A Dream

So last night I had a dream.  I was walking along a crowded street, and saw an old woman sitting on the sidewalk, asking for change from people passing by.  She was dirty, and her eyes had a pleading look in them. 

I looked at her and imagined myself sitting there instead.  The next time I looked down, I saw my face instead of hers. I cried, because I was so happy that just by intending this, it had happened. 

Before bed, I had been reading this passage in "The Heart of Compassion," by Dilgo Khyentse:

"All suffering without exception arises from desiring
happiness for oneself,
While perfect Buddhahood is born from the thought
of benefiting others.
Therefore, to really exchange
My own happiness for the suffering of others is the
practice of a bodhisattva."

When I began my journey on the Buddhist path and read this book for the first time, it all seemed so inconceivable.  How was I ever going to care about others more than myself?  Yes, great beings might be able to do it, but I would never be one of them.  I was a selfish only child who didn't think much about others. 

But this journey is facinating, because the more you are exposed to the teachings, the more they seep in.  The teachings wander into your dreams and show you that indeed, anything is possible.