Earth’s dream-boat sails

Question: When you appear in a dream, is it really you in some form?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes. When I appear in a dream, it is really one of my forms, one of my divine forms. The form I take depends on the disciple’s inner and outer needs. But most of the time it is according to the disciple’s inner needs. But again, sometimes the mind will translate the experience I am giving to your soul inwardly into its own mental creation.

Question: I dreamt of a very lustrous, bright orange serpent shortly after becoming your disciple. What does this mean?

Sri Chinmoy: Your dream of a very lustrous, bright orange serpent is very significant. But the colour that you saw was not orange; it was gold. This gold has a special significance. As you know, blue indicates Infinity and gold signifies divine manifestation. A snake means energy. You will see snakes around Lord Shiva’s neck, and that means that energy is around him. Each snake has a meaning of its own. If they are not black, then they are all good. If you see a black snake, you have to know that it is a wrong force, an undivine force, a hostile force. But if you see a snake with a golden colour or a red colour, the gold signifies divine manifestation and the red signifies power. A gold snake means the manifestation of divine energy. Divine energy entered into you, into your spiritual life, and it wanted to flow through you in the form of manifestation. The first manifestation is your total surrender to the Will of the Supreme. The second manifestation is your conscious and constant service to the Will of the Supreme. The third manifestation is not to have any individual feeling of yourself but to feel the Supreme at every moment and to feel that you are of Him all the time and you are for Him all the time. You are of His Dream-Reality and you are for His Reality-Dream.

Question: When I first go to bed, sometimes I get a strong feeling of a dream that I had the previous night. Why is this?

Sri Chinmoy: This means that your dream was very strong. Whether it was a positive or a negative dream, the dream was equally strong. With positive dreams you go forward; with negative dreams you go backward. A positive dream is like a flower. You keep a few flowers on your shrine and they emit a fragrance. After some time, even if you take the flowers away, still the fragrance remains. You burn an incense stick for some time and you smell the incense. But when you remove the incense, the same fragrance is there. The thing goes away, but its capacity, its essence, its quality remains. A similar thing can happen with a person. A saint stands in front of you, and then after some time he goes away. But the peace, joy, love that he had in him are still vibrating at that particular place. And if a bad person full of anger and other undivine qualities stands in front of you, then his undivine qualities also remain there and vibrate for some time after he leaves. When a man goes away, the quality that he embodied he leaves on the spot, and you get the effect of the consciousness that he had when he was physically present. It is the same thing with a dream that lingers after it has gone away. If the dream was very powerful, the essence of the dream, its main quality, remains with you.

Question: Does God feel that dreams are a necessity?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God feels that dreams are a necessity, a supreme necessity, provided they are good dreams, spiritual dreams, illumining dreams. If you have that kind of dream, then each dream is like an egg which is about to hatch a chick or a duckling. When a chicken eats, it is with one-pointed attention and concentration, which is absolutely necessary, and when a duck eats, it has the unusual capacity to separate milk from water, the essential from the nonessential. If you can develop these capacities, you will run very fast in your spiritual life.

Question: After awakening, how can we become conscious of spiritual experiences that we've had during sleep?

Sri Chinmoy: You can become conscious of spiritual experiences that you have had during sleep only if you feel that these experiences are of tremendous value. If you have that kind of feeling, then when you forget your experiences, you will feel a sense of tremendous loss, irreparable loss. Then the next time you dream, you will not forget your experiences.

Our problem is that we do not give due value to our experiences. First of all, when we have an experience during sleep, we feel that it is only our mental hallucination and nothing else. This is wrong. Secondly, we feel that these same experiences others also get, that they are nothing unusual. That is also wrong. Whether others have dreams or not is not our business. Our business is only to have experiences and, with the help of these experiences, to get a new life and run towards our destined Goal. If we do not give due value to our experiences, the experiences find that they are not needed, so they do not come and knock at our door.

The reason we do not become conscious of our experiences that we had during sleep is because we do not give due value to them. When we give proper value to someone or something, that person or thing remains with us, in us and for us.

Question: Why is it that a person you are dreaming of sometimes changes faces and becomes other people?

Sri Chinmoy: When you see a person change his face and become other people in a dream, it can mean that you are seeing quite a few of that particular person’s previous incarnations, or it may happen that his soul wants to show you the future incarnations of that particular person. The soul is able to do this. Or it may be that even in this incarnation, you will have a different experience of this same person. When he is in the physical world you will see him in one way, when he is in the vital world you will see him in another way, when he is in the mental world you will see him in a third way, and when he is in the psychic world you will see him in a fourth way. This is quite possible.

