Riding the Snake

Today, October 31, 2012, is my birthday and I have turned 50 years old, and this morning's dream is a deep well rich with esoteric meaning. It really provides us with much food for thought. In the dream I see an ancient wall carving of a naga, which is the word in Sanskrit for snake. The nagas of Hindu myth are a primeval race of divine-serpent people that play an important part in the religions of Asia. They are half human and half snake. They are still worshipped today as bringers of fertility, especially in southern India. Nagas are said to live in palaces in an underground city called Bhogavati. They are considered to be the protectors of wells, springs and rivers. Thus they bring fertility and rain, and disasters, such as, floods and droughts.

In my dream this snake carving is located in western China in a place called 'The Cave of a Thousand Buddha's' or Qiandofong. It is situated near the desert oasis town of Dunhuang in western China. In the Late fourth century it was a busy stopover for travelers, traders and pilgrims traveling along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.  It was about this time in history that wandering monks began carving a growing complex of over a thousand caves with many cave temples. The caves became a pilgrimage site. The caves were largely abandoned and forgotten about when sea travel made the Silk Road redundant.

The caves remained hidden for centuries until the year 1900 when a treasure trove of some 50,000 documents and artifacts were discovered by a Daoist monk name Wang Yaunlu who appointed himself abbot and protector of the caves. The items were hidden behind a sealed wall painting and were put there at some point in the eleventh century.

The snake wall carving in my dream seems to be a map of a section of caves. The body of the snake has segments. Each segment corresponds to a cave temple and each has a different representation of the incarnations of the Buddha. A pilgrim would be expected to visit each cave progressing from the tip of the tail to the head. I see this as a Buddhist version of the Roman Catholic tradition of the Stations of the Cross which is a devotion consisting of prayers and meditations before each of the 14 crosses or images set up in a church or along a path commemorating the events of the Passion of Jesus.The 14 crosses of this devotion are often accompanied by images or pictures representing events of the Passion of Jesus. Here, in this dream, each cave represents a manifestation of the Buddha and each embodies different aspects of the dharma.

I cannot tell you if such a cave carving or picture actually exists at the 'Cave of a Thousand Buddha's'. Maybe it is there and I remote viewed it. I do not know for certain. I would dearly love to travel there and search the cave complex for it. Would also like to consult with a Buddhist scholar and get their take on what I saw in this dream, and see if it conforms with present or past teachings, and philosophies. In any case, this warrants some deeper research to see what may be uncovered.

Lately, I have been watching a video series of lectures on Astrotheology by Santos Bonacci posted on YouTube. One lecture I heard him explain that the  human spinal column is the serpent of the nervous system. The head of the serpent corresponds with the pineal gland or third eye and there are chakras along the length of the body. Bonacci shares an hermetic understanding of the sign of Scorpio it has two symbols, the scorpion or the snake, and the eagle. In the ancient wisdom, the snake has great wisdom, even knowledge of life and death, symbolised by its sloughing off its old skin and being reborn anew. The eagle too, may be associated with the Phoenix, which dies and is born again from the ashes. Both of these symbols, the snake and the eagle, are associated with secret wisdom and knowledge of good and evil. You start to see the whole bigger picture of all the esoteric and exoteric understandings surrounding the serpent. It then becomes a huge subject to explore and seek to understand, and to make relevant to our understanding of this dream.

One image came to my mind as an American. There was an early political cartoon. A newspaper woodcut illustration was published during the years of the French and Indian War and penned by Benjamin Franklin. This kind of follows with the universal theme of the serpent presented in our dream. A rattle snake is cut into 8 pieces. Each segment of the snake is a representation of the American colonies and every curve is suggestive of the Atlantic coast. The ominous words "Join, or Die" are displayed underneath. It was not  intended as early call for independence from  Britain, but rather, a call for American unity to oppose the French and defend the colonies. It played off a common superstition of the day that a snake, that had been cut to pieces, could come back to life if the pieces were joined before sunset.

The snake presented in my dream was segmented with the pieces touching each other. The symbolism is eerily similar to the snake of my dream. Buddhism has an eight spoke wheel as it's symbol and an 8 fold path also called the middle path. Eight has a significant and special place within the Buddhist system of beliefs. One wonders if Franklin was tapping into some universal archetype.

The Eight Fold Path:

1. Right view – This is the starting point of the eightfold path. Right view is being able to see that the whole world is filled with suffering and discontent and according to Bodian and Landaw the way to improve the situation is, “to cultivate the insightful wisdom that maintains this correct view.”
2. Right intentions – This step involves giving up attitudes that are self-centered or corrupt. Replacing these incorrect intentions or thoughts with ones of selflessness and compassion will help in bringing happiness and ending suffering and distress.According to Bhikku Bodhi, these two steps make up the Wisdom group of the Noble Eightfold Path.
3. Right speech – This means that one should use the right or positive words when talking to others or about them. Negative, harsh language reflects one’s thoughts and inner state. Therefore, it is important to replace it with pleasant, kind and compassionate words.
4. Right action – The right action means acting in a way that is positive to others and brings joy and happiness.
5. Right livelihood – While one can earn a living in a variety of ways, the right livelihood is essentially a profession in which one can be of service to others or at least make sure that one’s work is honest and compassionate.Bhikku Bodhi has classified these three steps of right speech, right action and right livelihood into the Moral Discipline group.
6.  Right effort – This step refers to one’s spiritual practice. It is important to exert in a wholesome manner to introspect and reflect on one’s spiritual progress. As Bhikku Bodhi says, “The reason why effort is so crucial is that each person has to work out his or her own deliverance.”
7.  Mindfulness is attentiveness or awareness. Bodian and Landaw write that it is important not to dwell in the past or imagine the future; rather one should focus on the present moment
8. Right concentration – Acute concentration is required in order to develop the insight needed to understand reality. According to McClain and Adamson, right concentration means working on achieving a one-pointed mind. In order words, it is being able to focus complete, unwavering attention on any object or task.

I can envisage that the snake wall carving of the dream is a suggested map for the pilgrim to follow. Each cave has a shrine and embodies an idea or concept with multiple layers of meaning to be meditated on and explored. According to Bhikku Bodhi in The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to End Suffering, the eight noble paths are not sequential steps. Rather they are components that are interdependent and “are comparable to the intertwining strands of a single cable that requires the contribution of all the strands for maximum strength.” With this thought in mind. I imagine a cave system with multiple entrances and exits. There are many ways to enter and exit from the truth? This really starts to get interesting!

Perhaps The Eightfold Path is just one template an initiate can use to reach enlightenment? I suppose it all depends on the skill, training and experience of the seeker as to how far and how successfully one navigates down this path.

At this point in our analysis of the dream I think I have covered everything I have wanted to explore about the snake. I would like to close with some brief thoughts about the caves. Is it not interesting that caves figure so predominately in Buddhist beliefs and practices? There are tons of ideas we could go into about this aspect of the dream and that would be a whole other lengthy blog in and of itself. We could delve into the concept of the cave being a womb or we could go on and on about the allegory of Plato's cave. Save that thought for another time.

The caves of Dunhuang were a place to provision after a long trek in the desert and to pray for the journey ahead, and to give thanks for having survived. It seems a fitting metaphor for what my life is currently like for me today as I turn 50 today. It gives me some encouragement as I ride the snake of existence into the future.