Something Somewhere Before Birth

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 Chuang Tzu. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I don’t know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly or whether I am a butterfly dreaming I am a man.

Chuang Tzu, the 4th century philosopher, wrote those thoughts. Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, another ancient Chinese philosopher, established the philosophical foundation for Taoism over twenty-three hundred years ago.

Taoist believe a non-physical force is the source of all things physical. Everything is non-physical before becoming physical. Chuang Tzu called that force The Tao or Dao. The Tao’s philosophical teachings are all about connecting with the non-physical self in order to connect to The Tao.

People who perform actions without intention, as well as display spontaneity, humility, simplicity, compassion, and naturalness, are what Chuang Tzu calls following The Way. Taoism is still one of the five religions recognized by the government of China.

Chuang Tzu’s dream about being a butterfly shows how tuned-in he was to another aspect of his personality. He couldn’t tell if his dreaming self was his reality or his waking self was authentic. To his dreaming self, it seems his waking self is a dream within a dream. We believe our dreaming self is a product of our waking self.

But when we consider our non-physical personality was active before our waking self, it seems logical that the dream self is a catalyst for the waking self. When religious beliefs stand aside, we realize we were something somewhere before birth. The dreaming self is the perfect candidate to be that self.

We physically feel what we create through our core and satellite beliefs, perceptions, and choices. We create the feeling-reality we experience in every moment. Our emotionally charged expectations, beliefs, and desires have a psychological energy within them. And we paint a moving picture of reality that matches those convictions.

We all have the ability to be a butterfly on our dream journey. During those journeys, we are whatever we want to be. We perform superhuman acts and meet other forms of consciousness that live but don’t exist in a physical state. Dreams seem real because they are. They give the physical self and the non-physical a chance to work together.

That free-flowing energy creates manifestations that offer the experiences and lessons we emotionally feel but may not remember. We become the butterfly. And the person who created that manifestation. In order to physically sense the versatility of our non-physical personality.