Zhuangzi’s dream

its one of those classical existential questions. You know, the EASY ones. Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi wrote that he had a vivid dream of being a beautiful butterfly, fluttering to his hearts content from flower to flower. He then questioned it being a dream. Id it was so experienced, then it must have been an actual monent of existing AS A BUTTERFLY, only that to be cognizent of that would mean that he was not only a butterfly, but a butterfly daydreaming that he is some ancient philosopher.

Now, thing is this: butterfly seldom express themselves, those guys just keep quiet. Possibly because they are daydreaming. While being so occupied, it is very possible the the general theme of this mental excursion would be existance as a chinese philosopher. If its possible than you must accept it as truth to some extent.

Zhuangzi, the actual individual is also quite possibly being humerous, and retelling about his day dreaming. It is a joke to him. To day dream of existing as a butterfly is possible, but to day dream of being a butterfly and wondering if the situation is revrsed, would require your acceptance of the day dreaming butterfly, which would then negate the possibility that zhuangzi was being humorous.

In that, zhuangzi adnits to us, in a very indirect way, that despite his best efforts, he has failed in being humorous OR that he is truly a butterfly. As Zhuangzi was known for treating humor as a way to sense the intangible Dao, we are left to conclude that he would not admit to something that is untruthful. It leads us to no other option, but to accept that it was indeed a butterfly, who occupied his mind, with daisies and chrysenthamums, but also with hypothetically imagining himself as a philosopher, who attempts to reconcile the incongrouos narure of language and reality with humor and absurdity in particular. such a butterfly then would seek out a way to record his experience , and share it with other inquusitive and literate beings.

In any case, the experience was recorded and made to affect others, clearly not the work of a daoist, who as a holder of such ideals rejects the possibility of successfuly communicating thoughts in verbal form.