Al Bouchard

	Born: February 5, 1930 Cambridge, MA, USA 3:10 AM

Hi,

My name is Al Bouchard. Al comes from my middle name Alfred which I have used most of my life. My first name is Joseph. And since Joseph is a part of me people don't ordinarily know, I chose Joseph Dreams as a pen name for a newsletter I published a while back. The JOSEPH DREAMS Newsletter is no longer published. Visit Angels of Light Fellowship for the MYSTIC MEANINGS Newsletter.

The lead article in the JOSEPH DREAMS Newsletter, Chicken Coop Thinking, deals with a series of dream activities I had in my thirties. Much research has been done on sleep and dreams and why they are important to us. Prolonged lack of sleep can lead to serious physical and mental health problems.

Part of the dream activity might be called housecleaning. Dream housecleaning has to do with reviewing the day's activity and sorting out what is important to our well being and what is not. Who has not had the experience of going to bed all worried about something that happened during the day, then woke up the next morning without a care in the world. Another function of the dream activity is to point out some answers to situations we are dealing with in our daily life.

We sometimes think of our waking activity as being conscious and our sleeping activity as being unconscious. But if things happen during sleep to help us with waking things in our lives, is it not possible this too is a type of being conscious?

People who know how to meditate realize that meditation is a waking, conscious form of sleep and dream activity. The physical body is in a slowed down, relaxed state. We drift in and out of dreamlike experiences. Once we learn how to interpret, to understand both the dream and the meditation experiences, we find personal guidance toward a healthier, happier, richer, more fulfilling life.

Several years ago, I wrote lessons titled Meditation for Soul Communion. At the bottom bar of this link there is some information about the lessons and how you can order them for yourself.

I was born into a Catholic family. As I grew up, I migrated to more Protestant practices. This gave me a background in Judeo-Christian ethics. About the time my streaker dreams were tapering off, I connected with Hindu ways and was introduced to meditation. Later, I met and lived with an Egyptian who introduced me to some of the ways of Islam. And still later, another close friend shared with me the poetry and life of Rumi, founder of one of the Sufi orders.

For over forty years, since the end of my streaker dreams, meditation has been an important part of my waking life. Meditation has helped me to acquire a greater understanding of my dream life. Deeper insights about personal behavior and relationships with others emerge through the regular practice of meditation. Other benefits of meditation are an increase in self-confidence, clues toward achieving personal life goals, and overcoming fear.

At deeper levels, meditation brings us ever closer to true soul communion, to the peace that is beyond ordinary understanding. Meditation allows you to get in touch more clearly with the spark of divinity that exists in all of us. Meditation Circles with others, each sharing their meditation experiences, enhances the insights you get from your private meditations. The Meditation For Soul Communion lessons has instructions on how to set up a Spiritual Growth Circle of family and friends in your own home.

Occasionally I feel moved to write some blank verse with metaphysical overtones. Angels of Light, which you can access below, came through me shortly after the September 11, 2002 airplane hijackings and the destruction that followed.

The love and blessings of the universe are with you always. Love is the cornerstone of your being.