Terrorists Strike America
(From Dream Sociometry)
Is waking life a dream? Whether the answer is yes or no, waking life can certainly be approached as if it is a dream. Many people resist such a parallel, believing that it devalues life and creates a sense of detachment that is unhelpful and misleading. Others think that such an approach inevitably leads us to question our common assumptions about what is real, true, and worth living and dieing for. However, rather than devaluing consensus reality, intrasocial consensus reality becomes valued. Because we make conscious decisions primarily in the waking state, Dream Yoga is finally assessed in terms of its usefulness to the ends and purposes of waking identity. The application of Dream Sociometry to waking events is another way to demonstrate that applicability as well as the dream-like nature of waking experience.
This can be done with almost any event: an argument, near-death experience, drug trip, meditation experience, romance, or rejection, failure, resistance, humiliation, or abandonment. In creating a Dream Sociomatrix for a waking event, all of the elements are listed in chronological order across the top of the Dream Sociomatrix and choosing characters are listed along the left margin, just as they would be for a dream. Interviewing and template construction proceed just as with a dream. Perhaps the most powerful results occur when you use powerfully mythic events such as marriages, deaths, and other rites of passage, or accidents and arguments. Socio-cultural events are even more likely to take on mythic proportions that clearly transcend self on a macrocosmic transcultural scale, just as dreams clearly transcend self on a microcosmic intrasocial scale.
The following example explores one of the pivotal events of the early 21st century. It was picked because at the time it had a palpably nightmarish quality to many, many people and contaminated ordinary waking life in intense and unusual ways for a period of time. It was as if a huge bell was rung and you were standing right underneath it, or a huge tsunami came on shore, overwhelming everything in its path. There is no attempt made here to speak for others, although because this was a world dream the life issues and associations that came up reflected a world perspective rather than personal issues. Although I attempted to be in role throughout, you would create a different Dream Sociomatrix. However, deep listening connects us in a way in which one speaks for all. Some truths resonate, regardless of who speaks them.
Terrorists Attack America
9/11/01
Dillard
(Created 09/19/01)
(What if I had dreamed the horrifying actions of 9/11/01? How would Dream Yoga apply to such a dream? To work through this authentically, I must, to the best of my ability, treat the experience the nation and world are undergoing now as my dream and the issues that are confronting the world as my issues.)
I am watching first one, then another huge jet full of passengers crash into the NYWTC in huge fireballs, then collapsing, killing thousands, including the terrorists. The Pentagon is also horribly attacked by a jet bomb. Fires rage. People are in shock, then grieving, then outraged. President Bush prepares the country for war.
Before you continue to read, answer the following questions:
Of the following dream characters, which one do you think would be the most accepting of the others? Here are your choices:
Dream Self (you in the dream)
The New York Trade Center & Pentagon
The Planes that were hijacked
The Planes’ passengers and victims in the towers and Pentagon
The huge fireballs caused by the explosions
The terrorists
President Bush
Who do you think would be the least accepting?
Who do you think would be the most preferred?
Who do you think would be the least preferred?
Of the following actions, which do you think would be the most preferred by this group? Which would be the least preferred?
watching
crash
collapse
killed
war
Of the following feelings, which do you think would be the most preferred by this group? Which would be the least preferred?
horrible
shock
grief
outrage
After you have read the following compare your answers to the patterns of preference created by this particular dream group.
My associations to this dream are…If I had this dream, I would wonder that I hate myself so much that I not only kill others but I kill myself. Why am I so angry at myself? I doubt that any compromise or resolution can come out of listening to these dream group members because the anger, suspicion, and distrust on both sides is so deep they just want to kill each other.
Three fundamental life issues
Formulate three questions, each addressing a different core life issue:
• How do I create security for every part of myself, so that none of them want to repeat this?
• What is the appropriate response to take in the face of such a brutal, outrageous attack on myself?
• How do I learn to live in peace with all other parts of myself, even the ones I don’t like or respect?
If I could resolve these issues, what difference would it make in my life?
As a global population, I would feel much more secure. Therefore I would not be angry and I might be able to trust and listen to other parts of myself.
What do I think I need to do to be happy in my life?
