Dawn is still an hour away. I look at the lamp- lit street that stretches before me. It seems messier than usual. The street’s surface feels rough against my bare feet.
The houses that line the street seem silent and cool. It must feel wonderful to pull a thick blanket up to one’s ears and curl up at this time in a cozy bed.
However, a street cleaner has no such option. I get to work.
I sit up with a start, and as I do that, I look at my hands involuntarily. God, they must need a wash! But they don’t look like they belong to a street cleaner.
The thick blanket falls away and my feet touch the floor tiles of my room.
The alarm clock that I punched on the head barely fifteen minutes ago seems to smile at me, as though to say "Serves you right!"
I sigh with relief as I think I am back to my own reality. Then I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror nearby and add “Whatever that may mean.”
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written by partha, 2010-06-30 00:16:11
Dear Narensomu,
Many persons may have gone through such a total change of identity in a dream, but this is one of the finest modern narratives of such an experience. Choice words and so few words too.
On another note, whether one has such an identity change or not, the dream state is very clearly different from the wakeful state, even as both are different from the dreamless sleep state.
Since our rishis referred to all three of them as merely avasthas of a given sentient embodied Atman, dear Rudra, either all three must be realities or none of them. Death does not happen to the Atman-component of this system, so it is perhaps not to be considered along with the three avasthas. Please correct me.
Do I know whether all three avasthas are realities or whether all three are illusory? Perspectives, aren't they? Since the wakeful, dreaming, sleeping person is in the same set as his experiences, and since philosophers may confirm the person and his experiences as prakritic existence or dismiss as Maya, to this person, all three experiences must be as real as he/she is.
This has been very different from the blog. So many words, so little conveyed.
Regards. Partha
Many persons may have gone through such a total change of identity in a dream, but this is one of the finest modern narratives of such an experience. Choice words and so few words too.
On another note, whether one has such an identity change or not, the dream state is very clearly different from the wakeful state, even as both are different from the dreamless sleep state.
Since our rishis referred to all three of them as merely avasthas of a given sentient embodied Atman, dear Rudra, either all three must be realities or none of them. Death does not happen to the Atman-component of this system, so it is perhaps not to be considered along with the three avasthas. Please correct me.
Do I know whether all three avasthas are realities or whether all three are illusory? Perspectives, aren't they? Since the wakeful, dreaming, sleeping person is in the same set as his experiences, and since philosophers may confirm the person and his experiences as prakritic existence or dismiss as Maya, to this person, all three experiences must be as real as he/she is.
This has been very different from the blog. So many words, so little conveyed.
Regards. Partha
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written by narensomu, 2010-06-29 23:45:26
Dear Dwai
Yes , they seem to be.We think of dreams as dreams only when we are in a wakeful state-after all our five senses seem to be working in the dream state-we think thoughts , feel emotions and communicate with others without words. [ They seem like people we know in the dream state but we dont know who they are when we wake up]
Yes, that’s been a scary and haunting thought.
As we know, most ordinary people experience only three out of the four states of consciousness-i.e. ,wakefulness, deep sleep and the dream state. It appeals to the mind [ it’s a reassuring thought] when it’s said that there is a fourth state, Turiya, that support s and transcends the other three-but it’s still just theory for most like me and not something that’s personally experienced till now.
We create whole new Worlds, whole dramas complete with cast and script in our dreams-they make us wonder whether the so called wakeful state is just another creation of the mind. This raises many uncomfortable questions about mind and what supports the mind. And why is it seemingly inactive in deep sleep? And the questions on who we are and what we are doing here simply follow.
I am reminded of a story I read about King Janaka-he dreams he is a beggar and wakes up to ask a sage which is true-that he is a king or the “reality” in which he’s a beggar.
He is asked about what was a constant in both the states and he answers “Myself” . He is then told that the self alone is real and the other things aren’t.
Sri Chandra Sekarendra Sarasvathi Swamiji says that Goddess Parasakthi lets Jivas experience the dream state to help them know the truth someday.
I was told by a meditation teacher that dreams are just mind purging itself of samskaras-but may be some are meant to trigger some questions ?
May be “Life’s but a dream “ , the line in the famous rhyme wasn’t there just for the sake of rhyme...Whoever wrote those lines was also possibly wracked by many questions –may be he had understood the one answer to all those questions as well.
Warm regards
ns
makes me think...is reality "Really" only our waking state? Aren't our dream states real when they last?
Yes , they seem to be.We think of dreams as dreams only when we are in a wakeful state-after all our five senses seem to be working in the dream state-we think thoughts , feel emotions and communicate with others without words. [ They seem like people we know in the dream state but we dont know who they are when we wake up]
Do we awaken from one reality to another as we transition from wakeful state to dream state? And after we die, do we simply wake up to another reality?
