How Can the Past Be Different from A Dream?
Year 2020 has passed, and when you look back at the same day last year, isn’t that you were also reminiscing the past? It seems that this year has passed in a hurry before it was properly experienced. There is nothing left but the scattered memories and the virtuous or evil karma stored in the Arya consciousness. This is exactly the illusive manifestation like a dream.
The past year was like a dream, more like a hallucination full of busyness and disorientations. Looking back on year-2020, the epidemic, the floods, the pain, the joy, the gains and losses, how are they at all different from a dream? Except for the memories left in the mind, all the past appearance including one’s physical body is nothing but the manifestation of the gathered causes and conditions at that time. The you, I and all the appearances today must have all changed - people are changing, things are changing, and the environment is also changing. Therefore, we have nothing but the manifested appearances. And now you may find that we are only left with some regrets, regrets about what we did before, our attachment to the things we could not let go, and the big fight we had out of trifles.
With no doubt, all the days ahead will be like this past year, still being a dream resulted from the gathered causes and conditions. When conditions come together, things manifest, when conditions fall apart, things return to emptiness, nothing ever to be obtained.
Thinking through all these, what else is worth spending our time on except for accumulating virtuous karma and eradicating evil karma so as to awaken from the dream? After all, this dream-like life will not last very long, if we can’t make it to wake up this life, no one knows what will be experienced in the future life.
Anyway, why make it difficult for yourself, why cling to the dreams. Let it come when it comes, let it go when it leaves.
Only wish to guide and protect our own mind!
Only wish to awaken from the dream!
Khenpo Jamyang