I want respect! I want my values, my beliefs, my way of life to be respected! You don’t have to agree with me; you don’t have to share my beliefs. But respect my right to hold them! Respect the sacredness of my life if you want me to respect yours!
Sociomatrix Scoring Key:
Blank = Don’t Care; 1 = like; 2 = like a lot; 3 = love; /1 = dislike; /2 = dislike a lot; /3 = hate;
A(cceptance) = none of the above; two scores in one box indicate ambivalent feelings. (Underlined statements are extracted and placed below under “What I am saying to myself is…” )
Sociomatrix Commentary
“The reason I like, like (a lot, love, dislike, dislike a lot, hate, don’t care about, or am non-attached toward) (dream element) is…” “What I liked/disliked most about being in this dream is…”
Dream Self: I really dislike myself a lot for letting this happen to me. How could I have been so blind? Why didn’t I see this coming? I really don’t like that I am watching because it feels so passive, so helpless! I feel so powerless just watching! The NYWTC is a living, breathing entity, home to thousands which I respect as a nurturing support for the lives of thousands and a powerful symbol of worldwide prosperity. It belongs to the world. When it was stabbed by that jet bomb I felt a huge part of myself die! I have mixed feelings about the Pentagon. I respect the people who work there as human beings. I understand the need for security within individuals, nations, and the world. But this building is basically dedicated to threatening and killing people, if need be. So I have a love-hate relationship with power and intimidation.
I like the planes a lot because they provide an unimaginable degree of freedom. Technologically, they are miraculous. Although I knew none of the passengers personally, I care a great deal for the doomed passengers on these planes. My heart goes out to them in their needless deaths! I think of the terror many of them must have felt before they died. I hate the crash, the fireballs, the horrible collapses of the buildings. I feel great compassion for the thousands of helpless victims.
I hate the terrorists that they would do such a thing! I struggle to separate the human beings from their actions. I know that I am not actually hating the terrorists but their thoughts, actions, and feelings. But it feels like I am hating the terrorists themselves because I am having trouble separating who they are from what they do, think, and feel. I like President Bush because I respect the significance and importance of the role of president at a time like this. I don’t like him a lot because I don’t trust that he or his advisers have the vision to see past their anger and will simply create more terrorism through their reactivity. I don’t understand how this war can be won. I think it is a war that everyone has to agree not to fight, because I see only losers in this war.
What I like most about being in this dream is nothing. What I dislike most about being in this dream is the feeling of powerlessness.
NYWTC/Pentagon: I am very, very, angry that you let me be attacked and destroyed! You deserve to be angry at yourself! You were neglectful and irresponsible, so complacent and lazy that you ignored not only my safety but ignored countless warnings that we were in danger! Your passivity is disgusting. Ignoring the injustices in the world won’t make them go away. It just makes them bigger when they do finally happen. We hate these planes, although we understand that they were victims themselves. Still, they are the knives that stabbed us and killed us, in the case of WTC, and wounded us badly, in the case of the Pentagon. While we feel sad for the passengers on the planes, we feel a lot worse for ourselves. We feel a lot like Dream Self does about this whole thing. We hate it and we hate what we are forced to feel. We like President Bush because we put a lot of hope in him to come through for us. But we really don’t see how he can fix this situation, to right this wrong, much less keep it from happening again. War sounds like a good idea. What do we have to lose? We’ll show people they can’t treat us like this!
What I like most about being in this dream is nothing. Well, maybe if it wakes Dream Self up to the fact that we need a whole lot more defending than we’re getting, that’s something that’s important. What I dislike most about being in this dream is getting destroyed and feeling pretty hopeless about stopping it.
