Dreams

It was an evening time, I was walking and walking. Every minute,it was getting darker and darker Not even a single star was visible in the sky. I was not aware where I was heading. It was a new moon day. It was totally dark all over. Everywhere, there was pin drop silence. There was not at all any sign of a human being . Atmosphere was awe inspiring. My heart beat was increasing every second. Except a jackal's spine chilling howl occasionally, fluttering of tree leaves and mutterings of frogs nothing was heard. I was totally frightened. I was deep inside a jungle.I was approaching a cave. Slowly, I darted into that cave. Here also there was total darkness and nothing was visible. There was no light to show me path. Not even a spark. I was crawling and crawling. Hissing sound was coming out of that cave.It was increasing every second. I stood up to hold a hanging root of a tree for support. It appeared like a snake in darkness. I was appealing to God to save me. I was trembling. I was perspiring heavily.I was screaming. Suddenly, some noise was there, I opened my eyes. I was in my bedroom and my wife was by my side inquiring why I was screaming. I touched my bed. It was completely wet. I realized that it was a dream. The dream might have continued had I not been disturbed by that noise. I had never been inside a cave so far even during daytime. Nor I remember to have thought about a cave at any time. Then how come I had this dream? I was unable to make out why I dreamed in above fashion. It might be due to a movie that I saw sometime ago where in I might have come across a cave or it might be due to a part of a novel that I might have read and forgotten. This is neither a good nor a bad dream for it does not prophesy either good or bad.

It brought to my memory a poem written by a poet named Muppinashadhakshari.It was about a dream of a beggar .The beggar was relaxing in a dhramsala situated at the out skirts of a town. He dreams that a king had died and the king had no one to succeed . The citizens of that country in order to choose a successor had given a garland to an elephant .The beggar dreams that elephant garlands him only. Thus he becomes ruler of that kingdom in his dream. Further he visualizes his marriage with daughters of kings of adjacent kingdoms. Subsequently he foresees birth of children to them. He enjoys all the royal opulence in dream. He performs the marriages of his children in the dream too. The beggar becomes too proud of his wealth, position etc that he had inherited in the dream. At that stage of dream he kicks and his dream gets shattered. As a consequence his begging bowl breaks into pieces. He was left with no bowl to beg even. What a dream it was! Since ,time immemorial dreams have fascinated and puzzled human beings. They have searched for countless ways to understand their significance and to interpret their meaning.

Usually more than the dreams one would have one dreams more.Lovers and teenagers account for countless number of dreams. It is impossible either to count the number of their dreams or to remember their contents. Dreaming here need not be necessarily a dream which one would have when they are asleep; it can be imagining, aspiring etc. This some people do moderately whereas some people do excessively. What we do not come across in our real life, we can come across only in our dream. It is in a dream we come across heaven, hell, mars and what not.Nobody has hold over their dream. Nobody can imagine even where a dream would land them.It may land them in a heaven or a hell. It may fill them with either optimism or pessimism. A dream would affect one either favorably or adversely. One who turns their dream into reality is really a great person. Dreams were historically used for healing as well as for guidance or divine inspiration. In recent times, they have become the subject of psychological and scientific investigation.

What is a dream? Sigmund Freud once called dreams the “royal road to. . . the unconscious” Dream is a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreams depend upon mindset of an individual. Everyone Dreams -but not equally. Some dream more and some dream less. Some accord more importance to dreams and some do not accord importance to dreams. To dream it is easy but to understand a dream or realize a dream is not that easy.

