In Dreamland Zen Story
- Dec 11, 2025
- 2 min read
Today we enter… In Dreamland. A koan that drifts like mist, blurred at the edges, teaching not through shock or paradox but through the quiet unraveling of illusion.
This one doesn’t cut. It dissolves.
Step lightly.
Let the Story Unfold
A monk once asked Master Gudo:
“Where do we go when we die?”
Gudo answered:
“How should I know?”
The monk protested:“ But you are a Zen master!”
Gudo replied:
“Yes… but not a dead one.”
Sit With the Meaning
Zen does not indulge metaphysical speculation. It pulls you out of dreamland—the realm where the mind builds castles from things it cannot touch.
The monk wants answers. Certainty. A map of the afterlife.
Gudo refuses to enter the dream with him.
Not because he doesn’t know philosophy, but because the question itself is a distraction.
Zen exposes the subtle ways the mind escapes:
into the future,
into fantasy,
into what-comes-next
into dream-scapes where no living truth is found.
Gudo’s answer is a door slamming shut on the imagination that tries to outrun this moment.
You cannot wake up if you are busy dreaming about where you’ll be after the dream ends.
Zen points you back to the only place awakening happens: Here. Now. In the living body. Before the mind wanders into dreamland.
Turn Inward With Your Parts
Which part of you escapes into fantasy, prediction, or metaphysical speculation when reality feels uncertain or painful?
What happens inside when you cannot get the answer your protector wants?
Is there a younger part that believes safety comes from “knowing what will happen next”.
What stirs when you imagine being fully present with the not knowing?
Let Expression Rise
IFS Journaling
Write from the part that needs answers before it can relax. Let it speak honestly: What does it fear in the unknown? What threat does “not knowing” represent?
IFS Parts Art
Draw the dreamland your mind escapes into—the one with answers, guarantees, and predictions. Then draw the present moment beside it. Notice the difference in energy, color, or shape.
Somatic IFS
Sit comfortably.
Let your gaze soften.
Feel the impulse to drift into thought or fantasy.
Then gently bring awareness back to one anchor in your body—breath, feet, hands.
Feel what shifts when you stop chasing the dream and stay with the living moment.
And if none of these feel right, simply rest with the story.Let the silence do the teaching.
Stay here with your parts as long as you like, and we’ll meet again in the next story.
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