An edited transcript of a public lecture by teacher Žarko Andričević, held in January 2025.

Good evening everyone, our topic tonight is dream, sleep, and wakefulness.

This topic is very comprehensive. On one hand, it refers to sleep and dreams, and to our wake state during the day, but it also reffers to the potential present in all of us, to awaken from the dream about life, to life as it truly is. This is what awakening in Buddhism is. An ordinary wake state is also considered dreaming in Buddhism. A samsaric dream in which we are all more or less immersed. The name Buddha comes from there – the one who woke up from that samsaric dream into reality as it truly is. So, Buddha literally means awakened.

But let’s return to sleep and how we ordinarily understand it. Since Buddhism emphasizes the importance of awakening and wakefulness, one might think that sleep is not given special attention, or even that there is a desire to reduce it to a minimum. However, this is not true – sleep is very important because the mind and body need rest. When we speak of bringing body, breath, and mind into harmony, it includes sleeping as a very important aspect in aligning these three aspects of our being.

Therefore, to rest the body and mind exceptionally important, both for functioning in our daily life, as well as for our buddhist practice. However, sleeping too much or too little is not good. In both cases, our body will be without energy, exhausted, sluggish, and tired, and the mind will lack clarity and presence.

For this reason, it is important to test for yourself how much sleep you truly need to rest the body and mind, to restore physical energy and mental clarity. For good sleep both the duration of sleep and a regular sleep rhythm are important. It is not good to swap night for day; one should not go to sleep too late. Ten o’clock or at the latest eleven is a good time to go to bed. Is there anyone here who goes to sleep at ten? We probably stay awake longer.

Getting a good night’s sleep seems like a simple task. However, the modern way of life often turns sleep into a difficult-to-achieve project. Due to a stressful lifestyle, many people today suffer from insomnia. This is the inability to let go of all the stuff that preoccupies us. We continue thinking when we lie down in bed and, as time passes and we can’t fall asleep, we get even more nervous, which prevents us from falling asleep.

Fear also emerges here. If we haven’t slept for several days in a row, the next time we go to bed, we are afraid that we won’t be able to fall asleep. And that keeps us awake.

However, an established sleep rhythm, optimal amount of sleep time, a good position for sleeping, and knowing how to relax mind and body, help us falling asleep without a problem. I won’t go into these factors individually here—the relaxation of mind and body, the sleeping position—because that would take too much time. But the fact is that it is a series of very important conditions that can enable us to have healthy and deep sleep.

So, that much about sleep, about the need to sleep, and about how to actually have good, deep, restful, or rather regenerative sleep. Now, if we manage to sleep in such a way, we usually also dream about something.

The Nature and Role of Dreams

Since sleep constitutes a third of our lives, dreams have always captivated human attention, both in the West and the East. Freud, a pioneer in dream analysis, believed that dreams are a window into our subconscious mind, revealing deeply repressed desires and unresolved conflicts. Jung has developed his own theory in which the subconscious was a key to self-understanding. He introduced the concept of the collective unconscious, archetypes, and explored dream symbolism, etc.

In the East, the situation is not much different. Dreams are understood as a bridge between the physical and spiritual spheres. In all Eastern cultures and spiritual traditions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism – dreams play a role, whether as messages from higher spheres, reflections of karma, or as insights into one’s spiritual journey. In all these traditions, dreams have a specific place and role, and are considered important.

Buddhism perceives dreaming as one of the activities of independently arisen mental consciousness. What does that mean, an activity of independently arisen mental consciousness? When mental consciousness is not associated with the remaining five sensory consciousnesses, it has arisen independently. Dreaming is an activity of our mental consciousness which is not in contact with sensory consciousnesses. While we sleep, our senses are not active. Eyes do not see, ears do not hear, we have no sense of touch. We are completely immersed in sleep, and in that sleep, mental consciousness is active, but free from stimuli coming from the senses.

Generally speaking, dreaming in Buddhism is understood as a reflection of our daily activities and preoccupations. Not necesaarily something that happened today, or yesterday – it can be events from our near or distant past. All that is the content of our dreams which can be pleasant; as well as extremely unpleasant, as in nightmares. And that is something we certainly want to avoid.

