H. P. Blavatsky has given us a wealth of information on the subject of dreams in Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge. We also find there hints in regard to what we can do while awake to help us to take advantage of the sleep condition.
What is it that dreams? "There is no simple answer to the question," says H.P.B., "for it depends entirely on each individual what principle will be the chief motor in dreams, and whether they will be remembered or forgotten." The "principles" active during ordinary dreams, called idle visions—as distinguished from real dreams—"are Kama, the seat of the personal Ego and of desire awakened into chaotic activity by the slumbering reminiscences of the lower Manas." It is the brain and the Kama-Manasic principle which helps us to remember our dreams or prevents us from gaining any clear idea of what happens to us during the sleep of the body. This is an important practical teaching given us in this section on dreams.
We learn that it is the cerebellum which functions during sleep. It is "the organ of instinctual animal functions, whicch reflect themselves in, or produce, dreams which for the most part are chaotic and inconsequent." Dreams which are remembered, and present a sequence of events, are the result of the vision of the higher Ego.
The combined action of Kama and lower Manas is mechanical, for it is instinct, not reason, which is active in them. During sleep, they receive and send out mechanically electric shocks to and from various nerve-centres. These fade out on waking, or, if impressed strongly enough, are registered and preserved by the retentive faculty of the brain. But generally our memory registers only some of the distorted impressions which the brain receives, without order or sequence, at the moment of awakening. The dream state passing into the waking state can be compared to the embers of a dying fire, radiating and throwing off sparks. The play of the memory is like a current of air rekindling the dying embers. That is to say, "the waking consciousness recalls to activity the cerebellum which was fading below the threshold of consciousness," as the cerebrum, which functions when we are awake, begins to take over.
All these conditions can be affected by us, for good or ill, in the waking consciousness. There is not need for us to suffer from indigestion-caused dreams, nor from those of the drunkard, nor even from those caused by the disturbed kama-Manas. Our dream condition can be changed by right living during the waking state, and by right preparation before sleep, so that our last thoughts before we sink into slumber are of high ideals and noble aspirations. Before going to sleep, a period spent in quieting our lower mind filled with personal ideas and desires will be of help. Just as our last thoughts in any incarnation determine our consciousness after death, so our last thoughts before going to sleep determine the dream state; and the latter in turn affects our waking consciousness the following day.
We are told that
the memory of the Sleeper is like an Aeolian seven-stringed harp; and his state of mind may be compared to the wind that sweeps over the chords. The corresponding string of the harp will respond to that one of the seven states of mental activity in which the sleeper was before falling asleep.
So we see again the necessity for preparing ourselves for sleep.
There are other kinds of dreams which have various sources, but whether we remember them or not, or remember them correctly or incorrectly, still depends on the brain, except perhaps in the case of the direct action of the higher Ego.
Since real dreams are "The actions of the Ego during physical sleep, they are, of course, recorded on their own plane and produce their appropriate effects on this one. But it must be always remembered that dreams in general, and as we know them, are simply our waking and hazy recollections of these facts."
Another fact has to be borne in mind, namely, the role that the Astral Light plays in dreams, H.P.B. states:
The Astral Light has been taken too literally to mean some sort of a second blue sky. This imaginary space, however, on which are impressed the countless images of all that ever was, is, and will be, is but a too sad reality. It becomes in, and for, man—if at all psychic—and who is not?—a tempting Demon, his "evil angel," and the inspirer of all our worst deeds. It acts on the will of even the sleeping man, through visions impressed upon his slumbering brain (which visions must not be confused with the "dreams"), and these germs bear their fruit when he awakes.
A sensitive can see in the Astral Light even when awake, and have what are called "waking visions," but "the reflections in the Astral Light are seen better with closed eyes, and, in sleep, still more distinctly."
The sevenfold division of dreams next needs to be considered.