Planes: We hate Dream Self for being so passive and not taking care of us. He wants the power and the freedom we give him but he is unwilling to exercise the responsibility that we require. He is like a baby playing with matches around gasoline! He’s just blown up his house and charred himself! We dislike the WTC and the Pentagon because they killed us when we slammed into them. But we can’t dislike them too much, because they were just sitting there. They were helpless victims like we are. Still, if they hadn’t been in our way, they wouldn’t have killed us. We love ourselves! We are big, beautiful, and extraordinarily sophisticated! We like our passengers a lot. Our job is to serve them. We are so in touch with our own death and the deaths of our passengers that we really just can’t care about the thousands who died when we slammed into these buildings. We hate that they died, though. We hate those terrorists! There’s nothing that President Bush can do that can make a difference for us now, anyway. Maybe he can do something to make our brothers safer, but I doubt it. I think a lot of steps can be taken that create an illusion of security, but maybe none of us have ever really been safe. Maybe that was an illusion. Maybe none of us will ever really be safe. We feel neutral about Bush, because we think he’s basically impotent. But if he can set a positive tone of responsibility and mutual respect, perhaps things can get better. We like the idea of going to war a lot because the terrorists deserve to be punished. But we also dislike the idea of going to war a lot because we think it will just hurt the innocent, mostly, inflame passions, and drain resources that could better be spent defusing the causes of terrorism.
What I like most about being in this dream is nothing. What I dislike most about being in this dream is being a helpless victim and the means to the destruction of thousands.
Passengers/Victims: We feel like the planes do, since they are victims just like we are. But while they love themselves, and we do like them a lot, we also hate them because they are the instruments of our death! So we have a lot of mixed feelings about them. We like ourselves a lot. How could we have known that this would happen to us??? Maybe we should care about all those victims, but we are so tied up in the horror, grief, and anger we feel about our own deaths that we don’t have the energy to feel much empathy or even sympathy. We hate that they were murdered! We hate those terrorists! We have to hope that President Bush can create a vision for the country that sees beyond reprisals and a mere escalation of the round of violence. We have to hope that he will foster ways to reduce those factors that inflame the passions of terrorists. Basically, we agree mostly with the Planes.
What I like most about being in this dream is nothing. I hate it. What I dislike most about being in this dream is feeling that our deaths are for nothing
Fireballs: I don’t care about Dream Self or that he is watching. Well, I guess I like that he is a witness to my raw, uncontrollable power. I don’t care about the NYWTC or the Pentagon at all, except that they become fuel for me to exalt myself in my glory. The planes and passengers are fuel. The crash allows me to live, so I love it. I love myself! I love to burn! The collapse basically puts me out, so I don’t like that. Whether people die or not, whether things get destroyed or not, is no concern of mine. The terrorists allowed me to express myself, to make my glorious nature known to all. So I like them. Other than living fully, I really don’t care. What I like most about being in this dream is being free, powerful, and fully alive!! What I dislike most about being in this dream is that it had to end. I would have liked to have burned forever.
Terrorists: We have only contempt for Dream Self. He is not worth hating or even disliking. We like a lot that he is watching, because he is learning of his powerlessness against us, his complacency. He is dreaming his dream of safety and security while he parasitically lives off of us, robbing our lands of their resources, occupying our holy places, supporting those who commit terrorist acts against our women and children. If we have to die, he will die too. But in our deaths the glory and superiority of Islam will shine. They are sleeping cowards; we are courageous holy warriors who put our faith above our comfort and our lives, so unlike what these swine do. Our deaths, the deaths of these symbols of American arrogance, the deaths of all these accomplices to the murder of our cultures, bring glory to us and our cause.
We hate these buildings for what they symbolize – the arrogant attempt to dominate our land, our culture, our faith. The planes we like a lot as instruments of our punishment. We like the passengers because we can make a greater statement through their terror and helpless deaths. We dislike them as American taxpayers who support the abuse of our culture. We love the carnage, horror, grief, and even the outrage, because now they know exactly how we feel and we have felt for decades now, humiliated by their arrogance and conceit. What we like most about being in this dream is waking Dream Self and America up to us. Making them realize that they not only cannot ignore us, that they can’t just take us seriously. By our deaths we are forcing them to recognize, address, and respect our legitimate needs. So our deaths are good. War is good, because we will triumph. The deaths of all these people is absolutely necessary. What I dislike most about being in this dream is nothing.
