Tag: Spirituality

Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss

Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss

Active Dreaming is more than just another book about lucid dreaming or dream interpretation. Moss takes the Aboriginal practices of his native Australia and develops a living practice wherein one treats the world, whether waking or sleeping, like an lucid dream.

Moss invites the readers to fully live their lives and to “wake up” through drumming circles, sharing and interpretation of dreams, choosing your names and how you define yourself, practicing mindful creativity, noticing synchronicities, journaling, storytelling, creative visualization (and more).

Photo by Sabel Blanco on Pexels.com

Some of the concepts in this book were a bit far out there- things like shared dreams or visions in which, theoretically, you invite another person into your dreamspace to help you address whatever is going on for you or instructions on how to start Dream Groups.

Active Dreaming is a call to action, but in so many directions that it is difficult to really know where to start. I think I’m going to cherry pick a few of Moss’s techniques and see how I do.

Robert Moss’s definition of Active Dreaming: “This approach includes paying attention to night dreams, but it is not only, or even essentially, about what happens at night. It is a method for conscious living. When you become an active dreamer, you’ll notice that the world speaks to you in a different way.” pg xii introduction

Photo by GEORGE DESIPRIS on Pexels.com

Here are some of the benefits of practicing Active Dreaming: “The journey opens gateways for soul recovery and the release of life blockages. It introduces and strengthens connections with the animal guardians and brings their vitality, tracking skills, and healing energies richly alive in the body. It encourages spontaneous art and creativity and offers rich personal mythology, which is healing in itself. Properly conducted, the journey raises a tremendous amount of life force and channels the movement of that energy into harmonious, unrestricted flow.” pg 98

And finally, a passage that really resonated with me: “You must know your story and tell your story and have your story received. … Learn to do that, and you can survive the worst nightmares of history and bring heart and healing to others…” pg 134

Tell your story. I can do that.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

This review has really only touched the tip of the iceberg that is Active Dreaming. Read this book if you want to adjust the lens with which you perceive reality or if you just want to read a book that is completely different from anything else that you’ve ever read.

Robert Moss is not for everyone, but, if you can set aside any preconceived notions about what this book should be, I think that you’ll find at least some chapters that will speak to you.

If you’re looking for more spiritual books like this, look no further than another of Moss’s titles: The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse

Thanks for reading!

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

Rules for a Knight was very sweet. It is a fictional story about a knight who dedicates a journal to his children and, in it, uses stories to explain how he expects them to behave and grow after he is gone.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Surprisingly, it is by Ethan Hawke, the actor!  I didn’t know that he could write… and, in this book, he shows that he really can.

I had been exposed to many of the parables presented in Rules for a Knight before through either Buddhist or Christian teachings, but they are repackaged quite well in this small, green tome.

The book itself is a joy for readers who really appreciate books as an art form both in what it contains and also in its packaging.  Rules for a Knight is covered in soft green cloth with the title embossed in gold and a ribbon bookmark bound into the lining- almost as if the book itself is inviting the reader to take her time, stop reading, put in the bookmark, and ponder the wisdom that comes from its pages.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Pexels.com

This is a book to be savored and read slowly with hot tea or coffee, whichever you prefer. 🙂

I think that there will always be a place on my bookshelf for stories that teach about inner truths and the journey from apprenticeship to mastery. I also liked that the knight addressed himself to both his sons and his daughters. Probably not historically accurate, but I approve anyway.

Some of my favorite bits:
“…the first thing you must understand is that you need not have gone anywhere. You are always in the right place at exactly the right time and you always have been.” pg 11

“There are only two possible outcomes whenever you compare yourself to another, vanity or bitterness, and both are without value.” pg 39

“Pay attention: what you need to know is usually in front of you. There are no secrets, just things people choose not to notice.” pg 63

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler on Pexels.com

“Later he told me when he was younger he learned the secret to performing under pressure: don’t do it for yourself. Do it for someone else.” pg 67

If you enjoyed Rules for a Knight, you may want to read Zen Seeds: Reflections of a Female Priest by Shundo Aoyama or After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield.

Thanks for reading!