DREAMING

Chuang Tzu’s most famous story is the dream of the butterfly. Once of the many lessons in it is the similarity between life and dream.

This can give us insights about detachment. Suppose you have a dream of being wealthy. Upon awakening, your dream wealth disappears without a trave. You are able to let it go calmly, even though it seemed real enough in the dream. This ability to detach is something you can use in life. You know the difference between your dream possessions and real-life possessions but the detached mind-set is the same.

This idea also applies to strong emotions. Perhaps you are angry or upset in a dream. Upon awakening, you realize none of it was real, so you let it go. This is good practice, because there are people in your waking reality who can do things to anger or upset you. You know the difference between dream events and real-life events, but you also know that the feeling of detaching from them is the same. Knowing what it is like helps you use it to moderate your emotions so they will not prevent you form doing what needs to be done.

The Tao Today

The way you deal with dreams means you are already a master of detachment. If you ever find yourself trapped by attachments, you only have to consider how you would handle it in a dream. Nothing will get to you so much that you start making mistakes and getting all worked up. Remember: life is like a dream.

The Tao of Joy Every Day

~ Derek Lin