Stories about dreams
7 Buddhist wisdom stories about dreams from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Drawn out of catatonia by kindness (a dream)Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a young monk Ajahn Brahm dreams vividly of being tortured and retreating into a deep catatonic place for years, until a carer's kind words make him trust the world again and…
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I remember as a young monk, I had this dream once. The very powerful dream, which I remember it so well. And I remember just dreaming that I was being tortured. Don't know whether it is a past life, but it was very vivid, being tortured by people stabbing me and it hurts so much. And I went to a deep place inside myself, just to escape the pain. It's the only place I could find and it's a quite strange dream because I dreamt I was catatonic for years. Alive, but not being able to respond like in a coma. And what took me out was just these beautiful kind words, from a carer in some institution somewhere who was so kind that I trusted the world again, and allowed myself to be drawn out back into life. It's a weird dream. But what it actually showed me was the way that we hide because of the great pain of life, sometimes it gets so painful either physically or emotionally, we literally cannot take any more. We go into some sort of hiding place. Now for me, and that dream was just in a deep, deep catatonia where I would not respond to anything in the world. Or it could be just with the other protective mechanisms of unwilling to show any empathy and being violent, used to protect yourself. And the only way out was incredible kindness, which you know to me, and also in Buddhist ideas, is the power which nothing can resist. Incredible kindness, just drawing you out, from a place, a hiding place built by fear, coming out into the world, again, being alive again. It's only a dream but it was very meaningful for me.
- Five Angels in the fifth raceJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A Perth man dreams that five angels each give him five pots of gold. At breakfast his wife has made five pieces of toast and five boiled eggs; it's the 5th of May; Ascot has five…
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the fifth of May reminded me of one of those amazing stories about this gentleman here in Perth quite many years ago now. And this is the last question here. So I don't mind just going off with a Oh no, there's another one afterwards. Anyway, I've already started the story. that he had a dream in the middle of the night. Actually, not the middle of the night, it was early in the morning here in Perth. And his dream is he dreamt of these five angels, these five like davas angels. And they each had five big pots of gold. And they queued up and they gave him 25 pots of gold. That was his dream. And then as soon as he received his last pot of gold, he woke up. He looked around the bedroom. It was morning time. He couldn't see any angels in his bedroom. But worse, he didn't mind not seeing angels, but he really missed the pots of gold. And so, just a dream. When he went down to breakfast, he found that morning his wife had made him five pieces of toast and five boiled eggs, which was weird. What's with the number five? He looked at the newspaper. 5th of May and just you know wondering what was going on he decided to look at the horse racing pages here in Perth there is a horse racing course it's named after a big one in in England called Ascot A S C O T five letters. So he looked at the fifth race that afternoon and he looked down the fifth horse in the fifth race. He just couldn't believe his his eyes. The horse was called Five Angels. The horse five angels was running on the 5th of May in Ascot and he just dreamt of five angels giving him this huge fortune in gold. If you do have these experiences, you only have them once in your life. So he decided to to take the afternoon off work. He went to the bank to keep the lucky number five. $5,000 out of the bank. A lot of money. $5,000. He went to the racetrack. He chose the fifth book maker in line. He said $5,000 to win horse number five. Race number five, five angels. He knew the lucky number five couldn't go wrong. And the lucky number five didn't go wrong. His horse came in fifth.
- The dreams that were right — until they weren'tStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A fellow monk told Ajahn Brahm he had twice dreamed truly: a recurring dream of his sister drowning that let him save her at 16 or 17, and a New Zealand drug-bust dream he…
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he'd always have this recurring dream he told me that his younger sister would fall into the swimming pool drown and die and he said one day he was just as a young 16 or 17 year old he was just sitting around the pool just doing nothing and then the dream which he had uh seen so often started to unfold it was exactly as he dreamed but because he remembered the dream and knew what was going to happen next he actually intervened and saved his sister's life he said it was weird but if he hadn't had that dream his sister would be dead and that gave him such confidence in dreams especially in those Vivid types of dreams that he believed in them except for once when he said he was maybe about 2122 and he was in New Zealand remember this was 30 40 years ago uh shows how old I am but this was a time when young people were really into smoking marijuana and he was in a house over in New Zealand with a few other young people you know sort of taking those recreational drugs and he had a dream he said many times that the New Zealand police came into the house and arrested everybody and he said he was kicking himself because he never took preventative action and it happened and he got deported and so he had two dreams he said which actually turned out to be true and he said the third dream which he had and this was the one he kept on telling me this was in 1974 when I became a monk and it was just the towards the end of the Vietnam War and the Viet Kon had taken over Vietnam patet La had taken over LA and the Karu had taken over Cambodia and our monasteries were very very close know to the border between Cambodia and L right in that sort of West northwest corner of Thailand and I remember looking at a map once and the distance from my Monastery in Thailand to Bangkok was twice as distance as it was to Hanoi we're much closer to Hanoi let alone the other sort of communist places and there was an evacuation plan which we had to register for our embassies because most western diplomats at the time subscribed to what was called the Domino Theory they thought once Vietnam LA and Cambodia fell tider would be next especially the Northeast where we were very close and so he thought he had this dream of the Communist soldiers invading that part of Thailand him running away across a pfield and got him shot in the back of the head he was so convinced of that dream he said that's how I'm going to die I know I'm going to die the Communists are going to invade and I'm going to be caught and killed cuz two out of two times he got it right that never ever happened you know he disrobed fell in love got married and one year after he got married he got killed in a head- on car crash in California so it never worked out
