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Teaching Dreams from Vacation



I had some extremely vivid dreams over vacation. Unfortunately, some time has passed since I had them and a great deal of the details now are gone.

In one of the best and most epic ones, I was a really awesome English teacher. You know, the kind of teacher where everybody is really into it, and people come to sit in on class even when they don’t have to.

Well I was teaching this big thing on Existentialism, and I remember going around the room asking everybody really forcefully “What is the meaning of life?” And each person would answer me something different, and then I would tell them that they are wrong, that there is no such thing as meaning, and that “meaning” is just a word.

Then I used the chalkboard to break down the shapes in the word “MEANING” so that they became meaningless, something similar to this:

| \ / | | = / - \ | \ | | | \ | ( -

Later in the dream, there was a part where I was standing by these train tracks, like a light rail in a city. And the train was just about to crest this hill and all of a sudden, a young boy was standing in front of it. The train struck and killed him immediately, and I began screaming and crying.

But then suddenly time reversed or something. Either the boy became unkilled or else we shifted into an alternate dimension where that boy had not been killed, or somebody else had sacrificed themselves in his place. It was very weird, and seemed extremely important.

Another very important dream that I had this morning. I was looking for my motorcycle (though I don’t actually own one), and it had disappeared from where I parked it. I went into the building and asked about it to find that the owners were throwing a party and had moved it to clear a space for the festivities.

A very interesting Chinese man was the owner. I sat and spoke with him. He evidently was some big martial arts teacher combined with some kind of spiritual guru. And we spoke I guess about my life path, because I remember him saying to me, “You have the mind of a teacher,” and then instructing me that it was time I chose a path or a school and devoted myself to it. “It’s time to make a decision,” he said.

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12 Reader Responses

  1. Joe Chip Says:
    December 30th, 2005 at 4:20 pm

    looks like you should be a teacher.

    i also had a dream about a month ago that someone got killed, but it was reversed. in my case, i conspired with shadowy men to kill a man named adam. when i suddenly remembered that i had known and been friends with adam all my life, he came back to life and we went and conquered nations together. i also was left with the impression that the dream was important.

  2. jp Says:
    December 30th, 2005 at 4:53 pm

    your ‘chinese man’ reminds me of this one i had some time ago:

    http://www.snant.com/fp/archives/dream-from-2001/

    I’m in a vast chamber, and there are two directions from which to choose. One (Path A) leads to a boardwalk which rises from the bottom of a mountain, up into infinity. Various people are walking up the path at various rates of speed, and all are dressed in white. The second path (Path B) continues more deeply into the chamber.

    At first, I decide to try Path A. I begin climbing the boardwalk, observing the other climbers. After a few moments of walking, I notice an old Asian woman with a straw broom and a dustpan. She’s sweeping the boardwalk, keeping it clean so nobody else trips on the dust. This, to me, seems more valuable than climbing to the top, so I stop to assist the old woman. “How long have you been here sweeping the path?” I ask her. “23 years,” she replies, “but sweeping the path is not for you. This may not even be your path. Maybe you shouldn’t decide to help me just yet. You still have plenty of time to choose.”

    Taking her hint, I backtrack to Path B, further in the chamber. I come across a shrine made of lumber with a single candle, unlit, in a hole above it. I knock one piece of wood off of the shrine, which causes the candle to spring to life. Turning around, I see that a heavy stone blocks a cave which leads to the outside. I hear voices coming from what I know to be a field outside the shrine. Taking a piece of lumber, I hit the wall of the cave so that the people outside will think the cave is haunted. They act quite frightened, and I hear them discussing the legends about spirits inhabiting the cave. Deciding to reveal myself, I roll the stone door away from the cave entrance and pop out, much to the relief of the guards outside, who now see that thye cave wasn’t haunted at all. We all laugh and laugh, and I’m so happy to be there.

    i often dream about ‘wisdom teachers’ who are chinese. i wonder what it says about my inherent unconcious racist tendencies? i’d imagine some chinese people get annoyed with the whole ‘wise chinese’ archetype, like some native americans get tired of the whole ‘wise indigenous shaman’ thing.

