DREAMS | Zen Wisdom

QUESTION:
Everyone dreams. Some dreams seem more significant or real than others. Does Buddhism speak of different levels of dreams? For instance, I read one of Master Ta-hui Tsung-kao’s (1089-1163) letters in which a person said that, in a dream, Ta-hui had entered his room; and later Ta-hui replied that he was really there. You also have said that if someone thinks of you or dreams of you with conviction, then you will be there. On the other hand. Buddhism says all things are illusion. Can you speak on this subject?

SHIH-FU:
The Mahayana sutras say that if a person practices and studies Buddhadharma with great conviction, then it is likely that he or she will dream of Buddhas, bodhisattvas and Buddha worlds. These dreams can be real. There have also been accounts of masters and patriarchs who, during the course of their practice, were told in dreams where they should seek their teachers.

There are numerous stories concerning ancient Ch’an masters and dreams. One story tells of a Ch’an master who wanted to visit a farm that belonged to a monastery in another area. The next morning, without telling anyone, he left. By the time he arrived, the attending monk at the farm had a full meal waiting for him. The master asked how he knew and the monk replied that in a dream the night before the deity of the land told him that the master would be coming, so preparations were made. The master replied that the offering should be made to the deity, not him. In this case the dream was obviously authentic.

Another story concerns Master Hsu-yun (1840-1959). Once he dreamt that he went to a special area of a heavenly realm where Maitreya Buddha resided. Here Master Hsu-yun ran into old friends and masters of his contemporaries. He said he wanted to stay, but Maitreya told him the karma for his present life had not been finished so he would have to return to the world.

The Mind Only school says that dreaming is one of the consciousness states. Consciousness usually manifests through the senses, but there can also be solitary mental consciousness that does not arise through the senses. There are three levels of solitary consciousness. One is in dreams, one is in samadhi, and one is in insanity. The solitary consciousness of dreams arises from karma accumulated since time without beginning. When this consciousness arises, it has no connection with the senses. On the other hand, we can’t say that it has no external reality because it came from previous karma, which was created through interactions with the environment.

Several sastras are said to have been written by masters while they were in dream states. For instance, an important Mind Only sastra called the Yogacary-abhumisastra was supposedly written by Asanga while he was in such a dream state. Every night while Asanga was asleep, Maitreya Buddha came to him and told him what to write. Since Asanga was the only one who had these dreams, we must take his word for it.

There is a story of someone who lived during the T’ang dynasty who was supposed to be executed. In a dream the night before he was told to recite a special form of the Avatamsaka Sutra one thousand times. When he awoke he did what the dream instructed him to do, and when it came time to be executed, the blade would not penetrate his neck, so he was spared.

I could relate dream stories from the sutras all day and night. Obviously Buddhism makes mention of dreams. From the perspective of Buddhadharma, dreams can be of three kinds. The first involves dreams that arise from vexation and imagination. For example, fears from daily life may manifest as nightmares. The second consists of dreams about someone you have a strong affinity with, perhaps someone in the family. When something is happening to them, you will somehow know about it through dreams. The third includes dreams that deities, ghosts, bodhisattvas and Buddhas put into you. Living beings who have developed certain supernormal powers can also make some people dream particular dreams.

Ch’an considers all dreams to be illusion ─ short dreams, long dreams, real dreams, unreal dreams, the dream of life, birth, death and rebirth. The dream of our daily life is called the intermediate dream. The dreams we have while we sleep are minor dreams. We should consider all dreams to be illusory, otherwise we will pay too much attention to them and they will cause us to have fears, expectations and other feelings. It will make it difficult for us to practice.

There are usually two periods of sleep when people dream. One is right after falling asleep, when the mind is calming down but is not yet fully rested. During this period dreams are almost always of the first type ─ those arising from vexations that manifest during the day. The other is after a long period of deep sleep when the mind is fully rested. It is these dreams which can have some higher level of accordance with reality, but it does not always happen. For instance, light or restless sleepers may never calm their minds enough to have these types of dreams.

The mother of a well known Buddhist in Taiwan once came on a retreat at my temple. Before the retreat she had no idea of wanting to go on a retreat, but she dreamt of a monastery with very high walls to which she could not find an entrance. Then she saw an old monk waving her in. She had no idea what the monastery was or who the monk was. Sometime later while reading a newspaper she came across a picture of my master. It was the monk in her dream. He had been dead for several years, and she had never seen him before. When she came to the monastery it turned out to be the same as the one in her dream.

STUDENT:
I have dreamt of you, Shih-fu. It rarely happens, but when I do dream of you, the dream is crystal clear and I usually wake up clear, too. When I wrote to you about one such dream, you wrote back saying that if I think of you with sincerity and conviction and I need your guidance, then you will be there. I never knew if you meant this figuratively or literally.

SHIH-FU:
The dream you are describing is of the second type, that of a special correspondence between two people. It is readily explainable. When you dream of me with conviction and need my assistance, you can tap into the power which derives from my vows. But it is up to you, the dreamer, to do this. It is your mind which is able to do this. I am not personally entering your dream. I may be awake, or if I am asleep, I am dreaming my own dreams. We are not sharing dreams. Such dreams happen occasionally.

There are times, however, when people dream about a person they have never met, who tells them something or gives them instructions. Numerous people in Taiwan have told me that they came to me because they had a dream of me even though they had never met me. I tell them they were really dreaming. They tell me that I told them to visit the temple, but I tell them I don’t remember meeting them. These are dreams of the third category. It could be the protecting deity of the temple or some other spirit who takes on my appearance and directs these people to come. It is not me. I would never get any sleep if I had to do all that work.

Most of these dreams come from the consciousness flow of the dreamer. The other person is not really appearing in the dream. That is usually the case when people dream of me. However, a student of mine told me of a dream she had had of her previous master who had died fifteen years earlier. The dream was crystal clear and he gave her very important advice. What is this? Perhaps it is the student’s consciousness flow, but it could also be the mental power of her master, even though he is dead. The spiritual body of a great practitioner can continue long after the physical body dies.

STUDENT:
Is it possible to be alert or vigilant enough so that

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