In the Buddhist scriptures it is mentioned in many occasions it
is possible to see the future through dream interpretation. Buddha
had done that at least a few times on special cases, but we do not
do that often nor encourage it.
Recently I brought a person to meet my dharma teacher. He seems to
have some psychic powers, and he met her because he had some
trouble in seeing the cause of a karma or events and wanted to know
how to go about it, and he wanted to 'burn away the karma'. My
dharma teacher told him, what is the use of it? Can you stop the
karma by knowing? Karma is not easy to avoid, if it is then Buddha
did not have to suffer so much since he is All-Knowing. But even
Buddha had to go through sickness, death, etc. In the Jataka tales,
the Buddha had undergone a lot of tests and hardship while was
practising as a Bodhisattva in his previous lives. It is still
better to practise hard and not be too affected by visions/dreams
etc... which John (Thusness) has advised similarly to me as well.
There is no short cut to enlightenment, even Buddha had to practise
for many many lives before attaining Buddhahood.
Perhaps you feel that you learn a lot of things from dreams... but
important thing is... my master advises that one should not let the
'Dream world' dictate the way you live (in real life).
From the Mahayana (including Vajrayana) point of view,
Bodhisattvas are completely non-dual and therefore does not
discriminate Nirvana over Samsara. This view is also presented in
the Nagarjuna's work I sent you.
Which is why it is possible for Bodhisattvas to be reborn again and
again to complete Buddhahood. Those following the path of
self-liberation (attaining Arhantship) will enter into Nirvana and
not be able to attain the perfect, complete Buddhahood.
The 4 Noble Truths, teaching that 'Life Is Suffering', although
found in all traditions of Buddhism, is actually a path of
'self-liberation' catergory. On a Higher level Life is not
suffering, although for most sentient beings this is true in the
sense that Suffering is an inevitable part of life, like for
example the 8 distresses to speak
of.
