If life is nothing more substantial than a dream, as this old nursery rhyme suggests—and as Buddhism teaches—then why should we take it seriously?
But we do take it seriously. We row not with but against life's current, a current that often seems swift and treacherous. We tug at the oars, struggle and sweat, swerve to avoid rocks and eddies, fearing that at any moment we might capsize and drown—because, eventually, we will. So this dream of life becomes a nightmare from which we cannot awaken.
According to the ancient legend, after years of painful and desperate searching, an Indian prince named Gautama did exactly this—he woke up—and was afterwards known as the Buddha, the Awakened One. He helped others to do the same, and over the centuries, as Buddhism spread through Asia, this experience of awakening has retained its place at the center of Buddhist study and practice.
But what does it mean to say that Prince Gautama "woke up?"
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