To a son said a father:
“Take another stripped down look at that matter of interest to us:
man’s unique feature (and at the core of said matter) thoughts  --  do two things:
convey information and tell stories;
the first always concerns material matters, and is ultimately (if indirectly)
related to survival,
while the second is entirely about things which have no physical reality,
and is meant to merely entertain:
I describe the latter thus (and with validity) but many of the stories man’s mind tells,
he subsequently takes seriously, indeed, often as much so as he does the former  --  so: a relatively simple, thought definitive response to the question:
What is: being-asleep; living-in-a-dream  --  in the dark  --   in captivity?  --
it is: Taking any story seriously.

Obvious from experience: information is often critical and to be taken seriously,
in that (regarding your health for instance) it can spell the difference between
surviving and perishing, but the best that can be said for ordinary men taking seriously the stories their minds tell which have no connection to one’s physical welfare is that
they seem to comfort him psychologically (which is to say):
the stories can soothe disturbing thoughts (a ready example would be:
stories of an afterlife salving his mental fear of death).

Quite a situation: thoughts produce fears that man would not have otherwise,
then they conjure up stories to help allay the fears,
and from this perspective it is clear that for this to work, man cannot be allowed to see the stories for what they are: invented-tales,
but must take them seriously, or else the whole affair is futile.

Some stories men take simply as entertainment (the fictional ones in books
and movies, though, the more civilized a man becomes [that is: the more thought-centered is his life] the more does he subtly suspect non fictional, metaphorical significance to his mind’s stories),
but others he puts in a special, unanalyzed category: Stories that are real:
fiction that somehow gives actual information;
stories which trigger in his mind, agreeable thoughts  --  which he takes seriously.

Son, if you expect to ever personally get to the bottom of this matter we discuss,
you do yourself good to see as soon and consistently as possible
the simple, indisputable and non prejudicial fact that:
There is no information about anything other than physical objects;
if what you are thinking and talking about has no physical reality
then there is no such thing as: information about it:
it is a story and perforce: anything said about it is likewise story telling;
there is no such thing as actual information about the construction of
Cinderella's carriage, or King Arthur's round table.
To be asleep and dreaming (that is: to be in man’s normal state of consciousness)
is to be taking stories seriously:
there in a dozen words or so is a  comprehensive diagnosis of what has been
bugging you ever since you began to take thoughts seriously:
there's your solution in a gnat's thimble:
The way to stay out of a dream is to not take any story seriously.”
    “Except for one?”
“Obviously.”
 

There are those who continue to insist there's a difference between man’s brain,
and his mind, or spirit,
yet these same people do not doubt their kidneys when they pee.
Objects mean nothing apart from what they do;
boulders can just sit there, or boulders can fall on you;
one part of the brain regulates urine;
another part tells stories.

Another version of: A Creation Myth.
Before man was fully formed (that is: prior to him having thoughts)
all was not merely: “dark and chaotic”  --   all was obvious!  --
and that obviously wouldn’t do because  (and you can take it from there.)
 
 
 

On one planet their economy (and thus their lives) depends on twin currencies:
one which everyone sees and handles,
and another which is invisible and no one has ever touched;
yet both are needed for the lives the inhabitants have come to expect.
You can’t have a bacon and grail sandwich without both bacon and grail.
    (“Hell! --  everyone understands that  --  right?!  --
       I mean: any sane person understands fully what that sentence says  --  right?!”)
 
 
 

Conversation.
“You have terrible credit.”
     “I have no credit.”
“That’s even worse.”
     “May be  --  except for the possibility that it might be better.”

        Q: Why are birds never overweight?
        A: They don’t eat the air.
            (“I assume this is totally an allegory of some sort?!”)
 
 
 

Shopping Suggestion.
The real-deal-man should buy only what he needs.
(Additional Note: Only such a man grasps what: needs means.
     “Yeah  --  but it sure is easy to forget when you’re having fun.”
Your thoughts being entertained, you mean?
     “Exactly.”)
 
 
 

One day after a mildly disturbing episode, one man’s cells said to him:
“Everything we have ever done has been on your behalf     --      except for that one time.”
 
 
 

There is no short-cut to seeing what is going on  --  only a direct cut.

Medical Alert.
Everyone suffers kidney damage who tries to pee through their frontal lobes.
 
 
 

Says one man:
“There’s hope for everyone  --  not much  --   but  some.............................(I guess).”
 
 
 

Man’s thoughts are so tied to his feet that even an astronomer's universe
is no larger than his aching bunion.
Only those who actually want to think are prepared to do so beyond the bounds of collective propriety and normal shoe sizes.
 
 

Theology, Physiology and Narratives.
Matter To Be Diagnosed: What does a liver believe?
 
 
 

Though not usually realized by the pursuers:
wanting to wake-up, achieve enlightenment; be liberated are all attempts to move
the practice of story telling to a part of the mind other than where it originates;
to either sit the Flying Dutchman onto an actual sea,
or else be completely clear about its native fictional setting.