Stories I had a dream in which I was spreading revolutionary rhetoric in a sunny downtown setting. As I roused a group of a people, a cop came forward attempting to subdue me. In the chaos of this excited handful of people, I was able to escape. I repeated the situation again in a different part of town, only this time to a larger group, and more cops came. But due to the larger confusion of a larger crowd, I was again able to escape. This pattern continued, squads of cop cars, then SWAT teams. Finally I was on the run but captured.

The scene switched to some kind of prison area, but with the physical setup of a (play) theatre with stone steps as seats. It was dark, but the stage was lit. People were scattered throughout the steps, too far to be within talking distance. This was especially so because each of us was being tormented by a swarm of ferocious things that somewhat resembled bats. They were wicked brutal and disgusting creatures. Everyone was so terrified that he did his complete best to crouch and bury his head in sheer and utter terror.

Upon realizing the situation I looked up and pondered how I might escape. But when one of the monsters appeared directly in front of my face, looking directly at it, it became nothing but a small black dot. And so did the others adjacent to it. I noticed that whenever I focused on a group of monsters, they became small oscillating black dots. Realizing this I got up and started walking up to the top of the steps, toward the horizontal shaft of light which was the exit. Just then a gush of more wretched creatures burst forth from the exit, and the people who had begun to follow my lead jumped back. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if these creatures were going to hurt me or not. Then I picked up a nearby wooden pole and slashed at the swarm though I recall no effect. After that wave subsided I continued forward. Another wave entered. Then I decided to run for it - I dove through the howling mass and escaped...

There was a film projector on the stage where actors would normally be. I later realized it was projecting the bat creatures like a hologram. The ‘movie’ was the experience caused by being unaware of where I was. The projector was giving us the experience as a performance. Depending on how I focused my attention I could shift from being inside this ‘movie’, which would begin to surround me inside the theater, to a rather casual and even dull look at a dusty theatre.

I think I had this dream partly in response to the idea that God grew into an infinite number of beings in order to give itself a marvelous experience. Each part of God is aware of its identity to a varying extent. Opening to the possibilities led me into the light in this dream.

By Alan Watts:
A Chinese story, kind of a Taoistic story about a farmer. One day, his horse ran away, and all the neighbors gathered in the evening and said 'that's too bad.' He said 'maybe.' The Next day, the horse came back and brought with it seven wild horses. 'Wow!' they said, 'Aren't you lucky!' He said 'maybe.' The next day, his son grappled with one of these wild horses and tried to break it in, and he got thrown and broke his leg. And all the neighbors said 'oh, that's too bad that your son broke his leg.' He said, 'maybe.' The next day, the conscription officers came around, gathering young men for the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. And the visitors all came around and said 'Isn't that great! Your son got out.' He said, 'maybe.'