Page 23 - NAMAH-Oct-2024

Namah Dreams and Sadhana

s
In subsequent verses, the Upanisad describes
how the Self journeys from the gross body
to the dream realm, how he constitutes the
subtle body:

“And when he dreams, he takes away a little
of the impressions of this all-embracing world,
the waking state, himself makes the body
unconscious and creates a dream body in its
place, revealing his own brightness by his own
light — and he dreams. In this state the person
becomes self-illumined.” 2

“The effulgent infinite being, the purusha, who
travels alone, makes the body insensible in sleep
but himself remains awake and taking with him
the luminous particles of the organs, watches
those which lie dormant. Again, he comes to
these two ends from a central position. The the waking state.” 3
two movements it assists are the forward
movement of the individuation process and “The effulgent infinite being, the purusha, who is
the inward exploration, that psychologist, immortal and travels alone, guards the unclean
Erich Neumann calls “centroversion”. nest, the body, with the help of the vital breath,
the prana, and himself moves out of the nest.
n
s
a
r
The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad describes the process That immortal entity wanders wherever he
in which the dream body, or the subtle body likes.” 4
of the inhabitant of the Luminous Mind, gets
its subtle nourishment: Tibetan Dream Yoga
“The path on which they [the souls] move In the tradition of Bon Buddhism, dreams are
from sleep to waking is the nerve that goes so important that the teacher decides what he
upward from the heart; it is like a hair split should teach a student by asking him to relate
into a thousand parts. In the body there are the previous night’s dream. Some students
nerves called hita, which are placed in the heart. are not admitted to the monastery, some are
Through these the essence of our food passes as given purification rites before the dream
it moves on. Therefore, the dream body receives test is taken again. (20). Tenzin Wangyal
finer food than the gross body.” 1 states, “Information from the unconscious is

a
s
1 Brrhadarannyaka Upanisad, 4.2.3
a
s
2 Brrhadarannyaka Upanisad, 4.3.9
3 Brrhadarannyaka Upanisad, 4.3.11
s
a
a
4 Brrhadarannyaka Upanisad, 4.3.12
s
23