 |
To sleep, perchance to dream of a future.
|
One morning, when the ministers and Brahmins went to the palace
to pay their respects to King Pasenadi, who ruled Kosala, and to
inquire whether he had slept well, they found him lying in
terror, unable to move from his bed.
"How could I sleep well?" answered the king. "Just before
daybreak I dreamed 16 incredible dreams, and I have been lying here
terrified ever since! Since you are my advisers, tell me what these
dreams mean."
"What were your dreams, sire?" the Brahmins asked. "Surely we will be able to judge their importance."
As the king was telling them his dreams, the Brahmins looked very worried and began wringing their hands.
"Why are you wringing your hands, Brahmins?" asked the king. "Is it because of my dreams?"
"Yes, sire. These are harmful dreams. They are full of peril."
"What will come of them?" asked the king.
"They portend one of three calamities, sire -- great harm to your kingdom, to your wealth, or to your life."
"Is there any remedy?"
"These dreams are powerful and extremely threatening. Still, we
will find a remedy, otherwise what is the use of our vast study and
learning?"
"How do you propose to avert the harm?" asked the king.
"Wherever four roads meet, we will offer appropriate sacrifices, sire."
"My advisers!" cried the king. "My life is in your hands! Hurry and do your best to save me!"
Each of the exultant Brahmins had the same thought: "We are going
to make a fortune from these dreams. Soon we will feast on the choicest
foods." ...
"I have dreamed such unlucky dreams! The Brahmins [who served rulers as political ministers, chaplains, and spiritual counselors] tell me they point
to disaster. They keep coming here because they are anxious to protect
me from harm by offering [animal and other] sacrifices."
"Has your majesty consulted the 'Chief Brahmin' [ultimate noble] of all the worlds about this?" asked the queen.
"Who do you mean, my dear?" asked the king.
 |
Comet Siding Spring makes a very close approach to the planet Mars (artist's rendering shown here) and is observed by means of surface rovers and satellites (wiki).
|
"Of course, I mean the Buddha. He will surely understand your dreams. Go to Jeta's Grove and ask him."
"A good idea, my queen," replied the king. "I will go at once."
When the king reached the monastic compound, he paid his respects to the Buddha and sat down.
"What brings your majesty here so early in the morning?" asked the Buddha.
"Just before daybreak, venerable sir, I dreamed 16
terrifying dreams. My Brahmins have warned that my dreams foretell
calamity. To avert harm, they are preparing to sacrifice many
animals wherever four roads meet. Queen Mallika suggested that I ask you
to tell me what these dreams really mean and what will come of them."
"It is true, sire, that only I can accurately explain the significance of
your dreams and tell you what will come of them. Tell me your dreams as
they appeared to you."
"I will, Blessed One," answered the king, and began:
The 16 Prophetic Dreams
 |
| The Buddha broken and headless but reparable (MaretH/flickr.com) |
1.
"In the first dream, I saw four jet-black bulls. They came together from the four cardinal directions to the royal
courtyard with every intention to fight.
"A great crowd of people
gathered to see the bullfight. The bulls, however, only made a show of
fighting, pawing and bellowing. Finally, they went off without fighting
at all. This was my first dream. What will come of it?"
"Sire, that dream will have no result in your lifetime or mine.
But in the distant future, when rulers are stingy, when citizens are
unrighteous, when the world is perverted (upside down), and when good is waning and bad waxing, in those days of the world's decline, no rain will fall
from the sky, the monsoons will forget their season, the crops will
wither, and famine will stalk the land. At that time immense clouds will
gather from the four quarters of the sky as if for rain.
"Farmers
will rush to bring in the rice they had spread to dry in the sun. Humans
will take their spades and hurry to repair the dams (dikes). The thunder will
roar, and the lightning will flash from the clouds. However, just as the
bulls in your dream did not fight, these clouds will retreat without
giving rain.
