“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Sri Aurobindo & the Mother Mirra Alfassa gave detailed advice on how to make sleep more conscious . For a summary of their advice, see the article Towards more conscious sleep and dreaming.
A few things to remember:
- Dreams do not always have absolute interpretation; some dreams have meaning relative to the seeker’s subjective consciousness, and what that meaning could be is not easy to determine.
- One must beware of hallucinations which can result from the strong emotional desire to fulfill some heartfelt wish. Dream which occur in a turbulence-free state of equanimity are more likely to be revelatory.
- Instead of impulsively assigning some interpretation to a dream, it is prudent to be patient and let the dream reveal it’s true meaning in due time, perhaps through some subsequent confirmatory dreams or other signs. As the consciousness becomes more illuminated, enigmatic dreams will automatically resolve themselves like the solution to a jigsaw puzzle.
For more on these practices, check the books listed below. Similar practices have been followed by ancient Yogis – see Yoga Nidra (wikipedia) and this page listing various Yoga Nidra practices.
Image by Jeff McCrory via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Articles on the topic
- Towards more conscious sleep and dreaming.
- Explaining out-of-body and near-death experiences
- Sleep disorders : somnambulism and somniloquy
- Why do we forget our vivid dreams?
- Somnambulists who do creative work in their sleep
- Perception of Time changes with the concentration of consciousness
- The existence of vital signs during sleep or coma
- How can we “see” in our dreams when our eyes are closed?
- Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on sleep (at another website)
- Premonitory Dreams (at another website)
- Dreams and Visions (at another website)
- Dream Self and Sleep Self (at another website)
Books
Besides Satprem’s Adventures of Consciousness which explains sleep and dreams very nicely, these are some other books on this topic. Click on the book below to go to the relevant SABDA catalog entry.
I thought the treatment of the dream state in the recent fascinating movie Inception was interesting to examine, in the light of texts such as Yoga Vasistah etc. Would be interested in any other comments views.
I haven’t seen the movie so I can’t comment.
Question: How is it that the symbolism of dreams varies according to traditions, races, religions?
Mother Mirra Alfassa: Because the form given to the dream is mental. If you have learnt that such and such a form represents such and such a mythological person, you see that form and say: “It is that.” In your mind there is an association between certain ideas and certain forms, and this is continued in the dream. When you translate your dream you give it an explanation corresponding to what you have learnt, what you have been taught, and it is with the mental image you have in your head that you know. Moreover, I have explained this to you a little later in the vision of Joan of Arc (Mother takes her book and reads):
“The beings who were always appearing and speaking to Jeanne d’Arc would, if seen by an Indian, have quite a different appearance; for when one sees, one projects the forms of one’s mind You have the vision of one in India whom you call the Divine Mother; the Catholics say it is the Virgin Mary, and the Japanese call it Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy; and others would give other names. It is the same force, the same power, but the images made of it are different in different faiths.”
(Collected Works of the Mother, vol 5, p 28)
Pingback: Why do we forget our vivid dreams? « Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother
Yoga Nidra is taught at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to cure Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in American soldiers
The Specialized Care Program at Walter Reed focuses on helping service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan leave their wartime experiences behind.
Yoga, Carnes said, has become a large part of that effort.
In conjunction with a team of psychologists, a physical therapist, two nurses, a social worker and a general internist, Carnes has worked with hundreds of service members.
The program, which serves as many as 120 service members per year, 90 percent of whom suffer from PTSD, costs about $800,000 annually. That figure covers salaries for the program’s specialists as well as travel and accommodations for the participants, such as Farley, who typically come for a three-week treatment session.
The yoga that Carnes teaches, a form of guided meditation known as yoga nidra, was added to the program in 2006 after she helped conduct a feasibility study at the medical center.
The results of the study were overwhelmingly positive, she said, adding that the service members appreciated learning skills that they could continue to use after they left.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050203426.html
Yes, ‘lnception’ was a strange film. Basically it’s about Lucid Dreaming, l think, as in developing the ability to control our dreams and manipulate the dream environment. Seems to be a lot of interest in it these days.
l had an unusual dream with The Mother last night.
l was in a large room and a few ppl were there with The Mother. l was talking with Her and then She started telling me about how She could see the evolution going back to the beginning [the key word here was 'Evolution', l think]. Then l was seated in a chair and l could see an extremely vivid image of what appeared to be a Golden Salamander [for some reason, when l woke up later 'salamander' was the word in my mind - not lizard etc]. l could see some kind of evolutionary forward movement going on with this salamander as Mother was talking. When She’d finished talking, She stood in front of me and l was looking into Her eyes. My mind was unusually calm and unperturbed – which isn’t a normal state for me lol.
Anyway, l know nothing about salamanders or their symbology. l haven’t seen or read anything about these creatures recently. So, l had to do an internet search for some kind of explanation. lt seems to be a fire symbol, and from what l’ve found, it might relate to Agni or the Transformation of Matter [evolution was the KEY in this dream]. Here are some things l found [l've highlighted the word Salamander below]:
“Something seemed to be pushing me to go to Pondicherry. In a dream, I saw a stone with the imprint of a salamander and I knew this to be in the Aurobindo Ashram. The effect of this dream was so strong that even now, when I am walking in the ashram, I inadvertently look around for this stone! The salamander in the stone meant the transformation of matter, I suppose.[georges vrekhem]. ”
“Other symbolical fire representations are the Phoenix, which is revived in the flames and its former body destroyed so it arises again in an incorruptible form, the Salamander, which perseveres in the flames and possesses a blood more precious than any treasure.”
“This is the flaming godhead whom we cherish within, Agni, the leader of our progressive life, the great Sacrifice, the child whom we nourish, birth after birth, by all that we experience and do and achieve. To live normally and naturally in that fiery element – like the legendary SALAMANDER – to mould one’s consciousness and being, one’s substance and constitution, even the entire cellular organisation into the radiant truth is the goal of man’s highest aspiration, the ultimate end of Nature’s evolutionary urge and the cycle of rebirth [nolini kanta gupta, Collected Works, vol. 3, The Souls Odyssey].”
Intriguing, but I can’t comment on the dream. I feel typeless! (web-equivalent of speechless)
I updated your comment with references.
It seems salamanders are associated with fire because of their bright orange color and because the licks and curls of a fire can resemble a salamander. [Lipp, Way of Four, page 6]
Thanks for updating it Sandeep.
l was a little amazed at how such a humble creature [that l've never come across in the writings of SA and Mother before] can have such an important sybolism. lt would never have occurred to me before this dream.
The color in my dream might have actually been bright orange or gold merging into orange.
Anyway, thanks for all the effort you’ve put into this board. lt must take a lot of work. l know it’s helped me a lot.
All the Best.
Anyway, thanks for all the effort you’ve put into this board.
No, it didn’t take a lot of effort. Two minutes with google !
The whole board took two minutes to create? No wonder your typed out lol.
I thought you were referring to my comment but I might have misunderstood.
By board, I think you mean “blog” ?
l’m probably missing the point somewhere, Sandeep – l usually do
yeah, sorry Sandeep, l did mean blog lol.
Historian Roger Ekirch in his book “At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past” expatiates that before the Industrial Revolution, when there was no electrical illumination at night, people used to sleep in a two phases. He has found more than 500 references, from Homer onwards, to a ‘first sleep’ that lasted from sunset to until maybe midnight, which was followed by ‘second sleep’. In between the two sleep periods, people routinely got up, peed, smoked, read, chatted, had friends around, or simply reflected on the events of the previous day – and on their dreams.
See http://www.history.vt.edu/Ekirch/sleepcommentary.html
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep
and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783