Is This a Dream?
The other day, my son told me about the dream he saw, where he was chased by an unknown black figure. I happened to continue talking with him about dreams in general, and asked him whether how confident he was about this (two of us having a conversation) NOT being a dream. He had a strange look on his face, as if he was trying to say I’m a bit crazy! Yes, to answer a Koan, you have to be very much crazy, at the same time being perfectly sane.
The Koan I introduce in this post is the one in which Rikuko, a Chinese minister, talks to Nansen (Joshu’s teacher) about a phrase he quotes from a famous monk, after which Nansen points at the flowers in the garden, and tells him that most people see the flowers as if they were seeing them in a dream.
Let’s try an experiment: try looking at your right hand, and keep watching it closely. Do you see a hand, or do you see something else? As you stay focused on the hand … its shape, and its color, the hand might (or might not) seem that it’s not a hand anymore. Then, you continue staring at that “something”, and it may (or may not) seem it isn’t either shape or color anymore. Then, you watch and watch till you are not even sure whether you were watching anything!
Now, the question is, what is a hand? There is this famous Koan asking what the sound of one hand clapping is. And if you could give an answer to this very question, you’ll be able to answer what a hand really is. But be careful not to “dream.” In a dream, you act while not knowing it’s a dream. Also, anything said in dream is a dream; even if you say “this is reality” or “that is reality,” that is really something said in a dream. This was the mistake Rikuko made in his conversation with Nansen. If you want to tell about reality, the truth, wake up first. And the good news is that you are awake now. You’re not aware that you are awake, and instead call your imagined dreaming state “reality.” What a nonsense!
One of the most powerful mantras for reality check is “What is this?” Ask this question often, while closely observing every sensation that appears and disappears. But don’t treat this as something to be repeatedly chanted. Instead, with the question, be a mass of doubt, doubting whatever appearing as reality; including the flowers. That doubt is something. And it will lead you to the realization that reality doesn’t need any explanation or reaching out.