Have I ever told you about my recurring "Buddhist temple" dream? I had another one last night (the third in the past year, I think). I'm not certain exactly why I have this dream every few months, as I don't spend much time around Buddhist temples or monks. In the dream, on a city street I see a beautiful Asian temple built of glossy dark wood, with an anthropomorphic entrance made of dark green jade. I looks like a miniature model blown up to life-size.

I speak (do I speak? Or do I simply interact? I don't recall words being exchanged) with a shaven-headed Asian monk in an orange-yellow robe who gives me a few items: a beaded necklace made of golden-yellow semi-precious stone, a small silver metal amulet bearing blue and red symbols of a stylized human ear with a question mark inscribed in it, and a paper card depicting a human head in profile with symbols showing waves of sound radiating from the mouth and throat areas.

It's a fascinating dream because of all the rich symbolism; I'd love to analyze it. I know consciously that yellow is a color sacred to Buddhism, but the card and amulet are particularly interesting, as they symbolize communication and its reception. I don't think it's a "daily residue" dream, although we did discuss some Karl Marx in my business philosophy class, and I do live several blocks north of a Vietnamese Buddhist center on Argyle Street.

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