Discussion Life is a dream you cannot wake up from

[The Divine Comedy]

It has recently occurred to me that my entire life has felt like one long dream. It has had sparce moments of reality – single scenes of varying intensity where I have felt real and present – but on the whole, it has felt rather unreal. I have read that this kind of thinking is symptomatic of disassociation. However, I can't help but feel that perhaps there never was a time where I didn't think like this, I was just never aware of it consciously. As with all dreams, you can never really tell exactly where they began.

I wonder, do any of you feel the same? Is this a common experience among people like us?

To quote our old friend Spike from Cowboy Bebop:

"I felt like I was watching a dream I could never wake up from. Before I knew it, the dream was all over."

 

[Bootleg Astolfo]

I'm pretty sure we're just stuck in the hidden 10th circle of hell, doomed to suffer until we're finally freed from it and allowed to go to whichever regular circle we belong in.

 

[ContinuousJump]

In the Lankavatara Sutra, the Buddha says,

"For your sakes, I too, would discourse on the same Truth. All that is seen in the world is devoid of effort and action because all things in the world are like a dream, or like an image miraculously projected. This is not comprehended by the philosophers and the ignorant, but those who thus see things see them truthfully. Those who see things otherwise walk in discrimination and, as they depend upon discrimination, they cling to dualism. ... People grasping their own shadows of discrimination become attached to this thing and that thing and failing to abandon dualism they go on forever discriminating and thus never attain tranquility. By tranquility is meant Oneness, and Oneness gives birth to the highest Samadhi which is gained by entering into the realm of Noble Wisdom that is realisable only within one's inmost consciousness."

So, in that regard, it's a good thing indeed to see everything as a dream. If for nothing else, it's much easier to detach.

So, you're in very good stead.

 

[The Divine Comedy]

I'm pretty sure we're just stuck in the hidden 10th circle of hell, doomed to suffer until we're finally freed from it and allowed to go to whichever regular circle we belong in.

The thought has occured to me that we are already in hell. As you might be able to tell from my picture, I am a great admirer of Dante's works, specifically the Inferno.

 

[FuneralCry]

My life feels like a bad dream, hopefully soon I can wake up and return to the nothingness where I was at before I was born.

 

[Snake of Eden]

To wake up is to die

 

[NothingElseMatters]

dream? it's a bloody nightmare.

 

[Samsara]

I can relate, sometimes have dreams where I've felt like I've lived an entire different lifetime, and I wake up confused for a moment about who I am. When I am dreaming, I don't remember my waking life, and when I am awake, I do not remember my dreams. Who's to say I'm not dreaming right now?

I like this quote:

"Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man." -Zhuangzi

 

[The Divine Comedy]

I can relate, sometimes have dreams where I've felt like I've lived an entire different lifetime, and I wake up confused for a moment about who I am. When I am dreaming, I don't remember my waking life, and when I am awake, I do not remember my dreams. Who's to say I'm not dreaming right now?

I like this quote:

"Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man." -Zhuangzi

Echoes my sentiments exactly. Often I wonder if I am being dreamed by another. Who's to say its our own dreams we inhabit?

I've heard that quote before - love that one.

 

[PassingThrough]

"I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television—you don't feel anything." (Andy Warhol)

 

[Not Sure]

The thought has occured to me that we are already in hell. As you might be able to tell from my picture, I am a great admirer of Dante's works, specifically the Inferno.

Me too, but ending up as a tree devoured by harpies if we ctb is not really a warming thought.

 

[flagmaster]

The thought has occured to me that we are already in hell. As you might be able to tell from my picture, I am a great admirer of Dante's works, specifically the Inferno.

We're all condemned to the seventh circle of hell if we ctb. Woo!

Was a great game too. ;)

 

[Totally_nothin]

Such a poethe sentence, anyway the rope or a gun could be a way how to end this endless dream which is actually more like a nightmare for us, the only question is if u like this dream or not, and if its worth it, anyway I guess that many ppl here had a same opinion that it actually is

 

[The Divine Comedy]

Me too, but ending up as a tree devoured by harpies if we ctb is not really a warming thought.

Fortunately I do not believe such a place exists.

We're all condemned to the seventh circle of hell if we ctb. Woo!

Was a great game too. ;)

I can't wait. Although, if it were to exist, I would simply assume that we are already in the first circle (purgatory). That is what life feels like to me, taken as an average over time. If our suffering is so bad already that we are considering suicide, and hell exists, then I would naturally assume that we must already be in that place. True hell would be to exist in hell without actually knowing it. Knowing you are in hell gives some semblance of meaning to your suffering. The suffering you and I feel here - there is no meaning in it. Therefore, if there is a God, we are being punished. Therefore, if such a place exists, we are already within it.

So, let's hope not!

 

[Emu]

I feel I have been grabbed from what reality I knew and thrown into this nightmare, I am living in a purgatory, I have meds to help but some I won't take and I'm contemplating stopping the other ones, because it only masks what I'm feeling and making my suffering endure..even tho im told it can get better.. I feel this is a lie to keep me in this hell.
Vanilla sky was good I actually enjoyed it and thought it also puts on a different view of reality

 

[The Divine Comedy]

I feel I have been grabbed from what reality I knew and thrown into this nightmare, I am living in a purgatory, I have meds to help but some I won't take and I'm contemplating stopping the other ones, because it only masks what I'm feeling and making my suffering endure..even tho im told it can get better.. I feel this is a lie to keep me in this hell.
Vanilla sky was good I actually enjoyed it and thought it also puts on a different view of reality

False hope does make for the most exquisite of suffering. I wouldn't be hell without that tiny bit of hope. There would be some small comfort in the absence of hope.

I echo your feelings about the sense that you are in purgatory.

 

[Emu]

Yes I agree with the bit of hope that makes it hell, I have not looked at it like that before and it does make sense.
Well said my friend