I had another dream last night that seems symbolic of humanity’s plight.

There were two monkeys playing in a stream, they seemed very happy splashing and sharing everything. They were very affectionate and generous with each other, peaceful and harmonious together.

Then a pair of hands wearing dark leather gloves appeared. They crept up behind the monkeys and tied their tails together. Then shoved the monkeys harshly in opposite directions away from each other.

The monkeys both stumbled and fell face down in the mud. Shocked, they jumped up and started accusing each other “Why did you push me, brother?”

“I didn’t push you, you pushed me” they were both stating what they believed and each was convinced it was the other who had committed the offense.

Neither monkey paused to listen or to consider anything different. The argument escalated and as each monkey debating the obvious truth to them shouted louder so the other monkey would hear him. Then the emotions erupted into violence.

One monkey lifted his arm way above his head and came down hard striking his friend. Stunned and confused, feeling quite abused, the monkey shrieked in pain and then retaliated and did the same, also striking his buddy in the face.

The next thing that you see is monkey fists in a flurry of fighting. It is a blur of fists and fur flying everywhere but their tails/tales still lay there knotted unbeknownst to them.

Then when the fighting gets too tough, the monkeys have had enough, they want to run, they try, and realize, that they are tied by their tails/tales and can’t easily come undone.

Each monkey grabs its own tail/tale and begins to harshly pull in a tug-of-war. They are tired, wounded, and sore. “You did this!” they both scream. “It is your fault we are beaten and entangled in this way.” Blame, blame, blame. The more they pull the weaker they get until they use all of their life-force and collapse on the forest floor out of breath.

Then the dark gloved hands appear again. They pick the monkeys up by the backs of their neck and put them in a cage. The monkeys jump up and say “let us out of here!” A voice replied, “No, you are violent and destructive, you can’t be trusted”

The cage is on a wagon that is being pulled away by the dark gloved hands holding the reins. The monkeys realize it was not them the whole time that incited the violence and difference between them.

They both begin to cry as they realize what they have done and the harm they have caused each other. One monkey reaches over and wipes the tears from the eyes of his brother. They each begin to cleanse the other’s muddy tear-stained cheeks and then they begin to gently untangle their mangled tails/tales.

The wagon continues to pull away with the monkeys healing each other. They are back in love, peace, and harmony together. I can see that the top of the cage is wide-open and I have the feeling in the dream that they will climb free when they are ready and they will return to their pristine forest much wiser and more grateful for all the beauty that they are sharing.

As I am waking from the dream, I hear a deep soothing narrative voice saying,

“The Tale of Two Monkeys”

“And the morals of the story are”

~ We as humans are naturally loving, joyful, generous creatures
~ We have been invoked and incited with separation and violence
~ When we are shouting, blaming, and accusing we can’t hear
the truth that will heal all of us.
~ With kindness, compassion, and care, we can stop fighting and
liberate our entangled tales.
~ The cage door is open, it is up to us to choose freedom over
fighting.
~ Will we continue to abuse or will we use our focus to ascend
out of the cage that we are in?

I stayed under my covers meditating on this vivid dream. It seemed a continuation of our recent “Forest” theme in our “Navigation” series. Now we are meeting the Beings of the forest who wish to share their insights and guidance with us.

As I drifted back to the beauty of the woods, the sunlight sparkling through the glistening trees, the gently flowing stream where the monkeys were initially playing, a quote came to me that felt like the perfect ending.

“When storms blow through, trees grow stronger roots”

It is a favorite quote of mine that reminds me to see the challenges in life as a gift that is meant to make us stronger and wiser. Like the monkeys in the cage wiping each other’s tears away, there was a new depth of understanding and a deeper bonding between them. What they had been through seemed like a curse but ultimately it was a blessing that would make them appreciate their freedoms, the forest they were living in, and each other to a much greater degree than they had previously.

Ask yourself this – “What has shoved me into taking a separate stance? Is it worth it?

This is my prayer for humanity, that we rise above the tales we have been told, to let go of whatever is entangling us and shoving us away from each other, and to remember that we are sisters and brothers all living in the same beautiful forest. Let’s enjoy it with hearts filled with generosity, gratitude, and love. By George, we deserve it!

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