Bush: I pretty much feel like dream self. I put on a brave face, but deep down I don’t know if I have what it takes to handle this one. I very much want to go to war, because it gives me an agenda around which I can unite the people. I was going to have trouble otherwise. But I just don’t know about this war. I want to get revenge, but I am not sure who to attack and I don’t see an exit strategy. I feel pretty uneasy about this…. What I like most about being in this dream is having a chance to give hope and prove that I’m a capable leader. What I dislike most about being in this dream is that I’m out of my depth. What I dislike is that I really don’t know what to do and that this is going to make me look powerless and incapable if I’m not careful.
Dream Consciousness: I really hated having to create this drama. I hate that Dream Self was so fast asleep, so complacent, that I had to kick him hard in the ass to wake him up. I had to not just make him mad, but angry. It’s a risk I’m taking, because he could use his anger to turn me off. He could use his anger to hurt himself. But if I don’t wake him up, he’ll fall even deeper asleep. Then I will have to kick him even harder to wake him up. So now I’ve hurt him. But I’ve got his attention. Now that he’s alert, is he going to listen, or just stay angry? I hate that I have been forced to hurt my own creations. But it is time to wake up or die. If he does not wake up, then what good am I? Death is better than the selfish insolence of somnambulism.
What I like most about creating this dream is my willingness to take great risks in order to create a greater good. My hope is that Joseph will come to respect the needs of ALL parts of himself instead of wasting his life ignoring the legitimate needs of parts of himself and therefore at war with himself. What I dislike most about creating this dream is the pain, fear, and anger it has caused.
What surprises me about what I’ve heard is… The planes said that safety had been an illusion, that they never really had been safe and that their brothers never really would be. This made me think about living with insecurity instead of pretending to be safe, to live with the knowledge that there is nobody or no thing that can guarantee that I won’t die horribly tomorrow. It causes me to think about what it would be like to live happily in that knowledge. Is it possible? If I do it, I won’t have unrealistic expectations of the President, or the government, or of airplanes that they will protect or support me. I won’t put my confidence, faith, or trust in people or things that are fundamentally unreliable. That’s hard to do, because I get used to thinking that they are reliable and will support me. Then I blame them when I get reminded that this is basically a false trust. Still, I pay taxes with the expectation that I will get something back. Maybe I am paying to reduce the odds that bad things will happen, but I am not buying an insurance policy that bad things won’t happen to me.
Sounds to me like I am being forced to move, as a social being, into a radical existentialism in which I have no “thing” or person that I can base my happiness or security on. I have to learn to live with radical meaninglessness and anxiety and still be happy. I do it on a personal level. Can I do it on a social level?
I am also surprised that the passengers and victims dislike most that their deaths are for nothing. It makes me want their deaths to inspire not war, but a real dialogue that can result in the protection of the rights of people everywhere so that this can never happen again. If that happened, then they would not have died in vain.
I realized while the Terrorists were talking that “Dream Self” is mostly the voice of America in this dream, a character which was not included in the narrative.
Dream Consciousness is not beyond having feelings. In fact, it has very strong feelings about a few things and none at all about the others. This is because it sees much of this “dream” as a necessary drama from which it is detached, but it feels for the pain it has caused the actors, for whom the drama is real.
Dream Summary Commentary
(“What part of this dreamer’s consciousness do you personify? “ The reason why I am in this dream is…” and, “This dream group came together to…”)
NYWTC/Pentagon: I most closely personify your pride in your public image as the best, the brightest, the strongest. I also personify your world presence and your dominating power economically and militarily. The reason why I am in this dream is to make you question your unquestioned superiority and your ability to get your way irrespective of the needs and wishes of others. You believe too much in your persona, your ego. This dream group came together to wake you up, to humble you, to teach you not to base your value or your existence on us, because we are transient and will not always be there for you.
Planes: I most closely personify your freedom and sense of security as you expand in whatever direction you want to go in life. The reason why I am in this dream is to force you to understand that as long as you ignore or repress the freedom and security of any aspect of yourself, you can never really be free or secure. This dream group came together to force you to listen to your larger self and its’ needs.
Passengers/Victims: I most closely personify the parts of you that get victimized when you ignore the needs of your larger self. The reason why I am in this dream is to cause you to recognize the pain you are causing yourself. This dream group came together to motivate you to deeply listen to yourself.
