The Dream of Zenran: A Buddhist Tale of the Transitory Nature of Existence

Zenran, the buddhist monk, dreams he is reborn as another person. In his new life he meets eight beautiful women in different settings. Two become his wives and the others his concubines. Skilled in martial and literary arts he has many adventures and becomes an official in the imperial court. His dreams are so real it is difficult to tell which is true-his woken state or his dream state. While it is a Buddhist tale of the transitory nature of existence, it is also a sexual and romantic fantasy and a utopian desire for a place of peace. Zenran, the buddhist monk, existentially sees the meaning of the world as a function of the consciousness of mankind. When in the dream state, Zenran lives in a utopian world, whereas when awake, he returns to the state of dread and ambiguity. In the end, Zenran finds the world absurd.

Albert Shansky studied philosophy and religion at Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut. He received Shambhala training at the Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and studied Islam at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut. He has trained as a lay monk at the Hosshinji Monastery in Obama, Japan, and at Eiheiji Monastery in Fukui, Japan. He is a member of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, the American Academy of Religion, the American Philosophical Association, and the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.