In this paper, by dividing the dreams within the "Konjaku Monogatari Shu" into four categories - the dream of "conception," the dream of "previous life," the dream of "rebirth into paradise," and the dream of "spiritual experience" - the characteristi...
In this paper, by dividing the dreams within the "Konjaku Monogatari Shu" into four categories - the dream of "conception," the dream of "previous life," the dream of "rebirth into paradise," and the dream of "spiritual experience" - the characteristics of each dream and the role of dreams within Konjaku Monogatari, have been studied.
There are five stories on the dream of "conception." The stories all have a same pattern of an infertile woman who prays to gods and Buddha, and conceives after dreaming of a treasure coming into her belly. Fifteen stories can be found on the dream of "previous life" that testify the retribution from the previous life to the present life. The fifteen stories can be divided into a story that explains, through connection to the previous life, the reason why Hokkekyo cannot be memorized, and a story that tells characteristics of animals from the previous life remain in our bodies. The dream of "rebirth into paradise" can be found mainly in volume thirteen and volume fifteen. They can be divided into a dream that tells, before one's death, rebirth into paradise in the next world, a dream that shows rebirth into paradise at one's deathbed, and a dream that notifies the rebirth, of another person, into paradise after death. The dream of "spiritual experience" is found mainly in volume sixteen and volume seventeen. In this dream, Kannon Bosatsu and Jizou Bosatsu show their spiritual experiences in the dream. The content of the dream varies; for example, there are dreams that give wealth and dreams that save people from epidemic and starvation.