by Hansel in his search for Gretel. [Come back, Gerdean. (pause) Never mind the story. I'm trying to make a point here.] What we have here is a classic example of a daydream.

There are times for discipline. There are times to ponder and reflect on what comes to the mind, what bubbles up. And as these are cleared away, the resolution is revealed, the sun comes out in the clearing in the woods; the fairy Godmother is allowed to make an appearance or the moral of the fable is revealed. The presence of God surrounds you. You are wrapped in the white light, comforted in the divine embrace.

It is the greatest fairy tale there is to trudge the adventure of life experience to find the holy grail, the prince, the princess, the castle, the kingdom, the happily ever after that all children enjoy, that all souls long for.

There is much to be said for the conscious mind, and for the tools of the trade, for the reasoning and effort involved in constructing civilization, organizations, institutions, values and relationships. But there is also great value in this release into another dimension, as valuable as any world you opt to entertain yourself with such as music, or movies, or plays or novels. Just for fun, let's take a minute and daydream. [long pause]

Dialogue

MERIUM: How many of you are working?

Paula: Three people.

Group: What?

Paula: Three people in our group are still working, still have jobs.

Group: Working in the mind, not in the job market

Esmeralda: Merium, this has been great. I had forgotten about daydreaming. I spent probably the first ten years of my life daydreaming. Whether I was swinging in a swing or working in the fields or whatever I was doing, I was always daydreaming. And I really didn't have exposure to antebellum structures and the like. I don't know how, but I always daydreamed about being the … oh, later as I read more and heard more … the Scarlett O'Hara floating down the stairs in my beautiful gown, and I think I was more of a Cinderella, with a dismal surroundings. There was really nothing for entertainment, other than Mother would sometimes read to us or listening to grandparents and parents talk about as we call it "the olden days" and that was always fascinating to me but I spent an awful lot of time daydreaming.

However, I was just thinking, when I start to practice, or try to practice Stillness now, I have those … what did you call them? Bubbles?

MERIUM: Memory bubbles.

What do we do about "memory bubbles"?

Esmeralda: Memory bubbles, that I would just as soon not have -- really a lot of them. But that's probably helpful, in its own way.

MERIUM: Memory bubbles are simply indication of healing that is unresolved, from wounds that have not been forgiven or healed. And naturally they are not pleasant places to go.

It might be asked: Why do I recommend you cut off your mind if it comes to your "to do" list, but not when it comes to a "memory bubble"? I urge you to set aside your "to do" list because it will always be there. And no matter how much you work to get everything done, it only opens up space then for more room to do more things.

Whereas if you deal with a memory bubble, and it becomes healed, it never returns. It does not fill up with yet another wound. It fills up with "the sunlight of the spirit," and so it is a part of a healing process, a living reality, rather than an inert and mechanical reality such as your accomplishments in terms of things to do, places to go, people to see as a rudimentary or obligatory activity.

Esmeralda: I have to say, though, Merium, my memory bubbles change and as I get older, especially in connection with my parents, my memory bubble -- and maybe this is a sign of healing, if there were wounds -- now the things that bubble often more often are the good things and I think, as I get older, much older, that I understand my parents a lot better than I used to and when I am experiencing some of the things that they experienced in their latter years, not that my years are "latter" necessarily but one never knows that. But I'm pleased that I have less of the memory bubbles of things that are not as desirable and I have more desirable memory bubbles now. I don't know if that's a good sign or not.

MERIUM: Well, it certainly is, and it certainly is an indication of your own growth, your own soul growth, for you have acquired experiential wisdom that sees why they were the way they were, why they did what they did, why you experienced what you experienced, because now you are older and can see how you may have acted similarly under the same circumstances. This is the value of experience, and "many truths are not felt except in adversity." That is from an illustration of high intellectual thought approaching mota.

Thus your soul's capacity to understand the human condition has been enlarged and the divine light of love is allowed to pour forth, obliterating, literally removing from your consciousness those unfortunate episodes of the experiential path. Those who disallow such enlightenment cannot grow; they become fixated at certain stages. This interferes with their attainment of the psychic circles. And while it may not in the long run impede your personality survival, it may well impede your joy in living. It certainly impedes the Adjuster's ability to work with you when you refuse to work with the material that is presented to your mind to deal with. This is "The Doll's Complaint."

Allow yourself the experience of dealing with the dragon, of confronting the wicked witch, of following the path through the haunted forest to arrive at the clearing on the other side where all the fairies of love live.

