characteristically alien  to  our waking life,  our memory
for them is particularly fragile. The frequent elusiveness
of   dreams   presents   a    formidable  challenge   to our
memory.
     Dreams  seem  to  elude  direct  observation  because
when we are dreaming  it is unusual for us to realize that
we are doing so.  When we do realize,  we often respond
to  these  unusual  and   particularly lucid  dreams  by  an
almost  reverential appreciation.  It is generally believed
that   by   "awakening"   to   the   dream,  the   dreamer   is
allowed  to  explore  the  mysteries  of the dream  realm
and  perhaps  attain   an  enlightening  experience  of  the
paradoxical complementarity of reality  and illusion. For
most of us, however, the occasional  realization that "this
is only  a  dream" is quickly followed by waking  up from
sleep.   Thus,  since   we   usually   find   dreaming  to  be
incompatible    with   consciousness   of   dreaming,   we
generally have access  to our dreams only after they have
left us.  Consequently,  our knowledge of dreams usually
comes   to  us  secondhand,  from  our  recollection after
awakening.
     Awakening   from  a  dream  can   itself   be   a   rather
puzzling experience, for the compelling reality of a vivid
dream experience stands  in  bewildering contrast  to the
subsequent discovery that  we have been actually lying in
bed.  The psychological reality  of our dream experience
can oppose the apparent reality of our daytime existence
in such a way as to arouse our curiosity.  There is a fable
that   expresses   a   metaphysical   appreciation   of   this
ambiguity.
     Chuang Tzu dreamed  that he was a butterfly. Since
in his dream he did not know that he was anything else
but  a  butterfly,  he was  happy  and  content  to flutter
from flower to flower. Later, he awoke to discover that
he was not  a butterfly  but rather Chuang Tzu.  But he
was perplexed. "Am I really Chuang Tzu who dreamed
he  was  a butterfly,  or  am  I  a  butterfly  who  is  now
dreaming that  he  is Chuang Tzu?" The moral given is
that there  is  a  natural barrier between  the  man and
the butterfly: the transition  between the two is what is
meant  by metempsychosis,  that is,  the transmigration
of souls.

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