Dream is a common experience for all of us. Most of us see it everyday. Some remember it fully whereas some remember only a few segments. While others don’t remember any; they just feel like they have not seen any dreams at all. This can be the case sometimes, but mostly we see and forget right after we wake up.
Many believe that dreams are only a means to remove tense from the mind after a long day's work. Some believe they are symbolic or reveal hidden secrets in one’s life, whereas some believe these are only the mirage of what we see, learn and think, i.e. the reflection of our mind. Yes, sleep is important for the relaxation of the body and the mind, to aid digestion, to transmit necessary nutrients throughout the body, and for many other health benefits. We feel lots of refreshment and energetic after having a peaceful (undisturbed) sleep. But isn’t it sleep that is all required? Why do we have to see dreams? What significance does it have in our health or wellbeing?
Are dreams important? If yes, then why do we have dreamless nights sometimes? Why do some remember while some don't, the next morning? Why are there new dreams everyday unlike our continuing reality? Yes, sometimes we see recurring dreams, but it’s only sometimes. Usually every dream is new with new people, places and stories. Also, why don’t we learn anything from our dreams to make our life better than before? We just wake up and continue our daily routine without giving even a slight value to our dream. Okay, if one says dream isn’t connected to our reality (or has nothing to do with our reality), then why do we see it? Not only the grown up ones, but also the babies who haven’t seen or understand the worldly phenomena, and even the innocent animals who don’t have any thought or desires and who can’t imagine anything more than their innate ability of survival (or the purpose they are trained for); all see dreams in their own way. Now, what might be the conclusion?
Welcome to “Ripples of Wisdom - Dream, the Wonderful Experience”. In this article, I am about to discuss dreams from my personal point of view based upon personal experience and understanding. I can’t see other’s dreams, so I may/may not be true from other’s perception. However, this is my blog, and I think I’ve got enough right to explain my views on this topic. Also, my words are not based upon some Universal Truths. So, it may or may not be of any value to others, but it can give some insights to those curious ones who don’t want to learn simply from Google. Here begin my words.
Dreams are seen according to one’s capability of imagination and understanding. For example, a cow may not see herself flying like a bird, rather being grazing in the field or loving her babies. Because a cow doesn’t have enough intellect to analyze the power of the bird, or never imagines herself flying like a bird. But a man with intellect can imagine all these, even if they are impossible for him to do in reality. Because a man can see, understand and imagine things beyond his ordinary capabilities.
Again, the dream of a kid and a man differs. For example, a kid who usually spends his time with friends in school sees dreams similar to that (playing, jumping, running, crying, etc). But a man who knows the world better usually sees manly dreams. A person who never sees any movies or never imagines anything supernatural usually sees simple and normal household dreams, for example, our grandparents or any eldery person who spends his/her time on household works only. While a person who plays video games or sees fictional and fantasy movies usually has adventurous dreams, for example, youngsters. In addition, a boy who hasn’t developed any sensual feelings never sees himself enjoying lustfully with a girl in his dreams. But a man who has developed such feelings (or have seen such acts and desires it for himself) periodically sees lustful dreams.
We can also relate this dreaming experience with our own life. Just think what dreams you used to see when you were a child, and what dreams you see now! What I meant to explain here is, our dream is controlled by what is stored in the brain. Our conscious mind may forget, but whatever things we have been learning from the very first time we open our eyes, everything is stored in different corners of the brain. A brain has two kinds of memories, primary and secondary. Whatever is revised periodically is stored in the primary section, and others are stored in the secondary section. Our conscious mind has access only to the primary section of the brain. But the old memories that have been experienced but not revised (or very rarely revised) are stored in secondary section of the brain. Only the subconscious mind has access to the information stored in that section. There is also another mind called superconscious mind, but that is an entirely different thing which I’ll not discuss in this article. Let me come to the point. We never forget anything once we learn, see, feel, or imagine about any subject matter (we only forget it consciously). We may not remember the past, but they are still inside us. Whenever we sleep, our conscious mind goes to hibernation and our subconscious mind accesses those deep sections of the brain, and make a complex relationship between those words, images, experiences, visions, thoughts, feelings and imaginations that have been stored in the brain since our birth, and shows them to our inner self in the form of dream making us feel like it is real. Sometimes, we will be aware of the dream even in the dream (which is also called lucid dream), but most of the time we feel it real until the alarm hits up. We may see scary dreams, adventurous dreams, lustful dreams, spiritual dreams, and lucid dreams. Whatever, we see only what is stored in our brain, i.e. what we know or have thought of at any point in our life.
