Two questions came up this evening — one relayed on someone else's behalf, and one about the many things Thai people bow to.

Why do I keep dreaming I'm a monk after disrobing?

Someone relayed a question on another person's behalf: after ordaining and later returning to lay life, this person often dreams of being a monk — especially on nights when they meditate before sleep. Why does this happen?

The teacher explained that the human body and the subtle "dream body" are naturally connected, since the subtle body forms the backdrop behind the coarse human body and operates at a more refined, more capable level. When a person's subtle body carries a high enough proportion of wholesome qualities — as much as the level associated with monkhood — that subtle body guides the coarse body toward beautiful conduct and sincere Dhamma practice, which is why such a person often practices well and strictly enough to surprise even themselves. And during sleep, that same subtle body — carrying wholesomeness at the level of monkhood — produces the dream of being a monk, guiding the coarse body to wish to ordain so it too can take part in generosity, precepts, and meditation at the level of a monk.

The teacher added that merit flows through every body in the chain — from the coarse human body through the subtle body, the celestial body, the Brahma body, all the way through every level of the Dhamma body — each level supporting the ones below it. When the human body dedicates itself wholeheartedly to wholesome deeds, staking its very life on it, the more refined levels along that chain will petition the Buddha and the Universal Monarch to come look after that person, in order to raise the proportion of wholesomeness a further degree — from an ordinary person to a virtuous one, and from a virtuous one toward a noble one. All of this depends on precepts, concentration, and wisdom — the tools used to refine and purify the elements within.

Does bowing to things other than the Triple Gem carry a downside?

Someone observed that many Thai people bow to a great many things, not only the Triple Gem — shrines, sacred caves, various objects believed to grant wishes — and asked whether bowing to things other than the Triple Gem leaves any lingering negative effect.

The teacher answered yes: doing so means not aiming directly at what is truly sublime and supreme, and that comes from an inner unwholesome voice steering you away from the highest aim — because as long as the mind isn't connected to the boundless, all-powerful inner knowing, the unwholesome side can control and steer it more easily. But anyone whose mind is genuinely pure and aimed straight at the Triple Gem will appear shining within Nirvana — not before just one being, or a hundred, a thousand, or a hundred thousand, but before countless beings beyond number. Compare that with placing faith in something believed to hold great power which, in truth, hasn't even freed itself from the cycle of rebirth and is still struggling for its own happiness — devotion to such things is worlds apart from aiming directly at the Triple Gem and Nirvana, whose boundless, countless power watches over and protects us.