Buddhism<\/a>. The contents of the dream seemed extraordinary to me as well and had left our friend in quite a pickle. Was it \u201cjust a dream?\u201d Or was it a message from himself \u2026 or from the ancient Buddhas? What was he to do with it?<\/p>\nIs there anything in the Zen tradition that points to how one might work with a gale of a dream like this \u2013 other than to dismiss it as delusion? Fortunately, there is. Take this, for example.<\/p>\n
Back in the old times, Guishan was taking a nap and his close disciple, Yangshan, entered his room but seeing the old teacher sleeping turned to leave. Guishan woke up and called Yangshan back, saying, \u201cLet me tell you my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yangshan leaned forward to listen to the dream. Then Guishan said, \u201cPlease interpret the dream for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yangshan took a bowl of water and a towel to Guishan who then scrubbed his face and sat for a while.<\/p>\n
Another close disciple, Xiangyan, then came into the room. Guishan said, \u201cJust now Yangshan demonstrated a supreme ability in supranormal powers! This ability is not about personal salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xiangyan said, \u201cI was in the other room, but I clearly perceived this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guishan said, \u201cNow it\u2019s your turn to interpret.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xiangyan made a cup of tea and brought it to the master.<\/p>\n
Guishan said, \u201cYou two disciples have supranormal powers that are beyond the abilities of Sariputra and Maudgalyayana (disciples of Buddha).\u201d<\/p>\n
Here we have three fine practitioners living the dream, expressing Guishan\u2019s dream in elegant service of one and other.<\/p>\n
A warm towel.<\/p>\n
A cup of tea.<\/p>\n
How extraordinary.<\/p>\n
How will we be of service within this dream?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What do dreams mean? Especially those dreams that haunt, that can\u2019t be shaken off with a cup of coffee and a traffic jam. First a caution. True Zen practice is exclusively about clarifying the Great Matter of birth and death. Other pursuits not directly in the service of this purpose are, at best, interesting and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,45,34,46],"class_list":["post-1530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dream-interpretation","tag-expressing-a-dream-within-a-dream","tag-soto-zen-buddhism","tag-spiritual-fascination"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>What do dreams mean? Especially those dreams that haunt, that can\u2019t be shaken off with a cup of coffee and a traffic jam.<\/p>\n