Dreams and Interpretation in Buddhism

bohiruci SG

Dreams are the projectory functions of our brain to assess our life

If one interprete dreams correctly and put to good use

one can help others on the path of Bodhi

Okay, let me be the first one to start the ball rolling

First, last night I have a dream

I dreamt I was in the middle of a chalet in an unknown place ,somewhere familiar like Loyang Way (akin to that as in a lot of Private landed properties )

I and my friend saw a bungalow ,that is unique ( I have no clue why it look unique ) my only thought is it looks like a bungalow having some commercial activity and I cross the road to this white bungalow and its a model plane , hobbies museum .To my surprise , it sell a favourite collectible of my hobbies , postage stamp

then I take a shuttle bus service unconsciously , quite a silly action
realising its not leading me anywhere back to the chalet , I alight and found myself in a different place of urban slum and like part of shanghai housing area

I wake up and interpret the meaning of the dream
it mean I persuing my likes and I and aimlessly seeking back to the original motive (chalet )

I should pause at time to realign my directions in life ,also in practice

Do you have a fantastic dream to share ? maybe we can discuss

path_seeker SG

Unless you are realised, i really think that you shouldn't be doing your own interpretation, because you will probably interprete the wrong way. Right here, i would take it that you have attained a certain level of realisation to a certain extent.

You've explained about the going back to Challet, but what about the urban slum and part of shanghai housing area?

bohiruci SG

ya ... agree , well, just an open-ended discussion ,

I think the slum represents the state of my life bah,well, throughout the alley i saw potted flowers there ... maybe it looks like hope dwell in the near future

basically i think the answer of my dream is- direction in life

Wink

longchen SG

Hi Bohiruci,

Your intepretation is quite accurate...

But there are some other things that I will like to add. Just a sharing, please use your own intuition also.

The hobby indicated what you like to do. In this case, you like to 'collect'. Musuem may indicate 'things that appear to be ancient'. So I guess it means that you are interested in collecting facts and information about 'ancient' teaching. You think that there are of value to you. Your hobby is postage stamp. Postage stamps travel to the destination on a person's behalf, but do not bring the person to the real destination. This means that your hobby of postage stamp will not bring you to the destination/goal, but it is just a movement of information.

Additionally, the shuttle bus did not drop you at your destination. Again, this means that your interest is not really leading you to your goals. You know what your goals are so I don't have to elaborate Mr. Green

Just a sharing... Good luck..

bohiruci SG

wah ...i agree Cool

thanks for resolving the riddle of this dream Smile

I will align myself for your info Smile

and thanks to Path_Seeker

Cool Cool

An Eternal Now SG

Have to mention... Longchen is the professional dream interpreter in this forum Mr. Green (i'm serious)

About dream interpretation, IMHO it have its values, but it's better not to talk about dream interpretation in Buddhism in general. As a general guideline I would not encourage people to do dream interpretations unless they have clear guidance from an enlightened master who clearly knows how dream interpretation is going to be used in a way that does not confuse the practitioner further but benefits him on his spiritual path. If there are certain Vajrayana sects teaching dream interpretation as part of their practices, or it is part of certain tantras, then it is best kept within the Vajrayana sects and traditions, as these practices usually require instructions and teachings or initiations from the rinpoches/teachers, we can't just anyhow do it... and those dreams are interpreted for very specific purposes, I believe, they are not just meant for mundane purposes.

Also as path_seeker pointed if you are not skilled in this, then you may interprete things wrongly... which might just make things worse. Without right knowledge, dream interpretation might just be a distraction on one's path. If one has received instructions to do dream interpretations (I'm not sure if anyone has) then it's better to keep this practice to oneself and try not to confuse others.

The Buddha was against dream interpretation generally for many obvious reasons.. even though in the sutras he did dream interpretation for at least one occasions or more (one of which was interpretating Ananda's dreams).

Other than that, the general statement made by Buddha on dream interpretation is that Dream Interpretations are 'lowly arts' and 'wrong livelihood' (which is against the 8 fold path):

"Whereas some priests and contemplatives, living off food given in faith, maintain themselves by wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as: reading marks on the limbs [e.g., palmistry]; reading omens and signs; interpreting celestial events [falling stars, comets]; interpreting dreams; reading marks on the body [e.g., phrenology]; reading marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire oblations, oblations from a ladle, oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil; offering oblations from the mouth; offering blood-sacrifices; making predictions based on the fingertips; geomancy; laying demons in a cemetery; placing spells on spirits; reciting house-protection charms; snake charming, poison-lore, scorpion-lore, rat-lore, bird-lore, crow-lore; fortune-telling based on visions; giving protective charms; interpreting the calls of birds and animals he abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.

~ http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html

Also not to take dreams too seriously:

If you want to continue to be a devoted yogi, generally you should never cling to dreams. If you do, you will eventually expose yourself to the influence of the four maras. If your dreams are positive, do not have any expectations. If we are filled with hopes and expectations, even positive things can turn negative. If your dreams are negative, don't take them too seriously. Learn to see negative dreams as illusion, not real. Then, although a dream seems negative, because we realize that it isn't real, it becomes a positive thing that prepares us for further development and realization in the spiritual path. This is the practice of a yogi.

-- from The Life of Gampopa by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, just published by Snow Lion Publications.