Study of Dream-State

Once a disciple approached his Guru, prostrated at His Lotus Feet and with folded hands put the question:

Disciple: O My Revered Guru! Please tell me the way to cross this cycle of births and deaths.

Guru: My dear disciple! If you can understand who you are, then you can get over this cycle of births and deaths.

Disciple: O Guru! I am not so foolish as not to understand me. There is no man on earth who does not understand himself; but every one of them is having his rounds of birth and death.

Guru: No, No. You should understand the nature between the body and that person for whom this body is intended. Then only any one is said to have understood himself.

Disciple: Who is the person to whom this body belongs?

Guru: This Deha (body) belongs to the Dehi (Atman). Try to understand the true nature of the Atman.

Disciple: I do not see anybody besides this body.

Guru: When this body was asleep, who is the person who experienced your dreams? Again in deep sleep who is he that enjoyed it? When you wake up, who is he that is conscious of the world, your dreams and the soundness of the deep sleep?

Disciple: I am just beginning to have a little idea of the nature of Atman who is present in all the three states.

From the above conversation between the Guru and the disciple, it is clear that the dream and the deep sleep states are worthy of our study in order to understand the true nature of the Atman, as we already pretend to have some knowledge at least of our waking consciousness.

Dream is but a disturbance of the deep sleep and the study of the former, as to its origin, working, purpose and meaning will naturally lead us to the study of the deep sleep state also.

The best way to study a subject is to trace its history and development in the hands of eminent authors and to focus our critical faculty on what we have studied from their treaties and to rectify any omissions, when we shall have a complete and satisfactory survey of that subject.

The dream reveals within itself those unconscious mental mechanisms evolved during the course of development for the purpose of controlling and shaping the primitive instinctual self towards that form of behaviour demanded by the contemporary civilization. A working knowledge of the dream as a typical functioning of the psyche—that is, a knowledge of the dream mechanisms and of the theory of the unconscious symbolism—is therefore indispensable for dream interpretation. This knowledge may be gained intellectually from the books written by authorities on that subject, but emotional conviction is the result only of personal analytic experience. Dream should be considered as an individual psychical product from the storehouse of specific experience, which indeed the dreamer may in consciousness neither remember nor know that he knows.

In the analysis of a dream, one would say that the assimilation of knowledge of the unconscious mind through the ego is an essential part of the psychical process. The principle involved in valid explanation is the revelation of the unknown, implicit in the known in terms of the individual. This principle underlies all true dream interpretations.

The value of a dream therefore lies not only in discovering the latest material by means of the manifest content, but the language used in the narration of dream and in the giving of associations will itself help towards elucidation.

The subject of “dream” and its analysis will be, therefore, a most interesting one in understanding the true nature of the individual. We, therefore, quote in the following pages, relevant extracts from the lectures of Sigmund Freud, the famous authority on that subject and will evolve it further, if necessary, by the help of the knowledge we get from the Indian Sages and Seers.

Swami Sivananda tolds

Svapna is the dreaming state in which man enjoys the five objects of senses and all the senses are at rest and the mind alone works. Mind itself is the subject and the object. It creates all dream-pictures. Jiva is called Taijasa in this state. There is Antah-Prajna (internal consciousness). The scripture says, “When he falls asleep, there are no chariots in that state, no horses and roads, but he himself creates chariots, horses and roads.”

The dreaming world is separate from the waking one. The man sleeping on a cot in Calcutta, quite healthy at the time of going to bed, wanders in Delhi as a sickly man in the dream world and vice versa. Deep sleep is separate from both the dreaming and the waking world. To the dreamer the dream world and the dream objects are as much real as the objects and experiences of the waking world. A dreaming man is not aware of the unreality of the dream world. He is not aware of the existence of the waking world, apart from the dream. Consciousness changes. This change in consciousness brings about either the waking or the dream experiences. The objects do not change in themselves. There is only change in the mind. The mind itself plays the role of the waking and the dream.

The dreamer feels that the dreams are real so long as they last, however incoherent they may be. He dreams sometimes that his head has been cut off and that he is flying in the air.