In Buddhism dreams are not specifically analyzed. We do not engage in their symbolism, although they may contain it. Dreams are not considered particularly important as they are in Freud’s and Jung’s detailed analysis I mentioned earlier. What is important is that dreams can serve as a very powerful metaphor for how deceptive our perception can be. While dreaming, the content of our dream seems completely real to us. We can have physical reactions to them. Immersed in a dream, everything that happens in that dream is, at that moment, our reality. This is best seen when someone wakes from a nightmare. Whatever it was about, it carries a very strong physical reaction. We can wake up sweating, agitated and frightened as if something really happen. And that awakening from the dream is the moment that points to the illusory nature of dreams. That shows us that the perception we had while dreaming was deceptive, false. That what we dreamed was not real. Important to notice here is that our perception is equally deceptive when we experience everything that happens in our waking life as truly existent.

So how to understand this? Buddhism tells us that our daily life is in fact a dream, one that lasts a whole lifetime. And sleeping, those are the short dreams we fall into when we lie down and go to sleep.

Life as a Dream: The Illusory Nature of Perception

Seeing life as a dream is not easy. Contrasting it the central teaching in Buddhism, the teaching on impermanence might help. The teaching that tells us that reality, as we experience it, is not true. Our experience of ourselves and the world is based on our mental constructions, on our subjective experience in which we do not see ourselves, nor the phenomena we encounter, as they truly are. Rather, we see them in a specific, conditioned way. Our view is conditioned by our upbringing, education, culture, environment, the people we are surrounded by.

If you haven’t encountered the idea of life as a dream before, this can be a very drastic viewpoint. There is a well-known example in which several experts in their fields—observe one world. So there’s a physicist, biologist, poet, chemist, etc. and from the perspective of each of these professions, that world is something completely different. Theu are all looking at one and the same thing, and seeing it in their own specific, conditioned way. Conditioned by their knowledge, by an angle of looking at that particular phenomenon. Likewise, we perceive phenomenons we encounter differently than people around us.

So, there is conventional, agreed upon reality in which we all live together. We have agreed on what represents what in this world we are in. Simultaneously, our relationship toward the individual things that make up our reality differs. And as long as an illusion of separate existence exists, this strong, deeply ingrained division into “I” and everything that is not “I”, the world we experience from such a perspective is deeply conditioned. We do not see reality as it is, but as it appears to us.

This in itself would not be a problem if these different viewpoints were not in conflict. If there were no greed and hatred, and all those negative emotions arising when these different views, opinions, and desires clash with reality. Not seeing things as they are actually creates conflict with reality which smolders within us in visible and not so visible ways.

For example, as you sit and listen to this talk, you are probably not completely still, and that restlesness is a consequence of a conflict between mind and body. A need to find comfort and avoid discomfort makes us constantly shift slightly. As long as we can find a comfortable position, it’s not a problem. However, when we cannot, but we want to, then we have a problem. And that problem actually comes from a deep misunderstanding of ourselves and the nature of reality.

Our own perception of ourselves is deceptive, and it shows in the experience of everything as truly existing. In Buddhism it is said that such perception is based on four inverted views. So let’s list them in order:

1. Seeing permanence in what is impermanent.
2. Seeing happiness in what is suffering.
3. Seeing what is beneficial in what is non-beneficial.
4. Seeing a self in what is not-self.

These views are often called wrong or inverted views. They are in direct opposition to the nature of reality.

Seeing permanence in what is impermanent speaks of the fact that we are not aware of impermanence. And we remain unaware of that fact in every possible way, so to speak. And why is that so? Because the feeling of identity, of “I” or our ego, is directly threatened by this fact. When we talk about impermanence, then we also talk about our own impermanence, our own cessation at some specific time. And since that is not an idea we can easily deal with, we try to hide this fact of transience, aging, and death from ourselves. I think our society as a whole also does this. Even though impermanence may seem worrisome, however difficult this idea may be to bear, it is our reality. And in this world everything is subject to change, and in a continuous process of change. Becoming aware of this fact and observing impermanence, getting closer to it, is the path to freedom, however contradictory that may sound.