Fireballs: I most closely personify your power run amok. The more you develop, the more freedom and power you have. If you do not grow in responsibility and cooperation at the same time, the imbalance between these two will cause your power to explode and destroy you. You cannot grow at the expense of aspects of yourself forever and remain secure. The reason why I am in this dream is to force you to rectify this balance by understanding just how capable of destroying yourself you are. This dream group came together to create anger and fear to generate motivation for deep listening to hurting parts of yourself.
Terrorists: I most closely personify the disenfranchised, ignored, abused, humiliated parts of yourself that are courageous, proud, and demanding of respect at any cost. We are parts of you that would rather kill you and us too than live like dogs under your rule. The reason why I am in this dream is to scare you awake and to force you to feel our pain. This dream group came together to give you a wake-up call. If you respond with more repression, we will kill you. We are not afraid to die. Are you?
Bush: I most closely personify the executive function that is so closely identified with preserving appearances and the status quo that it favors repression over dialogue and compromise. The reason why I am in this dream is to remind you that if you keep thinking about your problems in the same way you have in the past – strengthen yourself, repress your enemies – that eventually your own power will destroy you. This dream group came together to get you to put your faith in yourself rather than your government or your personality or your public image.
Dream consciousness: I most closely personify the world-patterning consciousness that created this socio-political drama. The reason why I created this dream is to help you to understand that you are at war with yourself and repression will only make it worse. You have to listen to yourself or you will kill yourself. This dream group came together to enact this dilemma in a way you cannot ignore, repress, or avoid dealing with.
Dream Commentary
“If I could change this dream in any way, would I change it? If so, how?”
NYWTC/Pentagon: It wouldn’t ever happen! The terrorists would be caught before they boarded the plane or overwhelmed by the passengers or they would have a change of heart! But if it did happen, then the damage would be minimal. But if we were destroyed, like in the dream, then I suppose the way I would change this dream would be for our deaths to not be in vain. I would want a more secure, mutually respectful world to be the heritage of our deaths.
Planes: Yes.
Passengers/Victims: We have to go through the stages of dealing with grief. But once we have accepted the reality of our deaths, we need to expand that acceptance to all others. Because after we die, nothing matters. Being right doesn’t matter. Being American doesn’t matter. Being strong doesn’t matter, because we’re still dead. The only thing that can make a difference, from our point of view, is acceptance. Accept that we are dead, accept each other. And out of that acceptance will come mutual respect and out of that mutual respect will come a security based on that which doesn’t die instead of bombs and buildings.
Fireballs: I like this dream the way it is! I get to play and I get noticed!
Terrorists: We need to do this in order to get noticed and our grievances taken seriously. We have no confidence that you will get it short of our inflicting pain and suffering on you. In fact, we fear that you will forget this and go back to your comfortable, self-indulgent ways.
Bush: Give me the strength to set an example of good listening, not just to the points of view I agree with, but to the needs of those who terrorize us. Then give me the vision to embrace responses that respect the legitimate concerns of those parts of myself that hate me.
Dream consciousness: This dream, as gruesome as it is, needs to happen. You are listening to its members, allowing disagreements and hurts to be aired. This dream is serving its purpose. I would recommend that a “cabinet meeting” of these characters be convened in which all viewpoints are heard and a genuine attempt is made to address the needs and legitimate interests of all parties.
Does anyone object?
No! We all are willing to discuss where to from here.
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: We demand justice and compensation.
Terrorists: We demand that you get your military out of the Middle East. You defile our holy sites. We demand you stop financially and militarily supporting Israel because it is a terrorist state that kills our wives and children. We demand that you get Israel to stop attacking us.
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: If we were able and willing to give you what you want, would that not validate the effectiveness of terrorism? Would that not be appeasement? And even if it didn’t, could you be trusted to bring to justice those who have committed these crimes against humanity? Could you be trusted to compensate us for our losses which are so huge there is no possible compensation that would be sufficient?
Terrorists: Don’t trust us. Empower an international force to keep all warring parties apart. As long as we are represented in that force, we will accept it. It will guarantee your security.