Again, it may be that you are seeing different things that are happening in the person’s inner being or consciousness. These things are taking form, or you are giving life to them, and they are being reflected on the person’s face.

When spiritual Masters look at their disciples, they see different faces on the same person. When I look at you, if you are angry, immediately I see one face in you. If you are depressed, I see a different face. If you are happy, I see a third face. Your physical face is actually the same, but the forces that you embody in your physical body immediately come to the fore, and these forces are easily noticeable by spiritual Masters. If you are depressed, a depression force is operating inside you; if you are happy, a happiness force is operating in you; if you are angry, an anger force is operating.

In the dream, if faces are changing constantly, but not inspiring you, then you should try to stop the dream. But if each time the face is changing you get inspiration and aspiration, then be happy to see the change of faces.

Question: What does it mean when you dream that you are injured or in a battle?

Sri Chinmoy: When you dream that you are injured, that means that you are being attacked by some undivine forces. These forces may attack you on any plane — on the physical plane, on the vital plane, on the mental plane or even on the psychic plane.

The attack and the injury may take place on any plane. But when you see it, it is your mind that sees it, and it is the mind that convinces you that you are injured.

When you have a dream that you are in a battle, if it is on a higher plane, that means you are fighting against ignorance. If it is on a lower plane, it only means that your own undivine life is fighting against somebody else’s undivine life. But when one becomes a spiritual seeker like you, if you dream of a battle, that usually means that you are fighting against teeming ignorance, against the soldiers of ignorance. You have already taken the side of God, truth and light, so you are fighting against the forces that are standing against you, against your highest realisation of light and truth, against your revelation and manifestation of the divinity within you.

Question: How useful can dreams be in the spiritual life?

Sri Chinmoy: In our spiritual life dreams can be most useful provided they are inspiring, encouraging and illumining. We have to feel that a dream is a seed which is bound to germinate in the course of time. We have to feel that we are nothing short of God’s own Dream that is being unfolded for the transformation of earth’s ignorance-life into Heaven’s Perfection-Light.

Question: In dreams, how can one transform the demands of the vital with the same force that one can when one is conscious?

Sri Chinmoy: One has to be more careful, more conscious, more devoted to one’s spiritual life, especially during the time of meditation. Each time one meditates, one should feel that the results of the meditation are like a river flowing towards the sea, its destined goal. The seeker has to feel that the dream is not the goal. It is only a journey. During the journey one may encounter foul weather and obstructions on the way, but if one is brave, one inevitably reaches one’s destination. So be brave during your dreams and feel that the dream is not the end. If you have an unhappy dream, feel that it is a necessary step in your life to strengthen you, especially in your case. Needless to say, Reality itself is crying for your arrival at its door. It desperately needs you, your heart’s cry, your life’s conscious and constant oneness, so that it can manifest in and through you for life-perfection and love-manifestation on earth.

Question: Guru, you once came to me in a dream and embraced and kissed me. Was that a vital dream?

Sri Chinmoy: My dear son, many times my soul has blessed your soul with overwhelming love and concern. But when your physical mind and your vital are not in the sovereign height of purity, you see and feel this blessing as an embrace and kiss instead of a loving blessing. The physical mind always tries to give a physical interpretation to the inner reality and tries to convince the outer being in a way that it finds usual and understandable. If the inner love of the Master is misunderstood by the demanding vital, then indeed it becomes a vital dream. If your aspiring consciousness had remained in the plane where the dream took place, then your entire being would have been flooded with Light and Delight, and this experience would have lasted for days.

Question: What is the significance of falling in a dream, like when one falls off a cliff?

Sri Chinmoy: This dream has three possible meanings. When you fall, if you are frightened to death, it means that your consciousness has become totally one with your vital being. This kind of dream has actually taken place in the vital plane. If you are falling and enjoying the fall, like a child playing on a trampoline, it means you are becoming one with the aspiring reality that is below you and around you. This dream takes place in the psychic plane. If you see while falling, that many human beings are looking at you from below with an eager hunger, that means you are bringing down light from above to feed aspiring humanity. This dream is an unusual and, at the same time, most significant dream. It takes place only in the soul’s plane proper.

Question: I very rarely have dreams. What does this mean? If it means I am not remembering them, should I try to remember?

