Bio
"I always feel blessed to meet a genuine healer such as Paul Levy, particularly someone who has found the courage to honor the mysterious, deeper, darker aspects of their being."
—Dr. Larry Dossey, author of Recovery of the Soul
"I do very much recommend Paul Levy's teachings. They are correct, fun and adaptable to where people are."
—Dr. Arnold Mindell, founder of Process-Oriented Psychology,
author of The Shaman's Body
In 1981 Paul Levy had a life-changing spiritual awakening, in which he began to wake up to the dream-like nature of reality. During the first year of his spiritual emergence, Paul was hospitalized a number of times, and was diagnosed with having had a severe psychotic break. Much to his surprise, he was told that he had a chemical imbalance and had manic-depressive (bi-polar) illness, and would have to live with his illness for the rest of his life. Fortunately, he was able to quickly extricate himself from the medical and psychiatric establishment. Little did the doctors realize that he was taking part in some sort of spiritual awakening/shamanic initiation process, which at times mimicked psychosis but in actuality was an experience of a far different order. In 1993, after many years of struggling to contain and integrate his experiences, he started to teach about what he was realizing. He has been in private practice for fifteen years, assisting others who are spiritually emerging and beginning to wake up to the dreamlike nature of reality. In a dream come true, psychiatrists now consult with him and send him patients. A pioneer in the field of spiritual emergence, Paul is in the new book Saints and Madmen: Psychiatry Opens its Doors to Religion.
Paul has developed a unique and creative vehicle to introduce people to the dream-like nature of reality that he calls "The Dreaming Up Process," which is based on the realization that the same dreaming mind that dreams our dreams at night is dreaming our life. He teaches this dreaming up process in "Awakening in the Dream Groups" where people who are awakening to the dream-like nature of reality come together and collaboratively help each other to wake up in the dream together.
Deeply steeped in and inspired by the work of C. G. Jung, Paul is an innovator in the field of dreaming (both night dreams as well as waking dreams). He has had innumerable articles published on consciousness, dreaming and spirituality, and has lectured about his work at various universities. Paul is the founder of the “Awakening in the Dream Community,” a group of people who mutually help each other to wake up to the dreamlike nature of the universe. His work is the inspiration for the “Awakening in the Dream Center,” a psycho-spiritual healing center in Mexico. A visionary artist, Paul is helping to create an “Art-Happening Called Global Awakening,” a work of living art in which we, as a species, collaboratively help each other to become lucid in the dream of life.
A long-time practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, Paul has intimately studied with some of the greatest masters from Tibet and Burma and serves as the coordinator of the Portland PadmaSambhava Buddhist Center. Paul is the author of The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of our Collective Psychosis. He is currently writing a book about his work in dreaming.
Paul Levy can be reached at paul@awakeninthedream.com.