He dreamt that this mighty earth was his great bedstead; the Himālaya, king of mountains, was his pillow; his left hand rested on the eastern sea, his right hand on the western sea; his two feet on the southern sea. This, monks, was the first dream that appeared to the Tathāgata while he was still a bodhisatta. This first dream was a sign that he would awaken to unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment.

Again, he dreamt that from his navel arose a kind of grass called tiriyā and continued growing until it touched the clouds. This second great dream was a sign that he would fully understand the Noble Eightfold Path and would proclaim it well among devas and humans.

Again, he dreamt that white worms with black heads crawled on his legs up to his knees, covering them. This third great dream was a sign that many white-clad householders would go for refuge to the Tathāgata until the end of their lives.

Again, he dreamt that four birds of different colours came from the four directions, fell at his feet and turned all white. This fourth great dream was a sign that members of the four castes--nobles, brahmins, commoners and menials--would go forth into homelessness in the Doctrine and Discipline taught by the Tathāgata and would realize the unsurpassed liberation.

Again, he dreamt that he climbed up a huge mountain of dung without being soiled by the dung. This fifth great dream was a sign that the Tathāgata would receive many gifts of robes, alms-food, dwellings and medicines, and he would make use of them without being tied to them, without being infatuated with them, without being committed to them, seeing the danger and knowing the escape.

SOURCES: Invisibleaid.com, a site by Kerry Poethig, 2023. Her source: Anguttara Nikāya: An Anthology, Part II, selected and translated by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikku Bodhi, BPS Online Edition, 2008, pg 1. I removed some repetition. DATING estimated from Buddha's lifespan 563-483 BCE, accepted through much of the 20th century, but many recent scholars propose dates more like 490-410 BCE, putting these dreams as late as the 460s. Amazing uncertainty for such a major historical figure.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Could Siddartha really have dreamed these? The interpretations are bland, pious (and they were more so before I cut the repetitions) and sometimes unlikely--the birds as castes seem reasonable, but I'll bet the first dream of sprawling all over south Asia meant his insights or teachings would spread all over; but that's too worldly for the monks who transmitted it, so we get this pious "unsurpassed enlightenment" stuff. Such interpretations make the dreams seem to be just more of the legends that accrete around religious teachers. But remember--the dreams themselves are another matter. Quirky, weird, maybe even ominous to a typical dream interpreter--then or now. Worms crawl on you? Mountains of shit? Not exactly auspicious... unless you see (as I do) Shit Mountain as the stifling class system Buddha fought...

The one that truly baffles me is that grass growing out of his navel. How is that a sign of understanding the Eightfold Path, or anything else? Is tiriyā a pun on something that doesn't translate? "Get them to add sprouts to the menu in the cafetiriyā!"

Oh, well. This far back in history, I'm glad to find any dream accounts at all.

--Chris Wayan

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