Somewhere I came across the phrase, "like bulletins from the subconscious." That's what the images that emerge from the depths of my being are - revelations, instantiations, symbols that sometimes have to be deciphered. Certain dreams have images that are intense and compelling; they stay with me because I can sense the importance of what they're telling me.
One of Delmore Schwartz's most famous short stories is, "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities." I hear that title as a challenge - when images appear in meditation or sleep or simply as I move through the day and seem to be significant, it is up to me to explore them, sit still long enough to understand them and then be willing to take action on them, either in the world or inside me. It's a moral challenge - once I see something I recognize to be the truth, even if it scares me, I have to pay attention, take responsibility - especially if it scares me.
I used to fear to look inside, fearful of what was hidden there, as if my center was a black lagoon with monsters below the surface. I learned only slowly to let go of fear and allow true information to reveal itself. I came to see that what I feared was only neutral information, my own particular stuff, which I could learn from and transform. I could accept that I wasn't perfect and it was all right to have work to do. More than all right - necessary if I was going to make any progress on the path to freedom.
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