I am not sure if you guys are aware that dreams are used in certain meditational practices like a window into the future. There are meditational practices that we can do to open up our dream-state psychic abilities. Apparently, there is a form of Tara that helps us to develop this ability. I am sure there are many other practices that helps us to develop this ability as well. I have heard of Lamas who upon given a divination, does a certain practice and takes a nap. Upon waking, the lama would be able to give very accurate answers to the question. I have also heard of lamas who are able to astral travel during the dream-state. There was a lama who was studying the great treatises and even when he slept, he left all the texts open around him. Apparently, when he slept, the lama continued his studies as well.
Here is an interesting article I found that is the supposed 16 Predictions of the Buddha from dreams:
16 Predictions of the Buddha Back in the lifetime of the Buddha there was a king named Pasenadi of Kosala region who had faith in Buddha. One morning short before he woke up, he had dreamed of 16 omens that frightened him. He was worried - not knowing whether the good or bad things he had seen are going to happen or not. He went to Jetavana Vihara Monastery to ask the Buddha about the meaning of those 16 dreams. Buddha explained the meaning of those 16 dreams as follows.
Dream No. 1 King Pasenadis’ first dream: - he saw 4 stout oxen came running from all 4 directions. Furious with anger and grudges they looked like they wanted to fight until death. But when they got close to each other they just retreated without crashing at all.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Inauspicious) In the distant future, there will be natural disasters happening everywhere. Rain will not fall in time. There will be very large clouds coming from 4 directions and it seems that there will be heavy rain. Once all 4 clouds have gotten close to one another, they will retreat without a drop of rain falling to the ground. The results will be draught. Humans and animals will be famished and die in large quantity. Survivors will become immoral and finally the 4 superpower countries in the world will declare war, they verbally fight with each other and try to destabilize the opponents but all of this will not bring any results or changes. This type of calamity will occur in the future and can be seen and heard not too long from now.
Dream No. 2 King Pasenadis’ second dream: - he saw all kinds of trees, not big enough to be able to bear flowers or fruits but they were full of fruits and flowers to the extent that the branches and limbs nearly could not support them.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Trees) In the distant future, daughters that are too young to have husbands, desire to be married and start a family in their young age. Some have indulged prior to their marriage without shame. Once they are pregnant they will find a way to abort their fetuses (similar to the adolescent in today's society). With those unwholesome actions they commit great sins which will have their results in their future. Some adolescents will be under the care of their parents, some have parents that can’t take care of them. Neglected, they become vagabonds practicing petty crimes like theft and later even robbery. Some become beggars, drifters with no parents, families or a chance for education, no home or domicile, sleep wherever they happened to be when it’s getting dark. Some may stay on a bridge waiting to rob someone to support themselves. Those that are attractive become prostitutes. Some grow up to be hooligans extorting protection money from new comers. Some just sleep on the roadside.
Some will entice those kids that have problems with their parents or come from broken families, to become their followers by offering help at first but once the kids can’t perform their tasks they will leave them without food in misery. Some of the kids' limbs will be amputated or their fingers and toes will be cut off so that they become handicapped and turned into beggars. When it's time to beg they will be taken by vehicles to various locations but the boss will be well dressed sitting around monitoring the activities. When it's time, the vehicle will pick them up. This type of calamity will occur in the distant future. Those that live in that epoch will see many of such activities everywhere, day or night without shame and it will not be too long before it can be heard and seen.
Dream No. 3 King Pasenadis’ third dream: - he saw a herd of cows and bulls drinking milk from their offspring.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Bovine) in the distant future, parents will depend on the labor of their children. Food and other goods, including money, will be provided by their children. In that era, parents will have to specially please their children. They will have to be biased if there are several children and their financial status is not equal. Parents must flatter and praise their children; they must talk politely to them in order to get them to share their money. If parents do not talk nice to the children, they will not get any of the shares from them and may get sent to old people’s facilities (Nursing homes). The children might curse at them or chase them out of the house to live alone. Perhaps they will buy life insurance on their parents and get rich after their death (they might have a nicer funeral). This type of calamity will occur in the distant future, it will not be long to hear and see it happen.
Dream No. 4 King Pasenadis’ fourth dream: - he saw group of people harnessing calves to pull their wagons and beat them when they couldn’t do so.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Bovine) in the distant future, people will favor fresh graduates who lack experience, ability, omniscience and circumspection and still do not understand social customs, to govern a country, economy, society. They allow them to govern the affairs of the country which is a difficult task. Because of their inexperience they bring about mistakes, they can’t keep up with changes that occur rapidly, and they lack responsibility and create trade deficits which will ruin the country. People that elected them become dissatisfied with the way they govern the country. They will score them without trying to help them to solve the problems. Protests will occur periodically.