A dream costs us nothing. It is free of cost. Dreams regulate mood. It is an act of our mind which either soothes it or disturbs it. It cannot be treated either lightly or seriously. A dream is by and large useful only. Contents of dreams are seldom same. Contents of dream often differ. There are three types of dreams. One is a good dream, another is a bad dream and third one is neither a good nor a bad dream. Dream is just like a story which can be either real or unreal. What we come across in a dream seldom takes place.Generally a dream is always far from reality .We find mostly that dream and reality are poles apart. The events of dreams are often impossible, or unlikely to occur. Of course,it is in a dream that we find certain times a ray of hope. Dreams keep hopes alive. A good dream gives rise to optimism. Hope is a waking dream. A man tries to forget that which is bad or bitter as a dream. It is a good trait and is quite essential to anybody to remain happy. Anything that is not possible is always called a dream. A few accord importance to a dream. Of course dreams once in a way turn out to be a reality. It is a rare occasion and that is definitely worth a celebration. Sometime we come to know about something that is likely to take place through a dream only. Similarly sometimes we find solution to a vexed problem that has been worrying us for a long time through a dream . As such, there are many who consider dreams as divine messages.

Future is always like a dream. Both future and dreams have something in common. Both future and dream are unpredictable. To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act. Sometimes it is difficult to understand a dream too. If we recollect the dreams that we had, we have different feelings. We laugh at some of them. We wonder how come we had such dreams.

There is nobody in this world that had no dreams. Most dreams last only 5 to 20 minutes. During a typical lifespan, a human spends a total of about six years dreaming. The scientific study of dreams is known as oneirology. It has been hypothesized that dreams are the result of a chemical named dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in the brain.It is unknown where in the brain dreams originate, if there is a single origin for dreams or if multiple portions of the brain are involved, or what the purpose of dreaming is for the body or mind.

Dreaming is a quality imbibed in a man. At one time or another ,one would have a dream. Nobody dreams alike. Some dream more and some dream a little less. One whose expectations are more dreams more. More one dreams more is their expectations. Dreams and expectations go hand in glove. Mother does not want to disturb her child even though it is 11 a.m. in the morning. She feels that the child is dreaming let it sleep. According to her a dream that one would have early in the morning would always come true.It is a belief . When a child wakes up crying, mother would say that the child had a bad dream and keeps a lamp lit by ghee in front of idol of God.

Dreams are mysterious. A dream is a thrilling experience. Sometimes dreams take us to great heights. Sometimes dreams suddenly throw us down too. Sometimes they take us to world of ecstasy and sometimes to world of horror. It is a roller coaster ride. Dreams have no bounds. We cannot imagine the contents of a dream. It is in a dream we come across, what is not there in this world or any other world and all strange and peculiar objects . Dreams are always shredded with suspense .When we are dreaming it is so sweet, even when it is realized it would not be definitely that much sweet. It reminds us of English poet Keats who said, “ Heard melodies are sweet but those that are unheard are sweeter.” Sometimes we achieve in real life that we do not dream even. Similarly, sometimes we have only the satisfaction of dreaming what we could not achieve, enjoy, experience in our life. Dream world according to many is a world of contentment, enjoyment and happiness. That is why to forget the worries, failures etc people would like to dwell in this world. They would like to create artificial dreams for themselves by consuming alcohol, drugs, hashish, ganza, etc. In the process they become addict and get their lives worsened. More and more one relies on a dream; more and more either good or bad affect one would have on account of it. Dreams are often deceptive. Seldom, we can rely fully upon a dream. Dreams do not always give us a fair or a clear picture. It is when one's all dreams are shattered, their heart is broken. It is difficult to imagine how that would affect their state of mind. However, when a dream materializes one‘s heart is certainly overwhelmed with joy. Dreams can toss one up or down.

Most of the writers express their dreams through their write ups. One who dreams much could be a good writer provided they have writing skills and they could take others into a dream world too. Similarly, an orator with their oratory can land us into dream world. One should not be always in dream world for they would not aware of anything that has been taking place around them. As a result, they could not take timely action and would be in trouble. Dreams alone aren't enough to make one's belly full. While in conversation, we come across instances where one would be narrating or illustrating an event and we would be so much engaged in listening attentively and interestingly to them that we fail to understand that what they were narrating was a dream until they announce that it was a dream.

