Drg-Drshya-Viveka - 11

"The thought modifications of the inner equipment having attained an identity with the reflection of Consciousness, in the dream state project impressions, and in the waking state imagine objects outside with the sense organs." - Verse 11

Excerpt From Commentary:

The phenomenon of dreams fascinates man. It is of special importance to a seeker of Truth as it is the best example to understand the falsity of the waking world. 

In the dark theater of slumber we see before us the movie of the dream world. We identify with one of the actors and experience joys and sorrows. The spool of stored memories is lit by the reflection of Consciousness to enliven the entire dream. The power backing, the reflection is the Pure Consciousness without which the entire theater of inert matter would be in darkness. The dream is a projection of our vasanas of previously gathered impressions in the waking state. These impressions may be formed by sense inputs, reading, thinking or imagining. From the immense store of impressions gathered over countless lives, there emerges before us the dream world with a logic, all its own. 

Science shows that the longest dream lasts for a minute and a half. We can experience lifetimes in that short period of time. During the dream, the dream objects and beings appear very real to the dreamer. Only when one awakes, does one realize that it was all one's own mind's projection.

In the waking state the thoughts identify with the reflection of Consciousness and imagine the world of objects and beings as external to the body with its sense organs. The sense faculty is part of the subtle body and functions in the dream state as well. The apertures associated with the sense organs, such as eyes with sight, etc. are located in the gross body. When these start functioning in the waking state there is a continuous sense input through them of the outside world.

In the dream world, each one of us perceives and responds to the world according to our own likes and dislikes. Hence, even in the waking world (Lord's Creation), we live in a world of our own. The man of wisdom, free from likes and dislikes, lives happily in the Lord's Creation.

As the dream world is only a projection of the waking world's impressions, we are not likely to get Self-Knowledge in that state. Hence not wasting a single moment, we should strive to know the Truth.