Men in Black

[Neil Templar]

no, nothing like the movie.

this one was at the start of the week. i've been mulling it over since then. i have my own ideas about it, but as ever, i'm interested in any insights you guys might have...

i'm in a well to do neighbourhood. large houses, with well tended gardens line the street.
in front of me, a house which belongs to my Uncle.

up the street, i hear a commotion.
gunfire.
i look to see whats happening, there are men in black, perched in treetops, and on walls, in windows on top floors of buildings.
they are shooting machine guns at people in the street. it seems like they are targeting the houses further up the street.
for the moment, my Uncle's place seems safe.
in my mind i have a feeling it's a worldwide thing. the men in black are trying to take over the world.
i go inside... in there i see my Mum, my Uncle, and my Sister and Cousins.
i tell them about what's happening, but they don't seem to care what i am telling them. they actually seem surprised to see me.
as i go into the living room, i see that my Uncle is slipping down in between the cushions of the leather couch. like he's being swallowed up by it or something.
i pull him out. he didn't seem to be concerned about it.
my Uncle is the "head of the family" figure in this dream.

i hear more commotion outside, i tell them they're in danger, but no response, so i slip out a side door to see what's up.
i see the men in black approach my Uncle's house.
they break the door down, and go inside.
everyone is either killed, or taken prisoner.

i am left alone in the garden.
i'm not emotionally moved by any of this. it all feels appropriate, even tho i know things could've been different, if they'd paid attention.

[Tutor]

Neil,

i think that to live is to not allow death to hinder our living capacities to choose rightly for ourselves.

perhaps this is an amped up version of 'awareness rising to live in it's unique capacity' v. the folks you love that may yet be choosing life by externalized societal acceptations and expectations.

these guys in black perhaps represent the status quo of our operable world where most in their capacities to convey their life have otherwise gone along with the flow of what is seen instead of what is personally felt to be.

as you know, we've all done this, and for whatever reason beyond ourselves, we've awakened to our deeper being that would from come the capcity of our truth, uniquely so.

it seems to me, that even as your dream took an amped up violent scheme, it actually represents your love for your folks, and from that love your wish for them to be their true selves, just as you would suggestively exemplify, now being back home among your kith and kin.

sadly perhaps, we may not force anyone to make these inner choices, but we should be faithful that within them each is rising the feeling to freely be, even as we may not see sign of it. folks seem to parlor talk about impersonal news of the day, and each day comes and goes without rest.

just being you, Neil, no doubt your presence will affect your folks in a good way, stirring them toward their own very personal awareness'. be gentle i reckon.

you sure do have the coolest dreams.

tim

[Neil Templar]

Neil,

i think that to live is to not allow death to hinder our living capacities to choose rightly for ourselves.

perhaps this is an amped up version of 'awareness rising to live in it's unique capacity' v. the folks you love that may yet be choosing life by externalized societal acceptations and expectations.

these guys in black perhaps represent the status quo of our operable world where most in their capacities to convey their life have otherwise gone along with the flow of what is seen instead of what is personally felt to be.

as you know, we've all done this, and for whatever reason beyond ourselves, we've awakened to our deeper being that would from come the capcity of our truth, uniquely so.

it seems to me, that even as your dream took an amped up violent scheme, it actually represents your love for your folks, and from that love your wish for them to be their true selves, just as you would suggestively exemplify, now being back home among your kith and kin.

sadly perhaps, we may not force anyone to make these inner choices, but we should be faithful that within them each is rising the feeling to freely be, even as we may not see sign of it. folks seem to parlor talk about impersonal news of the day, and each day comes and goes without rest.

just being you, Neil, no doubt your presence will affect your folks in a good way, stirring them toward their own very personal awareness'. be gentle i reckon.

you sure do have the coolest dreams.

tim

Tim, that's precisely what i thought about this one.
i must also confess slight concern that it may even be prophetic, showing me becoming estranged from my family at some time due to my growing awareness...
then again, perhaps that fear is simply based on my present feelings of estrangement, however slight they may be, where this is concerned...

ah well. what will be will be, in all appropriateness, i suppose.

[Tutor]

hmmmm...maybe 'estranged' is too heavy of a word, maybe 'detached' of expectations. this can open up a more real relationship between yourself and you folks. actually the more detached one can become from outcomes the more love can then be administered into the dynamic.

i think becoming estranged would bear a lot of abandonment and guilt feelings that would a negative effect on your spiritual awareness.

but, i too have had these 'torn' feelings with my family members. part of me wants to estrange myself from any and all drama, and part of me is slowly detaching from the 'unreal' source of the drama so that i may more clearly see the family members.

doesnt mean that i change anyone, just means i change the way i see them, and see myself in it.

family dynamics is a tough critter to stay free of. just last xmas i got sucked in, well i kinda jumped in...lol, and lord have mercy at what a shine cut. took me two months to bounce back inside myself.

i think what challenges us is a good thing, and that is what family is all about, being challenged.