When we wake up after a dream, we continue to be in the dream world, we do not realize all of a sudden that what we had was a dream. Only after sometime we realize what we had was a dream . We laugh at ourselves.Certain incidents like seeing brother in a bad company, wife in somebody’s company, sister in somebody’s arms etc are better to be forgotten and should be treated as “ bad dreams” according to circumstances otherwise relationship between our nearest relatives and us get worsened, strained, broken and could never be patched up and bitterness would prevail forever. It is always better if we treat anything bad or worse as a dream and forget it. Those who have this quality, are really great . They deserve all the appreciation in this world .One type of dreaming is having an ambition and planning and working for getting fulfilled that ambition. It is translating a dream into reality. A successful person in life is one who gets majority of their ambitions fulfilled and who leads a happy and contented life. It is generally when one fails, one comes across all the dreams that they had earlier one by one . One always tries to forget something but dreams do not allow them to forget anything easily.

Whenever we want we cannot have a dream. Dreams are psychological. There are a few in this world who do not have desires or ambitions. Some have more desires and ambitions and some have less desires or ambitions. All these ambitions and desires which one has occupy their sub conscious mind without their knowledge as thoughts and would be waiting for an opportunity to come out in one or another way. Some desires and ambitions get satisfied and some do not. Some are expressed and some remain within. It is such thoughts which remain within us that make rounds in our mind and when we are asleep emerge as “Dreams”.We dream what we think. Some are good dreams and some are bad dreams. Thoughts in our mind always try to find their way out. Dreams are nothing but our own thoughts coming out in that fashion without our knowledge. We attach importance to them. Good dreams are those, which prophesy good events to us whereas bad dreams are those, which prophesy all bad events that are in store in us. All that we come across in our dreams need not become true or turn into reality no matter whether it is a bad dream or a good dream. Depending upon a person’s mindset these dreams affect the individuals. Some dreams boost one’s confidence and some make an individual more depressed. Thus dreams sometimes cause concern, fear, etc whereas they bring sometimes happiness, joy etc. All depends upon the contents of a dream, which in turn depends on our mental state only. It is opined if we think always good or have positive thoughts, we would have good dreams and the bad and negative thoughts give birth to bad dreams. That is why generally mothers advise their children to think of God while going to bed or tell the children good stories at bed time. If one follows principle of Gandhiji and three monkeys that is do not see bad , do not hear bad and do not listen bad one would have positive thoughts and in turn one could have a good dream. One dreams nothing but whatever they see or think.

Sometimes we cannot make out a head or tail of a dream. Many a times, by the time we wake up from our bed, we forget the contents of the dream that we had. It is always better to have a pen and a paper beside us to jot down soon after coming out of a dream. Dreams can be baffling and mysterious. Some approach astrologers to understand dreams fully or to know what they mean. My relative was coming across dreaded cobras in dreams. The relative consulted an astrologer in that connection and was advised to spend a huge sum of money on various rituals. As result a lot of hard earned money and valuable time was utilized to follow an astrologer's advice.The reason for such dreams is always purely psychological. Some of the reasons for having such a dream are attachment and preoccupation, feeling guilty, induced depression,too much work and stress etc. We must change with the time and should never be superstitious. One who could understand a dream well is not an astrologer but a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Psychologists are always well versed with psychology of dreams.They analyze a dream. A psychologist can understand and interpret our dreams always better. It enables a psychologist to study our mind and us too. A visionary foresees before hand what would take place not through dreams but because of his or her knowledge, wisdom, experience etc. Some exchange their dreams with friends, neighbors, relatives etc. Dreaming is always a healthy sign. If we do not dream we would become mad. Some believe in dreams. They anticipate their dream to come true. Some do not attach any importance to dreams at all.

Ten reasons why it is important to remember, interpret, and understand our dreams are:-

1. Our dreams are about us.

2. Our dreams are communications from our inner Self, our subconscious mind, to our outer, conscious mind-Self.

3. Our subconscious mind will never lie to us and will always present factual, truthful, knowledge.

4. Dreams will aid us to see our spiritual progress.

5. Dreams will enable us to specifically know exactly what parts of our self need to change.

6. Dreams help us to understand our purpose in life.

7. Dreams help us to gain an edge in life. We have an advantage over or above anyone who does not understand the meaning of their dreams.