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: You must turn the perpetrators over to the International Court of Justice in the Hague. We do not trust Islamic courts.
Terrorists: We will compensate you with our oil revenues if your military leaves our countries, an international force protects Palestinians from the Israelis, and you stop supporting Israel financially and militarily.
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: We are unwilling to stop supporting Israel, but we may consider equal support for the Palestinians.
Terrorists: You will not need to support Israel if an international military force is guaranteeing its’ safety.
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: In order to pull out of the middle east, we must no longer be dependent on your oil for our economic security.
Terrorists: If you can get to the Moon, surely you can learn to be independent in oil!
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: You don’t understand. There are a lot of powerful people in our country who would go broke if our economy was not based on your oil.
Terrorists:: Becoming energy-self-sufficient would increase your national security much more than fighting with us will ever do. Would you rather fight with us or regenerate your economy by developing alternative renewable sources of energy?
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: Why are you telling us this? You will go broke without our money!
Terrorists:: We would rather have our heritage and our culture than your money. The corrupt ruling classes are the ones that want you to stay dependent on our oil – not us.
NYWTC/Pentagon, Planes, Passengers/Victims, Bush: We have the outlines of a possible agreement here. If we get the UN to impose a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, with armed troops on the ground, if we agree to remove our air stations from Saudi Arabia, and if we agree to compensate Palestine with yearly appropriations equal to those we give Israel, what do we get in return?
Terrorists: We will hand over whomever you think is guilty to the Hague and abide by the decision of the court. We will abide by international judgments as to what is fair and reasonable compensation for our terrorist acts, as long as you get Israel to agree to do the same for its terrorism against us. We will preach against terrorism and forbid it. We will continue to hold ourselves liable for any terrorist acts and agree to hand over any terrorists to an international tribunal.
(All of the above negotiation requires interpretation on a personal level: Basically parts of identity require justice and compensation from other parts. What does this mean? How could that be done? On an intrapersonal level that basically means respect and non-interference, if not actual assistance at meeting ends that are desired by the aggrieved parts of self. Other parts feel violated and imposed upon. They demand to be left alone. This is as if there are parts of ourselves that are natural that want to stay that way or parts of ourselves who value their way of looking at the world even if it is very different from what we, as waking identities, accept. It would be as if dream group members were demanding that waking identity stop controlling them through lucid dream manipulation or, more indirectly, through indulging some harmful addiction such as alcohol or sex. It could also be consistent abusive self-talk that discounts the worth of aspects of ourselves.)
Dreamage
(A rewrite of the dream based on a consensus of dream group member recommendations. If there is no consensus, there can be no dreamage. A synthesis group dream is usually its own dreamage. Read it over before sleep as an affirmation of a higher pattern of internal integration and healing.)
There was no agreement on a dreamage.
Waking Commentary
(“Character, ) If you were in charge of my life today, would you change it? If so, how? How would you handle my three fundamental life issues? )
NYWTC/Pentagon: In light of our previous negotiation, I would share power. I would listen more. I would compromise with other parts of myself a lot more.
Planes: I would not live my life assuming that I am free and secure. I wouldn’t take those things for granted. I would constantly be checking with other parts of myself that have the ability to destroy me o see if they feel free and secure.
Passengers/Victims: I would not go through my life assuming that I was safe and deserving. I would change my expectations to take into consideration the needs of others a lot more than I have been doing.
Fireballs: I’m OK with being contained, and you can trust me to explode if you give me a chance!
Terrorists: If you listen to us we will be less angry and less likely to strike out.
Bush: I have got to realize that my constituency is more than just the parts of myself that I like or that I feel loyal to. I have got to represent the needs of everyone.
Dream consciousness: You’re getting it!
Life Issue Commentary
(Is there a life issue which you would like to ask these dream group members about? “
Life Issue: Deeper, longer, more regular meditation.
(“If I were this dreamer, this is how I would handle this life issue:”)
NYWTC/Pentagon: I would just surrender, since I’m dead. There would be no resistance, including interfering thoughts and feelings.
Planes: I would work at staying above the problems of the day, the concerns of everyday life.