"This is what shall come of this dream. But no harm
shall come to you from this dream because it applies only to the remote
future. The Brahmin priests only said what they said to get some profit [from the many sacrifices] for
themselves. Now tell me your second dream, sire."
2.
"My second dream was about tiny trees and shrubs which burst
through the soil. When they were scarcely more than a few inches high,
they flowered and bore fruit. This was my second dream. What will come
of it?"
"Sire," said the Buddha, "this dream will be realized in future
days when the world has fallen into decay and when human lives are
short. Passions then will be so strong that even very young girls will
cohabitate with men. Despite their immaturity, they will get pregnant
and have children. The flowers and fruit symbolize their babies.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your third dream."
3.
"I saw cows sucking milk from their very own newborn calves. This was my third dream. What can it possibly mean?"
"This dream will come about only when age is no longer respected.
In that future time young people will have no regard for their parents
or parents-in-law. Children will handle the family estate themselves. If
it pleases them, they will give food and clothing to the old folks,
but, if it doesn't suit them, they will withhold their gifts. Thus the
old people, destitute and dependent, will survive only by the favor and
whim of their own children, like big cows suckled by day-old calves.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your fourth dream."
4.
"People unyoked a team of strong, sturdy oxen, and replaced them
with young steers, too weak to draw the load. Those young steers refused
to pull. They stood stock-still, so that the wagons didn't move at all.
This was my fourth dream. What will come of it?"
"Here again the dream will not come to pass until the future, in
the days of wicked rulers. In days to come, unjust and parsimonious rulers will show no honor to wise leaders, skilled in diplomacy. They will not
appoint experienced, learned judges to the courts. On the contrary,
they will honor the very young and foolish, and will appoint the most
inexperienced and unprincipled to the courts. Naturally, these
appointees, because of their ignorance of statecraft and the law, will
not be able to bear the burden of their responsibilities.
"Because of
their incompetence they will have to throw off the yoke of public
office. When that happens, the aged and wise ones will remember being
passed over and, even though they are able to cope with all
difficulties, they will refuse to help, saying: 'It is no business of
ours since we have become outsiders.' They will remain aloof, and the
government will fall to ruins. It is just like when the young steers,
not strong enough for the burden, were yoked instead of the team of
sturdy oxen. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
fifth dream."
5.
"I saw an incredible horse with a mouth on each side of its head
being fed fodder on both sides. That dreadful horse ate voraciously with
both its mouths. This was my fifth dream. What will come of it?"
"This dream will also come true only in the future, in the days
of unrighteous and irresponsible rulers, who will appoint covetous people to
be judges. These despicable magistrates, blind to virtue and honesty,
will take bribes from both sides as they sit in the seat of judgment.
They will be doubly corrupt, just like the horse that ate fodder with
two mouths at once. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me
your sixth dream."
6.
"I saw people holding out a brightly burnished golden bowl which
must have been worth a fortune. They were actually begging an old jackal
to urinate in it. Then I saw the repulsive beast do just that. This was
my sixth dream. What can it mean?"
"This dream too will come to be only in the remote future, when
immoral rulers, although from a royal line themselves, will mistrust the
offspring of their old nobility, preferring instead the lowest-born of the
country. Because of the rulers' blindness, nobles will decline, and the
low-born will rise in rank. Naturally, the great families will give
their daughters to them in marriage. The union of the noble maidens with
the ignoble, nouveau-riche will be like the urinating of the old jackal
into the golden bowl. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell
me your seventh dream."
7.
"I saw a man braiding rope. As he worked, he dropped the finished
rope at his feet. Under his bench, unknown to him, lay a hungry and pregnant jackal
female (bitch), which kept eating the rope as fast as he braided it. This was my
seventh dream. What shall come of it?"
"This dream also will happen only in far off days. At that time
women will crave men, strong drink, extravagant clothes, jewelry, and
entertainment. In their profligacy these women will get drunk with their
lovers and carry on shamelessly. They will neglect their homes and
families. They will pawn household valuables, selling everything for
drink and amusements, even the seed needed for the next crop. Just as
the hungry jackal under the bench ate the rope of the rope-maker, so
these women will squander the savings earned by their husbands' labor.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your eighth dream."