8. Dream interpretation will help prepare us for astral projection.

9. Dream interpretation will help us get a good night’s sleep.

10. Using dream interpretation can save time by learning to be more efficient in life.

Dreams need a lot of study. There is an International Association for the Study of Dreams. Sometimes dreams mislead us. They give us a false hope. The possibility of dream becoming real is always remote. They are like seeing treasure inside a mirror. Dreams remain as dreams mostly. There are mere dreams. They cannot be materialized at all. The challenge is to ensure that the dreams do not remain mere dreams. Some dreams may also recur again and again. We should not act hastily depending upon a dream we had. We should not give undue importance to dreams. There are people who claim that they had a dream about that incident that has taken place without having any dreams. Some people bluff that they had dreams and narrate false stories. If we do not have a sound sleep or if we sleep well during afternoon, at night we generally have a disturbed sleep and visualize so many things and we call it a dream . It is always said that children see a monster in dream. The reason for this is either the child might have been told a story about a monster or might have seen a monster in a movie and might have gone to sleep thinking about the same. The elders create a fear about monster in a child to stop its crying. Dreams depend upon our financial position, our profession, our fields of interest etc. We know what our capacity is and what we deserve. If we dream more than what we deserve, we would be in difficulties even if we are able to realize our dream. Further, without hard work or efforts and a favorable atmosphere no dream could be realized, it is mere dream.

Dreaming differs from person to person. Dreams of young and old people are different . Young can dream whatever they want but not the aged. One has to dream what is suitable and appropriate to their age. Dreaming has also age. Dreams of children, girls, and ladies are all different. One dreams according to their age and tastes. A father dreams that his son should be like Sri Ramachandra and the mother wants her daughter-in –law to be like Sita Devi whereas son wants his wife to be like famous beautiful cine artist of that time while the daughter’s taste would be entirely different. One dreams according to their mindset. A man with low-income dreams of building a small house and those with higher income dream of building bigger houses in accordance with their income. Same is the case with various other comforts of life. Those who are interested in career building have different dreams. A sportsman, athlete etc dream differently. Those who are interested in studies and research etc live in different dream world. Politicians always dream of climbing the ladder of political hierarchy. In other words dreams that one would have indicate what type of a person they are.

What we mistake as our dreams are sometimes are our illusions. Both dreams and illusions are false. Illusion is a mental aberration. It is a wrong conclusion on one’s part like that somebody gave a smile even though that somebody was not even present there. Similarly assuming to be heir to someone’s property, which is a distant possibility or as a rich man’s son-in-law are illusions only.

Dreaming is not bad but expecting that it would come true is really foolish. A dreamlike musing or fantasy while awake, especially of the fulfillment of wishes or hopes is daydreaming. Dreaming more than what one would be able to achieve or that which is impossible is “Day dreaming” .A poor man aspiring to be a wealthy man is natural whereas aspiring to be a millionaire is daydreaming . An ordinary athlete aspiring for a gold medal at national level is natural but aiming at Olympic gold medal is daydreaming. Daydreaming is aiming at sky. Generally, youths and maidens do lot of day dreaming before marriage regarding their married life. They build castles in the air. They dream that life is a bed of roses. Sometimes their dreams become a reality but sometimes life turns out to be a bed of thorns to them. Dream is always not a bird on hand but a bird in the bush.Daydreaming is nothing but imagining . Human imagination has no bounds. One who thinks too much is said to be in dream world. They remain in their own world completely immersed in thoughts without knowing what is happening around them. In this context we can quote lovers. What is all that the lovers dream? Everything seems to be very beautiful to them. They build castles in the air. Life seems to them as a bed of roses. Whatever that they dream if that materializes they would be really very happy. On the contrary if that does not take place they would be disappointed or dejected . More they rely on the outcome of any dream happier or disappointed they would be. Some people when they come out of a dream and when they realize or come to know that they were dreaming only and all that was not a reality become gloomy. It is always better to have restraints or limit for our dreaming. One should hope for the best but be prepared for the worst too. They should always remember, “ Man proposes but God disposes”