The dreamer believes in the reality of the dream as well as the different experiences in the dream. Only when he wakes up from the dream, he knows or realises that what he has experienced was mere dream, illusion and false. Similar is the case with the Jiva in the waking world. The ignorant Jiva imagines that the phenomenal world of sense-pleasure is real. But when he is awakened to the reality of things, when his angle of vision is changed, when the screen of Avidya is removed, he realises that this waking world also is unreal like the dream world.

In dream a poor man becomes a mighty potentate. He enjoys various sorts of pleasures. He marries a Maharani, lives in a magnificent palace and begets several children. He gives his eldest daughter in marriage to the son of a Maha-Raja. He goes to the Continent along with this wife and children. Then he returns and visits various places of pilgrimage. He dies of pneumonia at Benares. Within five minutes, he gets the above experiences. What a great marvel!

As in dream, so in the waking, the objects seen are unsubstantial, though the two conditions differ by the one being internal and subtle, and the other external, gross and long. The wise consider the wakeful as well as the dreaming condition as one, in consequence of the similarity of the objective experience in either case. As are dream and illusion a castle in the air, so say the wise, the Vedanta declares this cosmos to be.

Dreams represent the contraries. A king who has plenty of food, dreams that he is begging for his food in the streets. A chaste, pure aspirant dreams that he is suffering from venereal disease. A chivalrous soldier dreams that he is running from the battlefield for fear of enemy. A weak sickly man dreams that he is dead. He dreams also that his living father is dead and weeps in the night. He also experiences that he is attending the cremation of his father. Sometimes a man who lives in the city dreams that he is facing a tiger and a lion and shrieks loudly at night. He takes his pillow thinking it to be his trunk and proceeds to the Railway Station. After walking a short distance he takes it to be a dream and comes back to his house. Some people dream that they are sitting in the toilet and actually micturate in their beds.

As soon as you wake up, the dream becomes unreal. The waking state does not exist in the dream. Both dream and waking states are not present in deep sleep. Deep sleep is not present in dream and waking states. Therefore all the three states are unreal. They are caused by the three qualities: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Brahman or the Absolute is the silent witness of the three states. It transcends the three qualities also. It is pure bliss and pure consciousness. It is Existence Absolute.

The SHORT 5-Step VERSION of the E - A - S - S - Y FIVE STEP METHOD OF DREAM ANALYSIS

1. E is for Emotions Feelings and your emotional reaction to the dream as you wake are the first clue to its meaning, and sometimes the most important. For example, if you see yourself dying but wake up feeling happy, it is not likely a prediction of your upcoming demise. Even if you do not yet understand the dream, note your feelings.

2. A is for Action into Story Line The story line is not a summary. You “extract” the story's main action and put it into new, more generalized words. For example, a young man dreams of trying to catch a firefly on a warm summer night. He keeps swatting, yet missing, chasing after it frantically, but it gets away. Out of frustration, he plunks himself down on the grass and sits quietly. As he does, a firefly comes near, and moving gently, he catches it. Here the story line is: “When doing something frantically, someone fails, but succeeds after they quiet down.” Or, another way of stating it might be: “Someone sees that they get what they want by staying calm and letting it come to them”. This describes the "overall" story but there is no mention of a young man, a firefly, summer night, sitting on the grass, and so on. The goal is to use words like “someone” and “something” to create generalities without using actual details to describe the main action and outcome.

3. S is for Story Matches Life The basic question is not “What does this dream mean?” It is: “To what in my life or something within me (ideas, attitudes, emotions) does this dream refer?” The dream is not just an entertaining story; it's an important communication about you and/or your life.

4. S is for Symbols Add Detail If you have ever played a game of Charades - the parlor game where one person silently mimes and acts out a word or phrase to others - then you know DreamSpeak. That's exactly how dreams speak to you - as a pantomime using one image to convey a related meaning. Three main methods of working with symbols are: 1. Freud's Association Method: Go backward in experience for associations with a symbol. 2. Jung's Parallel Association Method: Listi all current associations with a symbol. 3. Pictures as Word Play: Visual images are often a “play on words”, for example, "lettuce" as “Let Us”, or a circle as “going round in circles”.

