Transpersonal Responsibility

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I was recently watching clips from one of my favorite movies, Waking Life, and as always, discovered even more good material in the movie that I must have glanced over before. But my favorite scene hasn’t changed, and I’ve decided to share it with you now:

The most insightful and thought-provoking line from this clip comes at its end:

“As one realizes that one is a dream figure in another person’s dream, that is self-awareness!”

A beautiful recognition of the way it feels to be human.  I would add that perhaps it is not just one person’s dream, but rather, that we are all dreaming up this “public dream” together. In this way, we really are the co-authors of this story called “Life.”

And thus my consciousness turns back on itself: What is it that my personal dream is offering to this collective dream of reality? It seems much less about what blog post I write or even how much money I donate to charities this year. Instead, I would ask: Is my state of consciousness, at this moment, contributing positively or negatively this shared reality? There’s a lot of talk about personal responsibility–but I’d rather talk about what I call transpersonal responsibility.

What about the fact that taking personal responsibility for my reality directly rubs off on yours?  What about the fact that personal responsibility involves not just what I do, how orderly my life is, or what words I say, but even the thoughts that I think?  If we accept the notion that reality is a public dream, then in each moment your thoughts are rippling out into the world with huge implications for everyone.  Transpersonal responsibility therefore acknowledges the profound interconnectedness of my state of consciousness on yours, and your state of consciousness on mine.

Put another way: Is my dream improving your dream? Is your dream improving mine?  And furthermore, what can we do to dream a better dream for everyone’s sake?

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