Chuang-tzu’s Dream Reveals Manifold Realms Of Alternative Reality.
Hi dear all,
So let’s begin this first blog with world renowned Zen story of Chunag-tzu’s dream. Instead of presenting mere write up, I like to create interactive blogs with comment threads so my beloved readers can communicate with me.
Chuang-tzu somewhere recorded as a great Chinese Philosopher whose timeline roughly recorded (369 BCE to 286 BCE) and regarded as a well-recognized Taoist of his time. Some recognized him as a disciple of great founder of Tao sect – Lao-tzu and referred him as a Zhuangzi, but the time line of Lao-tzu itself has couple of historical confusion whether it was 6th century BCE or 4th century BCE so to predict the exact timeline of Chuang-tzu is bit difficult. Whereas in some folklores, he was referred as a teenager village boy who used to wander around in woods without doing anything specific for his livelihood.
So The Story is Like –
“One day Chunag-tzu saw himself became butterfly. When he woke up from the dream he thought, “What is real? Is Chuang-tzu that’s me, becomes butterfly or the butterfly became Chuang-tzu?”
This small parable has opened new realms of alternative reality lies in human brain at subtle consciousness and tap the opportunity to unrevealed the potential where we can either submerge in the gross reality which we consider real only or search for the another paradigm that lead us toward our ‘actual self’.
Among all the famous Taoist and Zen stories and parables this story took important place not because it connected with one renowned Tao master but it has capacity to let us put on the journey to identify the difference between virtual and real realms of brain as well the surprizing visualisation power of our consciousness. The butterfly story has influenced the western and eastern both philosophical cult immensely and that shows the powerful significance of this Taoist allegory for spiritual transformation.
In the story of ‘Chang-tzu as man or as a butterfly’ there was a definite distinction or we may say the Bottom of Formtransition of the transformation of material things, If you ask me, I would love to say it ‘spiritual metamorphosis’ which at deep, hidden level transmutes the core energy to manifests something meaningful. The question is, are we ready for this transition or not?
Robert Allison’s “Chuang-tzu for Spiritual Transformation”
Employing the language of western philosophy, Robert Allison, in “Chuang-tzu for Spiritual Transformation: An Analysis of the Inner Chapters” (New York: SUNY Press, 1989), presents a number of possible interpretations of Chuang-tzu’s Butterfly Dream parable, and then offers his own, in which he interprets the story as a metaphor for spiritual awakening. In support of this argument, Mr. Allison also presents a less well-known passage from the “Chuang-tzu,” known as the Great Sage Dream anecdote.
In this analysis he echoes Advaita Vedanta’s Yoga Vasistha, and it also brings to mind the tradition of Zen koans, as well as Buddhist “valid cognition” reasoning It also reminds one of the works of Wei Wu Wei who, like Mr. Allison, uses the conceptual tools of western philosophy to present the ideas and insights of the nondual eastern traditions.
Interpretations of Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream
Mr. Allison begins his exploration of Chuang-tzu’s Butterfly Dream anecdote by presenting two frequently used interpretive frameworks:
- The ”confusion hypothesis”
- The “endless (external) transformation hypothesis”
According to the “confusion hypothesis,” the message of Chuang-tzu’s Butterfly dream anecdote is that we do not really awaken and so we are not sure of anything—in other words, we think we have awakened, but we have not.
According to the “endless (external) transformation hypothesis,” the meaning of the story is that the things of our external world are in a state of continuous transformation, from one form into another, into another, etc.
To Mr. Allison, neither of the above (for various reasons) is satisfactory. Instead, he proposes his “self-transformation hypothesis”:
“The butterfly dream, in my interpretation, is an analogy drawn from our own familiar inner life of what cognitive process is involved in the process of self-transformation. It serves as a key to understanding what the whole of the Chuang-tzu is about by providing an example of a mental transformation or awakening experience with which we are all highly familiar: the case of waking up from a dream… “Just like we awaken from a dream, we can mentally awaken to a more real level of awareness.”
This short story indeed point out some exciting and much-explored philosophical issues, stemming from the relationship between the waking state and the dream-state, or between illusion and reality.
Similarities between Zen and Vedic Scriptures
I here like to refer another deeply revered scripture of Indian Mythology and Vedic Age that is ‘Yog Vashishtha’ the famous dialogue between Sage Vashishtha, Sage Vishwamitra and Prince Ram who wants to quench his thirst about ‘Actual Reality’ and those two sages took prince Ram on never ending journey of searching them true meaning of existence.
The Yog Vashishtha is even today very much famous amongst true seekers and scholars who seek enlightenment and attainment through Vedic discourse and treaties.
In ‘Yog Vasishtha’ there was a parable of Goddess Saraswati, and Queen Leela which unfolds the space-time theory, relative reality and existence of parallal universes exist altogether in single timeline, at some point of time these all universes are intermingled and Saraswati who is goddess of wisdom and knowledge took Queen Leela on travel of different universes or we can say another realms. Leela, who was mourning on her husband’s demise so much, became wondered while seeing her husband and she herself in all timeline playing different characters. Sometime they were king and queen and in another timeline they were poor Brahmin couple but in all time.
She was wonderstruck and so we are. Gradually Goddess Saraswati reveals her the eternal truth of this universe that is “Pragnyanam Brahma” literary ‘The Consciousness is Brahma- the totality’, so it practically indicates that universe dwells in totality and totality that is ‘Brahman’ lies in ‘The Consiousness –Param Chetana’.
It reminds me the another sense awakening theory of ‘Collective Unconscious’ that given by Dr. Carl Jung, a famous Swiss psychiatrist of last century, according to which the world consciousness is one only, may perceive differently by others.
So at last, Chuang-tzu’s dream takes us on this never-ending journey of soul replenishment and by following it, we can reach the ultimate reality somewhere located in our heart as divine spark.
