what separates me from a direct experience of life ?

A monk and his teacher are walking in the teacher’s garden. The monk asks his teacher to explain a quote from the fourth-century teacher, Seng Chao, “The whole universe is of one and the same root as my own self.” The teacher points to a flower and says, “Most people see this flower as if they were in a dream.” The dream the teacher refers to is the cloudiness of our mind that separates us from our direct experience of life.  --- from Judith Blackstone, "the enlightenment process: a guide to embodied spiritual  awakening."

 I read this stuff before.
 I know it all.
Right ?
 Well, so I thought.
But no.
When I judge someone,   when I see them in terms of 'they are for me, or against me',   then I am NOT seeing the real person.
 When i see the person as an object, a wheel in the machine...i deprive myself of a direct experience of life.


When I see life in terms  of abstracts, and  generalities, I get bored.

Does my level of boredom tell me how much I live in abstracts in my head ? 

.