Sri Chinmoy: If you don’t have dreams, that means you don’t need them. If you have dreams but forget them and then feel that you have lost something important in life, then you have to try to gain them back. In order to do that, you have to feel that your life is not a reality devoid of dreams. Also you have to know that each dream is the clear indication of an imminent reality; therefore, you will value the dream as you would value the reality. If you value dreams in this way, then an inner being of yours will help you remember your dreams.

Question: Why can I not remember my dreams for more than a split second after waking, even if I try?

Sri Chinmoy: There are quite a few reasons why you do not remember your dreams for more than a split second after waking, in spite of your best efforts. But there are two main reasons. One is that you do not give adequate importance to your dreams. Although you are trying your best to remember them, still you do not give your dreams adequate importance, You have lost something, you have misplaced something, and you want to get it back. But you are not trying your best; you are not offering your utmost sincere effort to find the thing that you have lost. There is no intensity in your search. That is one reason. Another reason is that it is not the Will of God that you remember your dreams. Perhaps you had a bad dream, an unaspiring dream, a frightening dream, and you want to remember it. The Supreme knows that by remembering this undivine, frightening dream you will gain nothing, absolutely nothing. On the contrary, if you consciously remember that bad dream and think of it for a few hours, it will create fear in you and will only ruin your inner aspiration. Again, if you get a very high, lofty dream and if the Supreme sees that you are unable to assimilate it, He will not allow you to remember it. If He sees that you will become bloated with conscious or unconscious pride and say, “Oh, I had such a lofty dream, I am so great,” then He just takes it away from your conscious mind. He wants you to keep it inside the very depth of your heart, and gradually, gradually He allows the seed to grow inside you. In the course of time it will germinate and grow into a mango tree. When it is a tiny plant, there is a great risk that it may be destroyed by you or by others. But when it becomes a full-grown tree, it cannot be destroyed. At that time there will not be any pride in you. When you become a real mango tree full of mangoes, you will humbly bend down and offer your fruits to sincere seekers.

Question: Where do dreams come from?

Sri Chinmoy: There are many worlds, and dreams come from those worlds. What we call a dream here on earth, in some other world is a reality. It is a reality in its own right, but when it comes to us, we are a stranger to it and it is a stranger to us. When two strangers meet for the first time, it is like a dream; they don’t know each other; they can’t recognise each other. They are very puzzled; they are astonished by each other. But once they start living together they do not remain strangers any more. At that time the dream becomes a reality. In the beginning, when the reality first comes and touches the earth plane where we live, we feel that it is a dream. But when we go to the Source where it came from, we see that it is a reality there. And when the dream stays with us for some time, then it becomes a reality and does not remain a dream any longer.

Question: If we dream of you, what part of the being is actually receiving you?

Sri Chinmoy: If you dream of me, that means you are actually receiving one part of my being. When you see me in a dream, part of your physical being, part of your vital being or part of your mental being is receiving me. Or instead of a part, it can be the whole being; the whole physical being, vital being, or mental being can receive me. But if it is a part of your physical being, or the physical being proper, if it still has impurity in it, it will be frightened to receive and welcome the Master. If it is the vital being or a part of the vital being, it may be frightened because of its aggressive and stubborn qualities. If it is a part of the mental being or the mental being proper, it may be frightened because of its obscurity and lack of wideness. But there comes a time when the disciple has made considerable progress in the spiritual life. The moment he receives his Master with part of his physical being or the physical being proper, he feels a sense of tremendous joy — the joy that awakens him and makes him aware of the world within him and without him. Then if part of the vital or the entire vital being receives the Master, he feels that he is marching and running towards his destined Goal. And if part of the mind or the entire mental being receives the Master, then he feels that he is flying, flying in the sky of Infinity and Eternity. So, almost any part of our being can actually receive the Master in a dream.

Question: Why can dreams sometimes be more inspiring than reality?

Sri Chinmoy: Every human being is of the opinion that a dream is infinitely more inspiring than reality. The immediate effect of a dream on our mind is to create inspiration, This is because when we are in the dream world all our soul’s capacities are at our disposal. We can do many things and see many things which we cannot do or see during our waking hours. We can freely enter into many realms which we cannot enter at other times. When you develop the inner capacity to enter into all these realms at will, then you will see that dream and reality have become one. At that time reality and dream will be equally inspiring.

Question: I dreamt that all your disciples were in an ashram in India, and that Mother India was shedding tears of gratitude.

Sri Chinmoy: Mother India was shedding tears of gratitude because you are all Americans and you have accepted me so devotedly and soulfully. When Mother India sees that children from another shore have accepted her son as their own, very own, she is very happy. Mother India was shedding tears of gratitude because I love you people and you people also love me. In my acceptance of America and in America’s acceptance of me, we have become one.