Bad dreams--or worse, nightmares--aren't just annoying; when reoccurring, they can disrupt a good night's sleep, and sometimes, life. Bad dreams relate largely to one's state of mind. Bad dreams arouse feelings of intense terror or distress in a person. One gets up in the middle of a night, horrified and frightened in a bad dream. Bad dreams affect one psychologically.They shatter or lower one's confidence.

Bad dreams are often lengthy and occur during the latter part of the night. During a bad dream, the sleeper usually comes upon a threat to life or safety. Bad dreams are common among children and their frequency of occurrence decreases, as one grows older.

Bad dreams are often linked with your emotional state. In times of great mental stress and pressures, one often has bad dreams. Bad dreams are often attributed to death of a loved one in near past. If you dream of failing an exam or of being held up in an inescapable situation, that may be due to the stress you are undergoing during that period. If you have undergone a trauma in recent times, that mental state of yours might reflect in your dreams.

Spicy food causes many time bad dreams. The explanation is that spicy food can elevate body temperatures and thus disrupt sleep. This may also be the reason why some people report bad dreams when they eat too close to bedtime. Though few studies have looked at it, eating close to bedtime increases metabolism and brain activity and may prompt bad dreams or nightmares.

Bad dreams are caused due to certain medicines. Medicines like beta-blockers, tranquillizers and anti-depressants may become a reason for bad dreams. If you have recently withdrawn from certain drugs like sleeping pills, you may get bad dreams. Bad dreams can result as a side effect of certain drugs. Drugs that are administered for Parkinson’s disease often become causes of nightmares. Bad dreams may be an indication that dopamine levels in the brain are low. You can make up for the low dopamine levels by increasing the intake of vitamin B.

People having high imaginative powers are at a greater risk of having nightmares. Most bad dreams can be traced back to trauma. Crime victims and rape survivors are often observed to have nightmares. Seeing horror movies may cause nightmares in children.

Dreams are nothing but reflection of our sub conscious mind .It is subconscious mind that plays the pivotal role in case of any dream. What we could not achieve or enjoy in our real life, we could achieve or enjoy at least sometimes in our dreams. Sometimes, dreams guide us; show us the right path when we are undecided. We can create or destroy anything in our dreams. A dream girl is one who is very very beautiful and once we see her she should appear in our dream again and again. And actress Hemamalini is known, as dream girl in Bollywood. If we study one’s dreams, we could study their mind too. Further, if we eat something, which affects our liver, and in turn our mind. We feel sometimes uneasy and everything looks blurred and upside down and a series of events pass through our mind. That is not a dream. Thus dreams are mysterious and useful in many ways. As long as we have enthusiasm, we would dream and dream. The moment the enthusiasm vanquishes we would have no dreams or anything. Sometimes when that something what we had dreamed was coming through or when it was only half way through or at the verge of completion, we pass away from this world. We would be lucky if we survive till entire dream project becomes a reality. Sometimes, it is left to our kith and kin to complete that dream project. Sometimes, it remains, as it is where we had left.

Past is a dream, which should be remembered wherever necessary only and forgotten wherever it is unsavory. Present is a reality. Future again could be a dream. Dreaming is also nothing but planning for the future too. Developments, inventions, etc have made life so comfortable that even our forefathers might not have even dreamt these comforts which we are enjoying to-day. All these developments,have given place to optimism that our dreams would be reality if not to-day, at least tomorrow or day after. We have within reach, now, the attainment of almost every dream of mankind. A day is not far of when Mahatma Gandhi‘s dream that tears would be wiped out from every Indian becomes a reality.It is always better for one if their good dreams realize. It is always better for one if they forget their bad dreams as early as possible.