part 2...

To say this universe is speaking symbolically is to say that what is
> appearing on the world stage is synchronistically reflecting back what
is
> going on deep inside the collective psyche of all of humanity. What is

> unfolding on the world stage IS nothing other than the 'World Soul'
> playing itself out in real time and in solid flesh and blood. Events
in
> our world are a symbolic embodied reflection of an archetypal process
> going on deep inside all of us that we have literally projected
outside of
> ourselves and dreamed up into incarnation in, through and as this
world of
> ours. It is like a deeper part of ourselves is speaking to us in a
> symbolic language that is encoded in events in our life.
> To the extent that we insist on dreaming up events in our world
> unconsciously, however, we will continue to destroy ourselves.
Becoming
> conscious of the symbolic dimension is the very thing that this
universe
> is reflecting back to us that we need to do, and it is concurrently
> showing us how to. Encoded, in hidden symbolic form in what is playing
out
> in the literal dimension (the real world) is the key to re-solve our
real
> world problems. Awakening to symbolic awareness is the very means
through
> which we can change our world, literally. What this means is that the
way
> to resolve our current world crisis lies nowhere other than in a
> collective expansion of consciousness Our current world crisis is the
> projected footprint of a planetary awakening, and it not only portends
the
> awakening, but activates it as well. The agency through which this
> awakening happens is our own consciousness.
> To recognize that our inner process is manifesting in, through and as
the
> outer world is equivalent to recognizing that we are dreaming.
Becoming
> lucid in our waking dream means to recognize that our inner process
has
> projected itself outside of ourselves and is manifesting itself as the

> world we are living in. This waking dream is recognized to be our
mirrored
> reflection, as it is the unmediated expression of, and indivisible
from
> our inner process. The boundary collapses between inner and outer, and
our
> inner process is recognized to be expressing itself through the medium
of
> the outside world. The boundary between not only inner and outer, but
> between dreaming and waking has dissolved.
>
> What is happening in our world right now is analogous to when Buddha
> (which means 'the awakened one') was meditating under the bodhi tree
right
> before he attained enlightenment and the forces of 'Mara,' the evil
one,
> came to attack him. Seen as Buddha's dream, Mara was none other than a

> part of Buddha's own consciousness that got dreamed up to play out
this
> role. From one point of view Mara seems like an adversary who was an
> obstacle to enlightenment and who was 'evil.' And yet, without Mara,
> Buddha wouldn't have developed the muscle of realization, so to speak,
to
> attain enlightenment. In other words, Mara was secretly an ally,
helping
> to initiate and propel Buddha into his realization, which he was
unable to
> have without Mara's challenge. From this point of view, Mara was
actually
> a blessing in a very convincing disguise that he was not.
> A symbol both expresses (reflects) and simultaneously activates
(effects)
> a potential expansion of consciousness. A symbol unites the opposites
as
> it helps us to re-integrate, re-associate, and re-member. Seen as a
part
> of Buddha's dream, Mara was a genuine symbol in that she brought
together
> and united the deepest evil and highest Godhead in one being. This
same
> insight is expressed in alchemy: the highest God is the trickster
figure
> Mercury, who is the evil one himself co-joined with the highest
divinity.
> A true 'coincidentia oppositorum,' a symbol that unites the opposites.
The
> appearance of Mara is a 're-conciling symbol' in that it re-presents,
> reveals and potentially actualizes the state of consciousness in which
the
> deepest evil produces the highest good.
> When we contemplate Mara as a symbol in Buddha's dreaming process, we
> realize that in a very real sense the figure of Mara is symbolically
> expressing itself in our collective dream, too. What is playing out on
the
> world stage is analogous to Mara's attack on Buddha, in that events in
our
> world are literally challenging us, demanding us to expand our
> consciousness. What is happening on the world stage is clearly an
> initiation process that we have all dreamed up together. Seen as a
> dreaming process, we are all dreaming up the universe to prod us and
push
> us off the cliff into realization, so to speak. We clearly aren't
jumping
> off the precipice by our own volition, so just like Buddha we are
dreaming
> up the universe to propel us over our edge. Just like Mara was
> tailor-suited to what Buddha needed to wake up, what is happening on
the
> world stage is exactly what we need to catapult us into a collective
> spiritual awakening undreamed of until this very moment in time.
> When we recognize the symbolic figure of Mara that is playing out in
our
> world, we realize that the evil that is incarnating in our world is
> potentially furthering the evolution of our species. Whether the evil
in
> our world destroys us or transforms us is dependent upon if enough of
us
> collectively wake up to the dreamlike nature of our situation in time.
The
> events that are happening on the world stage are the very medium
through
> which we realize we are all collaboratively dreaming up our universe.
This
> realization is itself the very expansion of consciousness that Mara is
an
> expression of.
> What is playing out on the world stage are the labor pains of a deeper

