Life Is Not a Dream




Morning Reflection

This morning, I saw a teacher post a video on social media with the title, “The Journey of Life Is Like a Dream.” The words made me pause and look at my own understanding of life once again.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about “Life Is Not a Drama.” Today, I encountered another expression: “The Journey of Life Is Like a Dream.” Both statements can contain meaningful wisdom when we examine them carefully. However, for me, comparing life to a dream should not cause us to overlook the reality that is happening in the present moment.

Many people may feel that life is like a dream because everything is constantly changing. What we have today may disappear tomorrow. Feelings arise and pass away. Happiness comes and goes, and suffering can also arise and disappear. The people we love may change, and our circumstances are never completely permanent. In this sense, life certainly has an impermanent nature.

However, understanding impermanence does not mean that life has no meaning or that our experiences are unreal. In fact, it can help us see life more clearly.

When we study life and the mind and bring that understanding into daily practice, we can gradually begin to recognize what is actually happening within ourselves. Through meditation and Vipassana practice, we can observe the breath as it comes and goes, observe sensations throughout the body, and notice emotions as they arise, while maintaining equanimity instead of immediately reacting to them.

This practice teaches us to pause, observe, and recognize what is happening with awareness. When anger arises, we can recognize, “This is anger.” When sadness arises, we can recognize, “This is sadness.” When happiness arises, we can observe it too without immediately trying to possess or hold onto it.

As our ability to observe becomes clearer, we may no longer need to describe life simply as “a dream” as a way of escaping from reality. Instead, we can begin to understand that life is a real experience unfolding moment by moment, even though everything within it is constantly changing.

Life is not a dream in which we should remain asleep. Life is an opportunity to wake up, observe, learn, and live with wisdom.

The present moment is not something we need to escape from. It is something we can learn to understand.

🌿 Reflection

Ask yourself today: “Am I living with awareness, or am I simply moving through life according to habit and emotion?”

🌱 Practice

Take a few quiet minutes today. Stop, breathe naturally, and observe what is happening in your body and mind. Do not immediately judge what you experience. Do not immediately follow it. Simply know it and observe it.

💚 Blessing

May we awaken to the life unfolding before us. 
May we develop mindfulness, wisdom, and equanimity so that we can live peacefully with reality. 
May every moment of our lives become an opportunity to learn, understand, and awaken.

— Raksmey Koy

Art of Inner Peace

www.artofinnerpeace.com


Continue Your Journey

If today’s reflection touched your heart, I invite you to explore my books on Amazon. Each one is written to inspire mindfulness, wisdom, and inner peace. Thank you for walking this journey with me.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/raksmeykoy


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