Yes, that’s been a scary and haunting thought.
As we know, most ordinary people experience only three out of the four states of consciousness-i.e. ,wakefulness, deep sleep and the dream state. It appeals to the mind [ it’s a reassuring thought] when it’s said that there is a fourth state, Turiya, that support s and transcends the other three-but it’s still just theory for most like me and not something that’s personally experienced till now.
We create whole new Worlds, whole dramas complete with cast and script in our dreams-they make us wonder whether the so called wakeful state is just another creation of the mind. This raises many uncomfortable questions about mind and what supports the mind. And why is it seemingly inactive in deep sleep? And the questions on who we are and what we are doing here simply follow.
I am reminded of a story I read about King Janaka-he dreams he is a beggar and wakes up to ask a sage which is true-that he is a king or the “reality” in which he’s a beggar.
He is asked about what was a constant in both the states and he answers “Myself” . He is then told that the self alone is real and the other things aren’t.
Sri Chandra Sekarendra Sarasvathi Swamiji says that Goddess Parasakthi lets Jivas experience the dream state to help them know the truth someday.
I was told by a meditation teacher that dreams are just mind purging itself of samskaras-but may be some are meant to trigger some questions ?
May be “Life’s but a dream “ , the line in the famous rhyme wasn’t there just for the sake of rhyme...Whoever wrote those lines was also possibly wracked by many questions –may be he had understood the one answer to all those questions as well.
Warm regards
ns
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written by rudra, 2010-06-28 02:05:25
Dear NS,
It makes me think...is reality "Really" only our waking state? Aren't our dream states real when they last? Do we awaken from one reality to another as we transition from wakeful state to dream state? And after we die, do we simply wake up to another reality?
Those dreams where we are "ourselves" [ or the identity that we have in our wakeful state] dont make us think that much.
But those rare dreams where we are completely a different person make us think. Even after waking up , for a few minutes I was thinking about how to wash my hands clean and was surprised to see they weren't dirty. The despair of the street cleaner was probably experienced for a few minutes or seconds-nothing compared to the long hours[ or what seems like that ] we spend in our wakeful state.But the impact was powerful.
Thanks for sharing that story,I have heard that story too long ago, but didnt know the name of the person.Thank you for fixing the link issue-I can reach the article now from the articles link.
It makes me think...is reality "Really" only our waking state? Aren't our dream states real when they last? Do we awaken from one reality to another as we transition from wakeful state to dream state? And after we die, do we simply wake up to another reality?
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written by narensomu, 2010-06-27 21:49:50
Dear Dwai
Those dreams where we are "ourselves" [ or the identity that we have in our wakeful state] dont make us think that much.
But those rare dreams where we are completely a different person make us think. Even after waking up , for a few minutes I was thinking about how to wash my hands clean and was surprised to see they weren't dirty. The despair of the street cleaner was probably experienced for a few minutes or seconds-nothing compared to the long hours[ or what seems like that ] we spend in our wakeful state.But the impact was powerful.
Thanks for sharing that story,I have heard that story too long ago, but didnt know the name of the person.Thank you for fixing the link issue-I can reach the article now from the articles link.
Warm regards
ns
Those dreams where we are "ourselves" [ or the identity that we have in our wakeful state] dont make us think that much.
But those rare dreams where we are completely a different person make us think. Even after waking up , for a few minutes I was thinking about how to wash my hands clean and was surprised to see they weren't dirty. The despair of the street cleaner was probably experienced for a few minutes or seconds-nothing compared to the long hours[ or what seems like that ] we spend in our wakeful state.But the impact was powerful.
Thanks for sharing that story,I have heard that story too long ago, but didnt know the name of the person.Thank you for fixing the link issue-I can reach the article now from the articles link.
Warm regards
ns
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written by rudra01, 2010-06-27 16:42:16
Dear NS,
I would like to say that your article reminds me of the following verse by Chuang Tzu, the great Taoist Sage from China:
I would like to say that your article reminds me of the following verse by Chuang Tzu, the great Taoist Sage from China:
"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly, I awoke, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming that I am now a man."
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I found another commentary on this argument here.[ Section 10]
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/chhand/ch_4e.html
A dream like this makes us ask " if I am a poverty stricken person in a dream and a person with a roof over his head when awake, who am I then?" And C . upanishad says , Prajapati takes Indra [ who is a persistent , wise seeker ] in the path of self inquiry in stages-Indra performs austerities /practices tapas for 32 years each time he has a doubt.
IMHO, that' s a road map for all of us I think-IF only we could be like Indra! [ who seems to have Shraddha and saburi in very good measure]
Warm regards
ns