plus it keep our egos from getting too awful inflated.

but yeah, this is probably the dream's matrix of emotional source and mental construction.

i always heard, "we can run but we cant hide". so i figure be who ya are in what is yours, or it can get a lot worse if i run from it and into a bigger mess that aint mine, but there i am in it.

just be a friend to your folks. that's all any of us wants, is to befriend who we love in whatever relationship dynamic.

i remember at the end of my first marraige, of 20 years, after all the agonizing feelings of loss, it was the loss of a long time friend and confidant that ached the worst. especially with such thoughts as was any of it really real, were we ever friends, was it all a pretending to be what we were not.

hell, i still cant answer any of those thoughts, but i think i did the best i could have done in any given moment of it.

maybe that is as good as it gets, just detaching from the thoughts that would interrogate us to the umpteenth level. i dont know about you, but I cant live up to such inner scrutiny.

so i must accept my part, or parts, in it, and move on, hopefully a bit more mature for it.

challenges = maturation

tim

[Neil Templar]

yep. i hear what you're saying. all of it.
and yeah, estranged is a bit too negative feeling. detached is more apt.

i feel detached most of the time now, back in my home city, surrounded by all the "old stuff" but not part of it anymore.
i'm closer to my family than i ever was before, and yet, more detached at the same time.

it is what it is.

[SleepGOTweird]

[Neil Templar]

And Neil, would you say that the "old stuff" (the home and the possessions) have no real value to you anymore? Sometimes when I look at our lives, I just see piles of junk, no matter how well kept or well made they may be. I have no attachment to them, and it's this standpoint of mine that doesn't allow me to see eye-to-eye with the people around me. They still care, and they still care plenty. Maybe it's my own lack of mental complexity and maturity that can't see the beauty and relativity in life's every day things; things that we can all do without. So until I figure this out, my mind feels dangerous and is only here to hurt others for no reason. It's as if each generation has new plans for the world, and we cannot ever possibly understand those who cling onto their version of reality, and their version of value.

They won't look and keep playing along because they can't bare the thought of losing their love. The life that was advertised to them was in reach, was just what they were looking for--and now that they have it--won't let go, even if it's our own un-doing.

when i say ""old stuff", i think i really mean old relationships, as well as possessions etc.
possessions aren't a problem for me, i've already streamlined them down to only the bare essentials i need for living. clothes, computer and hardware for working with, and a few books, which i try to recycle when i'm done with, if i know i'm not gonna have to re-read them.
no, it's more the relationships and the lifestyle i no longer relate to.
the people who are still here, many of them are still doing the same old things. living the same lives. sure, they're 5 years older, and they have grown in some respects, but essentially, they're still going thru the same motions as they were when i left.
the city feels kinda stale, for the most part.
i realise that i simply haven't found the people and places/activities that suit me yet. i know they're here, there's a whole network of awakened souls out there living daily within this city.
i've only just started connecting with them tho... it takes time to build a new life..

i hear what you're saying, about generations.
and it's true, well, at least for those who remain "asleep" within the illusion.
the concept that life can be anything other than the reality they've been programmed into, is often too much to think about.
the old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" comes to mind.

i mean, you can, but only if the old dog is willing...

[Korpo]

Hmmm, I would not think about programming here.

You're born and you go through a long period of forming your values according to your surroundings. But you also have innate values, and over time it's part of your growth that these shine through more and more.

So, if the people around you seem no longer aligned with you even though you grew up with them that does not mean anything is wrong with you. It just means you were born with a different set of values inside, in all likelihood more evolved ones. And it means that you're growing to become aligned with them.

Everybody has their own growth speed. And everybody has a soul age, see the Michael teachings. Older souls don't feel at home among younger souls, the values conflict. Younger souls want all the material stuff, and often care little how to get it. And older souls are more likely to ask "What for?" and have a higher ethical standard.

It's hardly a surprise that older souls would feel drawn to metaphysical stuff. By their nature they are shifting from "playing the game" to understanding why they are here. But since older souls are in the minority they grow up and live in a young soul world. Feeling out of place and not at home is basically inevitable unless you find a network of older souls to connect with.

It bears a certain likelihood with the "ugly duckling" story. Before you know that you're a swan you feel out of place and wrong. Realise, however, is that you're not a duck, and that's part of the solution.

I personally don't like the concept of "programming" - why do you wake up after all? Because you have played the game a thousand times and grow bored with it. Like an addiction drives you into a spiral of diminishing returns for the same stimulant, you no longer find the game satisfying, or being right, or winning, or having more. But you've been there, I've been there, and it has nothing to do with programming. It has to do with not knowing better. That's why we learn, and older souls have a head start - they already know inside. They get it sooner, quicker. But everybody moves at the pace of their own growth.

Also: We learn by experience instead of being told. There's nothing like the taste of having had enough of a certain behaviour to drop the addiction. It just comes easier to the older souls. They had it over and over before. They have, so to say, an "acquired distaste."

Oliver