Dream Symbol Analysis

Miguel Ruiz uses the metaphor of dreaming to represent human perception. In order to make sense of the world, Ruiz says, people need to “dream” or perceive it first—and much like a dream one has during sleep, one’s way of perceiving the world can either be lucid and actively constructed, or passive and unconsciously constructed. The most common dream (or mode of perception) is the one that children are taught by their caregivers and the authority figures in their lives (such as parents and teachers) and by society at large. Ruiz names the typical dream that children learn—or the way they are taught to perceive the world—“the dream of the planet.” Sometimes, Ruiz also calls this “the dream of human society.” The dream of the planet is a way of seeing the world that tells children what the universe contains, what they are as human beings, and how they should act. Every person has their own “dream” (or way of perceiving the world) that is derived from the dream of the planet. For Ruiz, however, the dream of the planet is actually a lie that warps human perception. In essence, the dream of the planet is a “nightmare” full of fear, judgement, conflict, and misery. Ruiz believes that he can invoke the wisdom of the early Mexican Toltec people to teach modern-day humanity how to perceive the world differently, or construct a “new dream” centered on perceiving the world as it really is: a single entity made of universal love.