Prophetic dreams, we are told, are those impressed by the Higher Self directly on our memory, and therefore they are generally plain and clear; either a voice is heard or a coming event is foreseen. The clearer the brain, the more "porous" it is to spiritual influences, the more vivid will be the remembrance. H.P.B. says that truly prophetic dreams are had by certain persons "because their physical brains and memory are in closer relation and sympathy with their 'Higher Ego' than in the generality of men. The Ego-Self has more facilities for impressing upon the physical shell and memory that which is of importance to such persons than it has in the case of other less gifted persons."
Allegorical dreams may be explained as being hazy glimpses of realities, of the Ego's doings, caught by the brain and distorted by our fancy. These realities "are reflected on the brain of the sleeper, like outside shadows on the canvas walls of a tent, which the occupier sees as he wakes." Those thought-actions of the true Ego get distorted as the man becomes fully awake, and in interpreting them our fancy plays a part, so that what is remembered is generally only half true.
Then there are dreams sent by Adepts, good or bad, by mesmerizers, or by the thoughts of very powerful minds bent on making us do their will. Why should we be open to such influences? Where are they impressed? Our will or volition, though dormant and inactive during dreams, can be given a certain bent during its activity, and certain after-results developed. This, we are told, "is one of the dodges of 'black magic,' and when used for good purposes belongs to the training of an Occultist." To act on the will of a sleeping person, that is, to control his dreams, and thus control his actions when awake, is not an easy task, and one must be far advanced on the "path" to be able to do so.
We come next to retrospective dreams. What are these? They are dreams of events belonging to past incarnations. These events leave their impress behind them. The Astral Light is called the "tablet of memory" of the animal man; but there is also the memory of the spiritual Ego, which acts on the will of the sleeping man through visions impressed upon his slumbering brain, and these visions are sometimes recalled on waking.
Then there are dreams of warning and premonition, which require "the active co-operation of the inner Ego." Sometimes the warning is meant for another who is unable to be impressed himself. Such a dream is "often due to the conscious or unconscious co-operation of the brains of two living persons, or of their two Egos."
Confused dreams, as already seen, are those produced by the instinctual animal functions of which the cerebellum is the organ. We can perhaps also say that our brain memory can confuse any dream or mix up different types of dreams when we wake up.
Lastly, there are dreams which are mere fancies and chaotic pictures caused by indigestion, difficulty in breathing, or such-like physiological causes which create a feeling of oppression and produce a sensation of impending calamity. Nightmares and unpleasant dreams come under this category. Chaotic dreams may also be caused by mental trouble. A drunkard, for instance, who is in a stupor, sees everything whirling round in the brain, "producing in the imagination and fancy horrid and grotesque shapes in continual motion and convolutions."
It needs to be remembered that while fancy should be curbed, imagination has to be cultivated. Imagination is not fancy; it is image-building. The higher the type of image-building we have cultivated, the more spiritual will be the remembrance of the images we see in dreams. So we understand why we are advised not only to clear the mind and the emotions and the brain just before sleeping, but to give them definite food of a high nature, such as that provided by reading devotional books, by keeping high ideals in mind, and by giving the imagination a spiritual bent, remembering that each night we contact our spiritual Ego and enter into the Sushupti condition of consciousness.
In the case of children, how often do we send them to bed almost in a stupor, or in a state of physical and mental exhaustion! There is a wealth of elevating stories which can be used as bedtime stories, so that their brain and emotional condition are more in tune with the real life. There are so many wonderful, tranquillizing "mantrams" in The Voice of the Silence, for example, which can be the last remembered thing before going to sleep. Cleansing the body of the dirt of the day, harmonizing the emotions, and giving the mind seed-ideas of a spiritual nature—what a help this would be to the child! Let us try these things ourselves, and finding them good and useful, give the child the benefit of what we have learnt. Let us "make Theosophy a living power" by applying it to life!
The first step in becoming is Resignation. Resignation is the sure, true, and royal road. Our subtle motives, ever changing, elude us when we seek it. You are near to it; it needs a great care. But while the body may be requiring time to feel its full results, we can instantly change the attitude of the mind. After Resignation, follow (in their own order) Satisfaction, Contentment, Knowledge....So try to acquire patient Resignation.
—W. Q. Judge