Question: Does aspiration increase one's capacity to remember dreams so that one can offer one's unconscious side for purification?

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly! Aspiration always increases one’s capacity to remember dreams. But here we have to know what the connection is between aspiration and purification. The connection between the two is very simple. Aspiration tells us that God is within. Purification tells us that God is all around. Just as we increase our purification through aspiration, through purification we also increase our aspiration. When we give ourselves totally to God, our aspiration increases. When we receive from God devotedly, our purification increases.

Question: Do dreams have anything to do with ambition?

Sri Chinmoy: Dreams can easily have much to do with ambition. There are usually two types of ambition. One is like the ambition of Napoleon and Caesar and Alexander the Great. When Caesar said, Veni, vidi, vici, “I came, I saw, I conquered,” that is vital ambition. But spiritual ambition will say, “I saw, I loved, I became.” With vital ambition we try to trample others and dominate others, but with spiritual ambition we try to become inseparably and universally one with others. This kind of ambition is good. In the outer world you are a pilot. When you fly, at that time if you feel that your consciousness is flying in the sky of Infinity and Eternity, then you are flying into something infinite. But if your ambition is only to go from one place on earth to another, then your goal is limited. It is not an ever-transcending Goal. So if you dream of doing something expanding, something transcending, that kind of dream embodies spiritual ambition. But if the dream has its start and finish together, if you know your own destination, then you cannot go very far. The ambition that binds you and the ambition that frees you, liberates you, or gives you a sense of Infinity are two different ambitions. When you have a dream, try to feel that you are entering into the worlds of beauty, peace, light and bliss where everything is constantly growing in infinite measure and where everything is transcending its own reality. If you have that kind of dream, if you have that kind of ambition, then earth-life is meaningful and fruitful, and you really become a chosen instrument of the Supreme, for the Supreme.

Question: Guru, if a disciple comes to us in a dream and says he has a message from you, can we believe it?

Sri Chinmoy: On very rare occasions, if the dream occurs on a very high plane, and if the disciple is very spiritual and devoted and sincere, then the message can be really true. But many times the dream will come from the vital plane. The disciple carrying the message will have his own likes and dislikes and vital propensities. This kind of dream you cannot believe. Every day I hear hundreds of juicy stories about what “Guru has said.” This is on the physical plane. But those who are saying this do not go to the length of saying that I have asked them to give you a message. No! They only say, “Guru has said this, Guru has said that.” Where, when, to whom they do not mention. The context in which I said it they totally forget. In order to gain prominence, in order to make others feel they are close to the Master, they say this. I cannot be responsible for their message at that time. So you have to be on your guard. Each disciple has his own personality; this personality may enter into the message that you are going to get and it can be totally wrong.

Question: When we go to sleep, should we try to dream divine dreams, or should we just sleep naturally?

Sri Chinmoy: If we feel that some divine dreams will inspire us because for the past few days or weeks or months we have not been able to meditate well, then it is advisable to try to have divine dreams when we go to sleep. In this case, they will be an inspiration to help us meditate as well as we once used to. But if we are only carried away by the word ‘dream’ and want to have a dream for the sake of the pleasant feeling or pleasure it gives, then it does not help our spiritual life in any way.

Question: How important are dreams?

Sri Chinmoy: It entirely depends on the seeker’s necessity. If the seeker needs a dream in order to inspire him to go deep within or to go far beyond the mind, then dreams are of paramount importance. Divine dreams, spiritual dreams, do play a considerable role in one’s spiritual life. Also, we have to know that everything is a dream before it is manifested in the world of reality. If we value a reality, then we have to value the dream as well. But this does not mean that we have to have thousands and millions of dreams in order to have God-realisation. No! If we have a few significant dreams, that is more than enough. Even if we do not have any dreams, that will not stand in our way. But there is not a single human being on earth who has not had any dreams.

Question: When we dream, do our souls visit many different planes of consciousness, or do they usually visit the same planes?

Sri Chinmoy: When we dream, our souls visit many different planes of consciousness. Our soul is like a bird. Today it sits on one branch, tomorrow it can sit on another branch and the day after tomorrow on a third branch. Every time we have a dream, there is the possibility for our soul to enter into different planes of consciousness. If the soul wants to, it can enter one particular plane many times. But, like us, the soul enjoys variety. It likes to visit different states of consciousness. Novelty gives us joy; so also in the case of the soul. By visiting new planes of consciousness it acquires more light and, at the same time, offers light from its own self. There is mutual giving and taking.

