Venerable Jingjie
When we cultivate, the focus is on diligence, not on the results. However, you
can sometimes notice the kind of dreams you have. This is an important
indication.
When we are negligent or lazy in our practice, you will notice a change in your
dreams. A kind of heaviness will appear, along with feelings of dullness, worry
or fear. If feelings of fear predominate, the condition is quite critical
already and you need to pay attention. It is a sign.
On the other hand, when you are diligent in your practice, your dreams are
filled with appearances of clarity, luminosity, peace and joy. Even though the karmic rewards have not fully
manifested, it is like “strong gusts of winds before the storm arrives” (a
Chinese adage). These are augurs for the
future. Especially for those doing practices of repentance and
purification. In the practice of
repentance, we often mention that the way to check if our karmic offences are
purified is through auspicious signs in our dreams.
How do we know if our karmic seeds or imprints have changed? Your dreams will
tell you. The contrast between a heavy, oppressive state and a light, peaceful
state is significant because we are unable to deliberately control what happens
in dreams. Your subconscious mind naturally expresses itself, revealing its
true state plainly. If your dreams are appearances of heaviness, then you
should buck up with your repentance practice and accumulate more merit.
From observing how (my teacher) Master Chan Gong guided his disciples in a
progressive manner, I gradually appreciated that he focused on two main
stages: for beginners, he emphasized the
practice of repentance and merit accumulation rather than studying scriptures
or listening to teachings. This is because their minds were still heavy with
afflictions and karmic obstacles, making it difficult to absorb the teachings
effectively.
However, once their afflictions and karmic burdens were reduced and they
experienced the signs of pliancy in their minds, he encouraged them to balance
both understanding and practice. At this
stage, studying scriptures became beneficial. The elderly master had this
system of teaching — dealing with the heavily burdened mind right from the
start. This is highly pivotal in the
development of the student.