I am not a traveler, but I love spending time with nature watching natural phenomena, seeing animals, birds and their plays. I love watching fictional and action movies. I love space and mysteries. I love magic and mythology. Alongside these, I also love reading scriptures, and have full faith in the Supreme. The reason I elaborated all these is, these are the subject matters that hover my mind all day either through the means of thought, sight or hearing. So, basically I see adventurous dreams. I walk very rarely, only if I feel bored to fly. This might be because I think of acquiring flight powers (it’s normal to desire some super power though that won’t be our main desire in life). I also love helping others in real life, and thus, I will be helping people in my dreams, like protecting them from enemies, wars, bombs, and alien attacks. There will be different alien-ships, missiles, and macro disasters happening all over the sky. These all might be the aftereffects of watching sci-fi movies while I’m awake. Also, I am usually undefeatable in my dreams no matter whoever I fight or whatever missiles I am targeted by. I also have control over other objects. I just have to use my mind or some hand gestures. The movies like X-men might have deeply affected my thoughts so that I acquire the power of Magneto in my dreams. Also, many times, I will be sailing across the ocean with/without using ships, flying above the most attractive scenic landscapes, and climbing and jumping across hills. I also travel through space and planets. These all might be the effect of watching fictional and animated movies and imagining myself being there. Thus the instances of how the thought, desires and sight could affect the dreams have been explained in this paragraph.
Apart from having direct mirage of thoughts and desires (that occur everyday in mind), the past memories can also affect the dreams, especially if it has caused some tragic, fortunate, or unforgettable moments in our life. I only have 2 friends (one of secondary school, and another of HSS) whom I consider to be my dearest, but they were all in the past. Since the friendship didn’t last long (due to study related issues), I had to suffer a few years of loneliness. I wonder how they came into my life because I was not a typical social person. They came into my life not because I was good and established that friendship, but because Nature wanted me to have some memorable moments with them so that I can have some good memories to ponder upon, in the future. The loneliness of about 4 years (of not having even a single friend to sit, study, walk, enjoy, travel, or entertain together) had deeply affected my mentality and personality that everyday I used to remember the times I spent with my old friends in sharing, caring, laughs and jokes. I wouldn’t go much on this part (since it is personal), but the times I spent with those friends have left such a deep impression on my mind that even today I will be dreaming those memories. Among the two, I usually dream of a friend of School. He was quite younger than me, and had a disability in the eye, but smart and intelligent. I used to help him in the classroom, and he used to help me in the study. But in the dream, he never has any disability. He appears much better and I find myself extremely happy to meet him. Also, I don’t see him anywhere else than in School because it was only in School that we were best friends, and the time never remained same after that. This dream of meeting an old friend occurs even today, as a recurring dream, although the story will be quite different every time. I also see dreams of my Bachelor life, but whatever I see, I only see frustrating dreams that symbolize frustrating moments I had experienced in real life during those times.
Now I will discuss such dreams which is quite different from previous ones. Apart from thoughts, desires and past memories, the environmental conditions and our body state while sleeping can also affect our dreams upto certain level. For example, sleeping in a noisy environment usually shows us dreams where someone will be shouting at us, or something will be making noise to irritate or scare us, just in perfect synchronization with the noise in reality. To experience this, one should wake up right at the perfect time when he will be hearing noise in his dreams, and his ears listening to the noise in reality. Also, he should be in a habit of remembering dreams which most people aren’t capable of.