- The nightmare was that I was a laymanStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: In his first nights as a novice the nightmare that wakes him is that he is a layman again. Seeing his folded brown robes beside the mat, he sighs with joy, sleeps deeply — and…
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when I first became a monk, how long ago, 37 years ago, I had nightmares. This is true. I'd wake up in a sweat, in my nightmare, this is no exaggeration, this is how much I really, really wanted to be a monk. My nightmare was I was a lay person. I thought I wasn't a monk after all. And I'd open my eyes and I'd see my robes next to the bed. Ah, I'm a monk! I really am a monk! [laughter] And I'd just go to sleep in this very peaceful deep sleep. And that was about for a week. That's how much I really loved being a monk and I never looked back. So that was my nightmare. I was terrified that I wasn't a monk
- The Singapore spirits helped the Ang MoStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: An English ex-army dental technician with a Singaporean wife visits the in-laws, gets bored, and is taken to the races. They clean a messy temple for luck first; that night he…
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he was an English man he was in the British army he was just not fighter he was like a dental technician or something so you know pretty sort of easy job but he was posted off to Singapore when the British was still in Singapore and there met this nice girl and married her so he had a Singapore wife and they they moved down to Liv in Perth where they've been living for many years and he told me that once when he was visiting Singapore know with his wife's family and his wife was chatting nagnag nagnag and he got really bored you know talking about all this stuff you know what it's like know meeting you know your other partners uh your partner's family so well they were all sort of U walking and shouting and eating he was getting very bored and his brothers-in-law saw that and said look we're going to the racetrack this afternoon we'd like to come along and he never likes gambling or going to the RAC trck but there was much better than facing his wife's family so he said okay I'll go so they took him to the racetrack but this is Singapore no Chinese no Chinese Buddhists before you go to the RAC track you have to visit the lucky Temple so they went to a lucky Temple you know in the back streets of Singapore somewhere and as soon as I walked in it was a mess you know it was just ash everywhere papers and stuff so and this is an important part of this um process if you're going to be lucky you got to do some good karma first of all please remember that so if ever you go to the racetrack or the casino come to D Loa Center and do some sweeping or some weeding first of all otherwise you got no chance so he he went to the temple and they saw it a mess so they spent about half an hour or an hour cleaning the place up and once they clean the place up then you know know what those we call them jtic Buddhists you know in our tradition getting a few justics and no one actually knows why they do this they just do that cuz their grandmother did it and I don't know what it is it doesn't make any difference how much you shake these things but anyway they did the shake of the joysticks and they put it in the um in the uh the whatever it is the jostick holder and then they went over cuz we don't do this sort of stuff in the forest tradition is very simple and very rational we don't have all this Superstition stuff but nevertheless I know that um you know I don't know why this is where this came from and all these Lottery outlets in Perth you have these big fat Buddhas and you're supposed to rub tummy for luck don't what you do that for and sometimes I'm getting a bit fat now and sometimes people come up and they want to rub my belly no way anyway actually I did open a lot ofy store I'm just really going off the C because sometimes as a monk people friends say you know they're opening up a new business or going into a new house and sometimes it's part of the tradition you know come and invite a monk to actually um to bless a place so some time ago they said my friend that they're opening up a new shop in some shopping center better not tell you which one it is and so said okay yeah they never told me it was a lottery shop and we not supposed to get involved in these sorts of things as much you know we're supposed to tell people not to gamble and it's the Buddha actually said gambling is like um is an addiction it's the wrong thing to do but nevertheless I got caught that way and I was there just I should have asked what shop I was going to uh be blessing when one day people ask me to bless a pub or sometimes even worse if I don't ask but anyway I went into the place it was too late now so I did a bit a blessing but actually they a few weeks later they got a jackpot there so these blessings are really good but anyhow where was I oh was back in this Singapore Singapore so they cleaned up the temple and they did lots of good car and they went to the racetrack it's amazing you know the result they all lost but never this I had a bit of fun but that night that night this English man no a Singapore girl he had a dream and again one of these very clear dreams which you remember and so he woke up and the dream guess what it was he dreamt of a of a horse race you know seeing it his dream and he dreamt the horse which won the name of that horse this is true story he remembered that name when he woke up and just for interest look in the morning paper the straight times in the horse racing it was running that day exactly that name so the first thing he did you know being fair he rang up all his brothers-in-law and said hey that Temple which we blessed or we cleaned up the other day there must be some sort of heavenly being or some Spirit guarding the place cuz they told me the name of the the horse which is going to win today and it's in look this is the name it's in the Strait's times they're racing today let's all go to the race track we get our money back which we lost yesterday and make a bit more sounds reasonable but his brothers-in-law said listen so you're what we call an Ang Mo people are laughing here no that means like red that means like a Westerner like a foreigner in Singapore he said that was a Singapore Temple any Spirit there they would not tell one of you guys certainly not an English guy they would tell us we don't had any dreams so you just you you you're just imagining it they said so because they thought that a Singaporean like a Chinese Spirit would never never tell an English person they never went to the track he went alone and that horse won and he put a lot of money on it cuz he was convinced he Dre it and that horse ran and he made a lot of money what he lost yesterday was insignificant to what he what he won and the worst thing was that when he went home and he told his brothers hey that horse I told you about it won that day made a lot of money oh his brothers-in-law they were ropable they were so upset and angry
