The Meaning of Dreams (2024-12-28)

Ru Chun: On December 19th, I dreamed that I was about to enter a large U-shaped cesspit, similar to a pit of yellow mud. I felt a bit uncomfortable, worried that the filth would get on my body. I walked from one end to the other, always keeping a certain distance from the filth around me, and my body did not get dirty at all. At the exit, there was a set of rolling revolving doors, rotating like a moving walkway, with square and round openings on it. I originally planned to go out through the square opening, but then I thought: why must I squeeze through this opening? Why not just go straight out? As soon as this thought arose, I was out.

On December 22nd, I dreamed that I was going to crawl into a familiar cave, but this time when I reached the entrance, I was surprised to find that it had been blocked by stones, and I could not get in. Looking back, I felt that the entrance looked so much like a person's navel. Master, I have had several dreams in a row these past few days—could they have any meaning?

Reply: The first dream shows the process of your eliminating afflictions. You were striving to avoid the afflictions, not letting them defile your body. In the dream, you wanted to escape from the mire of afflictions, thinking there must be some trick to severing afflictions, but in the end you discovered that as soon as you changed your thought, you went out through the gate of afflictions—no special antidotal method was needed. Afflictions are like these filthy things; after removing them, preventing further contamination will form a habit of purity. The dream shows that your practice has reached the stage of subduing and severing afflictions. Only when afflictions have been subdued and the mind has been transformed to purity can one see the Path.

The second dream shows that on the path of rebirth in the six realms of saṃsāra, with which you have been familiar for countless kalpas, you discovered that this path of rebirth has been blocked, and you can no longer be reborn and transmigrate. Who blocked it? You blocked it yourself through practice. When one sees the Path through practice, one severs the three fetters and will no longer go to the three evil realms. This shows that your present practice holds great hope of seeing the Path—you are not far from it. The cave entrance resembling a navel portends saṃsāra, the rebirth into the three evil realms. You have hope of severing the three fetters, so you need not undergo retribution in the three evil realms again. Having had these two prophetic dreams, you deserve congratulations and praise—the results are soon to come.