Right Attitudes

It is not easy to be a pioneer—but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment; even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.
—Elizabeth Blackwell (American Physician)

The most dangerous of our impulses reign in ourselves against ourselves. To dissolve them is a creative act.
—Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Austrian Author)

Our masks, always in peril of smearing or cracking, in need of continuous check in the mirror or silverware, keep us in thrall to ourselves, concerned with our surfaces.
—Carolyn Kizer (American Poet)

Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
—The Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Scripture)

Fools follow after vanity, men of evil wisdom. The wise man keeps earnestness as his best jewel.
—The Dhammapada (Buddhist Anthology of Verses)

When the wish for peace is genuine, the means for finding it is giving in a form each mind that seeks for it in honesty can understand.
—Helen Schucman (American Psychologist)

It takes no genius to observe that a one man band never gets very big.
—Charles A. Garfield (American Psychologist)

Top management is supposed to be a tree full of owls-hooting when management heads into the wrong part of the forest. I’m still unpersuaded they even know where the forest is.
—Robert C. Townsend (American Businessman)

The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.
—Lucretia Mott (American Social Reformer)

There is no kin equivalent to knowledge.
There is no friend equivalent to knowledge.
There is no wealth equivalent to knowledge.
There is no happiness equivalent to knowledge.
—Subhashita Manjari (Sanskrit Anthology of Proverbs)

Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.
—W. Somerset Maugham (British Novelist)

Luck is loaned, not owned.
—Norwegian Proverb

The main purpose of science is simplicity and as we understand more things, everything is becoming simpler.
—Edward Teller (American Nuclear Physicist)

Nothing is so good that somebody, somewhere will not hate it.
—Frederik Pohl (American Author)

Don’t sacrifice your life to work and ideals. The most important things in life are human relations. I found that out too late.
—Katharine Susannah Prichard (Australian Writer)

Strange how love coexists with hate, how they render each other mute, how the swilling of them together makes a new and softer, sympathetic thing.
—Sonya Hartnett (Australian Novelist)

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
—William James (American Philosopher)

We cannot be saved until we have risen above all our enemies, not the least of which is ignorance.
—Joseph F. Smith (American Religious Leader)

I weigh the man, not his title; ’tis not the king’s stamp can make the metal better.
—William Wycherley (English Dramatist)

How easy it is to judge rightly after one sees what evil comes from judging wrongly!
—Elizabeth Gaskell (English Novelist)

The person who renders loyal service in a humble capacity will be chosen for higher responsibilities, just as the biblical servant who multiplied the one pound given him by his master was made ruler over ten cities.
—B. C. Forbes (Scottish-born American Journalist)

A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.
—Bret Harte (American Author)

Patience can’t be acquired overnight. It is just like building up a muscle. Every day you need to work on it.
—Eknath Easwaran (Indian Meditation Teacher, Author)

Naggers always know what they are doing. They weigh up the risks, then they go on and on and on until they get what they want or until they get punched.
—Jools Holland (English Musician, TV Presenter)

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.
—Jacques Prevert (French Poet)

I was given talent, and if you are given it, it is your obligation to use it.
—Dennis Potter (English Dramatist)

That as long as we are being remembered, we remain alive.
—Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish Novelist)

Oh, God! that bread should be so dear! And flesh and blood so cheap!
—Thomas Hood (British Poet, Humorist)

An error is simply a failure to adjust immediately from a preconception to an actuality.
—John Cage (American Composer)

He that has no charity deserves no mercy.
—English Proverb

There are psychological, spiritual, and prophetic aspects when it comes to interpreting dreams. In Buddhism, dreams are symbols that reflect situations from your waking life. Now deriving the exact meaning of your dreams is a bit of a tricky process because dreams are never seen as straightforward messages. Most of what you experience in your dreams is an indirect mirroring of the highs and lows of your real life.

Let’s dive deeper into what Buddhism believes about dreams.

Dreams and their Significance in Buddhism

From a psychological perspective in Buddhism, dreams refer to your internal thought process. They reflect the ideas that constantly circle your consciousness. And find a way to get reinforced in your dreams, making your subconscious mind aware of them. The forms of how these thoughts or ideas appear in your dreams might vary, and deciphering them depends on how you interpret them.

A typical dream cycle, as per Buddhist beliefs, has five stages. The first stage is when you start to feel sleepy, and the second stage is when you sleep light. The third stage is a phase where you turn into a deep sleeper; the fourth stage is when you return to your transitional phase of light sleeping. And the fifth stage is when you wake up completely, thereby completing the entire sleep cycle.

Spiritual Dreams in Buddhism

If you know about how Gautama attained enlightenment, you would know what spiritual awakening means. He was “awakened” to become Lord Gautama Buddha. He successfully achieved the heights of spiritual enlightenment through his ascension journey. Once he attained the highest form of spirituality marked by serene calmness, he was totally free from the shackles of all negative energies affecting unawakened humans, such as ego, dread, regret, and guilt. This ultimate stage of enlightenment is characterized by complete harmony. It depicts the balance between your deep-set emotions, your body, and your mind.

Think of this as something that resembles aligning of your chakras. It indicates that when the flow of internal energies in you strikes the perfect balance, your negative emotions and your physical pain can no longer affect you. You not only become capable of controlling your body but also your mind leading to a great mind-body-spirit connection. And this balance has a huge role to play in your physical and emotional well-being.

Did you know that Lord Buddha experienced a series of seven symbolic dreams before he attained enlightenment? It is also believed that these dreams prophesied and revealed his spiritual awakening.