Any other daydreamers who would like to share where your mind wandered?

Daydream as a testimony of faith

Elena: I was just swinging. I was swinging in a nice cool breeze on a place overlooking the ocean and it was just a big, big swing and I was just going through the air, back and forth, and just not having to do anything.

MERIUM: Let me ask. Was it a rope swing with a board seat?

Elena: Yeah! And it wasn't attached to anything. (Group laughter) There wasn't a tree there. It must have been attached to something, but … I was just there. I was just there. No strings attached.

MERIUM: Were you being pushed?

Elena: I thought about that, actually, about, you know, having a push. And then I started trying, you know, pumping myself a little bit, but then it was just really cool. No, I was thinking, okay, no. Just let myself go through the air and as long as I just let that happen, that was what I was doing. It was really neat.

MERIUM: As long as your battery was operable, you were on automatic pilot.

Elena: That's right. (Group chuckles)

MERIUM: What a wonderful experience.

Elena: Yeah.

MERIUM: What a wonderful testimony of faith.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

Paula: I had a swing like that when I was a little girl, at Grandma's house, in the country. And the railroad came by, oh, maybe 50 feet away, and you could see it, and when it came, why the men in the front that were running the thing would wave to me when I was little, and of course then I had to show off and swing real high, you know, like I was a big girl. I wanted them to think that I was because all my life, ever since I can remember, I wanted to be tall and willowy and gorgeous, but I never have been! I tried. I would try different clothes that would make me look taller, anything at all, and I still wear heels like this so that I get up a little higher.

Thoroah: You're just right.

Paula: Oh, yeah. Not even quite five feet.

MERIUM: You have somewhere confused physical stature with character stature. You are only a little person if you see yourself as a little person. We see you as quite tall, often off the ground completely.

Paula: That's for sure! That happens to me.

MERIUM: Have you considered modifying what you always what you always wanted to be with what you are as the ideal? In other words, instead of wishing you had been willowy, have you ever considered what a wonderful life you have had precisely because you are in fact adorable?

Paula: (Snickering) That'll be the day.

Thoroah: Count your blessings!

Men-O-Pah: That is the day!

Paula: Oh, thank you, Sweetheart.

MERIUM: I have no doubt that the world has assessed you as adorable and treated you accordingly. Every story you have ever told affirms that truth. You Daddy adored you. And the marriage that worked afforded you that dotage. People do dote on you, and it is because of the fact that you are not tall, lanky, willowy and apparently capable of doing everything for yourself. The fact that you are petite allows others to be magnanimous, when they, in fact, may feel little themselves … not especially in stature but "poor in spirit" and you give them the opportunity to give of themselves in ways that they would like to be given to. You serve a vital function in the cosmology of this universe, just as everyone does. If you were to delight in who you are, and let go of that infernal bubble that tells you are less than others because of feet and inches, you would perhaps be a brighter bauble and a less complaining doll.

Think of yourself this week as adorable and not short.

Group: (Affirming the exercise)

Esmeralda: And Paula, do you know, there are so many people who-- their thoughts of what they really would like to be, are more like what you are.

Renault: Adorable?

Esmeralda: Adorable and petite. She considers this a real bane that she is short and a lot of us would think that being short is just adorable and would have loved to have been.

Teasing will stunt your growth

Paula: I guess it's because when I was growing up, the other kids teased me constantly because all my friends added stature. They were tall and they looked older and they called me a baby, and I hated that.

Thoroah: They were thoughtless.

Paula: Well, I suppose so.

Thoroah: They didn't know that…

Paula: But they teased me when I was in school because I was always the smallest one.

Renault: You were so adorable.

Thoroah: They were jealous because you were adorable.

Paula: Oh, yeah.

Esmeralda: Paula, all of us as kids get teased.

Thoroah: I'm telling you the truth.

Paula: Oh, yeah. I suppose all kids. They're nasty about it. You know. They don't even think that it might hurt somebody, but they tease.

Thoroah: Sometimes even become President. Sorry.

MERIUM: Teasing is a very unfortunate pastime. It is really a despicable practice. It is cruel to tease, and that includes tickling. There are some very real misconceptions about what constitutes a display of affection. Because love is such an unknown quality on your world, it is often conveyed in ways that bespeak irony or cruelty more than affection, as if to manifest affection was somehow weak or "sissy."