Question: When we dream of you, does it always mean that you have been in touch with us that night?

Sri Chinmoy: When you dream of me, it is absolutely true that one part of my being or one emanation of mine is in touch with you. My physical mind may not know and need not know what is happening, but an inner existence of mine is definitely aware of it. And if something very important, serious, significant, dangerous, alarming or illumining has happened, then the emanation or inner being of mine is bound to bring the message into my physical mind either that morning or during the day. But if it is only the kind of divine nourishment that you usually get, then the being need not or will not bring it to my attention. When you dream of me, it is either because I knew of the situation previously and wanted you to have the dream so that you would know or do something special, or it is because of my soul’s love for you.

Question: What is the significance of exhilarating flying in a dream which is vividly remembered after waking?

Sri Chinmoy: When you have a dream of exhilarating flying, you have to know that that dream has actually taken place in the vital world — not the lower vital but the higher vital plane, where our vital actually flies. We do not fly on the mental plane or any other plane, but only on the vital. When we become part and parcel of that vital plane, we do fly. And when you become a Yogi, then if you fly in the vital plane, you become aware that it is your vital being that is flying and you can convince your physical mind of this. Otherwise, you may think your flying is a coincidence or a mere stroke of fate or luck. But when you realise God, you feel that your own capacity, your own light, is enabling you to fly.

Question: What does it mean when you die in a dream and you remain conscious that you are dead?

Sri Chinmoy: Since you have accepted the spiritual life, if you see in your dreams that you are dead or you are dying, then you have to know that it is the death of the vital, of the physical, or of something that was rebellious, destructive, undivine or hostile. Anything that stood as an obstacle to your God-realisation, anything that stood as a hindrance to your manifestation of light or to your aspiration, is dying so that a new life of aspiration and dedication can dawn. If you see that you are dead in a dream, usually it means something wrong in you is now dead, and a new life is dawning very fast. But sometimes it means that you are not feeding some of your good qualities. If someone led a spiritual life for many years and became an advanced aspirant, and then if he gave up the spiritual life altogether, this kind of dream will mean that the divine in that person — his sincerity, simplicity, humility, purity and other good qualities — is dying. But when you are practising the spiritual life, this question does not arise. At that time it is your physical life, lower vital life, undivine life that is dying so that a new life of illumination and aspiration can dawn.

Question: When one dreams, the consciousness is often quite low, or at least unaspiring. Is that necessarily harmful spiritually?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes. When one dreams, if at that time the consciousness is low and unaspiring, then it affects the seeker in us. This kind of dream is detrimental to our inner life. If we have this kind of dream, the best thing is to meditate more sincerely, more devotedly, more soulfully on the following day. In this way we can prevent these undivine dreams from entering into us, and stop their attack. Low types of dreams especially do affect our inner sky. They cloud our mental sky and ruin our aspiration or dynamic vital, and even try to destroy our physical health.

Question: Can a spiritual dream be as beneficial as meditation?

Sri Chinmoy: There is a kind of dream which amounts to vision. If you have a dream that indicates an imminent new dawn, a new birth, this kind of dream is nothing short of a vision and it is as good as a high meditation. If you have that kind of vision, you can get God-realisation if it is God’s Will. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that if you have a vision of the highest order, if the Supreme wants to, He can give you partial realisation. Such a dream is not only as good as meditation, but far surpasses meditation. It is a vision of the highest order, a minor realisation.

Question: How do our feelings or emotional reactions in dreams reflect our soul's feelings?

Sri Chinmoy: The soul proper is not affected by our emotional actions and reactions. When we use the term ‘emotion’, usually we are referring to vital emotion, and this cannot affect the soul. But if the soul enters into the plane of the lower vital and accepts the emotional life of the vital world as its very own and becomes part and parcel of it, then it is affected. If the soul enters into the vital plane and makes the vital plane feel it is ready to deal with its emotional problems, then the soul puts aside its own divinity and can suffer from the emotional problems of the vital life. But if the soul wants to remain aloof and separate, it can. There is no danger to the soul’s light; it is eternally pure. If the soul remains in its own plane, then it will not be affected. Everything depends on the soul’s compassion, on its inclination to help the vital life of the person. If I want to take your karma, I take it and then I suffer like anything for days and months. But it is up to me to accept it or not. If I take your impurities, I can rid myself of them because I have the capacity. I can take some garbage and just throw it into the universal Consciousness right away, or I can bring it to a certain spot and leave it there and then, at the right time, throw it into the proper place. But the soul cannot take something from you and then throw it into the universal Consciousness. Only spiritual Masters can do that.