Those who have warm and supporting families will be able to cope with it. Those not having family will have to flee the country and some will commit suicide to escape from those problems. Some will have to separate from families and cause affliction to their wives and children. Such incidents have occurred countless times all over the world. Sometimes they will kill each other because they do not want to be chased away. Sometimes they work for the country but disobliged their superiors or their financial supporters in election time, so they will end up getting terminated.
Some that used to conduct business together in the past and became powerful but could not benefit their clansmen enough will get deposed from their positions. Those that are equally powerful will use the country's interest in bargaining and cause dilapidation to the country. Some will bring down their superiors to steal their power and hope the people will believe that their superiors are on their side to gain trust and power. Both groups weaken or even destroy the country for their own benefits. This type of calamity will occur in the distant future. It won’t be long and you will hear and see it happen.
Dream No. 5 King Pasenadis’ fifth dream: - he saw a one headed horse with two mouths which can eat grass with both mouths but will not get full no matter how much it eats.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Equine) in the distant future. Judges will extort money from both sides of the parties as bribery for inquisition. Some cases will get postponed to acquire more money. They will request all kinds of fees for their own satisfaction without mercy or ethics. If they do not get what they want they will not take the complaint. They will shamelessly demand as much as they desire.
For small cases, they will demand according to the proportion and for big cases they will demand for the maximum and only then they will pronounce the case or overturn the case. They will annihilate law and justice. This type of activity will occur all over the world in every society. This type of calamity will occur in the distant future. It won’t be long and you will hear and see it happen.
Dream No. 6 King Pasenadis’ sixth dream: - he saw a group of rich people bringing extremely expensive golden trays for foxes to defecate and urinate on them.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Golden Tray) in the distant future there will be foolish people claiming to be knowledgeable and trustworthy. They are well known in society, mature but unreliable and they will propagate that they teach the Buddhas’ teaching. In reality they teach out of selfishness, desire and lust and try to distort the Buddhas’ teachings. They try to adapt the Buddhas’ teachings, and blend it with their doctrine and declare that my teachings are part of their doctrine which will make most people misunderstand and assume that my teachings can blend with their doctrine and believe that they are one and the same. But those doctrines can’t comprehend the value of my teachings in any way because their minds are not pure. This type of people will exist in the future after my death. There will be a great variety of doctrines that will claim to be religion.
People from families out of lower social status will raise their status with education and gain important position. People from higher social status will have to give their daughters to people from lower status because it's the era for lower people to gain power. This happens because those families from higher status live in negligence. Not too far in the future all will hear and see, there will be more turmoil in religions. Monks will deteriorate in discipline, not obeying their disciplinary rules. They do not practice like monks but like laymen and are only interested in rank and status. Their followers will try to bring them rank and titles. There will be great disturbance in religious circles and people will lose their faith and start to look for other refuges. They will turn to mediums, magic and fortune tellers because they can give them better advice than psychiatrists. There will be more of these things happen in near future; we will be able to witness this.
Dream No. 7 King Pasenadis’ seventh dream: - he saw a man weaving books into ropes on a bench and there were foxes waiting to bite and eat the rope when it's completed. Once the rope was completed the foxes ate it all up.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (A man weaving rope) in the distant future, people with immoral mind will obtain titles, working in high office and relying on the power of the king. They administrate the affairs of the country on the behalf of the king with foolishness, lack of intelligence and impolite speech, revealing intern secrets of the palace to the common people. People from different doctrines with bad intentions towards the king will hear this and lose respect for the king and the whole dynasty. This type of calamity will occur in the future, it will not be long and we will hear and see this. Those people with bad intentions toward the royalty will become destructive (like Wasakala Brahmin).
Dream No. 8 King Pasenadis’ eights dream: - he saw large earthen jars and small earthen jars in the same location. People will stand in queue to fill those large earthen jars with water until they overflow but no one care to fill those small earthen jars.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Earthen Jar) in the distant future people will make donations selectively. Senior monks with higher rank will get attention and people will give too much offerings with expensive goods and food, whereas novices sitting beside those senior monks will not be presented with any offerings at all. The people will have to work much harder to pay their tax to the country without thinking of saving some for themselves. They will seek accommodations which satisfy their desires for luxury and comfort without end. This type of calamity will occur in the future. It will not be too long for all to see and hear.
