seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

world who could comfort and reassure you, was right there watching over you as you slept!
No matter what trouble you faced, your Dad was still standing beside you. Of course you felt
better! Who wouldn't? A true spiritual experience produces euphoria! For months
afterwards you can feel that surging happiness. Financial problems don't seem important
when you're in a state of Grace. What a wonderful thing for God to do for you! Now,"
demanded the priest, "tell me what you expected when you prayed for help? Did you think
God would write you a check and leave it on the kitchen table?"
All visions are important and deserve consideration. It will not do to make a celebrity
of one man because he sees the Virgin Mary standing by the freeway and to make a pariah of
another man because he hears the devil talking to him on a short-wave radio. Yes, as in this
exchange between the man and the priest, we are usually correct when we interpret a pleasant
vision as therapeutic, a signal of strife's resolution; and we are usually correct when we
regard an unpleasant vision as describing defeat or disintegration, a signal of worsening
emotional turmoil. The problem is that usually the person who has had a frightening vision
has had other less-troublesome visions before, or has at least exhibited other signs of distress
which we chose to ignore. The ante gets `upped'. Signals of distress become more and more
outrageous until somebody finally pays attention to them. When the devil starts making
speeches on the short-wave we grab his audience, institute drug and shock therapy and
attempt to communicate with a psyche that by then is in ruins. Sometimes when a problem is
small a little kind attention is all that is required to solve it. (Can we not do this much for
each other?)
Dreams serve a variety of needs. They regulate a person's psychic balance, alert him
to the dangers of a course he has undertaken, or even to prompt him to explore new solutions
to a difficult problem.
In compensatory, balance-restoring dreams, a person who has been humiliated by
someone he admires may dream that he is praised or befriended by one of his heroes...
perhaps a movie star or athlete; and the dream will help to restore his self-esteem. Likewise,
if on some occasion a person has been overly smug about himself, he may dream that one of
his heroes snubs him; and the dream will have a disquieting, sobering effect. Thus,
compensatory dreams serve to moderate the extremes of our ego's pride or debasement.
In premonition dreams, a person may be encouraged to proceed with a certain course
of action or to be warned against it. The dream may caution him about someone or,
conversely, may suggest that someone be seen in a more favorable light. The dreamer will be
influenced. If he acts in accordance with the dream, he feels reassured. If he acts against the
dream's advice, he feels anxious.
Additionally, a person who is struggling with a problem, intellectual or emotional,
may find a clue to its solution neatly delivered in a dream.
CHAPTER 10 FIRST ZEN PRACTICE: THE 1:4:2 HEALING BREATH
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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