The body state while sleeping can also affect our dreams. Using too many blankets in reality causing the body to heat up can cause our dreams to turn horror. This is because our body will be in pain or certain discomfort (due to excessive hotness), and thus, our mind shows us dreams that synchronizes with the feeling of pain. Although this sounds scary, this is important too. Because our dream is actually trying to alert us so that we could wake up and comfort ourselves.
Sometimes our sleep position also impacts our dreams. Sleeping at the back has higher chance (w.r.t. my experience) of having scary dreams than sleeping on the side. Also, when our body in reality is in need to pee, we see such dreams where we will be having urge to pee. No matter how many times we pee, we still want to pee. This is because peeing in dream doesn’t actually comfort the belly in real life, and thus the overloaded belly still creates an urge in the dream. This wouldn’t matter at all unless one emits on bed.
Again, what is watched or deeply thought right before sleeping can affect the dream by 80% (remember that this is not certainty, rather an assumption). For example, in our examination time, we usually see dreams where we are late to the exam hall, and also we find our mind being completely blank, or something similar like that. On the night we watch horror/thriller movies, we see horror dreams or something that makes us scary. The night we see lustful scenes turns our dream to be lustful as well. Therefore, the thoughts we hover in our mind right before sleeping, if they are strong enough, can replace other thoughts and memories, and our subconscious mind shows us the dreams accordingly (i.e. such dreams that synchronize with our thoughts).
Now, I will finally talk about those dreams which might have some significance in our real life. The dreams according to the body state as described above is also significant, but I am adding a few more to it. This is the most exciting part (both in reality and in dream), and thus, I would like to entitle this section as “Connection between dreams and reality that helps us to unfold mysteries”.
We actually cannot lie in our dreams. We can’t fool ourselves in dreams. Lying happens only in reality due to the fear or embarrassment on confessing or speaking the truth in front of others. Our dreams don’t show what we speak to others by mouth, but what we know in our heart. There might exist limitations in real life that prevent us from doing what we want. But in dreams, there is no limitation. We will be free to do anything. For example, if we want to kiss someone in real life, we will be refraining ourselves due to fear and embarrassment. But this desire has already occurred in our heart even though we didn’t act. And if we get chance to see him/her in dream, we won’t hesitate to kiss. Because, there will be no such things like embarrassment or hesitation in dream (there will be sometimes, but very less compared to reality). Sometimes we see naked people in our dreams (or find ourselves walking naked), sometimes we will be involved in sex. Our lustful thoughts that hover our mind in reality will be illustrated in dreams. Not only lustful thoughts, but every desires that we have will be fulfilled in dreams. For examples, smoking, drinking, speaking foul words, eating meat, or even good habits like charity, donation, prayers, etc. One who thinks he has given up smoking should watch himself in dreams. If he could refrain from smoking even if he is presented with it, he will find easier to give up that in reality also. In my case, I have recently renounced meat (by my own will). So, whenever I see meat in dreams, I usually ignore it. But sometimes, I see myself eating it. This might be because although I have quit eating, I have not been able to forget the taste completely from my heart. The smell of finely cooked meat still pleases my nose although I will try my best to remember my resolve.
Let me give you another example. I don’t smoke or drink alcohol even in dreams. Because these are the habits I strongly say NO in reality, and also I don’t have any desire to consume them in reality. Turning away from these things in dreams really assures me that I will never consume them even in the future (or by free will). Thus, one who can give up bad habits or renounce wrong associations in dreams is an actual renouncer, but not the one who boasts only through his mouth. But however, this can’t be proved to others because one’s dream cannot be shown to others. This is actually for self-improvement rather than for preaching.
Let me add one more example. Many times (in my dreams), I will be ready to attend great parties with friends, and on the way, I will be bypassing many temples. So, one day (in reality), I made a resolution that whenever I see such dreams again, I will forget the enjoyment and walk to the temple and hug the statue until I wake up. I thought to do so only to test myself. Till now, I have been able to do it only twice or thrice. However, I am still glad about it. Because this has assured me that whenever I have to choose one between God and worldly enjoyments, I will be able to choose God. This renunciation of worldly happiness for obtaining God in dreams has really satisfied my heart in reality.
