ing behavior that some people end up damaged almost beyond
repair – an empty human shell lacking all intrinsic goodness. Even
then, they are unaware of what has happened to them, or why.
“If we possess sufficient mindfulness and wisdom, Dhamma
can guide us in investigating this matter for ourselves. Your dream
was a good, timely warning – learn from it. From now on, when-
ever you’re feeling lazy you can use it as a means of stirring up
the mindfulness necessary to overcome your indolence. This type
of dream is exceptionally potent. Not everyone has a dream like
this. I appreciate such dreams for they effectively stimulate mind-
fulness, keeping it constantly vigilant. This in turn accelerates
progress in meditation, allowing the heart to attain calm with rel-
ative ease. If you take this lesson that Dhamma has provided and
put it consistently into practice, you can expect to quickly achieve
meditative calm. Who knows, you may even penetrate the true
nature of Dhamma ahead of those who have been practicing med-
itation for many years. That dream of yours was very worthwhile.
It wasn’t a bad omen by any means.
“Don’t be excessively frightened of your teacher – it will only
cause you to feel uncomfortable all the time. Nothing of bene-
fit can be gained from unreasonable fear of the teacher. He has a
moral obligation to educate his students, using every means avail-
able to him. It’s not your teacher you should fear, but evil, for evil
leads directly to suffering. I don’t accept monks as my students just
so I can castigate them for no good reason. The training a monk
undertakes is a stringent one, following principles laid down by
the Buddha. A teacher’s guidance must follow the strict logic of
these principles. If he deviates from this path, neither he nor the
student benefits in any way.
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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