The Path to Awakening Through Impermanence

Overcoming that initial fear and begining to contemplate impermanence, we discover something very significant. First, that life consists of small things. We come into contact with little everyday things that make up our life. By realizing their impermanence, we also realize their uniqueness and their true significance. Changing our relationship to those small things that life consists of is a huge step and a pivot, we could even say. We usually have big goals in mind, big things that are somewhere distant from us, both in time and space. And that occupies us, while life, moment by moment, slips by, without us being aware of it.

Furthermore, impermanence shows us that any form of clinging is superfluous. Contemplating impermanence helps us to stop clinging so convulsively to life, to things, to everything that is in the process of change. And that is a great relief and a great liberation. Not being attached to things, not clinging to things, does not mean not caring for them. It does not mean being indifferent. Quite the opposite. When there is no clinging, there is no conflict, no disappointment, none of the fruits of our wrong views about life. As the grip weakens and clinging ceases, our experience of life deepens and we manage to grasp the whole. We are not bound to details tjat provoke negative emotions. By contemplating impermanence, we become freer and freer. And our life takes on a completely different meaning.

That dedication to the process, dedication to what is now, to what is here, is what leads to awakening. If we are mostly in the past and future, if we do not contemplate impermanence, if we are disconnected from now and here, then we dwell in our mental constructions of who we are, and what life is. These are very powerful constructions that have the power to keep us at a distance and to separate from life. To arrive at this present moment and contemplate impermanence means to establish contact with reality, to come into direct contact with reality. It initiates and enables awakening. So, to recognize the nature of reality means to awaken. To see it as impermanent, to see it as conditioned, to see it as what it truly is, means to awaken. And that is powerfully liberating.

This is not an intellectual interest in the nature of reality. Here we are talking about meeting reality face to face. And that meeting is powerfully liberating, puting an end to sleeping, enableing us to emerge from that dream.

I will not speak further here about these other views—seeing happiness in what is suffering, seeing the beneficial in what is non-beneficial, self in what is not-self—because that would take too much time. But as long as our life is based on such views, we are dreaming that samsaric dream, while believing that we are awake. And that is actually the biggest problem.

Awakening in Daily Life: Action and Consequence

Awakening starts with recognitizing that the reality the way we experience it is not true. It continues through the practice of morality, meditation, and wisdom. If we say this life is a dream, does that mean we can do whatever we please? Does that mean our actions have no consequences? If it’s a dream, and nothing here is real, our actions, whatever they may be, are also not real. So their consequences are not real either, and we can act as we wish.

This would be a completely wrong conclusion. Although we dream of this life, our actions have their consequences. For that reason we should be aware of the nature of that action. In Buddhism, there is a simple principle: we should not harm ourselves or others. Moral action is action by which we do not harm ourselves or others. And if we live and act in that way, then we are on the path to awakening.

However, we practice while being in the dream, and our practice happens in, conditionally speaking, that state of sleep. Important to know is that, by practicing in such a way, we make that dream better. More harmonious, with less stress, less tension, less conflict, and that is of exceptional importance. And of course, the short dreams we have also become different, more beautiful, free of nightmares. Entering that process of inner transformation that deeply and visibly reflects on our entire life, and on the lives of all those we are surrounded by, those we come into contact with.

Let me repeat once more: we should strive to do good deeds, we should be careful not to harm others with speech and thoughts. So, regular practice of cultivating the mind will relieve us of nightmares and will make our daily life more harmonious and centered. But none of this will happen by itself, if we do not put a certain effort into it. As in all things, so is in meditative practice: without investing effort and mobilizing our entire being for that path, we cannot expect great results. Therefore, it is important to encourage ourselves ofor the path. And to move in small steps, but continuously, practicing regularly, cultivating our mind every day, whether in formal meditation practice or in daily activities, being mindful, aware, present, simply living in the present. That is how the Chan path is followed in life.

I will stop here now. This is a big topic and you can approach it from various perspectives. I only wanted to open this topic here, and now if you have questions, I will be glad to answer them if I can.

Q&A Session

Question from Binbin:
My question is about the nature of dreams. Some dreams are connected to our life. They give us a different perspective. But there are dreams completely different from living. I must say I have some resistance to dreaming those dreams. I would like an interpretation from you.

