Western Dreams about Eastern Dreams

Abstract

It is often argued that quantum physics confirms Zen Buddhism, that our own “modern” ideas were prefigured by “Oriental” mythologies. This may or may not be so, but I do not think it is a useful path to follow. Instead, I would argue that some of the insights of non-Western mythologies do indeed bear striking resemblances to some of the most abstract formulations of modern science, but only because the same basic human mind is searching for a limited set of metaphors with which to make sense of the same basic human experiences, be the expressions Eastern or Western, “factual” or imaginative. This is the bridge that justifies our attempts to gain insights about our dreams from the stories that other cultures tell about their dreams.