What are Dreams?

 

 

Dreams have long exercised a fascination over the human imaginations. So what are dreams? And more importantly what significance, if any, do they have for the dreamer ?

Dreams often seem to be experiences of a confused parallel world. Reflecting on this experience, we may speculate that during dreams we travel to a real, alternate realm. It has been suggested that one of the principle sources of this idea - a spiritual world distinct from the physical - is a dream. If this hypothesis is true, even partially then dreams contribute to one of the basic notions of religion.

It has also been hypothesized that dreams may be linked to the idea of a soul distinct from the body. During dreams, we have the experience of travelling to other realms, interacting with people, and doing various things - simultaneously, the physical body remains confined to our beds. While the dream realm is shadowy and even surreal, it nevertheless feels like a real place. Because the experience is so real, it easy to speculate that during dreams the conscious self somehow separates from the body. If we add to this the common experience of meeting departed friends and relatives in dreams, it is no great step to conclude that the same soul that separates from the body during dreams also survives the death of the body...