Passengers/Victims: I would not trust in my agenda or in my daily routines to get me through, because they are fundamentally undependable.
Fireballs: We don’t burn without oxygen. Meditate high up in the atmosphere and in space and I can’t burn.
Terrorists: Do Dream Yoga to listen to the parts of yourself. It will defuse resistance to equanimity, evoke compassion and awaken wisdom.
Bush: The country runs itself. I need to inspire, then get out of the way.
Dream consciousness: Identify with me when you meditate.
Point of Maximum Leverage
(“Of all the above recommendations for daily change, if there was one in particular that you would strongly recommend that the dreamer specifically apply during the coming week, in order to make maximum progress, what would it be?”)
NYWTC/Pentagon: Meditate.
Planes: Meditate
Passengers/Victims: Meditate.
Fireballs:
Terrorists: Listen to the disenfranchised within yourself.
Bush: Meditate.
Dream consciousness: Meditate.
Action Plan
(All of these recommendations for waking life applications are not necessarily helpful or of equal importance. You have to decide how you wish to prioritize them and what you want to do with them. But take some action! It is a way of demonstrating that you take your inner direction seriously. If you have it wrong, future dream groups will cybernetically correct your course.)
• Meditate.
• When meditating, become Dream Consciousness.
• Do Dream Yoga to deeply listen to and move toward consensus with, aspects of yourself.
Action Plan Pre-Sleep Rehearsal
(Imagine you are going about your day tomorrow. See yourself dealing with your life issues in the ways recommended by your dream group members. Write this image out as a pre-sleep suggestion. Read it over several times before going to sleep.)
I am sitting around a large table at the UN in Manhattan. It’s the Security Council. The other dream group members from this dream are in the other chairs. We are negotiating out our disagreements, as above. Now we are meditating. I am experiencing myself as Dream Consciousness.
“What I am Saying to Myself Is…”
(A rewording of key comments of dream group members as statements that you are making about yourself.)
• I really dislike myself a lot for letting this happen to me.
•. What I dislike most … is the feeling of powerlessness.
• I deserve to be angry at myself.
• I am neglectful and irresponsible, so complacent and lazy that I ignore not only my safety but ignore countless warnings that I am in danger!
• War sounds like a good idea. What do I have to lose? I’ll show myself I can’t treat myself like this!
• I need to be woken up to the fact that parts of myself need a whole lot more defending than they are getting,
• .I want the power and the freedom prosperity gives me but I am unwilling to exercise the responsibility that it requires.
• I am not worth hating or even disliking.
• My death is good. War is good, because I will triumph. The deaths of all these parts of myself is absolutely necessary.
• I don’t know if I have what it takes to handle this one.
• I very much want to go to war with myself, because it gives me an agenda around which I can unite myself.
• I really don’t know what to do and that this is going to make me look powerless and incapable if I’m not careful.
Some of the basic issues addressed by this dream group are:
• I am torn between fighting, to express control and confidence and to act out my rage in a self-righteous crusade for justice, on the one hand, and doing the much harder work of examining how I brought this on myself and deeply listening to the legitimate concerns of other, disowned, parts of myself.
• How I am much more like the disowned terrorist within me than I recognize or begin to admit.
• How my self-criticism neutralizes and therefore cuts me off from higher sources of guidance and grace. (As seen by the neutralization of Dream Consciousness in its Sociogram placement.)
• How strong preferences tend to create reactive, equally strong oppositional strong preferences within me.
At this point, what is your understanding of what you think you need to do to be happy in your life?
Meditate a lot more and do Dream Yoga regularly so that I can become aware of and defuse my internal conflicts before they get to this point.
Sociogram Scoring Key:
To determine placement, find the appropriate axis and count one degree of preference for each concentric circle, starting at the center, which is zero.
Positive scores are placed on “+” axes and indicate degree of preference.
Negative scores are placed on “-” axes and indicate degree of rejection.
Vertical (acceptance axis) scores (choosing characters) are taken from the right end of the Sociomatrix. This indicates how accepting or rejecting “choosers” are.
Element (chosen characters, actions, and feelings) are taken from the bottom of the Sociomatrix. This indicates how preferred or rejected chosen elements are.
