Why Do We Dream?Enkankar

Why do we dream? Why is it important to
dream? Because dreaming comes from the
creative imagination, which is God’s gift to
you and me. It is the nature of immortal
Soul to dream. This is why your dreams,
both in everyday life and while asleep, are so
important.
Through your ability to dream, you often
have experiences in the other worlds where
you act as an observer. But as you move
farther along, you become the participant in
your dreams. You become the actor.
You begin to see goals, spiritual goals which
may be as valid as finding a home for your
family. You want a place where they can be
happy, a haven away from the fast pace of
today’s society. You create a warm place
where friends are welcome.
It’s a place where you can go, a home, a
spiritual dream. Because as we plan our
homes, whether it’s a rented home or one
we buy, we’re just thinking of a higher home.
It’s the home of Soul. The place where Soul
has come from, from the heart of God in the
Ocean of Love and Mercy.
Dream. Dream your way home. Dream
your way back to God. Use your creative
imagination, because that’s the only way you
can return to the source of all life.
Dreams Happen in a Real World
Dreams touch every level of our life. They
may let us glimpse the future, or give
suggestions for healing, or share insights into
our relationships. Above all, they can and
will steer us more directly toward God.
What is this fantasy about dreams?
First, understand that the dream world is
anything but a fantasy. A “confused” dream
simply shows the inability of our mind to
accept truth head-on, so it bends the facts
and artfully weaves them into a story line
that is less likely to cause us distress. Yes,
dreams are real.
A mother listening to her young daughter tell
of an inner experience from the night before
dismissed it offhand as only a dream. The
girl quickly corrected her. “Not just a dream,
Mom,” she said. “It was real.”
So, first, understand that the land of dreams
is an actual place. Second, any experience
you gain in the dream world is as useful to
you spiritually as any of those you may have
here in the human body.
To grasp the universal nature of dreams, take
a step back and imagine that you are standing
at the top of all worlds. The identity that can
do that, to command a view even of creation
itself, is the real you—eternal Soul. Soul is a
child of God, and, by nature, godlike. And so
It can share in the divine attributes of
wisdom, joy, freedom, and divine love.
So why doesn’t It? Why don’t you?
Your dreams are like a telescope that can
give a better view of something that is
normally out of reach: your spiritual side.
That includes how you act, feel, reflect, think,
react, and even love. Most people fear
putting the telescope of dreams to their eye,
afraid of what they might see.
Your Hidden Life
Dreams are a direct line to the sea of our
hidden life, much like a fishing line dropped
from a small boat into a bottomless sea.
A person who learns to dream well can
usually take everyday life in stride, because
dreams give him or her a perception that
others cannot help but notice. An
understanding of dreams can steady us for
the surprises of the day, and so aid us in
learning to manage stress with more
foresight and grace.
Dreams often tell what’s coming.
A friend from the air force and I keep in
touch with an exchange of letters every few
months.
Usually, he comes for a visit in the dream
world on the inner planes while writing me a
letter. Next morning, I’ll tell my wife about
our visit on the inner planes.
“Ray must be writing a letter again,” I say.
And it usually comes a few days later.
Dreams are like that fishing line dropped
from a boat into the sea. But they are much
more than a communication link, which the
line suggests. Our memory of dreams is a
glimpse of the full spiritual life that each of
us leads beyond the physical. Our daily
physical life has as little scope or variety as
might exist in a rowboat. A full spiritual life,
on the other hand, includes all events around
the boat (human self), including those within
the sea, on the land, and in the sky of
existence.
Dreams are a large part of each person’s
hidden life, and it’s this sea of experience
that we want to look at.
Your Source of Everyday Guidance
Dreams can tell us everything we need to
know to get along in this life. Yet how many
people really believe that? If people actually
did, the study of dreams would be much
more prominent in our society than it is
today.
Most of my life I also paid little regard to
dreams.
My early dreams were of two kinds: the bad
and the good. The first were nightmares,
and the less they came, the better. Even the
good dreams had little to recommend them,
since everything in them was topsy-turvy. I
usually blessed the deep and dreamless
sleep, because in that unknowing state there
was a kind of refuge which did not threaten
my waking life.
In fact, my recollection of dreams started to
flower shortly after I began my study of
Eckankar in 1967. My desire to Soul Travel
had aroused my curiosity about the invisible
worlds, and soon I bought a notebook to
record any adventure that might occur there.
Dreams taught me to face myself, let me see
the future, took me to the heavens of God,
and even apprised me of impending illness
and where to obtain the cure.

Source: Enkankar