Yes, life is a dream...this is a direct realization, not book learning or other second-hand knowledge. At times the mind reflects it and it becomes an experience. You could call it being awake or enlightenment.

It can not be understood by the mind and may seem radical, but would not the idea of what you see being a dream and the idea of waking up radical if the thought occurred to you while you were dreaming one night in bed?

That is the power of the mind...it accepts whatever world is seen as reality, even if it is a dream. While in your dreams, the world seems real. It you stub your toe, it hurts. If you are thirst, drinking water quenches your thirst. You see other people and there is a life story. There is something in the mind that has a difficult time questioning the reality of the world it sees.

You could learn to become a lucid dreamer and realize you are dreaming while you are dreaming. Awakening is lucid living.

No different.

Namaste,

~ Eric Putkonen
http://www.awaken2life.org

Santthosh
HI DAVID,

ADVITH OR NON DUALITY IS NOT SOME THEORY OR PHILOSOPHY. DUAL AND NON DUAL IS STATE OF MIND. ONE HAS TO SEARCH WITHIN THE STATE OF MIND TO REALIZE WHAT IS DUAL AND WHAT IS NON DUAL THROUGH DEEPER INQUIRY AND REASONING ON THE TRUE BASE. ONE SHOULD NOT MIX RELIGION AND YOGA OR ANY OTHER THEORIES TO KNOW THE NON DUAL TRUTH OF ONE'S OWN EXISTENCE. REALIZING THE NON DUALITY AS REALITY IS ENLIGHTENMENT. TO REALIZE THE NON DUAL REALITY IN LESSER TIME AND EFFORT FORMLESS SPIRITUALITY IS THE ONLY TOOL.
WITH RESPECT AND REGARDS
SANTTHOSH

The word "radical" means "from the root" as in, going back to the original basis from which something grew. From that sense, yes, it is radical!

Reality is a dream only when a dream is superimposed on it. Reality is real, of course, but we are normally not in contact with it. Instead, we see it through a net of desires and fears, preferences and choices, likes and dislikes, hopes and anticipations.

Enlightenment is the dissolution of this dream. It is both radical and normal. Radical from the standpoint of 'business as usual', normal from its own standpoint. Really, the usual 'unawake' state of human beings is very bizarre and strange.

It's best not to anticipate what "waking from the dream" would be like, as anything the mind can come up with is automatically *not* it. This has to be accepted, that you cannot imagine or visualize 'awakening', ever: it is the end of all attempts to impose your imagination onto the reality.

http://www.omkaradatta.info