Now, let me talk about seeing ghosts or demons in dreams. During my young ages, whenever I see ghosts in dreams, I used to be afraid and run away. If such dream woke me up in the middle of the night, I would find myself full of sweat, but still keep on the blanket due to the childish fear that the ghost may come in reality. But this doesn’t happen now. Now I fight with ghosts without being scared at all (very rarely I get scared). What caused this change is my faith. Let me go back once again to the years I hardly passed my Bachelor degree. The responsibility of earning fell upon me. I had two choices, either to continue my study (which my family persuaded me a lot), or to find a job. Since I had no desire in studying further (or atleast for few years), I had to search for a job. But I had not expertized any skills related to my IT field, and thus couldn’t find any proper job with such limited qualifications. However, one of my good friends suggested me to work in one of the IT companies (where he himself was working) as a data entry operator. I accepted and started working. I also planned to write a blog so that I could have extra income (because I used to have lots of leisure time in my working environment). So, taking the basic lessons of a blog from the same friend, I started creating a blog. I had no interest in news, sports, and also I thought that I may not be able to come up with new ideas everyday. So, I decided to create a blog related to religion, because I thought the contents in religion never gets old or outdated. Since I was from a Hinduism culture, and was in habit of listening Hindu Scriptures and hymns from my parents from an early age, I started to write about Hinduism. Also, I thought it would be easier for me to collect the contents regarding Hinduism. [Note: Although I initially started a blog with the motive of earning, as I went deeper and deeper into its contents, the desire of earning (from that blog) disappeared. It rather turned into a hobby or interest. And to add, this blog is among the popular blogs in the Internet regarding Hinduism, and also I have one post in trending (in Google Search).] Slowly, I began to know more about life (since Hinduism is more about life than a religion), Karma and fate, right deeds and devotion, and the importance of charity and purity. I began to develop my love and faith towards the Supreme. I began to know about God and His plays (Leelas). Besides these, I also started to read, understand and memorize different hymns (Stotras and Mantras) related to different forms of God. Intentionally or unintentionally, I began to believe that chanting those hymns causes some impact on our life, increases our knowledge, and the deities associated with that hymn would bring happiness and prosperities. I also memorized hymns that were meant to ward off evil energies or spirits. I had already developed full faith over the Mantras till that time. This faith (or knowledge) had affected my mentality so deeply that whenever I chant the hymns, I believe God is showering me good fortunes and clearing my path towards success. I also started believing that whenever I have fear, I only have to chant those hymns and the fear goes away. This mentality was what started affecting my dreams also. “The fear is only in the mind, and if that mind could be freed from fear by the thought of the Supreme, then even dreams can be overcome with fear”, this is what I started believing. What I meant to say here is, now I don’t fear ghosts in dreams. Instead, whenever I see one, I start chanting hymns and make the ghost powerless. Sometimes I hold the ghost in my arms so tightly that it cannot escape, and start chanting hymns. It then bears lots of pain and gets defeated (or goes away). I usually chant the hymns of Gayatri, Hanuman, Shiva, and Devi. Once i chanted the Hare Rama Hare Krishna mantra to ward off negativity from a demon-like person by hitting him with a Kusha-like grass, finally turning him into a virtuous-looking devotee. I spent like 50% of that dream chanting Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. Sometimes, the ghost doesn’t fear even when I chant the most powerful hymns. At that time, I will know instantly that the subject is not actually a ghost, but an angel taking the form of ghost in order to test my faith over the Mantras (or the God). I will tell a dream about it later, but what I tried to point out here is, sometimes the knowledge we have acquired in reality can be used in dreams, just like I use the power of Mantras which I learnt in reality to fight with the evils in dreams. Also, if we make a strong resolve to achieve something in dream, we can actually achieve it in dream. This ensures that we have some capacity to control our dreams, and achieve something which we cannot achieve in reality. Actually, achieving them in dreams is not any achievement in life at all, but it can give us insights that can help us to learn mysteries (of human nature).
