Dreams Within Dreams

By Earl Smith

Dreams Within Dreams
Earl Smith

It was a sunny wintery morning. The air was crisp and bracing. At the edge of a forest clearing, Wolverine sat atop a moss-covered log, his sharp gaze fixed on the open meadow beyond the tree line. Just above him a sleek, inky-black Raven perched on a low-hanging branch. The forest stood quiet, the only sounds were the wind-rustling of leaves and an occasionally far away bird call. Finally, Raven asked, “Do you have a question?”

Wolverine paused, searching for the right words, and then asked, “Master Raven, How can time be? How can I be within time? If time ceased, would I cease as well?”

“My, you have been busy thinking,” Raven replied. “And thoughts of great importance at that.”

“I did not seek you out to be made fun of,” Wolverine grumbled.

“I am not making fun of you,” Raven responded. “In fact, I am complimenting you. The questions you ask rest at the very heart of my creation. Shall I tell you how it all began?”

“Yes, please”.

“My dream began, for each part, at the very same moment. It was, in one instant, a single emergence. All parts, Wolverine, Tree, Pond, Rock and all else, are linked to the exact moment of my initial dreaming. A sort of interdependent co-origination. But there was something else. Something I did not anticipate. You see, impermanence snuck in unbidden just as a passing tremor interrupted my dreaming. And that incursion started time as you experience it.”

“Those words are too big for me. Please explain, so that I might understand. What is co-origination?” Wolverine asked.

Raven paused, then replied, “I did not dream my creation one part at a time. Not you, then Wren, then Tree, then Pond. They all, and all else, came into existence at once. As a whole. Fully formed. That’s the co-origination part. Without impermanence, that would have been the entire matter. Like your view of the meadow beyond the tree line, it would have remained just as it was when I dreamt it. But that is not what happened. You see, impermanence, once it became part of my dream, impacts all. Time, as you experience it, began at that first dreaming. It was my first experience of such a thing.”

Raven, deep in thought, gazed out at the meadow. He shifted on the branch, settled down, and sighed. “What you call time is an illusion. A misunderstanding of the reality that, at each moment, my creation fades, then all parts simultaneously burst into re-existence again. A kind of winking out, then back in. None can be reimagined without all others. All of the parts are destined to reemerge again, but not the same as before.”

“That is a tangled tale,” muttered Wolverine, “and one I find difficult to follow.”

“It is, indeed much tangled,” responded Raven. “My creation, and all its parts, are forever entangled. That is the interdependent part. In each moment, my creation is reborn, and with each rebirth, all in it are simultaneously reborn. It is an interconnected web that is constantly fading and renewing itself. But each rebirth is not exactly as it was before. That is the impermanence part. Each is re-created anew. Each part follows their own path. A result of the dreaming of each within. Dreams within a dream. Each dreaming differently but bound to the same dream of original creation.

“What do you mean by following their own path?” Wolverine asked.

“I gave to each the original dream of being. And with it, their own true nature. Your dreaming began with my original vision of you. The same is true for the others. But, once I dreamt all at once, each, including Wolverine, began to follow their own path. To dream their own dream of themselves and my creation. To define and redefine their own nature. Each embellishes my original vision. Each extends my dream of them through their own dreaming. For each, it becomes an independent origination. The illusion of self became the definition of their world. And their self, as they dream it, became the gossamer foundation of their identity. The mantra of the monad.”

They sat for a while. Raven smiled and said, “You know, I did not intend to include impermanence in my dream. It snuck in during a moment of distraction. But I am glad that it did. Without it, my dream would have been static, unchanging. See now how Deer moves through the meadow? Impermanence makes that possible. And what has come to pass is so much more varied and interesting.”

“Please go more slowly. I am losing the meaning of what you are saying,” Wolverine said. “You seem to be saying that my dreaming, as you call it, is a dream within your dream. Is that right? And what does the ‘mantra of the monad’ mean?”

