A Row Boat to Nowhere

"Truth be told, I don't really care.... 'cause we're all on a boat to nowhere." - Adyashanti

I had a friend visit me in Felton last week, and we listened to some Adyashanti together. I think we both agreed that the above quote was one of our favorites from what we listened to. Although I don't remember getting on this boat of life, I'm really enjoying my ride to nowhere, and I hope you are too.

It seems I've started to get into my rhythm now with my new California life. And even though I'm not going to be traveling again anytime soon, I must say that I enjoy my weekly drives through the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains down the coast to the rolling hills and flat fields of Wattsonville's farmland and then up the east side of the bay to Berkeley and the wooded hills of Montclaire.

On the meditation front, I continue to learn about myself and about what it means to be human. I had some really intense dreams last night, many of which were quite lucid. At one point, I found myself in a room, but quite certain that it was a dream. I couldn't recall what my actual waking life room looked like, but knew that I was in a dream room instead. It was quite real however, and quite lucid - as real as any dream usually is. So, I began contemplating, "this is all a mental creation. I'm creating all of this right now. There is no substance to it, and no existence to it outside of my mind." It was cool to experience something so real and so external, yet to know it as pure mental formation... fabrication. It was vibrating and morphing quite a bit, as dreams usually do, but I just stayed in that dream room in fascination and awe. There was another dream in which I saw my own face, and I was speaking the words coming out of it, and thinking it's thoughts, but clearly observing it as "me outside of me" - all still quite lucid that this was conscious dream creation.

Like I said, it was a wild night. Recently, a friend suggested I write about my dreams here, so there ya go. Remaining conscious, mindful, and aware throughout the dream state definitely seems like a meditation for me, however I don't put too much importance into the content. Preferably, I would simply try to observe the physical and mental sensations that make up the dream-state itself, while allowing meaning to arise naturally if and when it may arise.

I'm planning to take the next couple days for meditation retreat at home here, so I'll be off-grid until Friday.

Be well.

ps. the photo above is the chair on my porch where I do meditation, eat meals, or just sit and listen to the birds.