dreams and elephant

upekka

have you ever seen a white elephant in real?

can anyone say 'the meaning of seeing a white baby elephant in a dream' ?

person

Elephants in dreams can be interpreted as the power or force of life. Baby often relates to our own feelings of babies, in this context though I'd say it means more the power or life in its infancy. The color white usually has religious or holy significance. So overall I'd say that a white baby elephant signifies the power of your religious life in its infancy.

Its also said that the Buddha appeared to his mother in a dream as a white elephant before she became pregnant with him.

zenff

I’m no expert on “traumdeutung” but I do have a practical way of interpreting my own dreams.

A frightening dream says I have fear; nothing more. The fear could be about anything at all and the dream’s content may or may not relate to the source of my fear.
A sexual dream says I have sexual feelings; always good to know that.
A magical dream says I like magic. Okay.
The emotions we have create the dream-content. Not the other way around.

So I don’t think about the details of the dream; I just try to classify its genre.
And this genre is the mirror of my emotional state. Or at least part of it.

So was the white baby elephant trying to kill you?

upekka

thanks person, thanks zenff

actually i saw a big elephant was hanging by a crane over water

then it gave birth to a very ugly creature like pig
upper part of that creature was covered with thick coat of dark slimy thing
lower part showed it was a pig like creature

and then suddenly there was this white baby elephant wagging is small trunk and he was on the bank of a river (where the big elephant was hanging) which covered with white sand


today, time and time again this dream (actually the white baby elephant) came into my mind and i felt like a smile was in my face
then
i reminded my mind this image is in my mind and do not get involve in it
because involving in the image in the mind is a wasting time

anyway, thanks again person and zenff

zenff

White baby elephant smiling on the birth of pig-like monster.
Sounds like a nice dream to me.

seeker242

There is a legend of the Buddha's birth, from Tibetan tradition I think, that contains references to a white elephant.

Legend states that Queen Maya, mother of Buddha dreamt of a white elephant that flew through the air and touched her right side with its trunk. Now elephants are well known for their strength and intelligence, and are also associated with gray rain clouds and fertility. Indeed rainwater means that the seeds will be able to germinate and vegetative life will be able to spring forth.

The white color of the majestic animal adds to this narrative an element of purity and immaculacy. In his former lives the Buddha had been an elephant several times, as mentioned in the Jatakas, or tales of his previous births. The white elephant is believed to have been the future Buddha himself who descended from heaven so that he could be born. It thus also represents for queen Maya a chaste birth, or the element of the triumph of spirit over the flesh.

According to the same legend, the Buddha was born ten lunar months later as a baby white elephant. Which would make sense with that dream since the baby white elephant was standing off to the side, not getting involved.

upekka

thanks seeker 242

it seems all white elephats are/were in dreams, legends, or jataka stories but not in the real world (by 'real' i do not mean awaken to the reality)

since i am 57 years old now, it is better to accept Persons' inference 'power of my religious life is in its infancy'

thanks Dhamma friends for your help

Jeffrey

Elephants are slow and gentle and intelligent. They can roar. And shoot water :P

upekka

Elephants are slow and gentle and intelligent. They can roar. And shoot water :P

thanks jeffrey

taking my progress in this NewBuddhist forum can i take the above as a complement to me