Wise Words
Is The World A Dream?
शुभम
Like This Article
While contemplating the teachings of Path of Knowledge, a question often remains in the minds of seekers: Gurudev attempts to explain the world through the analogy of a dream, so does that mean this world is also a dream? In this article, a few thoughts are presented in this context based on personal experience. When we enter the dream world during sleep, it too begins to appear as a complete and vast world, just like the waking world. However, when we examine it through logical reasoning, it appears that the dream is not made of any physical substance, nor does it seem to have any independent physical foundation. During a dream, the various scenes, places, people, and events that appear in it seem real. At that time, the dreamer naturally experiences being present in a world where various events are taking place. However, after the dream ends, when we reflect on the entire experience, a question arises: Where did such an extensive world that appeared in the dream come from, and on what basis did it appear? The world that we considered to be present before us while dreaming takes on a different form of appearance after we wake up. Here, it is important to pay attention to a subtle point: even the notion that a dream is devoid of physical substance is formed by the intellect only in relation to the waking world. So, is it not possible that, in relation to the dream world, the existence of the waking world may also not be based on any physical substance, just like a dream? While reflecting on all these points, the intellect attempts to understand the role of memories in the appearance of a world, whether it is the dream world or the waking world. The purpose here is not to consider the dream world and the waking world identical without examination, but rather to reflect logically on the nature of how both appear to us. There is an apparent difference between the experiences of dreaming and waking; nevertheless, the analogy of a dream gives us an opportunity to examine the basis of our beliefs about the world that we consider to be present before us. Finally, when Gurudev explains the world through the analogy of a dream, it may be useful to reflect on which beliefs this analogy is drawing our attention towards. Is the purpose merely to compare the dream world with the waking world, or does it also provide us with an opportunity to think deeply about the appearance of the world, the role of memories, and the validity of our beliefs? In this way, the question, “Is the world a dream?” becomes not merely a subject of reaching a conclusion, but a process of inquiry into understanding the appearance of the world and its basis.