Let me tell you about one dream. Once I fought with the evil so much that I got tired, but the evil was not defeated (this time I was not chanting Mantra, but just fighting). Actually the evil was trying to make me forget my identity and my mission in life (this I knew because I had seen it done with my other family members). After fighting for a while, I realized that the evil (actually female evil) couldn’t be defeated, nor am I (since I am never, or just 1%, defeatable in my dreams). So, I thought of an idea that in order to stop this war, I need to pretend to have lost. And I did it too. The evil also stopped raging at me, and started walking asking me to follow her. After a while, a big gate appeared on the right. She opened the gate and took me in. As soon as I stepped inside, I learnt the biggest secret. I realized that the evil woman was no other than the heavenly angel sent by God to bring me back (from the mortal world) to the world of righteous souls. Because what I saw there is the world of Gods and Sages, serving each other in profound happiness. That place was transcendental. I also realized my true nature, i.e. I am a pure Soul who had taken birth in this mortal world. The angel (in the form of evil) had actually been trying to liberate me from the material existence. But as a human body (soul in bondage), I was previously so much convinced in my worldly nature that I regarded that state to be the reality, and fought my best to prevent evil from having control over me. What I learnt from this dream is, not every bad situation, bad people, and bad times are meant to make us lose in our life. Some of them are also meant to teach us valuable lessons which couldn’t be possible otherwise. Sometimes we can learn from our failures. Sometimes we can learn even from the group of fools. So, instead of being rigid and saying NO to everything and every situation all the time, we also should learn to endure them and try to understand their cause. They might bear the lessons which can take our life and knowledge to another level of understanding, probably higher level of understanding.
Now, let me talk about seeing God in dreams. For me, seeing God in dreams is normal. It’s like once in every 4-5 dreams. Among all the forms of God, I usually see Lord Shiva (mostly in statues, and rarely in form). One may think that I remember Lord Shiva all day and seeing Him in dreams is just the mirage of that thought. But this is not the case. First of all, seeing God in dreams is not as easy as seeing other things. And another, just thinking about Him for a whole day doesn’t necessarily mean one should see even in dreams. What assured me this is the experience of my parents, and other elders. My parents, who spend 2 hours each in the morning and evening in front of statues and worshiping, and spend all their day remembering God and chanting hymns periodically, even they claim to see God rarely, like once in 2-3 weeks. But me, who spend all day in office work, and pray only for a while in the morning and the evening, see comparatively higher. And second thing is, although for me all the forms of God are the same energy (and I do love all equally as One), it is Lord Vishnu (Krishna) whom I remember or chant hymns most of the time. But still, I see Lord Shiva. I have seen Lord Krishna (in form) as well, but from far. Nearing Him has always been difficult. While other forms like Hanuman, Devi, etc, I have even communicated two-way with them (although communication happens extremely rarely). I have also seen Ganesha (as a statue in a temple). But Lord Shiva is whom I see more. There may be some reason, which I don’t know now, but I hope I will discover it one day.
