Our Life is Like a Dream - 蘇曼迦舉佛學中心

According to Buddhist beliefs, our life is like a dream. When we are dreaming, we experience the dream as real and within the dream, we can be happy and we can also suffer. However, from the moment that we wake up, there is no way that we can prove to others the things and experiences of our dreams, which seemed so real. Actually, we are the only ones who experienced the dream.

The experience of our lives is similar. No one has come from the past or future to tell us what things are like, and even if they did, how can they really show us what happened in the past or what will happen in the future. Here, the main difference between dreams and waking is duration.

At the time our consciousness leaves our body, just like waking from a dream, there is nothing we can take with us. So, in this life, we should not put too much burden on ourselves and have too many worries. What is important at the time of death is not what we accumulated, but what we have done. Since, although can take our possessions with us, the mind does carry with it the energy of our actions and these will manifest in different forms after our consciousness has left our body.

This perspective should also lead us to not judge others based on appearances. For example, the appearances of animals are the results of their past actions and so they may look friendly or frightening, but actually inside have a different experience. So, I believe, it is wisest to reserve our judgments and comments about others, after all we already have enough burdens and worries to take care of.