382. The Universe Of Dreams

In this universe, you are a substantial self that relates to a separate world using knowledge and language. In the other universe, you are completely empty of content and the world is also you.

In this universe, you know exactly what you are and what you are not. In the other universe, you are everything and nothing at the same time, which means you can be something completely different in each moment.

In this universe, the world is reducible to a set of facts that follow from one another, and it is therefore limited and final. In the other universe, the world is magical: it is always more than you have seen, and it can surprise you at any moment.

In this universe, events are spread out and there is time between them to pause and reflect. In the other universe, everything flows felicitously from one event to the next.

In this universe, what happens is logically determined through cause and effect. In the other universe, happenings take place through a strange continuity that lacks explanation.

In this universe, past events are remembered and recalled, which means the present is always contextualized by the past. In the other universe, little is remembered but the present never feels out of place.

In this universe, everything that happens is mediated by thoughts about its happening. In the other universe, there is no room for thought, only attention and action.

In this universe, even the most intimate moments are accompanied by memories of the past and considerations of the future. In the other universe, every experience is total presence, which means intimacy is total contact: sublimation into the other.

In this universe, certain perceptions and thoughts cause you to doubt the reality of your experience. In the other universe, you doubt nothing and every experience is exactly what it is supposed to be.

We call this universe the one of reality and the other universe the one of dreams, but which universe is more real?