Ru Chun's Auspicious Dream after Seeing the Path

On the evening of January 15, 2026, I dreamed that I was sitting in meditation, and many stone pillars came crashing down from the sky. Unable to resist, I blocked them with my hand, only to discover that they were all made of foam—when they hit my hand, they felt light and weightless. In the dream, I was a bhikṣu.

Comment: Only after one has personally realized that material form is empty, false, and unreal will such a dream arise. Dreams can reveal a person's inner thoughts; the dreams of ordinary people and the dreams of one who has seen the Path are utterly different.

On January 18, 2026, I dreamed that I arrived at a golden, resplendent place with many Buddha statues. One of the statues was of a Buddha with a golden body and a dark blue-green topknot—it left a deep impression on me. I dreamed of it twice.

On January 23, 2026, I felt that in my dream I was engaged in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on suffering, emptiness, and impermanence, and then my left nasal passage seemed to open up, with a long exhalation, like the final release of air from a pressure cooker just before the lid is opened. It felt very real, not like a dream at all.

Comment: Continuing one's practice during sleep makes the circulation of the body's energy channels smoother and unobstructed, and at the same time continues to eliminate karmic obstructions. Before and after seeing the Path, there will all be phenomena of karmic purification to varying degrees, whether awake or dreaming.

On January 22, 2026, some reflections on practice: 1. From the standpoint of ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya), afflictions are empty; from the standpoint of conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya), they exist. All dharmas are empty in nature yet wondrously existent. At the beginning of practice, one has no defensive power against the turbid energies of afflictions, and can only try one's best to withdraw from the world and practice in order to protect oneself. 2. Once one has realized the emptiness of the Small Vehicle, one gains defensive power—walking in the world, one is not swayed by afflictive states, which is like having an armor against poison and the power to withdraw from the world; while benefiting oneself, this also creates the conditions for benefiting others. 3. After realizing the emptiness of the Great Vehicle, one is not only not swayed by circumstances, but also has the wisdom and ability to transform circumstances, to turn around sentient beings' cognition and karma, to help sentient beings attain liberation, to bring blessings to the world, and to purify its turbid energies. 4. The ultimate purpose of realizing emptiness is for the untainted wisdom to be functional and useful—just like rice: only after the husk of afflictions is stripped away, leaving the white grain, is it good to eat and filling.

Understanding the principles is not easy, but what is even harder are the details of one's daily bodily, verbal, and mental actions—in those details, the information of either wisdom or affliction naturally manifests. For example, once I was guiding an elderly person, and as we passed the first floor, a worker had just mopped the floor; it was very wet and very clean. Without thinking much, I lifted my foot and walked right on. Later I noticed that the elderly person had not followed. When I turned around to look, he was earnestly stepping back and forth on a doormat, wiping the soles of his shoes, so as to avoid dirtying the floor. On the floor where I had walked, there remained two lines of black footprints, looking especially jarring, as if proclaiming my foolishness and arrogance. In that instant, I understood why that person was so virtuous and highly respected. Some people's goodness and wisdom seem innate—a single natural gesture of wiping one's shoes is enough to crush years of my effort. I deeply feel ashamed of the word "practice."