Lucid Living, a Book on the Mystery of Life
Timothy Freke's Philosophy, the Illusion of Self and Separation
Timothy Freke's book, Lucid Living, describes the illusions of self, separation, and reality in terms of something everyone is familiar with, dreams. Lucid Living, life is not what it seems is a small book "you can read in an hour that will turn your world inside out."
Lucid Living is a take-off on the term lucid dreaming, the ability to be alert to one's dreams while in the dreaming state. Freke suggests the same approach to life, remaining alert and aware, while recognizing that what is being experienced is a dream-like imagination.
Who has not awakened from a dream amazed that it seemed so real, still filled with the emotions of the dreamed experience? Freke uses that common experience to help convey that what is called real life is just another level of imagination.
Freke introduces seven insights and challenges the reader to explore and reflect upon the theme that, "Life is not what it seems, You're not who you think you are, Life is like a dream, And you are the dreamer."
The first insight is "life is a mystery." No one knows what life is and what it's all about. There are many opinions, but no one knows.
The second insight is "now is all you know." What a person experiences in the present moment of now is all that can be known for certain. Memory of the past is fallible, the future is unknown, and now is what is being experienced, therefore can be known.
The third insight is the very dramatic statement, "you are not a person." Freke indicates that what seems like a person with a mind and body is really a being with awareness of mind and body. He indicates the awareness is who you are and points out that you probably recognize a part of you that doesn't change with age, that seems the same as it was from childhood to adulthood. Some might call this the soul, but Freke simply calls this awareness.
The fourth insight is even more dramatic, "the world exists in you." Rather than being a part of the world, one of many inhabitants, Freke's insight is that the world is the creation, the dream, imagined by the being called awareness.
Again using the dream analogy, he reminds the reader that many characters inhabit a dream, all appearing to be different entities, playing various roles in the dreamed experience. Yet the dreamer has imagined and created not only the experience, but all the characters in the experience.
The fifth insight is "all is one." That is, as the awareness creating the world and its inhabitants, there is only one entity, the awareness dreaming it. This has often been described as "we are all connected," but Freke closes the connection even tighter.
Sixth is "you are a paradox." Being the source of the dream called life as well as all of the characters within the dream experience called life, the being you call you is paradoxically everyone too.
The final insight is "being one is loving all." That is, since there is only one entity, the awareness creating the dream experience you call life, all the characters you create are really you, therefore it is ridiculous to war against, disdain, or ignore yourself.
Timothy Freke is described as a "stand up philosopher." His ideas are certainly challenging, intriguing, and thought provoking.
