Now I have had one which made me sit up!
Over many recent months, I have dreamed the name Dogen. But last night's dream was good: I was a young male travelling with another and a young woman. We were wearing something like white draped clothing, the female's was quite revealing when she moved. We were near to a monastery, and needed to take a room as guests on the road (travellers needing a room for the night). The monastery did not like to have women around, but they could not say no. We were protective of the woman. When we were in the room, there was a complicated way of closing the windows on a louvre, but I seemed to know how to do it, and I did. One of the monks came into the room, and was surprised that I had already closed them. I was surprised and excited to see the objects in the room, which were from the daily monastic life, and some writings on objects. I was telling the woman how much I loved all those things, especially the neat writing covering the jars and objects. She didn't have much interest at all.
Then the dream morphed to a Monk down near the sea shore talking to a large, stranded fish (telepathically). The fish was huge, probably the size of a small whale, but not a whale variety. The issue was that the soul of the fish was that of a human monk who was a candidate to take over from the existing head of the monastery - Dogen. Dogen was asking if the fish had learned his lesson being a fish, and asked how long his life had been. The answer was 42 years. Yes, the fish said silently, being a fish had given him a unique opportunity to still his ego, and watch life and death in action before him, and had given him a feeling of tranquility.
The name of Dogen was repeated throughout this dream, and there was an almost urgent feeling to find the right successor to him, as he was a peak of consciousness in the land.
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Imagine my surprise when searching up about the name Dogen, this morning, to find the picture of my avatar I have been using here on RT:
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This is an image of Buddha, with the caption: Dogen Zenji
Something I was not aware of.
It turns out, Eihei Dogen Zenji was a Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan. He lived from 1200-1253.
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This is an image of the master: Meditation Zen a Narbonne (the picture is in France)
The thing I keep dreaming is that Dogen is looking for a successor. Perhaps I was one of his disciples in a life in Japan in the 1200's. He is known for his expanded awareness. I feel this is connected with the expansion currently underway for humanity as a whole. Perhaps the whole of humanity will be his successor, in the near future, as we expand and grasp the simple but powerful meanings in life.
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I have a strong affinity with tabby cats, so this seemed appropriate.