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Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzลญ, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly, I awaked, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
Source Chuang Tzu, chapter 2, ยง16 ยท ๐ Read the full passage
โจ To meditate on today
According to Chuang Tzu, who tells of dreaming that he was a butterfly, on waking one no longer knows who is dreaming of whom; for the Gloss (the traditional commentary on the text), these are two passing forms of one and the same being, in whom all beings are one. Today, when you feel shut inside a role or a label, remember the butterfly and look at yourself more lightly.
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