You Have All The Answers

I awoke with a feeling of disquiet. The dream was still vivid in my mind. I was perturbed as I snuggled deeper into my bed and tried to understand what it all meant:

I was driving my husband’s car. I wanted to drive up one of the narrow roads that lead up the hill, but each one I passed was covered in snow, and impassable. I drove instead down towards the town, parked the car, and began to walk.

 

I ended up in a huge marquee where a religious sect was holding some sort of revival meeting. There were a lot of people seated at trestle tables, eating, and I took my plate of food and sat down opposite the leader of the sect, and began to eat my meal. The meal was salad, but I noticed as I ate more of the salad, that there was a large piece of steak underneath the salad. I left that on my plate.

 

As I ate, the sect leader started talking to me as if I had joined his sect. He started telling me that the ritual, which was about to happen after lunch, was difficult for those just starting, but I would get used to it. As I ate, I thought: I am not interested in any rituals. I will leave after the meal.

 

As the leader continued to talk about the ritual and how new people find it difficult but soon get used to it, I had to tell him that I only came for the food.

 

Although he continued to smile, I could tell he was fuming underneath, and he quickly escorted me from the marquee.

 

After I left the marquee, I had trouble finding my husband’s car.

And then I woke up.

It was only after my morning meditation that the anxious feeling left me, and I began to understand the dream.

I had asked during my meditation if I need to consult a dream book, and received the response:“You have all the answers.” I knew that this wasn’t just a message for me, but for all of us.

We often think that the answers are out there somewhere – someone else will know what I need to know, what I need to do, how I need to behave, what I should believe. We put our lives in other people’s hands, from doctors to lawyers to priests. I realised that this was one message from my dream: we need to take responsibility for our own lives and for our own spirituality.

The impassable roads up the hills were roads that I would have liked to take to a higher plane, but my dream was telling me that I have to wait a while (until the snow melts) before I can do that.

In the meantime, instead of going in the fast lane as my husband (his car) would do, I can stop and walk and take in the scenery and get involved in the community (the town).

As I have been doing a couple of courses at the American Institute of Holistic Theology, I knew that the religious revival tent was relating to that. It was telling me that we don’t need to immerse ourselves completely into a religion to get something out of it. We can take the parts we like (the salad) and leave the parts we don’t like (the meat).

We only need to become involved in the study of any religion for the nourishment (food) it can give us.

Chances are the leaders of the religions will want us to join the group and become committed followers – to see things their way, and carry out all of the rituals. They may even become angry that we don’t want to commit, even as they pretend to be loving and caring.

I know that when I have completed my studies, I will not be the same person as when I started. (I can’t find where I parked the car.)

Even though we have all of the answers within us, we often have to consult other people or institutions to allow those answers to surface. I may need to consult a doctor to understand about the dis-ease that my body is experiencing, but if I consult my heart, I will know if his recommended treatment is in my best interests. I may need to consult a lawyer to find out my legal options, but I will know if I need to carry out that law suit that he may suggest. I may need to consult a priest to fully understand a passage in the Bible, but I will know if all that he tells me is the truth for me.

As in my dream, my destiny did not lead up the hill away from the town, but down into the community. I know that there are people who can help me achieve my aims in that community, and I know that equally I can help others in the community achieve their aims.

Although we all need to take responsibility for our own lives and spirituality, it doesn’t mean that we don’t need to relate with other people. All of the beings on this planet are interdependent – all of the people, all of the animals, and the planet herself. Even though the answers lie within each of us, the questions, or the inspiration for those answers, may well come from our interaction with one of these beings.

I am grateful to have found within me many answers to my questions about what my dream meant. I would be even more grateful to hear any thoughts that you might have about the meanings you see in any aspect of the dream. You may have the key which unlocks a complete understanding for me.

Dreams are always fascinating. The more we delve into them the more we find. However, sometimes they can leave us confused and shaken. Don’t be afraid to consult a dream dictionary or a friend for clues on what your dreams mean, but don’t forget that you have all the answers.

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