“Yes, a dreaming within a dream is precisely the way it is. There is my dream of creation, which lasted, in its purest form, only that first moment. Then the dreaming of all within took over. It is as if I crafted a convoy of small boats and set them sailing down Brook. Each free to find its own way. Once released, the current and the earnest efforts of the rowers took over. How and where they began, is what I dreamt. What they become, and which ways they go, are a result of their own dreamings. Their freedom of will decides.”

“As for the mantra of the monad, it is simply that you must convince yourself that you are Wolverine and not-not Wolverine. Such a delusion is necessary to maintain any sense of self within my creation. But such self-vision creates an isolation that must become an unquestioned mantra to survive.”

“But you are here with us,” Wolverine responded. “Apparently floating down the stream of time as well.”

“A result of a fateful decision,” Raven replied. “I decided, in that first moment, and on a whim, to join the armada. Unlike some other creators, who abandon their creations to the whims of time and tide, I came along for the ride.”

“I would ask of other creators, but I suspect that would take us far afield from your purpose,” Wolverine muttered.

“A wise understanding,” replied Raven. “Today’s broth is rich enough as it is.”

“I am pleased you decided to stay,” Wolverine offered. “Understanding, with your guidance, is challenging enough. Without it, I might be completely lost.”

Raven bowed his head in recognition of the complement and said softly, “For you, interdependent co-origination are just words. For me, they are the core of who I am. For me, all things, both within, and without, my dream, are interconnected. All are dependent on all others. The permanence and the impermanence. The time and the no-time. For me, there is no independence. No assemblage of independent selves. There is me, apart from all. And yet the source of all. More an observer. And, as such, an illusion amongst experienced realities.”

“Is that because you live in a different kind of time,” Wolverine asked with some trepidation.

“That is one way of putting it,” Raven responded. “I am the only permanence in a creation of impermanence. The only one within it who no longer dreams. Should I dream anew, it would destroy all that you, and all the others, have made of my creation.”

Raven paused to let the idea fully flower, then said, “Impermanence has a sense of humor. It creates the illusion of patterns that seem to turn back on themselves while still moving forward in time. For you, time seems like a river that flows from the past through the present and into the future. You measure it in terms of seasons. In terms of your kits growing up and the time to begin new generations returning. Therein is continuity. A constancy within the constantly changing flow of time. That is impermanence’s illusion. The recurrence fantasy. The time within time.”

“That much I do understand,” Wolverine replied. “And I cannot imagine how it might be otherwise. A pleasant summer will meld into fall. Tree will display his fall dress. My mate will seek me out and we will share the time of delights. Wind will become chilly then biting cold. Snow will carpet Grass. Grass will slumber, awaiting Spring and new growth. New kits will arrive, and summer will return. Is that not how it is for all?”

“For all but me,” Raven responded. “I existed before there was time as you know it. Before impermanence snuck in to my dream. Time, as it exists within my creation, is a new experience for me. For me, it is as though the world I dreamt passes out of existence only to immediately return renewed. Each moment is the world I dreamt but different. Each moment is the birth of something new. But also, each moment is repeatedly experienced by me. Each resides within my memory, preserved eternally as it was. Different from what faded before and from the one to come, but the same in my memory.”

“I do not understand how that can be,” Wolverine said.

“As we have tarried on this fine winter day, for me uncounted moments have come and gone. My creation has faded and was reborn. You ceased to exist and then reappeared. As have all my creations. But your experience has been different. For you, we have been here through all of that, Raven and Wolverine.”

Wolverine shook his head and muttered, “A path that is crooked and turns back on itself.”

“A solid insight,” Raven said with some satisfaction. “Because of impermanence, the nature of your reality is constantly changing. The changes arise from the dreamings of those within it. All dreaming produces change. And not just within each. They are all interconnected. Wind dreams and Weather changes. Tree dreams and Pond admires the new visage. You dream, and a new question arises. Impermanence means that you cannot stay the same from moment to moment. As much as you would like to think you are Wolverine, and will stay Wolverine as you are, you cannot. None within my creation can.”