5. Y is for You Apply Insight

By step five, you can arrive at an interpretation that rings true for you. As a last step, write the “application” of what the dream invites you to do, become, or change. Does it invite you to work on an attitude or a talent, take a step in career, work, or a relationship, solve a piece of a puzzle in a problem? Set it down as: “I will take steps to calm down in that relationship”, or, “I will investigate how to advance in my career”. This will make the insights you receive concrete, ensure further clear dreams, and like building a house one brick at a time, will add much to our life, character, and happiness.

DREAMS ABOUT DEATH AND DYING

For many, death is something to fear which makes dreams about death and dying frightening. As the greatest change all face, sooner or later, dreams about death are often a metaphor, though at times can be about the real thing.



Explore the difference between symbolic and literal dreams of death. True stories illustrate the difference and outline features to look for in your own dreams.

NOTICE THOUGHTS AS YOU FALL ASLEEP

Dreams do not happen by accident and dream symbols are not random. They are conversations you started yourself which continue at night for a good reason. The reason is that there is a message that can help you.

You dream about what is on your mind as you go to sleep at night. Review what is on your mind as you are falling asleep. If you are keeping a dream journal, jot down phrases about main events affecting you such as "wondering about career directions" or "having trouble with so and so". Many times you show the world a brave face but as you fall asleep, your pillow hears what you really think and feel. TAKE NOTE. Whatever is on your mind as you fall asleep is likely to become the topic of your dreams. Whatever is closest to your heart and most important to you is what you dream about. It can be a decision, attitude, or project. That is where the focus for the night will go.

Pre-sleep content is like a ball that keeps on rolling down the hill as you sleep. You pick it up again in the morning.

So the first clue to what your dream is about is to notice what was on your mind before you went to sleep.

EXAMPLES OF HOW IT WORKS

It all goes back to how you EXPERIENCE what is going on. When you saw the red shirt in the store window, it crossed your mind that you would look sexy wearing it, and that made you feel good. But then you realized there was no one in your life to whom you could show off such a shirt, so you walked on. Later when you dream about the red shirt, the dream is not about the shirt. Because of the association of feeling sexy, it became a story about how to get a new partner, and get back in the game.

When you saw the friend's new car, you realized you have to take steps in your own career before you can afford such a car. A dream about your friend?s car becomes a message about your career goals and how to advance yourself.

What about the movie about the fireman and rescue? As you watched the movie, you admired the hero for helping others. A dream of seeing yourself do something similar can be an invitation from your soul to look into volunteer work, or think about how you can help others. Not everyone can be a fireman, but everyone can be a hero to someone!

DREAM CONTENT IS NOT ACCIDENTAL

Ever wonder why you dream about a particular item or topic? You pass a store window and see a red shirt and that night you dream about it. Your best friend gets a great new car and a few nights later you dream you have one just like it. Or you see a movie about a fireman rescuing a family, and that night you are a fireman in a dream rescuing a family member.

Is that a coincidence? No, the psyche uses what you encounter every day as a storehouse of images from which to pick, and create into a new message. Whether you saw something yesterday or years ago, the psyche has carefully selected it. Like a game of Charades, it takes one image that has no words and uses it to convey a new meaning to get a message across.

Understanding Dreams

Perspectives From the Ancients Through Modern Times

Gail Bixler-Thomas, MA
November 1998

Dreams have influenced mighty kings, given insights to world-changing scientists and inspired gifted artists. The importance and power of dreams are well established. From the temples of antiquity to the sleep labs of modern days, humans have tried to understand, explain and apply them.
Ancient Dreams: Pre-20th Century

The earliest recorded dreams are derived from materials dating back approximately 5000 years, in Mesopotamia (Hall, 1991, p. 47). The Sumerians, the first cultural group to reside in Mesopotamia, left dream records dating back to 3100 BC. According to these early writings, deities and royals, such as the 7th century BC scholar-king Assurbanipal, gave careful attention to dreams. Within Assurbanipal's archive of clay tablets, portions of the story of the legendary king Gilgamesh were found. In this epic poem – one of the earliest known classical stories – Gilgamesh reported his recurring dreams to his goddess-mother Ninsun, who made the first recorded dream interpretation. His dreams were taken as prophecy and used to guide actions in the waking world. These attitudes recorded in the Gilgamesh epic provide a valuable source of information about ancient dream beliefs.