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The state is non-dualistic because self-reflexive capacity is an *essential characteristic of

consciousness* and not a learned capacity. Meditation does not teach us a new skill; it only

clears away the obscuring flux of cognitive life in order to bring to awareness the normal

lucidity inherent to consciousness. The reason that this fact is not self-obvious is because

most people are cognitively undisciplined, over-stimulated, and supersaturated while others

believe that thinking is a supreme form of cognitive activity when in fact it is only a simple

function inflated by intellectual self-identification. The actual nature of consciousness is far

more fluid and rich than what thinking and rationalizing manifest that is not to say that

thinking is not important, it is crucial, but it is still only a particular, often obscuring,

function.

Secondly, the implication of such a dream function is that the dreamer has to

develop a capacity to distinguish between a) the needs the dream may creatively address

and b) the actual, more fundamental process (integration) that the dream can accomplish

with less engagement on the part of the dreamer. This is rather revelatory because the

implication is that many people have profoundly *entangled dreams* because they project

intensely into the dream scenario needs and desires they want to satisfy (semi-consciously)

through the dream in a way that actually inhibits the dreams (natural) integrative function.

In turn this implies a need to redefine the concept of integration.

I believe that many people, including professional dream workers, hold a somewhat

Platonic idea of integration. Integration as a synthesis of all ones current needs and desires

or as the satisfaction of all ones hopes, certainly falsifies the dream process. Even in a

perfectly healthy individual the process of integration is more an expression of

homeodynamic interaction (and developmental stages) than it is the satisfaction of needs in

any ideal sense. The dynamic function of the dream might be described as integrative

insofar as the processes engaged in the dreaming act to provide an inner stability which is

fundamental to personal development in an enduring sense. This stability however is itself

developmental; identity is constantly adapting, responding, and creatively expressing will

and autonomy in a context of multiple personal, social, and cultural influences.

The existential aspect of this process is engagement with being to what degree

does the individual attain a deeply centered identity through authentic life or lose integrity

and authenticity through artifice, convention, self-delusion, or the falsifying demands of

others? I regard integration as a process of authentic engagement with being which often

implies a need to strip away socialization and artifice based on less aware stages of social

development. The individual can and often does outpace the social-cultural norms that

maintain a collective influence on ideals of maturity and norms of self-identification. The

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dream itself reflects this tendency to function in relation to the collective, adapting the

integrative process often in relationship to both personal needs and collective demands.

However, in the maturation process, the correct development of skills and living a

life dedicated to authentic existence, shaped by moral concern for the well-being of others,

and enhanced by compassion and creative engagement with worldly life, the individual can

act as an integrative center for the collective. The integration of the individual as an

expression of authentic being is, I believe, directed toward intersubjective relations;

integration in this sense means manifesting being in ways that enhance our conceptions of

the sacred human. This is not simply an anthropocentric idea but a fundamental expression

of anthropological being as we human being should seek to exemplify the highest possible

qualities of human life and existence in order to maximize the value and worth of every

other living creature (physical, subtle, or transcendent) with whom we share the planet. We

can only do this by fully engaging our human capacities and unlocking human potentials

that lead to the greatest possibly expressions of being.

Thus, thirdly, the integrative function of the dream is part of a process of self-

overcoming. This means that our personal needs and desires are not the primary basis of

the dreaming reality instead, it is the very nature of being, the very source of

consciousness, which urges us toward greater development and which works through the

subtle influences of dreams as a sacred process of transformation. Through mental training

and authentic engagement with life challenges, drawing on our strengths not our

weaknesses, we can enhance the natural function by consciously engaging in dream work

for the purpose of human evolution and development. However, this means over-coming

our own weaknesses, selfish desires, and self-preoccupations that inhibit our development,

by not placing undue emphasis on every need and desires that manifests in the dream.

The process of self-overcoming is a process that applies to all people in all times; it

is not simply a contemporary idea. And it applies to those who are most self-aware most

importantly because the work of transformation occurs through the authentic attainment of

mature individuals who actually embody the highest degree of development. This is not a

matter of higher states of consciousness or mystical abilities as much as it is grounded,

authentic existence in the world that is exemplary and genuine. Insofar as dreams come

through us as a reflection of our engagement with being, only by embodying the dream in

the active, existential context of day to day life can the potential become evidential to

others. What is required is that we strip away the artifice of personal confusion, false

collective identity, and inauthentic values that inhibit this deep transformation. Then each

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individual becomes a medium for higher being-in, that is, embodied spiritual consciousness

that reflects the unique characteristics of that individual being.

The process of working on dreams cannot be separated from our daily work of

authentic being in the world. Our dreams will be no more integrative than the conscious

intentions we foster that guide our daily life. This is not a matter of a particular set of beliefs

but rather a commitment to an authentic way of life that seeks to serve human

development by nurturing a deep attitude of affirmation toward all living creatures and all

ways of life that do not instill fear, violence, or harmful aggression. All paths are not equal

and all practices are not benign. We have to choose to become engage dreamers in the

creation of a non-violent world where human potential is maximized to serve the

development of all, or to fall into the collective shadow, loss authenticity, and seek only

personal satisfaction through indifference to the fate of others. The path to dreaming

transformation means stripping away artifice in order that the shadow may be engaged

authentically in search on a well-integrated outcome. There is no one way to do this, only a

multitude of ways that converge on dedication to diverse means that promote authentic

human development. The dream is one location, a place to work, that requires constant

dedication and attentive awareness; but the reward is that through the dreaming process

very profound development can occur. June 2011