Thus, according to Buddha, dreams are more complex than you think. Buddha’s theory of dreams states that you cannot shape or bend your dreams to do evil or bad things. It surpasses your willpower and is against ethics with no karmic influence at all.

Popular Stories About Dreams in Buddhist Folklore

According to the legend, a god or deva was playing a game with his fellow gods in Devlok or the abode of gods. One of the gods decides to rest for a while and dies in his sleep, only to be born as a mortal. The mortal being goes through the normal cycle of life and death.

She grows up to be a beautiful girl, gets married, gives birth to children, and passes away due to old age, completing the cycle. But, it is believed that when she dies, she is transported back to where the devas are playing, coming full circle back to being born as the god who is resting.

He wakes up from his nap, indicating the rebirth of the woman who died on earth. In this case, the entire life cycle of the girl is equated to the short siesta of the god.

Milinda Panha is a popular Buddhist text representing conversations between the Indo-Greek king Menander or Milinda, the king of Bactria. And his teacher, the famous Buddhist monk named Nagasena.

Milinda Panha states the six reasons or origins of the occurrence of dreams. Wind, phlegm, and bile are the first three natural causes of dreams. Spirits or unexplained invisible forces form the fourth reason why dreams occur to you. A repeat of past episodes is the fifth reason causing dreams. And Prophetic messages foretelling the future are the sixth cause why dreams are experienced.

It is believed that of all the causes of dreams mentioned above, the dreams of prophetic visions are the most important. They are the significant premonitions predicting the future for you.

Buddhism also believes that several other factors also contribute to the triggering of dreams. These include anxiety and psychological stress, physical exertion, and identification of innermost thoughts. Getting on the same page as these thoughts finally contributes to mental peace.

Bonus Read – Wisdom is a treasure! Explore the popular stories related to the Goddess of wisdom in different mythologies around the world.

Significance of Dreams in Buddhism

The dreams that channel your stress and anxiety are rarely prophetic in nature. They simply are a representation of your thoughts running through your conscious mind all day. The most impactful memories or emotions hijack your waking mind.

However, they stay hidden in your conscious and get a chance to process and play themselves in your subconscious while you are dreaming. When we dream, we tend to lose our major senses and get disconnected from the real world. This gives your subconscious mind a free hand to explore and understand your innermost thoughts with extreme liberty.

The dreams caused due to physical ailments or hurt also do not contribute to spiritual awakening. They might have little to no importance if you are trying to interpret such dreams at all. External disturbances around you, including natural events such as rain, storm, cold, etc., might also trigger such dreams.

For example, gloomy weather caused by heavy rains and dark clouds can have a negative effect on your mood in waking life. This mood can pretty much find a way to sneak into your subconscious and appear in your dream, indicating irritability.

Everyone cannot experience prophetic dreams or straight-up premonitions. It is a rare phenomenon. But if you happen to see them, you must make every effort to interpret them. These dreams let you experience the spiritual world located in a different plane of existence. Prophetic dreams have the power to help you connect with the intangible universe or realm. This way, you could connect to your dead loved ones as well as the gods.

Buddhism believes that the gods you seek connection with, warn you of mishaps ahead of time in order to protect you. They also foretell good things that will happen in the future through your prophetic dreams.

Yet, such dreams speak the language of symbols and need to be deciphered with care.

Dreams also occur when two overly attached individuals seek connection through telepathy. And telepathy is only possible when your waking mind slips into a subconscious state to process these messages.

Conclusion

According to Buddhism, a new life begins in the dream world after your so-called real life ends. So what is seen as a mock-up of waking life emotions in your dreams is actually perceived as reality.

It signifies traveling to and exploring multiple other unknown universes that you may not even be aware of in your real life. That is why Lord Buddha is called the enlightened one, as he is truly beyond all the aspirations and does not yearn for more.

He achieved the supreme state of tranquility and did not need any dreams to attain a higher level of consciousness. Simply because he now stands right on top of the world with the highest degree of enlightenment.

What is forgiven is usually well remembered.
—Louis Dudek (Canadian Poet, Publisher)

I have always felt that a politician is to be judged by the animosities he excites among his opponents.
—Winston Churchill (British Head of State)

Why is it so difficult to love wisely, so easy to love too well?
—Mary Elizabeth Braddon (English Novelist)

Writing is thinking on paper.
—William Zinsser (American Writer, Editor)

The punishment of desire is the agony of unfulfillment.
—Hermes Trismegistus (Greek-Egyptian Author)

The successor to politics will be propaganda. Propaganda, not in the sense of a message or ideology, but as the impact of the whole technology of the times.
—Marshall Mcluhan (Canadian Thinker)

The big problem is not the haves and the have-nots—it’s the give-nots.
—Arnold Glasow (American Businessman)

Most teams aren’t teams at all but merely collections of individual relationships with the boss. Each individual vying with the others for power, prestige and position.
—Douglas McGregor (American Sociologist)

‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (British Poet)

Temperance is moderation in the things that are good and total abstinence from the things that are foul.
—Frances Willard (American Temperance Campaigner)

He who gives little gives from his heart; he who gives much gives from his wealth.
—Turkish Proverb

Nothing is so awesomely unfamiliar as the familiar that discloses itself at the end of a journey.
—Cynthia Ozick (American Novelist, Essayist)

My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.
—Stephen Hawking (English Theoretical Physicist)

Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them—and then, the opportunity to choose.
—C. Wright Mills (American Sociologist)

Finding bad reasons for what one believes for other bad reasons—that’s philosophy.
—Aldous Huxley (English Humanist)

Do not commit the error, common among the young, of assuming that if you cannot save the whole of mankind you have failed.
—Jan de Hartog (Dutch-American Author)