Karmic Dream

Ruchun: A while ago, I frequently had the same dream where I felt an intense itch throughout my chest cavity, causing me to cough violently until I woke myself up. Upon waking, I would check my throat and chest, but neither felt itchy nor painful. Yet the sensation in the dream felt utterly real. Today, I had the same dream again, but with a difference: this time, as I coughed in the dream, I vomited a large mouthful of dark red blood, which traced an arc in the air before dripping down bit by bit. Since then, the same dream has not recurred. My current meditative state is quite good, and my physical health is fine. In previous coughing episodes during the dreams, I felt something stubbornly stuck that I couldn’t cough up. I wonder what such dreams might signify and whether they hold any guidance for my practice? 

Commentary: This needs to be assessed based on your current meditative state and the condition of your chest cavity. Only with complete and sufficient information can an accurate judgment be made. Generally speaking, such dream indications occur when the channels and energy flows are opening the heart chakra, or when the process of regulating the chest cavity through the chest is nearing completion. Afterward, the channels and energy flows pass through the chest cavity, clearing any blockages within it and expelling excess karmic obstruction energy. Coughing up blood in the dream signifies the elimination of a certain karmic obstruction, indicating that your practice has passed a critical juncture. Previously being unable to cough it out signifies that your karmic obstructions still had a clinging quality, making them difficult to eliminate, meaning your practice had not yet passed a certain critical point.

Ruchun: The second dream was: I took some chicken innards to wash under a faucet and felt very uncomfortable. Just then, someone came who also wanted to wash the same thing, so I quickly handed over what I was holding to them to make up the count. The third dream was: I went to a vegetable market, but what I wanted to buy wasn't available, causing me to waste a lot of time. When I wanted to return, I found the road surface extremely filthy (not with any specific dirt, just a feeling of extreme filth), making it impossible to walk through. Fortunately, there was another, cleaner path nearby, so I went that way.

The fourth dream was: Someone wanted to speak to me, so I told her, "Don't speak; speaking attracts demons." She still insisted on speaking, so I moved aside. She then came over, pressed my head onto a table, and shouted twice into my ear, "General Moses," saying a demon was coming. I grabbed a checkered umbrella to block it, and another friend told me to take an extra one, so I took another red umbrella.

Commentary: This dream indicates your aversion to the flesh of sentient beings; your mind is not in accord with the karma of killing and you wish to disentangle yourself from related karmic entanglements. The third dream shows you are beginning to free yourself from defiled karma, gradually becoming discordant with the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and are developing a preference for pure karma. The fourth dream reveals your fondness for purity; you do not wish to listen to people speak, especially voices tainted by the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and you go to great lengths to avoid them, as if avoiding demons.