Is life a big dream or is lost in thought the dream?

[max123]

Is it that life is like a big dream or is it lost in thought that is the dream,and if u wake up out of that of thinking lost in past and future u are awake or awakened(out of the dream into reality)?

[invisiblediamond]

It's that everything is a big dream.

[max123]

It's that everything is a big dream.

So when one awakens in this life how are they still dreaming,they are awakened(not sleeping)

[invisiblediamond]

It's that everything is a big dream.

So when one awakens in this life how are they still dreaming,they are awakened(not sleeping)

You fully awaken to the nature of dreaming and step by step put an end to it. Or continue in it to help sentient beings with the method and wisdom not to suffer in the interim.

[flowerbudh]

Life is the dream. That's not to say it does not exist, but it is not as it appears to be. Once you are aware of the true nature of things, you awaken from your conditioned slumber and can begin the practice.

It is important to acknowledge and understand the three marks of existence:
1. Anicca (impermanence)
2. Dukkha (dissatisfaction)
3. Anatta (non-self)

as well as the Four Noble Truths, to begin with:
1. Life contains dukkha
2. Dukkha is caused by clinging to things [for explanation of "things" see: skhanda] which are inherently impermanent, which suggests ignorance of their true nature
3. There is a way to end dukkha
4. The way to end dukkha is to live the Eightfold Path

[invisiblediamond]

Yes. That's nice. Those are the outlines. But what does it mean, wisdom? You don't see anyone answering that with a straight answer, why? Because everything is a dream. Seeing that is wisdom. So simple. Is t't? They say what is change is samsara and what is un changing is nirvana. Because you want nirvana. In the changing is the nirvana. Though it shifts, it is timeless and still. This is precisely a dream. Which dream you prefer? And so it turns. The secret is to be at peace and calm in all actions of body, speech and mind and amid all phenomena.

[philji]

Nice words invisible.....but why utter them in a dream?

[invisiblediamond]

Nice words invisible.....but why utter them in a dream?

What dream you like?

[manas]

Life is the dream. That's not to say it does not exist, but it is not as it appears to be. Once you are aware of the true nature of things, you awaken from your conditioned slumber and can begin the practice.

It is important to acknowledge and understand the three marks of existence:
1. Anicca (impermanence)
2. Dukkha (dissatisfaction)
3. Anatta (non-self)

as well as the Four Noble Truths, to begin with:
1. Life contains dukkha
2. Dukkha is caused by clinging to things [for explanation of "things" see: skhanda] which are inherently impermanent, which suggests ignorance of their true nature
3. There is a way to end dukkha
4. The way to end dukkha is to live the Eightfold Path

Hello,

this is a really good point. Whether life is a dream, or whether it is inherently real, either way dukkha is real, in the sense that, things happen that we don't want (such as sickness, ageing and death) and we are forced to experience these. Whether you lose a loved one in a dream, or in reality, you still experience grief. So yes, the 4NT are what we need to focus on, not on whether the world ontologically 'exists' in reality, or not.

[invisiblediamond]

That's the Hinayana approach.

[manas]

That's the Hinayana approach.

And using pejorative terms such as 'Hinayana' isn't a very mindful approach, when it comes to right speech. Please consider that some of us here are from the other forum...I for one, don't regard Theravada as superior to Mahayana, or vice versa; what I think really matters, is the abandonment of hatred, greed and delusion in the mind and heart - and that can be accomplished in either school of Buddhism...it depends more on the practitioner, than on the particular scriptures they study.

kind regards
manas

[lobster]

Is it that life is like a big dream or is it lost in thought that is the dream,and if u wake up out of that of thinking lost in past and future u are awake or awakened(out of the dream into reality)?

Most of us are dreaming we are awake. In other words, dreaming in a dream. So the path allows us to examine the arising dreams. Which in time wither and die. As we become closer to 'just dreaming', we become aware of the stillness/emptiness. We are still dreaming but you might say it is a lucid dream. So if we now are dreaming in the here and now what is that like? What in it is real?
Part of the dream is the sense of a conscious continuous dreamer. No such entrancing creation exists. Part of 'us' is non created, non arising, not sleeping. It is awake. Deep down the sleeper is awake to the dreams we all know . . .