(DW) C2C guest (10-21-14) Dream Coach explains the meaning of our nightly dreams KellySullivanWalden.com).
8.
"At a palace gate there stood a big pitcher full to the brim.
Around it stood many empty pitchers. From all directions there came a
steady stream of people carrying pots of water which they poured into
the already full pitcher. The water from that full pitcher kept
overflowing and wastefully soaking into the sand. Still the people came
and poured more and more water into the overflowing vessel. Not a single
person even glanced at the empty pitchers. This was my eighth dream.
What shall come of it?"
"This dream too will not come to pass until the future when the
world is in decline. The country will grow weak, and its rulers will be
poorer and more demanding. They in their poverty and selfishness
will make the whole country work exclusively for them. They will force
citizens to neglect their own work and to labor only for the throne.
"For
the rulers' sake they will plant sugar cane, make sugar-mills, and boil
down molasses. For the rulers' sake they will plant flower gardens and
orchards and gather fruits. They will harvest all the crops and fill the
royal storerooms and warehouses to overflowing, but they will be unable
even to glance at their own empty barns [storerooms, sheds] at home. It will be like
filling and overfilling the full pitcher, heedless of the needy, empty
ones. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your ninth
dream."
9.
"I saw a deep pool with sloping banks overgrown with lotuses.
From all directions, a wide variety of animals came to drink water from
that pool. Strangely, the deep water in the middle was terribly muddy,
but the water at the edges, where all those thirsty creatures had
descended into the pool, was unaccountably clear and sparkling. This was
my ninth dream. What does it mean?"
"This dream too will not come to pass until the future, when rulers grow increasingly corrupt. Ruling according to their own whim and
pleasure, they will never make judgments according to what is right.
Being greedy, they will grow fat on lucrative bribes. Never showing
mercy or compassion to their subjects, they will be fierce and cruel.
"These rulers will amass wealth by crushing their subjects like stalks of
sugar cane in a mill and by taxing them to the last penny.
"Unable to pay
the oppressive taxes, the citizens will abandon their villages, towns,
and cities, and will flee like refugees to the borders. The heart of the
country will be a wilderness, while the remote areas along the borders
will teem with people. The country will be just like the pool, muddy in
the middle and clear at the edges. However, you have nothing to fear
from this. Tell me your tenth dream."
10.
"I saw rice boiling in a pot without getting done. By 'not
getting done' I mean that it looked as though the cooking was going on
in three distinct stages which were sharply delineated and separate from
each other. One part of the rice was sodden, another part was hard and
raw, and the third part looked like it was perfectly cooked. This was my
tenth dream. What will come of it?"
"This dream too will not be fulfilled until the future. In days
to come rulers will become unrighteous; the nobles [administrators] will follow the ruler's
example, and so will the Brahmins. The townsfolk, the merchants, and at
last even the farmers will be corrupted. Eventually, everyone in the
country, the sages and even the gods (devas) of the land, will become immoral.
Even the winds that blow over the realm of such an unrighteous ruler will
grow cruel and lawless.
"Because even the skies and the spirits of the
skies over that land will be disturbed, they will cause a drought. Rain
will never fall on the whole country at once. It may rain in the upper
districts, but in the lower it will not. In one place a heavy downpour
will damage the crops, while in another area the crops will wither from
drought. The crops sown within a single country -- like the rice in the
one pot -- shall have no uniform character. However, you have nothing to
fear from this. Tell me your eleventh dream."
11.
"I saw rancid buttermilk being bartered for precious sandalwood
worth a fortune in gold. This was my eleventh dream. What shall come of
it?"
"This will happen only in the distant future, when my teaching is
waning. In those days, there will be many greedy, shameless monastics (bhikkhu/unis),
who for the sake of their bellies dare to preach the very words in which
I have warned against greed!