Question: What is the relationship between dream and reality?

Sri Chinmoy: Let us give dream a higher and more fulfilling name; let us call it ‘vision’. The relationship between vision and reality is extremely sweet, significant and invaluable. What we call vision tomorrow that very thing is reality. But we get this experience only when we are in the physical plane, the vital plane, the mental plane or the psychic plane. When we are on a very, very high plane, the plane of the soul, or in a plane which is higher than the soul’s plane — such as the plane of the cosmic gods and goddesses — there vision and reality are inseparable. On other planes, vision and reality are two different things which eventually become one, but on the soul’s plane or higher they are already one. On other planes they are playing a hide-and-seek game. But in the higher regions, you can see that they are inseparable.

Question: Does it help us in our spiritual life to write down and analyse our dreams?

Sri Chinmoy: It helps you if you write down your dreams, but you should not analyse them. Only a spiritual Master can analyse your dreams. If you have inspiring dreams you can write them down, either on a piece of paper or on the tablet of your heart. Then when you are sad, depressed and doomed to disappointment, if you read your inspiring dreams, it immediately elevates your consciousness to the highest height. But if you analyse, you use your stupid mind and then all the significance, the subtle essence of the dream will vanish immediately. All its importance, meaning, glory and capacity — everything that is divine and essential in the dream — will be taken away. Don’t use the mind. Do not analyse and scrutinise; only keep the dream inside your heart. Cherish it and treasure it. Then, as soon as you become a victim to undivine forces, place the dream in front of you. Then look in the mirror and see how divine you have become.

Question: Does the soul gain any experiences to help its evolution from negative dreams, as it does from real experiences in life?

Sri Chinmoy: ‘Negative dream’ is a very complicated expression. A positive dream we know is something that is inspiring, something that is aspiring in and through us. But negative dreams can be of various types. If, because of a lack of aspiration, somebody dreams about the lower vital life, sexual life, these dreams do not help the soul at all. But if one dreams that he is trying to do something, such as study, but he is failing in his outer examination, or if he wants to be pure and devoted but he is not getting his wish, these kinds of negative dreams can be beneficial. These negative experiences, these temporary pangs, will not stand in one’s way as they might if they were experiences in the outer life. One suffers for five minutes, but when he wakes he is determined to do the thing and to be successful. New determination and new aspiration enter into him and he becomes stronger and more powerful.

We have to take these kinds of dreams as experiences which are helpful at times to make us strong. The son of a boxer is fighting with his father. The father is teaching him how to box, and all the time, the father is striking him and knocking him down. Or a wrestler is teaching his son how to wrestle and the son is being pushed and shoved. These experiences of the buffets of life do help the soul, because they make everything that composes one’s existence — the physical, vital, mental and psychic — strong in the battlefield of life. These experiences add to the soul’s reality and the soul’s light because the stronger the soul becomes, the more opportunity it gets to work through the person for the manifestation of its own light.

Negative dreams of this kind definitely help the soul, just as dreams of progress and success help the soul. If the dream is just about success in the vital world, the soul does not gain anything. But if success is achieved by virtue of one’s divine qualities, one’s sincerity and devotion, then the soul gains. And if the dream is of progress, of progress in the spiritual life, that progress will definitely offer substantial help to the soul.

Question: Guru, if you tell us something in a dream, how do we know if it is true?

Sri Chinmoy: You will know whether it is true or not just by your meditation. If I tell you to do something in a dream, first of all you have to know whether it is actually I who have said it. Sometimes it happens that mentally you create a figure of me. No hostile force can take my form, but imagination is very strong in my disciples. You create from your own wishful thinking a being with my face, my body. Like a painter, you create me and you make yourself feel that it is I who have said certain things. If you create that kind of Guru with your wishful thinking, it is not really I who am giving you instruction. But if you have meditated and prayed during the day, and at night I just appeared to you without your expecting me and gave you a message, and if your heart is thrilled, then you will know that it is I. If you are ready to jump out of bed with the capacity and inspiration of a lion, then you will know that I have given the message to you. Even if I scold you in a dream, you will be thrilled, although if I scold you in the outer plane, you may feel sorry or depressed. But the thrill has to be in the heart, not in the mind or the vital. If you can see me in a beautiful or luminous form, it is genuine. But if mentally you create me, like a sculptor or painter, at that time you will doubt the experience. Your own soul will enter into the false dream and warn you about that other person. But when you have a pure dream of the highest order, you do not have the capacity to doubt it.

