Thinking and Dreaming

If you pay attention, this dreaming experience is the same as the thinking experience. We construct images, concepts, and stories in our heads, then perceive them as real. However, upon closer examination, the picture turned out to be wrong. Much like a dream, he soon passed away, leaving only a speck of memory. When we think, we construct concepts. This process often happens so quickly, without realizing it. We begin to judge and separate.

Neutral events are now labeled good or bad, right or wrong, comfortable or uncomfortable, and so on. This concept then changes, when gaining new experience or knowledge. Sometimes, it disappears completely. In other contexts, it enlarges, because it continues to be proven by experience. On another occasion, a new concept was born. This concept is so real and powerful. Just like a dream that feels so real, we then mistake the concept for reality. We take it as the truth. When we think a concept is a reality, at that point, we enter the door of suffering. Just like dreams, concepts are not reality. It is a form of abstraction produced by the human mind.

When an event is wrapped in a concept, at that time, it is no longer a reality. Concepts separate us from reality and lock us into misunderstandings. Mistaking the concept for reality is one of the biggest mistakes in our life. This is like thinking that dreams are a reality. We suffer when we are cut off from reality and are trapped in concepts. It is the same as the suffering we experience when we live in dreams.

The influence is felt in relationships with other people as well. People who think the concepts in their heads are true to tend to disagree with other people, who also think their thoughts are reality. Differences of opinion often do not end in separation but further conflict.

Before Thought

Thus, thoughts must be seen as thoughts. It is not reality. Dreams should be seen as mere dreams. It is also not reality. Realizing this, we then ask, who or what is this thinking? Who or what is this dreaming? If we answer this question with a concept, we fall back into thought. We have to let go of thoughts, concepts, and dreams, to answer this question correctly.