- The talk he couldn't rememberStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Years after Ajahn Chah's stroke left him unable to speak, Ajahn Brahm dreams — lucidly — that Ajahn Chah gives him a brilliant Dhamma talk. Knowing how rare and precious it is,…
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I remember a few Years later, Ajanchcha was still alive, but he couldn't travel, couldn't speak. I remember having this dream early in the morning of Ajancha coming in my dream and giving me this dharma talk. It was brilliant. And I remember at the time I had enough awareness. It was in a dream, but I was like a lucid dream. And I heard him giving this amazing dharma talk. And I remember at the time I said, "He's got a stroke. You know, this is so rare. It's just so precious. I must remember it. I was trying so hard to remember everything he said and when I woke up as the talk ended, you just woke up and then I couldn't remember a thing. That was so disappointing. That would have been amazing just almost like getting a sort of mind-to- mind dam talk from Ajancha when he was had a stroke and couldn't speak. He was alive but just not communicate communicating. I couldn't remember a thing. That was just one of the most disappointing mornings of my life.
- The tsunami ghost who gave a phone numberStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Three days after the 2004 tsunami, a Thai woman in Krabi dreams of a battered English girl from Phi Phi who names the Bangkok temple where soldiers have just laid her body, asks…
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True Story 3 days after the tsunami hit Thailand there was a Thai girl who lived in the town of gby had a dream in the middle of the night and the dream was of this English girl coming up to her but this English girl her hair blonde hair was all tangled and tousled and her face she must have been quite a young girl 19 20 or whatever was all bruised and gashed and her body was all broken with huge gases and blood in it IM made see that this bloody bruised corpse coming to in your dream but because it's in a dream you know you're too sleepy for actually to be too afraid and the ghost kept saying help me help me help me and the ghost said I was on peee Island when the wave hit I'm dead and at this moment she said Tai soldiers are lifting up my body and they're placing me in a temple a Buddhist temple in Bangkok and she said the name of that Temple and my mother who lives in London is desperately trying to call me on my mobile phone but my phone is at the bottom of the ocean please help me can you do two things for me said the ghost first I want a Buddhist funeral I'm not a Buddhist but I want a Buddhist clation can you arrange that for me this is my name this is the temple where my body is right now and number two can you please ask my mother not to come until the cation is over I don't want her to see me like this please can you do this for me and here is my mother's telephone number and she gave this long list of digits after which this TIG girl woke up middle of the night she was married to an English man maybe that's why this Ghost came to see her so she woke up her husband and told her the dream which she had perfect recall of and the husband was surprised because the telephone number was a legitimate London phone number so he said call it she said no call him so they rang the number middle of the night in Thailand late afternoon early evening in London a woman picked up that phone it's true story woman picked up that phone after a short conversation it was the mother of a girl who was missing on people Island it was that ghost mother the name description was perfect so the mother was thankful at least now she knew for sure what she expected deep in her Hearts if you are a mother sometimes you can feel whether your child is alive or dead when they go missing so she gave permission for them to do the funeral service and to let her know when it was completed so she could come and collect her daughter's ashes the next morning they went to puket found the temple found the body got permission through the ceremony and cremated the corpse it said that to the body looked exactly as it did in the dream and having done the creation the mother from London came on an aircraft from Heath Road they met at puket airport handed over the ashes cried and then the mother went home and the tig girl went home with her husband to graby and a couple of nights later they had another dream and in this dream the girl came to the this English girl came to this tire girl again in a dream but this time her hair was Immaculate as if she'd been to Elizabeth ardens or something I don't know are they still in business Elizabeth ardens been a long time since I went 20 hairdresser I do my own but I the best hairdresser in town just beautiful hair and her face no bruises no Cuts as if she had like makeover and her dress white and shiny Immaculate and she said in a dream look what's happened to me look what you've done for me I'm a Heavenly being an angel thank you so much for arranging that ceremony for me and thank you so much for letting my mother know I've come here one more time to say thank you to you thank you so much to express my gratitude said this angel in the dream here is another set of numbers which she also remembered when she woke up but they never tried to dial those numbers cuz if you all suspect that was not a phone number that was a lottery number which won and they made quite a substantial amount of money and that is a true story the mor of that story is if ever you see a ghost don't run away yet ask it for some numbers first and then run like hell we going to do dream don't get afraid come on let's have some numbers please but remember because you heard that story in DCA Buddhist center 10% of your winnings should should go to the temple