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With reference to the preparation of a disciple for initiation, Mkhas-
grub-rje s (1385 1438) survey, translated by Lessing and Wayman in
Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, states: The sign of his mental
purity must arise; and there must be the sign that the Initiation is not
opposed by the deity. . . . Furthermore, if the permission (anujñå) of
the gods has been received, one may enter into Initiation and the other
acts of the mandala even if the [prescribed] amount of service is not
completed. That very [permission] substitutes for the measure of ser-
vice, because that [permission] is paramount. 31 Further, the connec-
tion with dream is clearly stated: However, the one who has already
done the service consisting in contemplation and muttering [the man-
tras], must for the performance of Initiation examine his dreams [and
decide that] permission has been granted and that it is not opposed. 32
These passages highlight the role of dream in relation to the
permission that must be granted by the deity before the ritual can take
place. Hence, the preparations for a formal tantric initation or empow-
erment ceremony, such as the grand public Kalachakra rituals regu-
larly carried out by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, include the distribution
of sacred kusha grass so that the participants may sleep on it and
examine their dreams on the first night before the empowerment.
Dreams that would indicate the permission of the deity and the readi-
ness of the disciple include dreams of the Triple Gem, of one s per-
sonal deity, bodhisattvas, mountains, elephants, waterfalls, or obtaining
riches and clothing.33 Good dreams and prognosticatory dreams also
indicate spiritual success; conversely, bad dreams indicate the depar-
ture of the deity. With regard to success in ritual practice, the Vairo-
canåbhisambodhitantra states:
One should examine his dreams and assess them as auspi-
cious when in dreams there occur monasteries, parks, superb
buildings, the dome of a residence; a sword, wish-granting
106 Dreamworlds of Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism
gem, umbrella, assorted flowers, good women dressed in
white, pleasant relatives and children; books, Brahmins,
Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas, disciples of a Jina, eminent
bodhisattvas; gain of fruit, seeing a crossing of lakes and
oceans; from the sky auspicious entrancing words that
mention the desired fruit as arising. And a wise person
knows that their reverse is a bad dream.34
The emphasis on dreams as signs of spiritual progress or signs
of permission and authentification of spiritual attainment is nowhere
more prominent than in the numerous accounts of dreams and vision-
ary experiences contained in the life stories of Tibet s great yogis and
saints. One of the most prolific sources of dreams and visions is the
terma (concealed treasure) tradition associated with the Nyingma
school.35 The eighth-century yogin Padmasambhava is said to have
concealed various tantric teachings and ritual objects to be revealed at
a later time by reincarnations of his spiritually adept disciples. Terma
can be physical objects hidden in caves and rocks (earth terma) or
teachings and instructions that appear in the mind (mind terma) of the
treasure revealer (tertön). The instructions and prophecies leading to
the discovery of the treasure are understood to arise spontaneously in
pure visions during the waking state, in meditative experiences, or
through dreams of clarity.36 The dream instructions regarding the trea-
sure to be revealed, like shamanic dream narratives, often break the
boundaries of waking and sleeping, as for example the description
recorded by the tertön Pemalingpa in his autobiography: When I was
staying at Kun zang trag, in a dream three women in Tibetan dress
came to me and said, Padma Ling pa, wake up! When I suddenly
awakened, before I could think, they told me, In the lower part of this
valley, to the east of Thar ling at a place called Cha trag, there is a
rocky mountain known as Dor je trag. . . . 37 The account begins as a
dream, but the sleeping Pemalingpa awakens to hear the words of
the women. Thus, the narrative presents a moment in which dreams,
waking visions, and ordinary waking reality interpenetrate one an-
other. Similarly, from the biography of Terdaglingpa (1646 1714), comes
the account of a dream in which a celestial dakini comes to his room
and, removing her ring, places it in the cup beside his bed. In the
morning he awakens to find a scroll in the cup with the instructions
for finding a terma.38
To be recognized as a treasure revealer, however, one must also
have been appointed and prophesied by Padmasambhava as such.
This legitimization is also determined through the dreams and vision-
ary experiences of the tertön. Janet Gyatso describes the process in her
Tibetan Dream Theory, Imagery, and Interpretation 107
study of Jigme Lingpa s secret autobiographies, in which Jigme Lingpa
(d. 1798) reports many dreams that he interprets to be signs that he is
a tertön, and, therefore, that the teachings revealed to him in his vi-
sions are authentic terma.39 The interpretation is not taken lightly,
because Tibetan dream theory posits that most dreams are deceptive
hallucinations influenced by external spirits or by one s own deluded
mind-stream. As Gyatso points out, Jigme Lingpa struggles with self-
doubt over his own visions. She states,
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