The Dream Poem

Life is a dream
Everything is like a dream
What can be experienced is but a dream
Dream is even more so a dream

Closing our eyes is a dream
Opening our eyes is also a dream
Although dreams can be long or brief
They are dreams no less

Creating various karma in dream
Will similarly experience karmic outcomes in the dream
For the enjoyment of a moment
Leads to suffering of immeasurable eons

We are all the same in the dream
No distinction in wisdom or status
The mind rises and dream arises
The mind ceases and dream ceases

Recognizing dream as dream
The realization awakens us from the dream
Both the dreamer and dream cease
The clear mind is not a dream


The above poem was found engraved on the wall of the Zhulin Monastery in Mount Wutai. It was written by Master Danxu when he was about 82 years old.

It states that life is all a dream and all of us live in the dream thinking it is the real reality.

As life is a dream, you can change how the dream unfolds. Therefore, no circumstances is unchangeable if you have the strong desire and intention to change for the better.

Only the truly wise person, who has cultivated and understand the mysteries of life, will become enlightened and awake to see the truth about this dream that is life...

Letting Go To Be Awaken

"I am an Investment Banker working in a prestigeous Wall Streets firm."

"She is a high-power Lawyer."

"My father is a Millionaire and owns lots of properties."

"Catherine is a stay-at-home Mom with 2 children."

"He is a senator."

"I am a Professor with a PhD in Literature."


All of us are defined by labels that we either placed on ourselves or by others.

That is how an ego works - the "I" needs to clearly identify itself so that it can fit into society's definitions of how you should behave, live or work. Everything is defined by the expectations accorded by the label. You should clearly stay in the boundaries set up by your ego and its labels. Anytime you do not do that, you will be called "Crazy", "Acting Strange", "Not her usual self."

All these are labels, whose primary aim is to fit you into a context defined by the material world, the ego-filled world where every body has their expected place in the world.

Therefore, we are burdened by views and ideas about things, about ourselves, about the world surrounding us. Our minds are filled with opinions about things and some times, delusions of our wisdom. We end up being too clever to listen to others, to be open to new ideas and be receptive of other people's opinions.

In doing that, we find ourselves shut out from the Universe. Being too clever and ego-centric, we never learn. We cannot be open to new experiences and ideas.

Therefore, to be Awaken, you need to get rid of this cleverness. A cup filled to the rim with stale, dirty water will not have room for anything else. Therefore, it is essential that you empty the cup, throw out the dirty water and start with a clean cup. Only when the mind is empty and pristine can you recognize the truth about the "Non-I", the "Being" that exists in all of us, our Buddha-nature.


Being Awaken is letting go of self and the ego. And accept the emptiness, the voidness, the Present...

Being Awakened and Being Enlightened

There are people who use the terms "Being Awakened" and "Being Enlightened" interchangeably. Do the two terms mean the same thing?

No, it certainly does not.

"Being Awakened" is just one of the very initial stages of "Being Enlightened". You become "Awakened" when you realized that there is more than what you are in this life.

You know in the core of your soul that you are not defined by the physical boundaries of your life - the identity, the possessions, the people around you. You find that you are not attached to anything; you know that everything is transient, nothing last forever.

Everything dies, everything decays, everything changes. Nothing is permanent.

You increasingly know that you are not the "You" defined by your name, your title and your status in life.

You find that life is meaningless - it is more than about searching for happiness, accumulating riches and power and chasing the illusions of the "I" and the ego.

Having "Awakened", you feel more connected to the "Spirit", the "Supreme Being" or "God". You begin the search for this connection through being more mindful of who you really are and how you "fit" in the scheme of things.

Many people do this through the established religions of the world, trying to form a relationship with this "Being", "God" or however you defined It. Some people go on a spiritual quest, searching for answers by making pilgrimages to the holy places, studying under some mystic gurus or meditation.

But the Truth is always within you. The Truth is everywhere - from the trees, the flowers to all living sentient beings that exist in this world. There is no need to make any special pilgrimages - the "Buddha" is within you.

The Buddhas said "All of you are Buddhas". This is a powerful statement as it states that all of us WILL be enlightened, just that we are so deluded that we do not realize our own true buddha-nature. All of us will eventually become buddhas...

When you realize your own buddha-nature, you become a Buddha, the Enlightened One. When you are enlightened, there are no longer any boundaries or constraints. Space, time and physical limitations no longer exist to you. You can be everywhere and nowhere, in the past, present and future. You can appear in any physical form that you want. You become omnipresent, omniscient and all-powerful. You are everything and nothing.

So, being "Awakened" and being "Enlightened" is really two very different stages. Awakening is just the start of a long journey towards enlightenment.

By being "Awakened", you find that you will live a more meaningful life, knowing that this life too is transient, that you are on the road towards total enlightenment. Therefore, this knowledge gives you very hopeful purpose in your everyday life - to live life with meaning, with purpose and ultimately with love...