Remember how Adam and the others once dwelt together in Eden. No sooner, however, did a quarrel break out between Adam and Satan than they were, one and all, banished from the Garden, and this was meant as a warning to the human race, a means of telling humankind that dissension — even with the Devil — is the way to bitter loss. This is why, in our illumined age, God teacheth that conflicts and disputes are not allowable, not even with Satan himself.
                                    (Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 275)

It is has taken a long time to get to Day 17 of the transformation program.    About a week ago someone sent this wonderful dream that explained so much about the tests and difficulties I have with some of the current leaders in the world.

Hi Richard, Here is the dream.
I was looking out my front door…It was winter…to the left of the parking lot was a huge mound of snow probably 30 feet high……….The family dog was outside.  Suddenly this huge bear appears on the top of the mound of snow………..the bear would be probably at least 20 feet high with a huge head/way beyond the size of a real bear……beside him were two wolves / they were the normal size of a wolf……one on each side of him. My dog, a black, long haired mix , size of a big German Shepherd let’s say is disturbed by the bear and jumps up the 30 foot snow mound. barking.  The bear with one gesture opens his mouth and tears the dog’s head right off and ingests it………turns around to leave ,dragging the rest of the dog’s body with him. The wolves just turn around with the bear and leave………I am yelling to my family to stay inside that this has occurred and it is not safe out there.
That is it………the dream was over…….I woke up perplexed but not in terror or panic which rather surprised me…………………that is it…..

This is my response to the dreamer.

This is a pretty amazing dream.   The symbol of looking out your front door has to do with being in yourself and opening the door to possibilities in your life.   The left in a dream can mean to the wrong side as in left and right.  The right side being the right choice, but it is not that critical other than when you look out at the current world what you see is what exists in the dream.   The  big bear and wolves on top of snow mound are representative of negative powers that sit atop of coldness using their power as they please and being very good at it.
The positive qualities of a dog are usually friendship and loyalty because that is what they do,  but when a dog which can be aggressive tries to go up against negative powers, it gets easily swept away and killed.    The reason for the metaphor is that it teaches us to not try to get into conflict or be aggressive against people who use power as means to advancing.    People who are in that mode see using power and disregarding people as a virtue because they are addicted to it like a drug.

The solution to the dream is go in the opposite direction by not confronting the bears and wolves or trying to make logical arguments or use principles.  Their sole goal is to be on top and they will do what it takes to get there.    This means that when you let them go by not attending to them, there is a whole other realm full of possibilities that are open to you.   The realm of possibilities open to you has more to do with creating closeness and intimacy with others.   It is a safe place to go because the bears and wolves are extremely frightened to go there.

The purpose of the dream is to keep you out of confrontation with negative power by showing the consequences of it.   It is also to help you go in the other direction which is about warmth and love and intimacy.    You must have had some problems around confronting people who use power or being in conflict with them or you would not have needed the dream.    I can tell you that it is a thrill for me to read this dream because it explains a lot for me.  I keep thinking that if I attack the leaders on the basis of logic and principle that they will change,  but in their world logic and principle are unimportant.  Power is how they protect themselves from having to deal with intimacy.

The quote also explains it very well.   The Baha’i belief about Satan is that there is not an actual being named Satan.  This is meant to be allegorical and not literal,  but it just explains that if you have a satanic figure in your life who will try to advance at any cost,  being in conflict with that person will throw you both out of the garden because when you are in conflict, you are not attending to the spirit.   This does not mean that you cannot disagree with others in consultation or stand up for justice.    People who are ambitious of power and advancing are like the ravenous wolves and bear.  They are extremely good at destruction.