DREAM STATE
Jaagrat avasthaayaam, yad drishtam, yad shrutam,
tat janita vaasanayaa
nidraa samaye yah prapanchah prateeyate
saa svapna avasthaa
Sookshma shareera abhimaanee aatmaa “Taijasa” iti uchyate.
In the waking state, whatever
is seen or heard,
from the impressions
formed from that,
that world which, at the
time of sleep, is projected –
that is the dream state.
Identifying Itself with
the subtle body, the Self is called “TAIJASA” in this state.
Svapna Avastha – Dream
State
This is also called the
Dream State of experience. In Sanskrit it is called Svapna Avastha. And with
regard to Svapna Avastha also, we have to see the three factors.
Mind
During Svapna or dream,
our memory faculty alone is functioning. Whatever experiences we have been
gathering in the Jagrat Avastha, they all get registered in the memory-slab of
the mind.
Whatever emotions we
experience in dream, are not freshly received emotions but are only replaying
the recorded emotions experienced in our waking state.
Therefore, in dream
state, everything that happens in dream is only from memory and hence, the
other faculties are not functioning:
- The Manaha or
emotional faculty for gathering fresh emotions
- Rational faculty does
not function
- Ego faculty does not
function. Even the ego experienced in the dream is the memory based ego and the fresh
ego is not functioning.
Nature
In dream, we experience
a world which is internal. Because this world is generated out of my own
personal private memory and therefore it is not something existing outside,
there is no connection between the dream objects that I have and the
surroundings that I have. I may be sleeping in a place but my dreams may be
connected to another place.
In dream, the world
available for me is not accessible to other people. This is a subjective
universe.
Sometimes we may get a
doubt – 'Sometimes I experience a rare dream that I have not experienced in the
waking state'. If you say so, there are only a few possibilities:
- One is, you create a
new dream by combining various things experienced in the Jagrat Avastha. New
objects cannot be created. This is because objects are memory-based or thought-based,
and thought being highly fluid the objects are highly fluid in Svapna Avastha.
Therefore, since they all get jumbled up, we get mixed dreams.
- Sometimes whatever we
imagine in the Jagrat Avastha, they get registered and they can be thrown out.
Whatever is fantasized or imagined or read in books or seen in movies leading
to imagination, they all can come in Svapna.
- Sometimes even if I
have not experienced in this Janma, the experience of the previous Janma also
can come.
Three aspects of the
second level:
There are three aspects of the second level of reality:
1) the Dreaming state of
consciousness,
2) the Unconscious state
of mind, and
3) the Subtle realm of
manifestation.
These three are all
operating at the same level of reality or existence.
The Dreaming state
of consciousness: The second of the three states of consciousness is
the state where the Unconscious mind is most active. The Conscious mind
has receded and awareness is directed toward the seemingly endless stream
of images and impressions of the Unconscious or the Subtle realm.
The conscious control of
attention available in the Waking state is less available here, where attention
is easily drawn into the streams of images and impressions flowing in the
Unconscious field of mind, or coming from the Subtle realm.
The Unconscious aspect
of mind:
The second of the three states of mind is the Dreaming state,
where one is aware of objects from the internal stream of thought patterns or
the images and objects of the Subtle world. The Conscious aspect of mind has
receded while the Subconscious is providing a constant flow of impressions to
feed into the Dream process.
The Subtle realm
of manifestation: The second of the three stages of
manifestation is the Subtle realm. Its endless stream of alluring or fearful
objects is the focus of attention for the Unconscious mind, used in the Dreaming
state.
Swami Sivananda roars,
"Learn to be the
witness of your thoughts in the waking state. You can be conscious in the dream
state that you are dreaming.
You can alter, stop or
create your own thoughts in the dream state independently. You will be able to
keep awake in the dream state. If the thoughts of the waking state are
controlled, you can control the dream thoughts also.
You dream that you are a
king. You enjoy various kinds of royal pleasures. As soon as you wake up,
everything vanishes. But you do not feel for the loss, because you know that
the dream creatures are all false.
Do not allow the mind to
run into the sensual grooves. Fortify yourself by developing the intellect
through enquiry of Brahman, reflection and contemplation.
When you know the real Tattva, Brahman, the waking consciousness also will become quite false like a dream. Even in the waking consciousness if you are well established in the idea that the world is a false illusion, you will not get any pain.
Wake up and realize, my
child!"
Love.
