Nichiren, Theravada, and Another Dream

My decision to seek out a Buddhist temple of the Theravada specification wasn’t all that thought out. I had AI ask me questions to help determine which facet was most aligned with my values and practices before  summarizing some of the major differences. I spent only an hour or so doing this.

I imagine the equivalent in Christianity would be to talk to a saint in a church during a dream, and then the next day use AI for an hour to pick between being Catholic, or Protestant (Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, etc.) Anyway, Theravada has been kind to me, and a few weeks ago a friend introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism.

I found Theravada most appealing originally because the meditation practices are similar to what I had already been practicing. Nichiren Buddhism focuses more on meditation with chanting which aligned less at our first intersection than the Nichiren philosophy - that enlightenment (emancipation, Buddhahood, whatever you would like to call it) is already within everyone (not just monks), and we just need to awaken it. My understanding is that it manifests as courage, compassion, and clarity.

Earlier this week I had another temple-related dream where Sanskrit was written in black on a wall in a gold room. I walked in carrying a tray, noticed the raised gold wall with the text on it, felt unworthy, and turned to walk away. I was stopped by a man that smiled and began to ask me why I was leaving before changing his question to, “first time?” He said it’s okay, that it’s typical to take a gift, and that I should go back up with a sacred object that he then handed to me. I placed it my tray and carried it back up, and another man saw me and laughed kindly. He said the gift was acceptable though typically the gift is brought up just by hand. I quickly placed the tray to the side on the ground and handed the sacred object to the friendly man. I stepped closer to the wall and I heard a gong. The wall began to grow brighter and brighter as did the text. As the light reached me everything started to blur. I was being engulfed by the light and beauty of all things. It hit like a wave, first touching the front of my body and passing through me until I was fully part of the whole. I had never felt a physical sensation as pleasurable and all-encompassing. Everything slowly faded to black, and then I opened my eyes, awake in bed.

I wrote down what had happened quickly and then went back to sleep. Who knows what I will piece together from all of these experiences? What I do know is that I am open minded and searching.