Answer:
Okay, thank you for your question. Yes, the content of dreams can be disturbing. It can have an influence on our daily life. If we dreamed something that was extremely significant in some way, it seems to us that it was significant, then our lack of understanding of that significance will certainly affect our life if we engage with it. I think that, as Dendi (I think that’s the name) said, such dreams should be let go, because ultimately those dreams come from our, conditionally speaking, waking state. I said earlier that dreams are a reflection of what happens in our waking state. It is possible—I don’t want to say here that dream analysis is completely pointless and that it has no purpose and cannot be useful—however, if dreams are not immediately understandable to us, we can devote a short time to trying to understand them, but in principle we should not engage with them. We should engage with this waking state of ours, we should engage with the waking state, we should cultivate our mind while we are awake, while we are in the waking state. First, that will change the content of our dreams—practice changes the content of our dreams—and on the other hand, it will also enable a deeper insight into ourselves, because we are, in a way, also our dreams. And our dreams are part of us; our dreams definitely say something about us. However, trying to grasp our own nature, trying to grasp that deeper understanding of ourselves through dreams, is not what Buddhism is concerned with. We actually strive, through practice, to somehow bring that practice into dreams, and not to bring dreams into our practice. And that is actually a big difference.

How do we bring our practice into dreams? I won’t talk here about lucid dreaming and dream yoga now, however, the fact is that the more aware and the more awake we are, our dreams also—in fact, our dreams also become aligned with our practice. And in that sense, we will not dream something that is in complete opposition to that. I don’t know if I was clear, but I think we should let go of all those thoughts that do not lead to some concrete result, and thoughts about dreams can become a kind of obsession because of which we miss what is happening now and here. And that is the only moment we truly have. I hope I have answered the question to some extent.

Question from Antonio (via chat):
Hello, what exactly are the differences between being aware and meditating? Applied in every activity, and if possible, I would appreciate a concrete example.
Second, what does it mean to contemplate directly in relation to meditating here and now?
And third, how is the practice of meditation correlated with the practice of wisdom, mentioned alongside the practice of morality? With gratitude and respect, thank you.

Answer:
What are the differences between being aware and meditating? Actually, there is no difference between being aware and meditating. In meditation—of course, depending on how we define that awareness—but in meditation we strive to be aware, which means awake, which means present, which means here and now. Which further means that we are not lost in our thoughts about the past and future, that we are not lost in the various stories we constantly tell ourselves. Of course, we can say that even while thinking about the past, we are also aware. We are aware of what we are thinking about or aware of what our mind is occupied with at that moment, but that is not the awareness we are talking about here. So, to be aware means to come out of those stories, to be aware means to come out of thinking about the past and future and to be here and now. In meditation, meditation methods, objects of meditation, help us. So, we can be with our breath, we can be with our body while doing something, while walking. That is what actually supports that being in the present moment.

The second question is what does it mean to contemplate directly in relation to meditating here and now? Well, again, it’s actually about synonyms. Although direct contemplation has an additional… We can say that every meditation is direct contemplation, but when we say direct contemplation, it actually means that to what we contemplate, we add nothing and subtract nothing. That means to contemplate directly. To allow what we observe to present itself. So, not to interpret, not to describe, not to compare, not to enter into any of those other mental operations, so to speak, but simply to observe. So, contemplation here does not mean to think, but to observe. That is the difference. So, to observe directly. That can be something in our field of vision, or something we listen to, or something we touch, but in any case, using any sense that is involved. To contemplate directly, then, means to observe directly, to observe without comparing, naming, remembering, or anything else related to that object.

And how is the practice of meditation correlated with the practice of wisdom? Meditation has the goal of achieving wisdom. And when we talk, on the other hand, about the practice of wisdom, one can speak of the practice of wisdom because wisdom grows in three ways. Wisdom grows from listening, so we can speak of the practice of listening. Wisdom grows from thinking about what we have heard, or, let’s say, reflecting on or considering what we have heard in the light of our own life and experience. In that sense, thinking—when we hear something and then try to apply it to ourselves. So, that is the second way. And the third way is through the practice of meditation. So, when we are not listening, not thinking, but we strive to see directly with our own eyes whether what we heard and thought about is indeed true. And the fourth step would be the generation of wisdom. That is when we see the same and know for ourselves whether something is like this or like that.

I hope this answers these three questions.