The Parallels Between Storytelling and Enlightenment – Part 2 – Stefan Emunds

Life is a Dream

We think that when we go to sleep, we dream, but actually, it’s the other way around. The soul dreams planetary life and when our body goes to sleep, the soul awakes and return, for a couple of hours, to the soul world.

All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
– Edgar Allan Poe

Are you disappointed that your life is virtual? I believe it’s good news because whatever happens here in this game, can’t hurt a soul. And the process of dying is perfectly safe.

Life is a string of experiences in a virtual world. Stories are virtual experiences in a virtual world. This is the reason we are hardwired for stories. We have assumed avatars hundreds of times and have a natural ability to empathize with story protagonists.

Stories allow us to have more experiences in one lifetime.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.
– George R.R. Martin

Further, stories allow us to have experiences we can’t or don’t want to have in real life. Not everybody has the opportunity to climb Mt. Everest, but everybody can read the story of someone who did it. We can go on an adventure without risking our life. We can have a clandestine love affair without risking our marriage. And we can face monsters without the danger of being devoured.

In real life, we learn things the hard way. Through stories, we can gain wisdom, understanding, and empathy the easy way. Prescriptive stories tell us what works and cautionary stories tell us what doesn’t. This saves time, energy, and lives.

Writing Your Life Story

What about the other way around? Can we learn from authors and write our life story with the help of story writing principles?

I think so. For this reason, I created the Write Your Lifestory email course.

Who Authors Our Lives?

Did you ever feel that some of your experiences were set up or authored?

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Desmond, a Seventh-day Adventist, enlisted in the United States Army to serve as a combat medic. He did well in the basic training but, because of his faith, he refused to handle a rifle and train on Saturdays. Although his captain bullied him and took him to the military court, Desmond remained steadfast and weathered his ordeal. They deployed Desmond to the Pacific. During the Battle of Okinawa, Desmond’s unit took part in the securing of the Hacksaw Ridge. They conquered the ridge, but on the next morning, the Japanese launched a counterattack and drove the Americans back, causing heavy losses. Desmond was the last to descend. He hesitated and looked back at the battlefield, feeling helpless and useless. He went through an ordeal to serve in the war, but seemed to serve no purpose. Desperate to know the meaning of it all, he looked at the sky and screamed at God, “What do you want from me?” The answer came in the form of the screams of wounded comrades. He returned to the battlefield and carried the injured, one by one, to the cliff’s edge and roped them down. That day, Desmond rescued seventy-five soldiers. A hero and savior was born. This is a true story immortalized in the movie Hacksaw Ridge.

A higher power is at work in our lives. I like to think that the higher self authored my life with the consent of my soul.

Aron Ralston came to this conclusion in 127 Hours:

You know, I’ve been thinking. Everything … just comes together. It’s me. I chose this. I chose all this. This rock. .. this rock has been waiting for me my entire life. It’s entire life, ever since it was a bit of meteorite a million, billion years ago. In space. It’s been waiting, to come here. Right, right here. I’ve been moving towards it my entire life. The minute I was born, every breath that I’ve taken, every action has been leading me to this crack on the earth’s surface.

A higher power authors our incarnation, decides on the genre, chooses the main plot and sub-plot, sketches the ark of our heroic journey, and does our basic characterization (our astrological imprint).

It stands to reason that our soul consented to all that.

Once in the game, the soul writes its story within the constraints of its life’s plot. While the soul can’t avoid experiences, it can decide how to react to them and that makes all the difference.

Thus, the soul puts in writing the personal legend of its incarnation.

About the author

Stefan writes inspirational non-fiction, visionary fiction, and runs an online enlightenment workshop. Enlightenment and storytelling have interesting parallels, which enticed Stefan to write a book about storytelling – The Eight Crafts of Writing. Stefan was born in Germany and, after graduating, enjoyed two years backpacking in Australia, New Zealand, and South-East Asia. Back home, he studied general electro-technology and pursued a career as a sales and business development manager in Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Semi-retired now, he lives with his son in the Philippines.