> part of our being that is incarnating itself in, through and as us.
Just
> like in human birth, the contractions are the most intense right
before
> the emergence of the new being. This deeper part of ourselves is using

> events in our world as the birth canal through which to become
conscious
> of itself. This deeper part of ourselves is symbolically communicating
to
> itself through us, and we are asked to recognize and consciously
> participate in this process so as to become the conduit through which
this
> process of integration becomes actualized.
> Realizing the dreamlike nature of reality collapses the boundary
between
> spirit and matter, as matter has become 'spiritualized' (blessed) and
> spirit has become materialized (incarnate). The magnum opus, or great
work
> of alchemy, was to free the spirit that was imprisoned in matter. This
is
> analogous to freeing the part of ourselves that is embedded and
trapped in
> the mind of dogma, of materialism, and of viewing things literally
instead
> of symbolically. It is to step out of linear-mindedness into the
> realization that the universe is an interactive, acausal feedback loop

> that is truly a work in progress. It is to realize that we are
> multi-dimensional creative artists and dreamers whose canvas is life
> itself. We play a crucial role in the divine incarnation process, as
we
> are the instrument through which the Goddessence becomes aware of and
> re-conciles the opposites intrinsic to its nature.
> To wake up to the dreamlike nature of reality is to symbolically
'kill'
> Cronos, the negative father, who is father time (linear time). To
> symbolically slay the negative patriarchy, who is a figure who abuses
> power over others simply because he can, is to find ourselves
sin-cronos,
> or in synchronistic time, where time is experienced as a radial matrix

> whose center is now. This is to symbolically 'die' (to the sense of
being
> a 'separate-self' alien from the universe) and to be reborn in and as
> spirit, interconnected and at one with all beings. This is to be fully

> released into and as the present moment, which is the access point
through
> which we connect with our true power to consciously change the dream
we
> are having.
> The final boundary that dissolves when we wake up to the dreamlike
nature
> of our universe is the boundary between self and other. We recognize
our
> interconnectedness and interdependence, as we realize we are not
separate
> from each other but are all on the same side. We are all parts of one
> greater Being. Compassion is the expression of this realization.
> When enough of us have this realization we discover that we can
> co-operatively put our lucidity together and collaboratively dream a
more
> grace-filled dream into incarnation. In other words, symbolic
awareness is
> the doorway through which we can incarnate our collective realization
so
> that we can change the world, literally. An alchemical quote expresses

> this by saying "(The soul) imagines very many profound things outside
the
> body, and by this is made like unto God." The birth of symbolic
awareness
> is nothing other than an evolutionary quantum leap in human
consciousness,
> fully imaginable into actualization in this very moment.
> To quote Jung, "I am indeed convinced that creative imagination is the

> only primordial phenomenon accessible to us, the real Ground of the
> psyche, the only immediate reality." Our creative imagination itself
is
> the supra-sensory organ which transubstantiates the mundane empirical
data
> of this world into its real but hidden form as symbolic epiphany. This

> universe is a living oracle, a continually unfolding revelation that
we,
> both literally as well as symbolically, can dream up so as to wake
> ourselves up.
> Seen as a dream, for example, we have all collaboratively dreamed up
these
> very words in this very moment to remind us of the dreamlike nature of
our
> situation. But being like a dream, this will only become true if we
see it
> that way. And if you tell me I am only imagining, or dreaming that
this is
> true, I couldn't agree more.