Dreaming of water in Buddhism: meaning
In Buddhism water is often an image of the mind: sometimes clear and still, sometimes churning and murky. The texts also speak of the flood that has to be crossed. A dream about water is therefore read as a mirror of where your mind stands right now.
Within this tradition
A well-known Buddhist image is that of a pond. When the water is still, you see the bottom; when it is stirred up, you see nothing. So it is with the mind: restlessness, craving and anger cloud the view. A dream about clear, still water is read along those lines as a mind coming to rest. Churning or muddy water rather shows how much is going on in you at the moment.
In the Pali texts the flood, ogha, is an image of everything that sweeps us along: craving, becoming, fixed views and ignorance. In the very first text of the Samyutta Nikaya, a deity asks the Buddha how he crossed the flood. His answer: without standing still and without straining. A dream in which you swim or drown can be read in that light as a question about how you deal with what is sweeping you along.
The parable of the raft adds something. The Buddha compares his teaching to a raft for crossing a river: useful for the crossing, but not to be carried on your back afterwards. A dream about a crossing can thus be about something that helped you, but that you may now let go of.
And then there is the lotus, which blooms out of muddy water and still rises clean above it. Even in murky water, something beautiful can grow.
Common variations
Still, clear water
A mind coming to rest. Often dreamt in periods of more calm or meditation.
Being swept away by a current
The image of ogha: craving or worries carrying you off. The question is how you relate to them.
Crossing a river on a raft
Recalls the parable of the raft: something that helped you, but which you may let go of afterwards.
A lotus on murky water
A hopeful image: something pure growing out of a difficult situation.
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Write your dream in the appFrequently asked questions
What does drowning in a dream mean in Buddhism?
It is read more as being overwhelmed by thoughts or feelings than as an omen. The texts speak of the flood that sweeps you along, and of how to cross it.
Why is water an image of the mind?
Because still water shows the bottom and churning water does not. In the same way a calm mind shows what is there, and restlessness clouds the view.