Question: How important is it for us to remember our dreams, whether they are good or bad?

Sri Chinmoy: If they are bad dreams, do not try to remember them at all. On the contrary, forget about them immediately! The sooner you forget, the better it is for you in every plane of consciousness. But if it is a good dream, remember it, but do not give undue value to the dream. That is to say, don’t think of the dream all the time and forget about your reality-life, which demands your conscious and constant attention. But if you remember the dream inside your heart, it will give you joy, inspiration and aspiration so that in your reality-life you can be more devoted, spiritual, divine and perfect.

Question: How can we transform bad dream into a good dream without waking up?

Sri Chinmoy: While you are having a bad dream, if you really want to transform your bad dream into a good dream, then you must immediately try to wake up. Stand up and stretch your limbs; then sit down and meditate. If you dive deep within, then the strength of your inner meditation and light is bound to transform your bad dreams into good, illumining and fulfilling dreams. This is what you have to do if you want to transform them. But if you want to get rid of the bad dreams, then get up immediately right after you have had the dream and say, “Ah, I am now relieved from the evil attack.” Before you go back to sleep, smile and laugh and dance that the attack is over.

Question: What is the difference between God's Dream and man's dream?

Sri Chinmoy: God’s Dream is an ever-transcending height, ever-deepening depth and ever-increasing length. Height is Eternity’s Smile. Depth is Immortality’s Smile. Length is Infinity’s Smile. And man’s dream is an ever-binding hunger which is supported by obscurity’s hunger, impurity’s hunger and insecurity’s hunger.

Question: What is the spiritual difference between dreaming in colour and dreaming in black and white?

Sri Chinmoy: Dreaming in colour signifies different phases in one’s life, different types of consciousness in one’s life, either progressive or destructive. Dreaming in black and white signifies the union of darkness and light, night and day, negative, destructive forces and positive, constructive forces.

Question: What can we do to make sure our dreams come from the higher worlds and not from the lower worlds?

Sri Chinmoy: If you want to have dreams from the higher worlds and not from the lower worlds, then before you go to sleep meditate for at least five minutes on your navel centre and the centres below the navel. This you will do in order to lock the doors to these centres. Then meditate for another five minutes on your heart centre and on the centres above the heart. This you will do in order to unlock the doors to these centres. While locking the navel centre and the lower centres, try to feel the dynamic and volcanic energy of the hero-warrior. While unlocking the heart centre and the higher centres, try to feel the cheerfulness and delight of a child. If you can do this, without fail you are bound to have dreams from the higher worlds.

Question: Can we derive any benefit from writing down our dreams every morning?

Sri Chinmoy: You can derive much benefit from writing down your dreams in the morning provided that they are good dreams, illumining dreams, encouraging dreams, fulfilling dreams. Each dream is like a flower on a tree. Each flower adds to the beauty of the tree. When you have a dream, you have to feel that your life-tree has borne a flower, a flower of joy, a flower of gratitude, a flower of beauty or a flower of peace, which can be placed at the Feet of the Supreme.

Question: Of what significance are oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water in dreams?

Sri Chinmoy: An ocean signifies vastness, immensity. Water signifies consciousness. When we dream of water in the ocean, it means consciousness in its immensity, in its vastness. In the ocean, consciousness is static, whereas in a river, consciousness is dynamic. A river is movement, movement towards the destination. When we dream of a river, we have to feel that consciousness is flowing towards its destination, the sea or the ocean.

Question: Why do people walk or talk in their sleep?

Sri Chinmoy: You will be surprised to know why people walk in their sleep. When the restless, agitated, uncompromising mind asks the body and the vital to move forward into uncharted land and they do not listen, at that time the mind uses its mental power to create a false body and a false vital. The mind then enters into the false body and false vital and compels them to do what it wants them to do — that is, to move about aimlessly. Again, sometimes one of the inner beings, a divine being, inspires a man to walk, so that it can bring the message of Eternity’s journey to the physical body, vital and mind. This, however, is a rare experience. For various reasons people talk in their sleep, but there are a few main reasons. One reason is that they are defending themselves in the battlefield of life. Another reason is that they have become victims in the battlefield of life. A third reason is that when they consciously or unconsciously become instruments either of brooding ignorance or of illumining light, their ignorance master or their knowledge-light master train them so that they, too, can recruit more soldiers for their side.