“If I understand you, my experience of time is one of continuity. It allows me to think that I am Wolverine and will continue to be so as long as I am.” He stopped and smiled, “And that is a great source of comfort for me. To know who I am, and that I will continue to be such. But, for you, it must be different. If I fade out and return, what I return as must be a constant surprise.”

“As it should be a constant surprise to you as well,” Raven said with some impatience. “Your comfort is your enemy, for it amounts to lying to yourself, and all those around you. Sameness is an illusion.”

“But that is how we must be according to the rules that bind us,” said Wolverine. “We can do no other and, if you could experience my dreaming and all those others, you would know that.”

“Alas, I cannot,” replied Raven. “My life force does not flow from one into another moment but exists all at once and everywhere at once. For me, there is neither time nor no time, nor both at once. Not this time and that one, but all existence forever, all at once.”

“That is too much for me,” Wolverine growled. “I think you are just trying to confuse me. And I think you know that. So, why say it?”

“You are right to be angry with me, friend Wolverine. I offer a sincere apology. The truth is that I tried to say something that cannot be said using a language that you might understand. One which is both linear and dualistic. A language that is suited to time as you experience it. I have exceeded its ability to convey clearly what I mean to say. There are things that cannot be coherently said when using it.”

Wolverine paused to look at Raven. An apology was a rare thing from this spirit. “So, what can be said that would be useful to me?” Wolverine asked.

“As a start,” Raven said, “you might cease arguing with yourself about who you are. It is not useful to confuse who you think you are with who you are. Embrace your true nature and grasp not at what you think you are, or desire to be. It is enough to simply be.”

“How can I do that?” Wolverine grumbled.

“If you sit quietly alone, who is there with you?” Raven asked.

Wolverine furrowed his brows in thought. “Only me. Who else could there be?”

“When you argue with yourself, who are you arguing with?”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Wolverine.

“Try it this way,” Raven suggested. “Suppose you poked your claw into your eye and that disturbed your mind.”

“I can say that that has happened more than once,” Wolverine offered.

“Then who, or what, is the possessor of all these things, your claw, your eye, your mind?” Raven asked.

Wolverine paused to smile. “Nobody?” He asked slyly.

“A profound response,” Raven said. “If you embrace the changes that impermanence constantly brings and accept it as your reality, you will come to see that you are a process and not a fixed identity. If you accept impermanence as your reality, you will strive not to stay the same, but to embrace the fact that you can never do so. That none which you encounter along your journey will, or can, remain the same either. All must change. You may be in different boats, but you sail the same stream.”

“So, what of memories?” Wolverine asked.

“Your memories are here now, not there then. Remember all your yesterdays, but live only your now, for that is the only time you really have. And, most importantly, seek not for answers, rather seek to lose track of questions. Some things imagined are best forgotten before they can be found.”

“That is a tall order,” Wolverine said.

“Perhaps,” replied Raven, “My teaching, such as it may be, is like a feather pointing at the moon. Do not mistake the feather for the moon.”

Raven spread his wings and flew across the meadow, over the trees beyond, and out of sight. Deer pawed at Snow at the edge of the tree line. Wind rustled the dry leaves, and made some of them to gently fall. Wren settled onto a branch above his head and began to sing. Sun began its journey to the resting house. Moon peeked over the horizon and prepared to make her way across the night sky. Wolverine settled onto the log and drifted off to sleep, and to dream. Dreaming of a dream within a dream. Time passed away and returned.

Earl is a Buddhist in the Zen tradition. He guides others along the path and writes essays about human experiences and the experience of being human. He also writes poetry and action-adventure short stories and novels. Here is a link to some of his most recent works that have been published. https://www.smithtales.com/publications/ This is a link to some of the books he has published: https://www.smithtales.com/books/