Chapter 1 DREAM NARRATIVES IN INDIAN BUDDHISM Part 2 (Continued from Part 1-Introduction)

By Quyen Ngo

Prophetic dreams

Dreaming is universal and people dream every night . Yet, prophetic dreams are rare and they signify the special status of the dreamer, and/or the events of the portents. In other words, prophetic dreams are visionary messages that occur to special people and/or about special events. It is not surprising, therefore, that we find a significant number of prophetic dreams in the biography of the Buddha. In fact, all cases of dream narratives in Early Buddhism concern prophetic dreams, that is, dreams that accurately foretell events.

Amongst prophetic dreams, conception prophetic dreams play an important role in the biographies of the Buddhist saints, as they serve to confirm and add credence to their special status. These dreams tell us that from the very beginning we always know, and indeed expect, that these are going to be very special people. Appropriately, the Buddha’s biography begins with the most narrated dream in Buddhist literature, Queen Mayā’s dream (dream no. 9 in Appendix ) has been widely depicted in Buddhist arts and literature for nearly 2500 years. The Nidāna-Kathā eloquently describes, how before the Buddha was born, under a set of auspicious events, Queen Mayā’s dreams of an white elephant entering her womb. In the Mahā-Ummagga Jātaka (dream no. 6 in Appendix ) we find an almost as elaborate conception dream by King Vedeha regarding the conception of the sage Mahosadha. As we will see later, following this tradition, there are numerous conception dreams in the biographies of the mahāsiddhas (great Tantric yogis).

In Dreaming in the Lotus, Serenity Young points out the reciprocal relationship between dreams and biography. She asserts, ‘the biography confirms the prophecy of dreams by dramatizing their fulfilment while prophetic dreams confirm that it is the biography of someone worthy, someone who possesses religious authority or charisma’ (1999:9). Sacred biographies are important in Buddhism, because they tell the story of those have attained enlightenment, and thus provide models for others (p, 8). Dreams, therefore, play an important role in the soteriological goal of Buddhism.

Traditional symbolism

Dream narratives in Early Buddhism reveal an interesting perspective on the traditional milieu from which Buddhism develops, the Brahmanical social setting and beliefs. These narratives contain ample use of traditional symbolism. For example, the colours black and red are seen as pertaining to evil. Thus, an evil figure is portrayed as a black figure, wearing red/yellow robes, with red earrings (as in dreams no. 5, 7, and 8 in Appendix). According to Wendy O’Flaherty, ‘[in] the Indian mythology of dreams: the black woman with red garments is the Untouchable woman’ (1984: 23), whilst Young comments that red and black colours are pan-Indian symbols of destruction (1999: 38).

Losing arms in dreams seem to signify the loss of children, as in the Bhūridatta-Jātaka (dream no. 5 in Appendix ) in which the Bodhisattva’s mother dreams her arm was cut off when her son was captured. Similarly, in the Vessantara-Jātaka (dream no. 8 in Appendix ), Maddī dreams both her arms were cut off prior to losing both her children. It is interesting why arms are seen as metaphors for children. Perhaps in ancient India, as with most parts of Asia, children are expected to look after parents when they get older and hence are seen as extensions of their arms. Dreams of teeth falling out portend impending death or mutilation, as we find for example, in King Aśoka’s dream (dream no. 13 in Appendix) in which he dreams his teeth were falling out prior to his son being blinded.

Traditional symbols for royalty, such as the bull and the elephant are often used to represent the Bodhisattva, as we find in dreams no.10, 11, and 12. In Yasodhara's dream however, cloud is the metaphor for the Bodhisattva. According to Young, the elephant, bull and clouds are interrelated symbols of fertility, and that cloud, through association with rain, often symbolized semen (1999: 33). The navel is the traditional symbol for the place of origin, or the centre of the world. In the Supina Sutta, the Bodhisattva dreams the vine growing out of his navel signifying the origin of the Noble Eightfold Path. This parallels the Hindu image of the lotus growing out from the sleeping god Visṇṇu’s navel giving rise to the universe.

To be continued ….