"Because they desert the Truth to gratify
their stomachs, and because they sided with sectarians [a name for non-Buddhist dharmas, listed as contemporary schools of thought in India -- Brahmanism and the other shramanic traditions like Jainism], their preaching
will not lead to nirvana.
"Their only thought as they preach will be to
use fine words and sweet voices to induce lay believers to give them
costly robes, delicate food, and every comfort. Others will seat
themselves beside the highways, at busy street corners, or at the doors
of rulers' palaces, where they will stoop to preach for money, even for a
pittance!
"Thus these monastics will barter away for food, for robes, or for
coins, my teaching [the historical Buddha-Dharma, which led to enlightenment and nirvana, i.e., awakening and final liberation] which leads to liberation from all suffering!
"They will
be like those who exchanged precious sandalwood worth a fortune in pure
gold for rancid buttermilk. However, you have nothing to fear from this.
Tell me your twelfth dream."
12.
"I saw dried gourds sinking in the water. What shall come of it?"
"This dream also will not have its fulfillment until the future,
in the days of unjust rulers, when the world is perverted. In those days rulers will favor the low-born, not the nobility. The low-born
will become great lords, while the nobles will sink into poverty. In the ruler's court and in the courts of justice, the words of the low-born
alone will be recognized, so that they, like the dried gourds, will be
firmly established. In the assemblies of monastics it will be the same.
"Whenever there are enquiries about proper behavior, rules of conduct, or
discipline, only the counsel of wicked, corrupt monastics will be
considered. The advice of modest [polite, humble] monastics will be ignored. It will be as
when the empty pumpkins sank. However, you have nothing to fear from
this. Tell me your thirteenth dream."
13.
Then the king said, "I saw huge blocks of solid rock, as big as
houses, floating like dried gourds upon the waters. What shall come of
it?"
"This dream also will not come to pass until those times of which
I have spoken. At that time unrighteous rulers will show honor to the
low-born, who will become great lords, while the true nobles will fade
into obscurity. The nobles will receive no respect, while the ignorant
upstarts will be granted all honors.
"In the ruler's court and in the law
courts, the words of the nobles [administrators, professionals], learned in the law, will drift idly by
like those solid rocks. They will not penetrate deep into the hearts of people.
"When the wise speak, the ignorant will merely laugh at them with scorn saying, 'What is it these fellows are saying?' In the assemblies of monastics
as well, people will not respect the excellent monastics. Their words will
not sink deep, but will drift idly by, the same as the rocks floating on
the water. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
fourteenth dream."
14.
"I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than miniature flowerets, swiftly
pursuing huge black snakes and devouring them. What can this mean?"
"This dream too will not have its fulfillment until those future
days of which I have already spoken, when the world is declining. At
that time people's passions will be so strong that husbands will be
thoroughly infatuated with their childish wives. Men will lose all
judgment and self-respect. Being completely smitten, they will place
their infantile wives in charge of everything -- servants, livestock,
granaries, gold and silver, everything in the house.
"Should the
over-fond husband presume to ask for some money, or for a favorite robe,
he will be told to mind his own business and not to be so inquisitive
about property in her house. These abusive young wives will
exercise their power over their husbands as if the men were slaves. It
will be like the tiny frogs that gobbled up the big black snakes.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your fifteenth
dream."
15.
"I saw a village crow, a vile creature with all the ten vices [Note 1], attended by an entourage of Mandarin ducks, beautiful birds with feathers of golden sheen. What shall come of it?"
- 1. The crow is destructive, reckless, greedy, gluttonous, rough, merciless, weak, noisy, forgetful, and wasteful.
"This dream too will not come to pass until the far distant
future, in the reign of weakling rulers. Then there will be rulers who
know nothing about ruling. They will be cowards and fools. Fearing
revolt and revolution, they will elevate their servants (footmen), bath-attendants,
and barbers to nobility [administrative positions].