Sociogram Commentary
Overall Pattern: This is a nightmare Dream Sociogram, as destructive dream group member are placed on the positive pole of the acceptance axis while nurturing or victimized dream group members are relegated to the negative or rejecting pole of that axis. This indicates not only extreme self-loathing but extreme powerlessness.
Acceptance Axis: The terrorists are the self-aspect that have control and power in this dream group, even though they are far outnumbered by the positive, neutral, or victimized dream group members. We have a very extreme polarization, moving from +28 to -29. This is a 57 point preferential swing, indicating an amazing degree of internal polarization. While Dream Consciousness is not only relatively neutral, but neutralized as well. It too had extremely strong positive and negative preferences, indicating that it also was emotionally invested in this dream group in contradictory ways, as validated by its remarks. It is powerless to do anything other than depict the causative karmic patterns externally (in dreams and in waking life) in the hope that someone will stop, listen, and see.
Form Axis: The Passengers/Victims are the most preferred dream group members. The big surprise here comes on the negative pole of this axis: Dream Self is viewed by this group as a surrogate of the hated antagonist, the Terrorists. This is very different from how Dream Self sees himself in the dream, although he dislikes himself a lot as well. This pairing of Dream Self with the Terrorists in the preferences of the group as a whole is a statement of Dream Self’s (disowned) responsibility for creating and maintaining this pattern of self-abuse. Dream Self is seen by this dream group as a whole to be in opposition to the victimized aspects of self, and it is a strong opposition (-11 to +13, 24 degrees of preference – a lot for the form axis.
Process Axis: Another unusual and fairly astonishing feature of this particular dream group is the complete absence of any preferred actions on the process axis. There are absolutely no preferred behaviors for this dream group. This is extremely unusual. It is ironic that a behavior that would normally be expected to be highly rejected, “war,” is the least rejected by this dream group. This implies that this group is strongly disposed to conflict going forward, although it does not prefer it.
Affect Axis: There are no redeeming positive emotions in this dream group, although there were any number of positive preferences expressed by many dream group members, demonstrating that there was much identification with strong feelings, many of which tend to create their opposite.
Dream Group Dynamics Commentary
(In which the various dream group members are provided with an opportunity to express their thoughts on their relationships with their fellow dream group members.)
NYWTC/Pentagon: I don’t have the power to change this dream group.
Planes: If we listen to each other, perhaps we can find some way forward.
Passengers/Victims: I am willing to listen if I can be heard.
Fireballs: I am pleased with the status quo.
Terrorists: I am in no mood to listen to any of you. I have demands that have to be met or I’ll kill us all.
Bush: We have no choice. They are like a cancer. We can’t love it to death. It’s time for surgery.
Dream consciousness: There is no grace in this dream group. It will have to come from a combination of meditation and continuing dialogue. This is a start.
In Summary,
Based on the patterns seen in the Dream Sociogram, the perspective of Americans is at least as much responsible for Terrorism as are the terrorists themselves. In addition, it can be predicted, based on the relationships of this dream group, that war is the most likely course of action going forward. It can also be predicted that war is unlikely to resolve this problem, because it is not a behavior which will change the preference relationships between the various dream group members.
The Fireball is a totally powerful, amoral part of myself.
This is a bleak pattern. No one is really in a mood to listen to the needs of anyone else because they fear that would be a sign of appeasement and capitulation that would simply inspire more abuse. It is not realistic to expect change to come from any source but Dream Self, who has to demonstrate leadership to everyone, including Bush, on this, by insisting on continuing dialogue and attunement to a transcendent pattern of healing through meditation.
We can see from the above example that any life event can potentially be treated as a dream. If we so choose, we can create Dream Sociomatrices about any conceivable waking event. When we do so, we find that the distinction between dreaming and waking experience is mostly an artifice of waking identity. It is not that waking is therefore illusory or that dreaming is therefore real; it is that our reality judgments are seen to be tools, not safe harbors or absolutes upon which to base our sense of self. Dream Yoga can now be properly understood as a Psychospiritual technology that uses any and all form, regardless of the state of consciousness in which it manifests, as a vehicle for transformation.
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