Dreaming of being chased in Buddhism: meaning
In Buddhism fear is not fled but examined. The Buddha tells how, at night in the forest, he met fear by not running away. A dream in which you are chased is therefore read as an invitation to turn around.
Within this tradition
In the Bhayabherava Sutta, the discourse on fear and dread, the Buddha tells of the time before his awakening, when he stayed alone at night in remote forests. When fear arose, he kept the posture he was in at that moment: if he was walking, he kept walking; if he was sitting, he kept sitting, until the fear had passed. He did not run from it.
That is exactly the opposite movement of a chase dream, in which you run and run. Buddhism therefore reads such a dream as an image of how the mind deals with fear: pushing away, avoiding, fleeing. The invitation is not to defeat the pursuer, but to look at what it is.
The story of Mara fits here too. When the Buddha sat beneath the bodhi tree, Mara, the personification of craving and fear, sent armies and temptations at him. The Buddha did not flee or fight, but touched the earth as witness. In much Buddhist art that gesture is the image of holding one's ground without fighting.
A chase dream can thus become a place of practice. Someone who looks back calmly after waking, and asks what was chasing them, in a sense turns around after all. Often the pursuer turns out to be a worry or a feeling you would rather not face during the day.
Common variations
Running without ever escaping
The mind trying to flee from fear. The invitation is to stand still and look.
Turning to face the pursuer
In the line of the Bhayabherava Sutta: meeting fear instead of running away.
A demon or monster as pursuer
Recalls Mara: craving and fear given a shape. Holding your ground without fighting is the answer from the stories.
Hiding
Avoidance. The question is what you would rather not see, and what happens if you do look at it.
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Write your dream in the appFrequently asked questions
What does Buddhism say about nightmares?
That fear can be examined rather than fled. Many practitioners look back calmly after such a dream and then wish themselves well.
Who is Mara?
In the Buddhist stories, the personification of craving, fear and death, who tried to tempt and frighten the Buddha beneath the bodhi tree.