DOG DREAMS Bruce Wagner [HERE]
Last year, I had a pivotal dream. I was set
upon by dogs that threatened to tear me apart if I mistepped. I was able to
remain relatively calm; eventually, with the help of bystanders, I escaped. But
just before awakening, a voice informed, “These dogs are from another
dimension, This is how it is going to feel and this is how it is going
to smell. This is the beginning of how it is going to be.”
In shock, I lurched to the computer and wrote everything down. What set this
apart from a “normal” dream was this: rather than being feral, the dogs were
bizarrely composed of purebreds, including poodles and chihuahuas. (The Nagual
had spoken to me of just such incongruous indicators. He called them scouts
or “foreign energy” that invited one to a broader awareness.) Since the vision
had terrified me so, it needed to be closely examined, and manipulated by intent.
I remembered something extremely useful he had said: One can change the course
of dreaming through intent, just as the course of rivers are changed by
the erosion of wind and Time. Through the act of recording my dream, I could
see how my initial interpretation was malevolent, yet it slowly became clear
that the dogs were bringing an enticement to awareness. This was their gift.
As I went deeper, I saw that the beasts were
indifferent—reminders not to run from my responsibilities as a sentient being.
Around the time of this dream, I’d been going through one of those periods in
which everyday life seems pernicious and threatening. The dogs were warning me
to stay sober and vigilant, to accept the help of the Other. (For me, the
‘Other” is that evoked in the metta bhavana prayer, or loving-kindness
meditation: the friend or acquaintance, the parent or teacher, the lover,
enemy, or stranger. From The Way of the Bodhisattva: “Those desiring
speedily to be / A refuge for themselves and other beings, / Should interchange
the terms of ‘I’ and ‘other,’ / And thus embrace a sacred mystery.”) They were
herders and border dogs. The horror show had been provoked not by them
but courtesy of the usual source: Bruce Wagner.
To lack awareness is the real terrain of
nightmares.
The border is here, not elsewhere.
I didn’t have the energy to follow those
dogs—
But so what?