"These rulers will ignore the real nobility. Cut
off from royal favor and unable to support themselves, authentic nobles
will be reduced to dancing attendance on the upstarts, as when the crow
had regal Mandarin ducks for a retinue. However, you have nothing to
fear from this. Tell me your sixteenth dream."
16.
"I saw goats chasing wolves and eating them. At the sight of
goats in the distance, the wolves fled terror-stricken, quaking with
fear to hide in thickets. Such was my dream. What will come of it?"
"This dream too will not have its fulfillment until the reign of
immoral rulers. The low-born will be raised to important posts and will
become royal favorites. True nobles will sink into obscurity and
distress. Gaining power in the law courts because of the ruler's favors,
the
parvenu will claim the ancestral estates of the impoverished old
nobility, demanding their titles and all their property.
"When the real
nobles plead their rights in court, the ruler's minions will have them
beaten and tortured, then taken by the throat and thrown out with words
of scorn. 'That will teach you to know your place, fools!' they will
shout. 'How dare you dispute with us? The ruler shall hear of your
insolence, and we will have your hands and feet chopped off!' At this,
the terrified nobles will agree that black is white and that their own
estates belong to the lowly upstarts.
The Noble Ones
 |
| Jhana meditation (PeterFroehlich/flickr) |
"They will then hurry home and
cower in an agony of fear. Likewise, at that time, corrupted monastics will
harass good, worthy monastics until the worthy ones flee from the
monasteries to the jungle. This oppression of
true nobles [arya, those who have undergone a change of lineage from ordinary worldlings to "nobles" in the ultimate sense of the term, which is to have achieved one or more of the stages of enlightenment beginning with stream entry] by the
low-born and of good monastics by the
corrupted monastics will be like the
intimidation of wolves by goats. However, you have nothing to fear from
this. This dream refers to the future only."
When he had thus reassured the king, the Buddha added: "It was
neither truth nor love for you that prompted the Brahmins to prophesy as
they did. It was pure greed and selfishness that led them to prescribe
sacrifices."
Thus, the Buddha explained the meaning of the 16 dreams. Then
he said, "Nor are you the first to have had these dreams. They were
dreamed by kings of bygone days as well. Then, as now, Brahmins found in
them a pretext for sacrifices."
At the king's request, the Buddha told this story of the past.
Story of the Past
Long, long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Varanasi [when a hybrid or extraterrestrial, like a pharoah, was reigning from the ancient holy city of Benares],
the Bodhisatta [Buddha-to-be] was born into a Brahmin family in the North country [northern India or northern Central Asia]. When
he grew up, he renounced the world and became a hermit. Having attained
a high level of meditation [mastery of the jhanas], he acquired supernatural powers (abhinna).
One day, King Brahmadatta dreamed 16 mysterious dreams
and asked his advisers about them. The Brahmins explained that the
dreams foretold harm and began preparing great sacrifices. Seeing this,
one of the pupils of the chief Brahmin, a young man of considerable
learning and wisdom, approached his teacher and said:
"Master, you have
taught me the Three Vedas. Don't the texts say that it is never a good
thing to take life?"
More
The End is Near! How to Survive
 |
| Retired Army remote viewer Major Edward Dames: get ready for solar disaster (facebook) |
"Surviving the Killshot" - C2C (10-22-14) guest Major Ed Dames, U.S. Army remote viewer, reveals that life as we know it will soon come to an end due to a series of solar flares, as happened 11,500 years ago, combined with Fukushima fallout. Professional dream interpreter Kelly Sullivan Walden reveals meanings of our dreams:
More
LIVE: Post apocalyptic Sanctuaries Event - FILLING FAST
There are still seats left for the first ever LIVE national Killshot
tour with FREE Surviving the Killshot DVD and survival zones booklet!
Space is limited and all seats WILL sell out. Check ticket availability
right now!
[B]eyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap [no karma or no work?]; and God
feedeth
you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the
mountains
and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make
your nests;
and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you
and your
children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He
hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters,
beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto
God.