Question: When we have dreams that are like visions, are they a living reality?

Sri Chinmoy: A dream that is like a vision is a living reality. Not only that, but this vision or reality is an indication of great progress in our life’s journey to the ever-transcending Beyond or of our heart-life’s mastery over life’s ignorance-sea.

No time

```

I love and love;

No time to hate!

I build and build;

No time to break!

I promise and promise;

No time to withdraw!

I become and become;

No time to see!

I am and am;

No time to dream! ```

In tomorrow's dawn

```

O ashes of yesterday,

I do not need you.

Just stay where you are

In your futility’s sleep.

O meshes of today,

I do not need you.

Just stay where you are

In your stupidity’s dream.

I shall live in tomorrow’s dawn;

I shall live for tomorrow’s sun. ```

Beauty-dream, beauty-flame

```

My soul feeds

On the blue dream of beauty.

I feed

On the snow-flames of beauty.

God’s Beauty-dream

Is His Silence-height.

Earth’s beauty-flame

Is her surrender-light. ```

Fulfilment-sun

```

My soul smiled and said,

“Lord, You are all for me.”

My heart cried and said,

“Lord, You are more than enough for me.”

My dream-boat

In silence-light said,

“Lord, I need You as my eternal Companion.”

My reality-shore

In perfection-dawn said,

“Lord, You are all-where,

My Fulfilment-sun.” ```

Don't be so sad

```

O my Boatman,

Don’t be so sad.

I am not as useless

As you think.

O my Boat,

Don’t be so sad.

I am not as heavy

As you feel.

O my Shore,

Don’t be so sad.

I am not as irresponsible

As you imagine. ```

Look at their stubbornness

```

Look at this stubborn shore!

It refuses to receive my boat.

Look at this stubborn boat!

It refuses to be a little more

Devoted to the shore.

Look at these stubborn passengers!

They just refuse to thank the boat

And shake hands with the shore.

Alas, I am lost in the confusion

Of indifference-sea. ```

Between

```

My life is between

The sea and shore

Of God’s unwritten Compassion

And unfailing Love.

My soul is between

The earth and Heaven

Of God’s unseen Cries

And manifested Smiles. ```

To shorten your journey

```

To quicken your faith,

Pray.

To frighten your doubt,

Concentrate.

To enlighten your life,

Meditate.

To shorten your journey,

Consecrate. ```

Because he believes

```

He lives in a dream-boat

But

He breathes in frustration-flames.

Why does he live?

He lives because

He believes in God’s future Smile.

Why does he breathe?

He breathes because

He believes in the immortality

Of his earth-life. ```

I see, feel and become

```

In my repeated failures

I see God’s perfecting Face.

In my repeated triumphs

I feel God’s ever-increasing Hunger.

In my unlimited progress

I become Heaven’s Dream-reality

And

Earth’s Reality-perfection. ```

Love's gift

```

When I became a voyager of Light

I gave my all to Love

And Love gave me

Its fountain of perpetual Peace

To feed God’s earth-reality

And

Expand God’s Heaven-Dream.

```

A dream-poet

```

A dream-poet

Sows gold for others

And collects silver for himself.

A reality-poet

Sows lead for others

And collects diamonds for himself.

A God-poet

Sows fulfilment-smiles for others

And collects futility-cries for himself.

```

Faith and sight

```

When I walk by faith,

I walk in the world

Of Light and Delight.

When I walk by sight,

I struggle in the world

Of night and fight.

My faith is of God the Dreamer.

My faith is for God the Fulfiller.

My sight cherishes the animal in me.

My sight perpetuates the human in me. ```

Morning dream and evening reality

```

My morning dream:

I can and shall see God today,

I can and shall fulfil God today,

I can and shall become

Another God today.

My evening reality:

I am the emperor of depression,

I am the king of frustration,

I am the prince of destruction. ```

I see the boatman fast approaching

```

O orphan-boat of my heart,

Do not stop;

Sail on.

I see my Lord, the Boatman supreme,

Fast approaching you.

O orphan-cave of my life,

Do not cry;

Do not sigh.

I see my Lord, the Saviour supreme,

Coming to visit you.

```

Editor's preface to the first edition

This book consists of a number of questions about dreams that Sri Chinmoy’s disciples asked the Master on 15 September, 1974. The questions and Sri Chinmoy’s answers came in the course of a bus ride to an air show near Philadelphia.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Earth’s dream-boat sails, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/edb