PureInsight | February 9, 2004
[PureInsight.org] [Note: In classical Chinese literature, which was partially based on cultivation toward Truth or Godhood, "dream" is often used as a metaphor for "illusions", "the secular world as an illusion", or "the human realm as an illusion." In addition, "sleep" is often used as a metaphor for "a man's lifetime in the secular world" or "the period of time before a cultivator attains Truth, the Ultimate Awakening, or consummation."]
Neither can I tell, nor do I know how many times I have awakened from one dream to another during this long sleep. Even now I have not completely awakened.
Each time I awakened, I felt I had become awakened. But it was not until I awakened the next time that I realized last time I hadn't been truly awake. It was only a dream that I awakened to last time.
I had dreams within a dream, and I woke up in a dream. There were dreams within dreams. I had a dream in a dream in another dream…
The number of times of awakening corresponds to the number of layers of dreams. I was unable to see the light of day, always engrossed in the dreams, except with a different level of confusion each time.
Don't presume we have seen everything just because we have been enlightened to one thing. Don't feel superior to others just because we feel we know more than others. We should never forget how insignificant we are next to the boundless Truth.
Don't be delighted when you wake up from a dream. Don't be frustrated when you doze off to a dream. True awakening from all dreams requires persistent forbearance and, more importantly, courage and faith. When you stumble and fall, just get up and try walking toward true awakening again.
My fellow Dafa practitioners! Never forget to fulfill the ancient pledge that we have made long ago from the depth of our hearts until we have truly awakened in the brand new cosmos.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/1/27/25564.html
