The Significance of Dreams and Dream Consciousness

The first step in dream practice is quite simple:
One must recognize the great potential the dream holds for
the spiritual journey.
- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Every night we sleep and dream. Many people report not remembering dreams but sleep research tells us that we all dream whether we remember or not. There are different theories regarding the reason and purpose for dream activity. However, it is generally agreed that we process information through dreams. We take in an immense amount of information through our senses daily, a great deal of which we are unaware of on a conscious level. Dreams seem to be a way for our brain/minds to organize, prioritize and “file” this information. We also process emotions in our dreams. Recurrent dreams or nightmares seem to present us with emotional material that remains unresolved within our psyches. Emotionally charged dreams are easier to remember when we wake up.

Freud famously referred to dreams as “the royal road to the unconscious.” He recognized that dreams represent the working of an autonomous process within the psyche which is generally unknown to the conscious ego. Within Freudian theory this unconscious process revolves around our more primitive drives of sex and aggression, suppressed by our super-egos which are the psychic products of civilized culture. In “Civilization and It’s Discontents,” he writes, “It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct.” So, psychoanalysis was developed as a way of helping neurotic individuals come to terms with their primitive drives within the context of civilized society.

Some dreams, however, seem to convey a significance which is not simply primitive and instinctual. As Jung recognized, they also represent an inner process of healing and spiritual development. For Jung dream symbols represented a deeper process of moving towards wholeness, self-realization or individuation. It is not just primitive instincts that we need to integrate consciously to heal but also spiritual potentials. Thus, dreams help us to find meaning and purpose in life. Other psychologists have gone on to develop their unique way of working with dreams as well.

The yogic understanding of dreams is similar in some respects to the psychoanalytic. The Mundakya Upanishad, for example, tells us that dreams are based on “memory and desire.” Memory and desire make up the karmic traces within our minds. According to yogic theory, all of our actions and experiences are based on the activation of these karmic “seeds.” In waking life we experience this fruition of karma as our life experience. In dreams we become aware of karma in a potential form. If we pay attention to dreams we can be more aware of the inner karmic process that informs our lives. We can perhaps mitigate the negative tendencies as well, but this takes a great deal of awareness and discernment. If we pay no attention to our dreams, than we miss out completely.

The yoga means of working with dreams, however, is distinct from psychoanalysis. While the yoga aspirant might analyze the contents of the dream, she is more interested in the exploration of the dream consciousness itself. The events of dream experience can be predictive, they can convey information not available to our normal waking consciousness or they can be utilized as a means of waking up to the deeper reality which is beyond both waking and dreaming. From the yogic perspective both dreams and waking life are the projections of our psychological, karmic tendencies. These are not just based on the biographical material of a single lifetime but contain seed memories from multiple past lives as well.

The Tibetan yoga tradition contains a dream yoga practice which is deeply profound and also difficult to practice. Meditation practice is essential for preparing the mind to enter into the dream state both with lucidity and stability. While Westerners who have discovered the practice of lucid dreaming might use it to experience the power of flight, or maybe to have fantasy sexual encounters, the spiritual way of working with dreams is to develop an awareness of the mind’s projections. Ultimately, this will help us when we die and enter the bardo or intermediate state between death and rebirth.



Recommended Reading:

The Upanishads (Classic of Indian Spirituality)

The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep

The Freud Reader

Man and His Symbols