Re this Chuang-tzu quote: "A monk fell asleep and dreamed he was a butterfly. When he awoke, he asked himself "Was I a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming I am a man"?
Chuang-tzu's point was NOT to imply that all experience is dream-like (it isn't); Chuang-tzu's point was NOT to suggest that he could really be a butterfly (he wasn't one)! What Chuang-tzu was getting at is that our everyday sense of self - "I am a man - a father - a doctor - an American" - is just the social role we've been conditioned to accept. It's our sense of identity he's attacking. It's that false sense of a permanent ID in the ever-changing flow of the Tao that is our "hang-up".