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Namah Dreams and Sadhana

disciples over decades, often She describes
her dream experiences. She does not call them
dreams, to distinguish between her conscious
experiences and unconscious dreams. After
Sri Aurobindo’s passing in 1950, the Mother
would report how He talked to her about
their yoga in her dream experiences. She
recounts one of her dream experiences in 1970
where a dream event indicated a profound
change in the real world:

Dreaming cannot be learnt as a theory. Each “Not last night but the night before, for the
one will have to practise it diligently. When first time I saw — it was the first time — Sri
dreaming becomes dream yoga as a path to Aurobindo drove the car. He was driving the
self-realisation, dreams have to be honoured car, I was there right behind him, and then the
as deities. In ancient times, people spent a whole world seemed to be there. But between
lot of time and money traveling to far-off me and Sri Aurobindo, that is to say, between
dream retreat centres, such as Pergamon. the world and Sri Aurobindo, there was what
They incubated dreams and went through looked like one of those screens at the front
elaborate rituals; spent years learning from [a windshield], but it was a mat so that one
their dreams; honoured the shamans and priests couldn’t see through. I myself could see, but the
as messengers from the dream world. This is others couldn’t, and I saw Sri Aurobindo at the
how a Buddhist monk from medieval Japan, wheel, and he was the one who was driving.
named Myoe Shonin, used his dreams: He was… ageless, with an extraordinary power,
and a MASTERY in the driving, extraordinary!
“In effect, Myoe’s dream served him as a And it was as if… he were beginning to drive
spiritual classroom where he could learn the world.
how to improve his contemplative techniques
and further develop his visionary capacities “I said to myself, ‘How come …?’ It’s the first
(15).” Myoe’s aim was, “....to reach a state of time. I see him almost every night, but always
awareness where the distinctions of waking, busy, going here and there, doing this or staying
sleeping, and dreaming no longer matter, where still or seeing people, or apparently doing
consciousness can freely explore the farthest nothing. But here, he was driving the car — it
reaches of its own latent abilities (16).” was the car of the world — and there was a
screen so people wouldn’t see it was him....
Dream Yoga in Indian spiritual traditions The whole, entire world was at the back, and
people didn’t know, but it was driven with
In the Integral Yoga laid down by the spiritual extraordinary sureness and speed.
masters, Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) and the
Mother (1878-1973), dreaming is an important “When I woke up, I had the impression that
a
a
aspect of sadhana, the yogic practice. In the something had really changed.
Mother’s conversations, as recorded by her

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