Do Not Dream
All the stories and events lost in history,
have all disappeared.
For themselves, the people of those times warred, trapped,
ensnared others for their own benefit,
they battled constantly for wealth and honor.
Those countless many lived only for a moment
and then disappeared from the world.
Gallant heroes, kings, vassals and peasants,
disappeared with the passing of their era, of their time.
They all lived as slaves to their own minds,
they tried to gain and attain things within their minds,
but were not able to attain or accomplish anything.
All died whilst dreaming a futile dream.
A flowing river does not speak but does all it needs to do;
the sky does not speak but does all it needs to do;
the earth does not speak but does all it needs to do;
nature does not speak but does all it needs to do,
and lives for the world.
People however, who are busy with many things to accomplish,
have not done one thing for the world,
nor are they able to live in the world,
and as slaves to the false things in their minds,
they finally die while dreaming a false dream.
May this be a lesson to people –
so ignorant of the tragedy of disappearing –
who disappear after persisting with their selves,
instead of trying to be like the world.
Only he who knows is distressed,
but no one knows nor understands his anxious heart,
while his heart burns.
Do not try to leave behind your name in the dream world,
instead, make sure you remain in the world,
as the only value of human existence lies in living eternally.
But as no one knows that the meaning of mankind is in living,
man is unable to escape from the contents of that dream.
It is lamentable, so lamentable.
The dream world of man is a lifetime spanning a mere eighty years;
for one who disappears after having lived those years,
his life is like a dream he had dreamed.
He disappears like a dream, like a wisp of smoke,
and nothing remains.
Nothing has ever remained in the world.
To receive a human body,
there must be a precarious chain of one’s ancestors;
from one generation to the next,
and from those ancestors to the next,
linked generation by generation through the ages from ancient times,
until you finally come to exist.
Isn’t your existence, therefore, a miracle of miracles?
It is now the season when you can live,
so let go of everything and come into this season.
To come into season
means to be saved and live
during the time when the master of the world
has come to the world to save people.
Is there any meaning if one does not live?
Is there anything that is more important than living?
Of the countless ages that have come and gone,
now is the season when people can live.
If one does not live now,
the opportunity to live disappears forever and ever.
Therefore, the truly great are those who live in this time –
he who lives in this time is one who is truly great –
while the base are those who cannot live.
Stop dreaming futile dreams, come to your senses,
and throw away the story of the dream and all that was dreamt.
Waking up from the dream,
and living out in the real world is the proper way to live.
Water flows by and time flows by,
everything that exists flows by and disappears;
such is the principle of nature,
the natural order of the Universe.
But when that which should disappear does not disappear,
that is to live and to be alive.
Wake up from the dream;
do not dream;
do not die after wasting the years
doing futile things for useless matters.
In the dream you betrayed the master of the world,
you made your own world and tried to become the master
but you were only busy,
while suffering and burdened without freedom.
Wasn’t it futile to live by the contents of a dream?
Apologize and repent to the master of the world,
for stealing and living with that which is his;
for dreaming a dream.
Though they are told to throw away the dream
and come back to the master’s world,
to be reborn in the true world and eternally saved,
people just continue to dream.
Wander and wander, though they may,
in a false world, in a dream, there is nowhere to go,
and they bear the suffering and burden
of the dream world, an illusion.
The medicine to awaken from the dream has arrived –
eliminating the dream is to wake from it.
Then, it is a new world and a true one.
Take the medicine, take it,
please take the medicine.
Only he who has awoken is toiling,
anxiously waking those who are dreaming.
People still do not know anything,
but in the hopes that if there are many people
who take the medicine and reap the benefits,
many more will take it,
my only thought is to give out the medicine
and wake people from their dream.
– Woo Myung