Let me talk about the communication I’ve made with God in dreams. It was the time of the first semester. The board examination was nearing, and there was a subject which I knew nothing about. I was worried with the thought that I would not be able to pass the exam and all my family’s dream and their hard work they’ve done for me come fruitless. During those times, I was not even spiritual (or remembering God was occasional). But since it was the examination time, I was worried about that subject, and everyday used to pray God (because it’s a common habit for everyone to pray God in exam time and ignore Him at other times) to make me pass the exam. Surprisingly, one night (in a dream), a Devi (probably Goddess Durga, because I saw Her first as a statue in Swayambhunath Temple, and from that statue She appeared to be real) appeared to me and told me that I would pass the subject. That was the first time in my life God spoke directly to me in my dreams. I reminded Her that there is no way for me to pass since I hadn’t studied even a fraction of theory from that subject. But still She told me not to worry and I would pass the subject. The dream ended that way. Even after waking up, I was feeling surprised about it, i.e. about the Goddess Who told me something that is yet to happen. I still had doubt thinking that was just a dream, but also a little hope thinking that it was God who spoke to me. Finally, the examination day arrived. My mind was completely blank, but still I had made some cheats thinking that it could be of use. I went to the examination hall with a sad heart. Luckily, I got a seat in the last row. One boy (actually my own classmate, but had never talked before) came and sat next to me. Although that was the first time I sat with him, I still asked him to do a favor by showing all his answers. Surprisingly, he accepted. The time started, and he did exactly as I had asked for. I filled the papers as much as he did. When the examination was over, I was fully sure that I would pass the subject. Later, the result was declared. I saw that I had got good marks in that subject. And as a thanksgiving, I gave him a treat. Now, one may think that anyone would show in the exam and that’s not a big issue or a miracle. But in reality, this doesn’t happen everytime. By coincidence, I, few other times, had sit next to him (in other examinations and in other semesters), but he never showed me again. This was not because he didn’t like me, but because he was too busy on his own, just like every good student always are. But that didn’t matter. Only thing that mattered is, the Goddess’s prediction came true. He showed me that day because he had to, to fulfill the prophecy. Anything could have happened. I could have got seat on the front row where the invigilator’s eye would go straight all the time. The invigilator could have gone strict, or the boy could have been empty minded like me. Or the boy could have hidden his answers (because a good student usually never shows his answers completely to others). Whatever, I passed the exam. I still remember that incident. I still remember the Goddess Who appeared in my dream, and how She gave a hope with Her smiling face.
Let me talk about another dream. Once I was with my friend (just a random boy in dream). He asked me if I could summon God. Usually, I can do anything in my dream; it just has to come in my mind. So, without thinking whether that is possible or not, I simply said Yes. He didn’t believe me, so he wanted the proof. Although I was not completely sure, I still knew that anything is possible for me in dream (from my experience in other dreams). So, I sat down with crossed legs, joined my palms, and started meditating on God by mentally chanting Gayatri Mantra. After a while, I saw someone coming from far away. He was Lord Hanuman. He was fully ornamented, and was assuming large form, like the size of a building. He was pleased with me and told me to ask for a boon. I said to Him exactly as this: <this text is hidden> in my own language. Lord Hanuman then faced his palm towards me and blessed me saying that “Your wish will come true”, then vanished. I was very happy to hear this, even in my dream and after waking up. But the time is yet to come. I have also seen many sages predicting about me and my future, but I will not discuss them now. Because good dreams should be kept secret. But, what is more important is, thinking that I have already been blessed, I shouldn’t hold my hands and sit still. Rather I should try, always, to be worthy enough to have this prophecy (or blessing) fulfilled. Because who knows, it may/may not be for the Truth. But one thing is sure that it has given me some motivation to live and do good things in life.
Now, I am about to conclude the article. But before that, I would like to point out the most important things about dreams, discussed so far:
- Dreams are the reflections of our knowledge, thoughts, and desires whether we remember them or not, i.e. the reflection of our mind.
- We usually see dreams, but mostly we forget them right after we wake up.
- We usually feel our dream as the reality until we wake up.
- Not only thoughts and desires, but also the environmental condition and the body state while sleeping can affect our dreams.
- We can’t lie in our dream. Therefore, unless we improve in our dream, we are not improved at all.
- The knowledge we acquired in reality can be used in dreams.
- Sometimes, dreams can provide insights (hidden secrets) to our reality.
As a conclusion, I would like to say that dream is really a satisfying experience. It’s a normal thing for me. My dreams are usually beautiful and adventurous. But what is even more beautiful is, I usually remember my dreams, and have learnt (and yet to learn) a lot from them, of which this article is an example.
Composed On: February 16, 2019
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