It's the same thing as tall and short. Tall people are not better people. That is completely an illusion based on a false perception of reality. Thin people are not better than fat people. These are vain imaginings that people have adopted in order to make themselves feel better. Feeling better at other people's expense is heartless. Unfortunately so many of you -- in fact all of you -- are so conditioned by your society, by this culture … not just in America but globally because you are handicapped, as you know, as a result of the Lucifer Rebellion and the Adamic Default. Therefore, there is much work to be done in this Correcting Time and it is my pleasure today to introduce to you the idea of allowing your minds freedom to soar into the air, into the illogical and surreal arena of the super-consciousness, as it may be perceived by your imagination and/or through your own daydreaming.

Gerdean: I notice you separate imagination and daydreaming. What's the message there? Are they not one and the same?

MERIUM: Not entirely, no, because the imagination is like co-creation. You are participating in the process; whereas, daydreaming is on a plateau that your conscious mind is not party to.

In daydreaming, your mind just leaves the conscious realm completely, but in imagination, you are able to mold your thoughts and nurture them according to your wants and needs, as many people are able to control their dream life.

Sustainability and Adaptability

Thoroah: Can I ask for a little clarification on that? For instance, I have to admit, Merium, before you gave me permission, I was already daydreaming. (Chortles) That happens often when I'm listening to the transmissions, because some of the things that you say or that other celestials say are quite catalytic and they hit something within me and I start daydreaming about whatever that might be, and I don't feel bad about that because I understand that's part of the whole process of assimilating things here, but for instance.

I was day-dreaming about what I would like to see as our world changes and one of the things I thought of is we are always building things in our society today on the basis of "sustainability." We want to sustain everything -- sustain supplies, sustain demand, sustain profit -- sustainability! -- when we should be building and looking things as far as their "adaptability" is concerned because things are always going to be changing. They never stay the same. So sustaining, in a sense, is counter productive and we should be geared more towards adaptability.

That's just a thought that came to me out of the middle of nowhere. Now was that a daydream or was I imagining something?

MERIUM: I would suggest you were imagining things, only because you have focused on your thoughts sufficiently to stimulate my imagination. I did not daydream during your discourse; I was thinking about what you were saying, and I was thinking about the sustainability/adaptability feature of a skyscraper and a tree.

A tree, which is a living thing, has sustainability and adaptability. A young sapling can bend, even as its roots are firmly planted in the ground and its trunk is steadfastly growing there in its space, branches reaching out, leaves absorbing energy and the adaptability of its being able to sway in the breeze, house the birds, provide branches for the swing, and so forth, is one side of the coin. The other is the skyscraper that represents a certain material sustainability that also is given adaptability, in that it can sway should an earthquake hit, but it is not a living thing such as a tree.

And so perhaps the interpretation I derive from your sharing is that the skyscraper as a part of the material reality is imaginative, whereas the tree, a living thing, is more likely to prompt daydreams, for its increased adaptability and flexibility. The wind can blow through the branches and the leaves of a tree, but not through a skyscraper. The spirit can soar through a daydream, where it might become irrelevant or iconic in imagination.

This is why spirit is superior to the material, why the material, in spite of its solidarity and seemingly firm foundation, is actually the shadow of the greater reality which is invisible … from here. Indeed, daydreaming provides maximum adaptability; and imagination requires sustainability. Otherwise imagination will waft off into daydreaming and become more spirit-imbued, less grounded perhaps.

Thoroah: So in other words I imagined that I daydreamed.

MERIUM: It's very likely. (Group chuckles)

Thoroah: Okay.

MERIUM: I give you credit for daydreaming. It is me who was imagining things. I was working, you see. I'm on the clock. And speaking of being "on the clock," I am aware of time constraints in your material world. I don't want to cut us off earlier than you are ready for. I am here and so are you. I like to take advantage of these occasions; that is to say, "we" like to take advantage of these opportunities and so I ask, "Are there questions?" {Personal counsel deleted}

Closing

We will linger and bask in the afterglow of our communion this afternoon. Be of good cheer. See you next time. Bye-bye.

Siblings sometimes run into problems, communication problems, just a natural part of growing up. Bear with us and be with us in our learning to love one another as you love us. Show us what that means and manifest your Father through us. Well, of course you would let us, if we knew what to do.

Anyway, thank you for being here and for provoking our thoughts toward these topics that will make us more aware of our cosmic connection. From that perspective we ought to be able to learn to be more companionable and abide with each other better, as we abide with you.

Amen.