Dream

[Guest guest]

>There is a list which seeks to develop science/spirituality ideas.

>A few list members requested an explanation of the use of 'dream idea' in

>Hindu philosophy. This was the reply I gave:-

 

 

Thanks for the encouragement to contribute.

All religions that believe in God have to face some tricky questions:

 

If the creator is perfect: Why then this imperfect world? Why any suffering?

There can be no lame excuses.

We hear of standard replies like -- God testing us to make us perfect for

his Kingdom.... God gave us free will hence we are responsible.... all sorts

of answers given.........none too satisfying for me. ( My response is a

perfect God can click his fingers and make everything perfect from the word

go.....An almighty and all-compassionate God can never tolerate one living

thing suffering for one instant - let alone for long periods).

 

Or the other question all religions have to answer: -

Why this creation? Was God imperfect that he had to create?

Again similar answers given ...none really that satisfying for me.

 

Reply from rational Hinduism says, 'I do not know - why all this?'

 

Still the question does not go away. So attempts have to be made to explain

this imperfect world and this creation.

 

One interesting response is the Hindu thought that says,

"In a dream world you may feel pain -- you may see this and that-- good and

bad and all sorts of nonsense. It all appears very real and somehow

connected in the dream and yet when you wake up you say none of it was

real."

 

"So perhaps this world in a way is really a nightmare we are living through

(there can be some good bits in a nightmare too!). None of this is really

true. We were never born, never suffered, there was no evil, no good or bad,

all these ideas of perfection, and imperfection - were never there.

There was no creation. It is all a dream!"

 

Let us develop this further by making a critical observation.

One can argue that this appears to be an escapist answer. We are denying

the problem. By denying this we are also denying this world and our own

Selves. May be then there is nothing left to hang on to. All is a dream and

the fact that we wake up and realise this is a dream is equally a dream

too!! When we run away from 'all this' as a dream we may have nothing left!

 

This Hindu philosophy responds in a bold manner by saying:-

"Yes we have no proof that we can use or communicate in this 'dreamlike

world' that will show that this is really a dreamlike world and that there

is something more besides this dream". In fact even this example of 'the

world being dreamlike' is also too limited an analogy and cannot be used to

extreme to explain or illustrate the underlying reality of what this is all

about.

(Hinduism explains, "this concepts of dream etc also occurs in this state of

dream so we cannot take this example too far either as it is too

limited --it too belongs to this dreamy state!). Yet we have very little

else to fall back on so some may want to use this limited example.

When we wake up we feel absolutely sure we are awake and the dream state was

just that --a dream. So in spirituality too we also 'Wake up' and then we

can make such claims (not before!) and become prophets who then have the

authority to guide mankind regarding the true nature of this universe and

ourselves.

 

What do these prophets who 'have woken up' say?

They say the nature of this universe is absolutely divine, superb.

Our true nature is equally divine and equally superb.

They say, "Find your true Self (or the true nature of this reality that is

in front of us as the universe) - there is nothing more thrilling".

 

(In fact they say words: superb, divine, thrilling are too bland to really

convey what they are on about).

 

So we sit and muse over such stuff. We can look up their lives to see if

they match upto what they are saying. Have they really tasted something

that thrilling? We wonder.

 

jay

Vivekananda Centre London