Strange Dream?

[MaryleeII]

I had a very strange dream last night, and I would like others take on it. The dream was about my Grandfather.


First, some background---this was about my m-gf, who passed away about 30 years ago. We were always very close. Grandpa sadly passed in a nursing home.


Now to the dream--


I was at GP house, the light was on and I knew I needed to go inside. I also knew GP was dead. I found GP in his bed, and he spoke to me, which seemed, in the way of dreams, quite natural. GP said a few things I couldn't make out, then he said--



"The only proof of life is death"

Then, I woke up. That one phrase has stayed with me all day. I've turned it over and over but I can't make any sense out of it. Any ideas? Thanks!

[Vasily]

There is a book titled "The Only Proof of Life is Death" by someone named Adriel Vigo. He appears to be an English Professor at San Francisco State University. Perhaps you saw the title referenced somewhere and your subconscious stored it away for future reference.

There is also a quote by Cardinal Newman: "Growth is the only evidence of life", and the Vigo quote may be a play on this. I take the meaning of the Newman quote to be, without growth there is no life, or there is no value to life without growth.

The meaning of your grandfather's statement in the dream (whether a message from your subconscious to your waking self, or from your grandfather to you)? Maybe that death is a necessary terminus to life, and it is the knowledge of our death that makes life precious and worth living. I suspect it's saying something of value to you. Jonathan Swift's Struldbrugs lived forever, but past the age of 80 become increasingly decripit.

To figure out what it means, you might think about what you've been dealing with lately: your concerns, your mood. Have you been thinking about the future, or struggling with finding meaning in your day to day existence, for example?When I took psychodynamic psychology in grad school, we had to keep a dream journal and write our dreams down immediatly upon wakening. In almost all cases, I could figure out why I had had a dream by thinking about what had been going on in my life over the previous 48-72 hours.

[MaryleeII]

Vasily--thanks for the reply!


Actually, I did look up the quote after the dream and found the book you referenced. Strange the title and Grandpa's quote were exactly the same. I really don't recall seeing that title previously. I think I will order it! Who knows, maybe GP is trying to tell me something?


Lately, I've felt very unmotivated. Our kids are both grown and out of the house, and my husband retires in a few months. I don't work. I feel like life has lost its meaning, like what's there to live for? There's no more goals, no mountains to climb, just day-to-day monotony. Maybe GP is trying to communicate something? Worth giving the book a read!

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by MaryleeII

Lately, I've felt very unmotivated. Our kids are both grown and out of the house, and my husband retires in a few months. I don't work. I feel like life has lost its meaning, like what's there to live for? There's no more goals, no mountains to climb, just day-to-day monotony. Maybe GP is trying to communicate something? Worth giving the book a read!

Well, I think you've figured out the meaning of your dream and the message you're supposed to take away from it.

I retired in October. I went into retirement with a plan, and a list of things I want to do during retirement. And I don't have a lot of money, so they're not things that are going to cost a lot to do. Retirement doesn't have to be an end of things when we're simply waiting for the Grim Reaper; it's just another chapter in our lives. We're given this life, and it's up to us to decide what we're supposed to do with it. That's a choice, not something that's imposed on us by others or by life itself.

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”

-- Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

[Authentic Bird]

He is right! because some of people are blind now, they don't see the fact, they think if we died it will be the end of life while the truth is not.

[ocpaul20]

Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls both by Michael Newton detail what he has learned by talking to many many people he has hypnotised and regressed into the time before they were in the womb.

As he has progressed through his journey, he has noticed many similarities in what people are recounting so it is unlikely they are all making it up. Nevertheless, the books are interesting whether you believe in reincarnation or not and one of the main ways he says spirits get in contact with us is through dreams.

The folks he has regressed have often been profoundly changed by their experiences and many have a new meaning to their life due to what they experienced during their regressions.

Personally, I feel we should look for the meaning in our life by investigating our reason for being here. If life is a lesson for the soul, then we need to get on with learning our lessons well so we dont have to return to do it over again. For me, all that is done through learning about myself, reading 'fringe' stuff and meditating.