Dharma Dreams: A Pure Land

I had somewhere to go.  I crossed the street, walked through the parking lot and into the park.

It was the most beautiful park I had ever seen.  The trees glistened like in those old master Dutch paintings.  There was a sense a profound peace that permeated everything I saw, the air and myself.  It smothered the tiny insecurity in me that said I wasn't supposed to be there.

A large group of people stood alongside the field of grass.  Every kind of person you could imagine, young, old, thin, fat, royal dress, tattered shards, black, white, purple. Ok, no purple but you get the idea.

A tall person welcomed me and they all turned to look at me.  I think I interrupted something but I was too overwhelmed by the profound peace that I figured it was okay, it had to be okay.  Any sense of self consciousness, such as embarrassment, seemed utterly useless and inconsequential in that place.

That place "out beyond right and wrong" (Rumi).

All the people moved (more like floated) to the other side of the field.  I wasn't supposed to be there but I couldn't move.

In the distance, I saw three small white horses with long flowing hair.  I recognized them as the Father, Christ and Holy Spirit.  Yes, I recognized them.  I can't tell you how I recognized them as the divine Christian trinity, I just did.  Though this dream was pre-Dharma days, I'm not sure what other divinity I would ascribe to the beings I recognized.  In that place, labels did not seem all that important.  What was important was their importance.

I felt a reverence but not one of awe, more of as-a-matter-of-fact, like it was normal to see them there.  I wanted to be respectful but I didn't know what to do.  I hoped that they would approach and they did.  They did that kind of float thing across the field in unison.  I knew their appearance was not intrinsic to their nature, they did not have a density of being but simply appeared in a manner as to be recognized.

The three of them approached so close I could reach out and touch them but I dared not.  I wanted to engage, to speak, to ask a question but I dared not.  I was not afraid but simply at a loss for what to do. I only wondered if their flowing hair was as soft as it appeared.

I know. I totally blew it.  In the presence of the divinity, I turn deer-in-headlights, "ooh, how pretty!" Knock me upside the head next time you see me, please!

Anyhow, just as Christ's hair barely brushed my hand, beyond soft is the only way to describe it, I heard my washing machine buzzer go off.  I immediately turned and joyfully ran off to finish my laundry knowing that place would always be there and I could return whenever I wanted!

Then I woke up.

Use a big sledge hammer.

Dharma Dreams: The Middle World

The dream:

I woke up in a hotel room as someone ran in yelling, "We have to get out now! Armed men are taking over the hotel! They are killing and torturing people!"

I could hear them scream. This must be what it’s like to be in hell.

A group of us made a run for it down the hall. We found a fire escape and then traversed down a steep rocky cliff to the narrow beach.

I felt terrible leaving all those people behind.

We walked for several hours along the narrow shoreline.

I worried that the armed men had seen us escape and would follow us.

We came across a rope ladder in the cliff side. Figuring we were far enough away, we should find out where this leads and try to send help back to the people held hostage in the hotel.

We helped each other up the flimsy rope ladder, slowly, steadily, and anxiously.

At the top, we saw a vast courtyard and a white temple in the distance. It looked inviting.

As we approached, there was a helicopter at the entrance to the temple grounds. The pilot was motionless and emotionless, like a mannequin. He said we could enter if we wanted, but that once we did, we couldn’t leave. I asked him about helping the others left behind in the hotel. He said, “They are learning to bleed.”

The temple was busy with people walking around, chatting, smiling and eating ice cream. Everyone looked extremely happy, perhaps too happy. This must be what it’s like to be in heaven.

“Would you like some ice cream?”

Something didn’t sit right with me. If heaven and hell are two extremes in duality, then how is either the correct place to be?

I knew we shouldn’t stay there. It was tempting but I knew if we stayed too long, we would be stuck there. We had to find the way back to the middle world, where it was not like hell and not like heaven.

We started looking for an invisible door back to our middle world where we belonged. I don’t know how we knew what to look for but I knew we would know it when we saw it.

We had to hurry. There wasn’t much time.

Then I woke up.

Dharma Dreams: Getting the Hell Out of Hell

The dream:

I felt excruciating pain then I was dead.

I was in a large flooded room with extremely high ceilings like the lobby of a fancy of modern bank building. People were lined up filing through a doorway into hell. Of course, everyone looked miserable and the mood was a bit bleak, much like standing in line for a bank teller.

As I approached the door, a man waiting at the door told me I didn’t have to be here. He said I could leave anytime I wanted. I asked him how. He pointed at the large doors on the other side of the room where we had just entered. He said I could just go through them. I felt slow and sluggish as I turned toward them. They closed. I felt discouraged and doomed.

“It’s too late,” I said.

“No, it’s not,” he replied.

“The doors have closed.”

“Just push them open.”

I wanted to believe him, but was it that easy? Wasn't my fate sealed? Was it a trick? Could I really leave? Should I really leave? Didn't I have an obligation to follow the others?

Then I woke up.