  3. Tim Boucher Says:
    December 30th, 2005 at 5:57 pm

    That’s funny that you bring that up about people having unconscious tendencies to fixate on a particular race or type of person who has sort of “mystical” qualities. I think there’s definitely an element of the exotic at play in cases like this. But I’ve become more inclined lately to simply accept these dream-teachers as actual people (or maybe ‘entities’ is a better word), and hey, some people are just Chinese.

    You know, now that I think about it, I’ve definitely had other highly significant dreams where there was a “wise Chinese man.” Actually, that was the same night I dreamt of meeting Jesus:

    http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2004/11/meeting-jesus-in-subway.html

    At one point, I think my brother said something [to the Chinese man] like, “You see everything, don’t you?” Meaning that no detail missed his attention. And the man replied in somewhat awkward English, “I see because all of my eye muscles are open.” Then I felt compelled to ask him, “What is it that you see?” His answer was, “My window is cracked.” At the time, I took him to mean that it was cracked open, like when a car window is rolled down slightly. But now I think I understand that he realized that the biggest thing he could see with his immense powers of perception, was that his own power was inherently flawed, but that was okay.

  4. Faerieland is inside Bush's Toe Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:05 am

    I possibly missed the meaning of this post but does anybody know what actor plays Tim Boucher? My guess would be Elijah Wood or possibly the kid from Donnie Darko.

  5. monster Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:29 am

    Interesting about dreams, I just ordered an herb from eBay which is supposed to help with lucid dreaming, Calea zacatechichi. I’ll let you know if it works.

    http://www.erowid.org/plants/calea_zacatechichi/calea_zacatechichi.shtml

  6. Faerieland is inside Bush's Toe Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:36 am

    I had a funny dream I made a clay scultpture of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud and I molded them together. I realized time had passed 56 years for me but for everyone else it was reversed 15 years. Then I realized Jungs clay head was a portal into the past, and Freud’s head was a portal into the future. And then I realized I was living inside a house that was with-in a house that was with-in a grocery market which for some reason sold only pictures of food. I think dreams are such a hoot- I wish they had dream movie theathers.

  7. Faerieland is inside Bush's Toe Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:37 am

    I saw the movie Donnie Darko recently which is probably the reason for the time travel dream.

  8. Tim Boucher Says:
    December 31st, 2005 at 12:38 am

    Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about that calea z. thing. I’m definitely interested in hearing about that. I’ve also heard interesting things about taking supplements of melatonin have some weird dream effects:

    http://www.timboucher.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=155

    As to the question of who would play me in a movie, I think the Jake Gyllenhaal suggestion is probably pretty good.

  9. monster Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 2:06 pm

    Hmm, maybe I’ll try melatonin. I’ve had some bizarre dreams on 5-HTP.

    Also, the other night I had a hella bizarre, lucid dream after taking the following concoction:

    -A tea made with Salvia Divinorum leaves and chamomile tea.
    -Valerian root capsules
    -5-HTP capsules
    -Smoked a joint of catnip (I know, I know- but it’s really tasty)

    I could control my dream, so I dreamed about golf, basically practicing my swing in my dream. I had a tee time the next day, and I went out and played really well :)

  10. Tim Boucher Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 2:10 pm

    I know I could just look it up, but what’s 5-HTP? What effect does catnip have on humans?

  11. monster Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 4:56 pm

    5HTP is 5-Hydroxy-Tryptophan, which is like a precursor to tryptophan in the brain or something, which affects dreams like melatonin. It also relaxes you like valerian root.

    Catnip is supposed to give you a very mild MJ-like buzz, and it gave me one but I had taken so many other herbs I couldn’t definitely say it was that that did it. It was tasty, though! I can see why cats like it.

  12. Experimental College Classes - exoskeleton Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 6:11 pm

    […] Just thinking about being able to do this gets me really energized (especially after those weird dreams I’ve been having about being a teacher). I’m […]



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