Dream No. 9 King Pasenadis’ ninth dream: - he saw a pond with clear water but the water in the middle of the pond was muddy and dirty. All animals went to the center of the pond to drink but they didn’t care about the clean and cool water at the ponds bank, they just smelt it and passed by it.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Large pond) in the distant future people will be endlessly greedy, they can’t get enough possessions. Honest work will not be desirable because the small salary they receive for it is not satisfying to their greedy minds. They apply for jobs in politics and once voted they handle the states affairs and finances with corruption. They try to get as much as possible out of their job as long as they have it. They work with the motto “may the best man win”. This type of calamity will occur all over the world, in every country and every territory. It will multiply enormously and cause turmoil on every continent. Some will be more corrupt than others and then they will eventually expose each others' secrets and can’t get along anymore. Each party will have their own clique. Occasionally there will be revolutions and coup d' etat because of fights among the demons in suits.
Capitals will not be suitable living places because of an increase of dangers. The public will migrate to rural areas. This type of calamity will occur in the future. It will not be too long for all of us to hear and see.
Dream No. 10 King Pasenadis’ tenth dream: - he saw rice in a pot which was in different states of the cooking process. Cooked in one section and half cooked in another section and totally raw in yet another section.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Uncooked) in the distant future most people in the world will have differences in thoughts. One group believes that I am their refuge and truly respect me. They believe that my teachings are correct and when practiced to completion, it will lead them to completely overcome suffering. They believe in nibbana, heaven and hell and that there is such thing as good karma and bad karma. But they do not change, and when they die while still have passions and desires, they will be reborn.
Another group is not sure if nibbana still exists in this time because it is long time ago that the Buddha was alive on this earth.
They wonder if the Buddha's teaching is still originally. They wonder if monks that practice good self conduct will achieve nibbana. They are full of doubts and uncertainty and because of this they fail to do any good deeds or practice ethic principles. They wander without refuge, lack in morality and finally find no refuge in their old age because they did not do any good deeds to prepare for the future.
Another group will totally reject the concept of nibbana. They do not believe in life after death and therefore are bound to mistreat their parents, society, steal Buddha images and sell them and steal from the temples. When Buddhism comes to its declining state, people will misinterpret the Buddhas teachings and prefer immorality more and more. It will not be long for all of us to hear and see this.
Dream No. 11 King Pasenadis’ eleventh dream: - he saw a group of people exchanging cores of red sandal wood which is expensive to trade with just a pot of sour milk which is absolutely incomparable in value.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Core of red sandal wood) in the distant future, a group of people will trade my teachings for money. They will publish and sell them to make a living. They will try to make all kinds of business with my teachings to earn money which is incomparable to the value of the teachings. It won’t be long then philosophers will interpret that my teachings are the same as other religions' teachings. They will say that I teach everybody to be good (but my teachings teaches people to achieve nibbana, which is reached by standing above good and bad) and philosophers will not practice my teachings but they will try to interpret my teachings to appear to be enlightened ones. There will be lots of these philosophers in the future. These calamities will occur towards the end of the Buddhist era. It will not be long and all will certainly hear and witness this.
Dream No. 12 King Pasenadis’ twelfth dream: - he saw a dried up hollow bottle gourd sinking into the water which would normally float on the water. This truly baffled him.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Dried up hollow bottle gourd) in the distant future, good knowledgeable and wise individuals both monks and laymen who deserve praise and admiration in society will be hindered by groups of bullies repeatedly. Good laymen will not get the chance to work in the countries administration. Those that are knowledgeable, capable and honest will not be elected into the higher government positions and if they will be elected then there will be groups of dishonest people working for their own benefits trying to harass them. These dishonest people will regard the good people as evils and they will try to cover their own misconducts.
Good people will not get a chance in their society and monks will get the similar treatment. Good and well disciplined monks, highly educated, which strive for the achievement of nibbana or work to help the society will be considered as undesirable to them and get no respect from them. They may share their abundant necessities but without clear conscience or they may just offer very small amounts just to get by. Those monks will have a difficult life; people will not want to go into monk-hood for this reason. Eventually, good monks will fade away and disappear from society. This type of calamity will occur in the future and it will not be long before all will see and hear.
