February 21st, 2020

Dreaming

The dream world cannot be found
Away from my pillow
But nowhere on the pillow can I find it.
And when I am in the dream world
My pillow might as well not exist.
Awake, I feel my dreams are empty;
In dream, the waking world has disappeared.
Can I be sure that the waking universe
Has no pillow beneath it?
If dream and waking alternate,
Which is fantasy, which is real?

Yuan Hung-tao (1568-1610)