Question : Are dreams real? Do they represent anything or does it only represent our subconscious mind?
Answer by Romapada Swami: In most cases, dreams are just activities of the subconscious mind. The soul is active by nature, and even when the gross body is asleep, the subtle mind is also active, acting out one’s deeply buried fears and fantasies, which manifest in different forms as dreams. In some cases, it is considered that a karmic reaction which one is due may be experienced subtly in the form of a dream, without having to actually endure the grosser form of that karma’s reaction. Rarely, as in the lives of those who are highly elevated in spiritual consciousness, one may receive some experience of or direction from Krishna or His representatives in a dream. Such dreams may be truly from a spiritual plane, provided they do not prove contrary to any scriptural indications. For most of us, however, who are not so highly spiritually qualified, we can understand dreams about something very spiritual to be a manifestation of some kind of descending mercy, but not necessarily to be taken literally, or gospel, if we receive some instruction.
