Have you ever wondered about the true meaning of life? If so, this book is an invitation to dive more deeply into this burning question, that has been asked by all seekers ever to embark on a spiritual journey. While the answers will differ for each and everyone, it is the same burning passion for truth that is fueling their shared desire.
This spiritual book relates the intimate story of one person’s quest for greater understanding, as a direct result of a mystical dream she experienced at the age of 12. This most powerful dream ignited such a yearning from within, that it later became the motivating factor behind many of the life choices she was to make throughout her journey.
As she learned to follow her inner guidance and respond to the synchronicities presented along the way, she was led to follow a metaphysical path of learning. In these pages, she shares many of the diverse experiences she encountered in her quest, as well as numerous realizations these experiences brought to her awareness.
This inspirational story has timeless qualities that is presented in a simple and direct language, while offering a unique view into a journey of self-awareness and awakening.
1 - Message in a Dream
There are very few childhood dreams that I can remember, but there is one in particular that I still recall quite vividly. So much so that it eventually became a source of inspiration and a guiding force, for I felt it was closely related to my purpose in life.
Even though the details were rather symbolic, they paled in comparison to the feeling the dream generated within my being. An emotion so powerful that in years to come, it would have a direct influence on the life altering choices I was to make, as I kept trying to recapture the extraordinary state of awareness it had been able to reveal.
In a way, I could say this dream left me with a gift, and I have been unwrapping it ever since.
The dream started when I found myself aimlessly walking on a street of what appeared to be a desolate town. At some point, I looked up to the side of the road and noticed an endless row of statues. While they displayed a wide assortment of men, women and children of various age groups, they were all the same, with the upper part of their body in the likeness of a human and the lower half in the shape of a small horse. It was not until later that I found out these mythological creatures were called centaurs, and could be regarded as a symbolic portrayal of the two aspects of our human nature.
Then, I stopped in front of one of the statues and focused my whole attention on it, as if I had suddenly become curious about what they were supposed to represent. While doing this, I started to feel a build-up of energy rising from the deepest source of my being, which was slowly expanding and feeding me with this incredible power. At the same time, a sense of self-awareness was emerging, shifting my perception and bringing me into a state of indescribable bliss and utter sense of joy.
When all of sudden, I recognized this emotional state of being, as the one I was most accustomed to experiencing, and represented who I really was.
Then the power altered slightly, becoming pure love, and it filled every pore of my being. I felt so full of this love energy that I knew I had to use it, otherwise I thought I might explode. When the idea entered my mind that I should at least experiment with it. Since I was looking at one of the statues, I started to feed it with this great love, opening myself and letting the emotion flow directly into its form.
I had no expectation, it was only a convenient outlet allowing me to dispose of all that extra energy. To my great surprise however, the statue suddenly started to respond and became alive. It appeared a little disoriented at first, having no idea as to what had happened, or the fact it had just been awakened. Yet it looked around, straightened up and walked away, even if unsteadily. Although it continued to be oblivious to my presence, even if I only stood inches away from where it had been standing, while still being trapped into its statue form.
Realizing the effect my love was having on the statue totally amazed me. It made me wonder at how strong this love really was. So, I continued going from one statue to the next, loving them in turn, giving them life, and then moving on to the next one. Until I reached the end of the road and there was no statue left for me to awaken.
Then, I just took off and flew away, feeling like the God I knew I was at that moment. Still bathing in the joy and complete state of bliss I had been immersed into, since my first moment of self-awareness.
This felt more real to me than anything I had ever experienced in my life thus far. At barely twelve years old I knew, unexpectedly and with a certainty that has never left me, how this was my natural state of being - this was who I AM. It was not until much later that I came to realize the full impact of my experience, which had given me a glimpse of my spiritual heritage.
Waking up from that dream left me with a tremendous sense of loss and I felt trapped, captive in an inhospitable world, feeling as though my birthright had been taken away from me. I was depressed for many days following, trying to hang on to the memory, while I struggled to integrate this new revelation within the framework of what I had been taught to perceive as real, fully knowing there was no one I could speak to about this experience.
This is when I made a solemn promise to myself and decided if a way existed for me to experience that emotion again, I would find it. I did not know how or when I could ever achieve this, but I made it my secret goal. I was determined to find my real self again, and I wanted it to happen in this life. I was convinced somehow of being able to activate this part within me while living. That I did not have to wait to die and go to heaven to experience what I now knew, was the most important part of my being.
Having been raised as a catholic, I also thought that if little me could love this much, enough to give life to statues, then the real God could not be catholic or from any other religion. Since God was able to love thousands of times more than I ever could. For what I had felt was so far removed from any of the religious connotation I had been accustomed to associate God with up until then, that it seemed inconceivable that HE could be limited in such a way. Let alone man-made religions with all their rules and contradictions, since they were too restrictive and narrow in comparison to the un-limitedness I had experienced.
Not that I was free from religious influence, but it gave me a new level of understanding of what I was to look for in my own search for God. The bar had been raised much higher than I had ever expected. Although it was not until much later that I realized how my catholic upbringing was only one, out of the many rungs I would have to climb over, in order to find my true God-Self.
Going back to my ordinary life after that dream was extremely difficult. Many times, I wished I could have returned to the reality of my special dream. As being my real self for those few powerful moments of complete joy and bliss had been so authentic, that it made of this reality a poor substitute. Why do I have to stay here? I wondered many times, since I knew this was not the real world.
In the years that followed, I would find myself going around with this inner ache, which became like a constant presence and a reminder of not truly fitting into this world. Nothing soothed this pain and I learned to live with it. Yet the more I saw of the world around me, the less I wanted to be part of it. I thought for sure this world was crazy. When someone would die, I would go down on my knees sometimes and pray, wishing I could trade places with them.
The only ray of hope keeping me motivated, was the promise I had made to myself, to experience my true self while still in this dimension.
As the months turned into years, the challenges of growing up and going through the ups and downs of living became my primary focus, and the memory of my dream receded. Although the ache was always there, never leaving me entirely, as though waiting in the background, silently directing many of my life choices.
It was not until I started to write this book, that the memory of my centaur dream resurfaced again in full force and became my focal point.
While I contemplated on my life experiences, as my book slowly took shape, I realized that my secret goal had already been achieved. I also became aware that my inner ache was finally gone, and had been replaced by the joy of living within the awareness of my soul. Though I also understood that I should no longer keep it a secret. I now had a new goal, and it was time I learned to share its gift with others, so that they too may ascertain the reality of their soul and learn to claim their spiritual heritage.
For the discovery of our soul is the ultimate purpose we should have, since it represents our true nature, the part of us that is eternal and belongs to the real world. While the genetic substance of our physical heritage is only temporary, traversing this world of illusions for the lifespan of a few years.
The time has come to merge the two aspects of our duality. So that our journey of self-discovery can continue in a more conscious way, leaving behind the dross of our ignorance.