Dream No. 13 King Pasenadis’ thirteenth dream: - he saw a solid block of stone as big as a ship floating of the surface of water like an empty bark. Normally such stone would sink but that block of stone just floated on the surface of water.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Big solid stone) in the distant future, bad people will get praised and be admired in society. They will have rank and power; they will be popular and dignified. They will have many subordinates and followers. If they were laymen they will be well-liked and respected everywhere they go. The crowd will greet them and please them they are like a big mirror that reflexes the image of that country. Prosperity or decline of the community of such a country will be seen in this big mirror. The congress is this big mirror; it reflects the character of the elected members. The elected congressional members will have similar character to those that voted for them because they will pick the type of people that are similar to them. The trait will be the same for clerics or ascetics, whether the religion will prosper or decline will depend on all of the 4 congregations.
Without help, monks alone will not be eminent among the community. Monks can become famous because their followers advertise their goodness or sacredness and the miracles they have performed. Their followers advertise their knowledge and abilities, whether the monks like that or not. Disciples of some monks will determine the character of their own teachers and turn them into saints or so called “Established Saints”.
Disciples will make the public know how strictly their teachers follow the principles, beyond the actual truth. This is the floating solid stone that's so eminent; it’s a business hiding beneath the yellow robes of the monks. Some will arrange tours to visit temples just to get a cheap vacation and overcharge others in the group. Some of them will take a part of the donations. Religion can not depend on these people because they misuse it to make a living. Finally people will lose faith because they can see the unworthiness of monks in that era. People with wisdom, stability of mind, and the ability to reason will seek for “true” monks. In the time of decline of Buddhism this type of calamity will certainly occur. It will not be long for all to hear and see for themselves especially during the time of recession or war this will happen everywhere.
Dream No. 14 King Pasenadis’ fourteenth dream: - he saw a small toad chasing an enormous cobra for a meal. Once caught, the toad immediately devoured the snake.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (A small toad chasing enormous black cobra once caught she immediately devoured it as if it were a small insect) in the distant future, famous monks with great ability to give rhetoric speeches gain influence and power. They start to play an important role in society, are respected and trusted by people and gain admiration. That makes them become conceited, without conscience, and they do not know how to be humble.
They lack of wisdom and therefore lack of the ability to control their five senses and the mind. They get attached to beautiful sights, sounds, fragrances, flavors, tangible sensations and pleasant thoughts. This will be followed by passion for love and sex. They become possessed by sexual desire and therefore small toads (women) will see the opportunity to seductively lure with charming words that fascinate the cobras. And then the toad devours the cobra. In the distance future all will see and hear this for themselves.
Dream No. 15 King Pasenadis’ fifteenth dream: - he saw a crow surrounded by golden swans wherever the crow went, those golden swans will surround it as followers.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Golden swans served a crow) in the distant future, newly ordained monks and novices whose morals are not quite pure will surround, admire and pay respect to immoral monks as teachers. The crow is clever and devious in giving gifts in return for the respect of all little swans, small swans, and big swans. The swans will show how important the crow is by sending gifts every month. Every year they will gain more status and titles. They will not work for religion but they flatter the housemaster for status in return.
When the era of decline of Buddhism is coming, there will more immoral monks. Monks and novices who lack of education and guidance in monkshood will not understand the discipline and their duties. They will not conduct their daily prayer but just watch TV, those in the rural area will enter monkshood for the sake of tradition or they do it for money, some will do it on their parents' request and while being ordained they will bring entertainment to the temple which violate the rules and regulations of priesthood and bring unwholesome kamma for their parents and relatives. They do not perform monks’ duties and lack of discipline. They neither listen nor pay attention during dhamma teachings. They talk without respect and are even proud of their immoral behavior, without shame and not afraid of the results of their unwholesome deeds. This will happen in the distant future and all will hear and see.
Dream No. 16 King Pasenadis’ sixteenth dream: - he saw a herd of goats hunting tigers and enjoying eating the tiger’s meat.
Buddha made the prediction that: - (Tigers were afraid of being hunt by goats and disappeared) in the distant future, people will not be satisfied with a monarchy. They will turn against the monarchy and vote for democracy. In order to decrease the role and the power of the King they put him under the same administration and the same laws. When the King rejects the proposal, they will start a coupe d’etat to seize power in accordance with their desires. If any King resists, they will eradicate the monarchic regime of that country. In some countries the King consents to the people’s demand and surrenders his power. Then he will be highly respected, trusted, and praised as their moral supporter and a God like individual and be the center of people’s moral.
Once the King consents to the wishes of the people the voted democratic government will soon be misguided and believing that they rightfully deserve their status, they misuse their power to benefit themselves and their siblings. Eventually there will be other equally powerful groups which to try to take over and this will endlessly go on. This type of event will happen in the distant future and we all will hear and see it.
