Dreams

As symbol and reality, dreams have
multiple uses in Hindu thought.
Philosophically, dreams are often used
as examples to illustrate the illusory
nature of the world as it is perceived.
Just as a dream disappears when one
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Dreams
Built in the Dravida architectural style, the
Minakshi Temple contains enormous gopurams,
the gateways to the temple grounds.
wakes up and is perceived to have been
unreal the entire time, so does the everyday understanding of the world disappear when one has perceived the
ultimate truth. In quite a different
understanding, the dream state is the
second of the states of consciousness
mentioned in the Mandukya Upanishad,
or one of the religious texts known as
the Upanishads. In the Upanishads,
the dream state is the first step in turning one’s awareness away from the outside world and into one’s Self, where all
sense of ego is lost. Waking consciousness is further away from one’s Self
than the dream state. The four-step
pattern in this upanishad, and in others as well, is from waking consciousness, to dreams, to deep sleep, and
from there to the realization of the
eternal Self.
On quite another level, dreams are
an important part of religious life in
popular Hinduism. They are often
believed to give omens for the future,
which may be interpreted as favorable
or unfavorable, according to the dream’s
content and context. Dreams are also
seen as providing a channel for communicating with spirits, ghosts, village
deities, and other nonhuman spiritual
beings. Unquiet spirits of the dead will
often appear to family members in
dreams to reveal what they need to find
peace. The same process is often found
with village deities, who usually manifest themselves to specific people in the
village, either to give warnings or to
make demands.