John: In this dream I find I am a soldier caught up in some war (exactly where is not specified). It is one of those situations in which there’s no way of resolving this conflict in a meaningful way. Everything is in a state of being very, very tense and oppressed.
I’m doing the best I can to maintain my equilibrium inside. The situation is so nonsensical that I can’t let what is going on get to me, or I could crack up. Nothing about the situation is getting better, it’s only getting worse.
So the key for me is to not dwell upon every detail. If I do, then the outer events themselves would overwhelm me. Instead I recognize that nothing is working out and find a counterbalance inside of me. So I am trying to sustain an inner balance that is neither fully in the world nor completely out of it.
I have become non-judgmental; I know better than to let the collective consciousness of the dire situation prevail. I respond with an inner resolve that remains composed and unwounded. It’s like a trade-off is reached. It’s not a solution, but no matter what happens, I am able to level out. The details no longer matter.
On an energetic level it’s like being in a state of calm and rest, like living in the eye of the storm.
Then I find myself going through a mess hall or gathering place where other soldiers are hanging out. A general walks into the room and announces that the mission is complete. I think about the circumstances as they exist in the outer, and I react. I become incensed (more incensed than I have ever been in a dream).
Still I’m somehow composed and very clear. I yell at the general: “Complete! Is that the line for the people back home?”
The general gets mad, which makes me even more furious. If he thinks I’m going to back down simply because he’s inconvenienced by my opinion, it’s not going to happen. Others may quiver or acquiesce, thinking that will protect them, but I don’t care.
I carry on some more. “Complete! We’re barely breathing!” As I rant and rave I realize that all the other soldiers have left the room and it’s just the general and me. When I have exhausted every invective I can hit him with, he suddenly gets up and leaves the room.
I feel there is no ill will between us; everything has been flushed into the open. He has heard it and I said what needed to be said. I then go across the hall into another room. The soldiers there seem to be relieved for some reason. No one is looking at me in shock or carries any mannerism about what has taken place.
In fact, a cordiality and acceptance seem to exist. I might still be a little worked up, so this is a bit of a surprise to me. The area I am in seems to be a place where you can take a shower if you want (signifying a kind of letting go of things).
A fundamental aspect of this dream is showing us that our ideas about how something should turn out, our expectations of specific results, can often become part of the problem.
The dream is showing that the solution to everything we experience in the outer world is to be able to be in the midst of it – no matter how dire the circumstance –and still be okay. We put huge stresses on ourselves, and others, when we try to impose our expectations on an outer reality that isn’t matching. It’s better to maintain an inner equilibrium and calmness in ourselves, and deal with the situation as it is.
It’s the concept of holding within the heart both extremes, but moderating them in a space of completeness. And that’s what the general is actually saying: Life is complete. When outer circumstances are no longer able to throw a person into chaos, it is complete.
A situation may be dire on a physical level, yet on an energetic level there is a natural balance that prevails, that is neither fully embracing the outer world, nor fully withdrawn into the inner self, but somewhere in between. This balance can actually allow one’s feelings of despair or hopelessness to drop away.
The fact that in the dream I was ranting and raving was a process of flushing out, which then allowed me to reach the understanding of what completeness is about. The general was a representation of the higher self, and he was actually correct – the thing is complete.
Even in the real world we have adopted this way of announcing when the game is over. And there may be some truth in that, even though there is some tomfoolery. But ultimately, in this image, behind the surface appearances, is a lot of truth.
