As a Reiki teacher, I am always asked about the meaning of dreams and their interpretation. Dreams after the Reiki attunement are often vivid and sometimes unearthly. Consequently, practitioners of Reiki feel that they contain some meaning and pursue to interpret these dreams. Here are some facts and myths regarding dreams and visions and how to decipher between the two to help a practitioner fathom how much importance they should assign to their dreams.
To understand if the dreams and vision are true and not just mind games and to comprehend their meaning, it is important to know where they come from. Since life itself is an illusion or dream (maya) and everything is temporary and delusive, there is nothing called “true” or “false” dream/ vision. However, for the sake of ease, let’s categorize dreams and visions that are in alignment with our life’s purpose and hold meaning for our soul’s journey as “true” and all other dreams that are representation of the many facets of our mind as “false”.
To identify the source of our dreams and visions, it is crucial to know about consciousness. The mind consists of three broad layers: conscious, subconscious and superconscious.
The conscious mind operates during the waking state in the physical world, is identified by the ego and works through the five senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. It is inactive during sleep.
The subconscious mind on the contrary never sleeps. During wakefulness it works with the conscious mind to create memory and during sleep it takes care of autonomic functions like digestion, pumping of the heart, respiration, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal. During sleep, life force (Ki) withdraws from the senses and accumulates in the brain where experiences and memories are stored. We get a glimpse of this when we dream while sleeping, as we dream within our subconscious mind.
The superconscious mind is the highest of all the states of consciousness which relates to an awareness beyond the material reality of the conscious and subconscious mind. Some call this ether or divine intelligence. This is the source of all true guidance coming from our soul level and beyond.
Dreams come from the consciousness of the dreamer and can originate either in the conscious, subconscious or superconscious mind whereas visions come from the superconscious mind.
False Dreams and Hallucinations
Dreams occur during sleep and are projections of the subconscious mind which acts as a bridge through which dreams pass. It occurs when ‘Ki’ (life force) is filtered through life’s experiences that is stored in the subconscious mind.
For dreams to occur, there is a requirement of three elements –
- Subconscious mind
- Past experience
- Ki
The subconscious mind works as a projector for the past experiences to relay information in the form of dreams. Here, the subconscious mind works as a projector, memory of the past experience stored in the subconscious mind works as an image, and Ki works as light. Only when Ki passes through the projector of the subconscious mind, dreams occur.
Information coming from past or present life experiences stored in the subconscious is relayed as ordinary or meaningless and false dreams. False dreams are a reflection of the experiences captured by the conscious mind through books, news, imagination, movies, ideas, stories, etc. The subconscious mind weaves a tapestry by forming permutations and combinations from these images and sources to form a new story which is nothing but meaningless imaginary.
Hallucinations and nightmares are also subconscious projections that occur due to a disturbed and unstable mind. They hold no more meaning or reality than ordinary dreams
Dreams and hallucinations seem real like movies because they leave their impression on our senses – visual, kinaesthetic, auditory and sometimes olfactory and gustatory too, more than our thoughts. Since they are representations of our past experiences they generally do not give us the true picture of our soul or its journey forward.
Reiki being a healing process brings out many past experiences in the form of dreams and nightmares in our awareness for healing. The subconscious mind reflects the stored experiences that are trying to find its way out of the Pandora’s Box for clearing and purging. It is important that we do not get affected and get carried away by them emotionally. Giving too much spiritual importance to such dreams is not warranted. These are akin to the Seven of Cups card in tarot that can hold the dreamer back in the world of illusion. It is not only impractical but the result of an overwrought imagination to give meaning to these dreams. Such dreams are a result of our ego desires that have a tendency to make us dream slaves by giving too much of a self-importance leading to self-flattery. It only makes us disregard truth by not using our reasoning and discrimination and by leaning on unstable ideas. It is best to observe them and allow them to pass. In fact, nightmares are your passport to freedom! They are the mind’s way of bringing fears and patterns from the subconscious to conscious level. When you embrace them without inhibitions, you open your channels to sovereignty.
Visions and Dream-Visions
Visions on the other hand are projections of the superconscious mind on the subconscious. Visions produce thoughts and flashes in ether through life force (Ki). They occur during a wakeful state and usually come true or direct the visionary towards their soul’s purpose.
True dreams, also called dream-visions, on the other hand are again projections of the superconscious mind but occur during sleep. True dreams can transpire in two ways; consciously at will (lucid dreaming) or induced superconsciously by the higher self.
Visions and dream-visions can be as real as materialization of higher beings and can be witnessed through touch, sight and talk. They emerge when divine will and cosmic energy combine as a result of persistent devotional concentration and the blessings bestowed by the masters. Some visions and dream-visions induced superconsciouly can be prophetic or warnings of an event about to occur or occurring elsewhere simultaneously. Prophetic dreams might seem frightful but should not disturb the peace of mind. These dreams are usually guidance for the enlightenment of the ego. They are also a nudge for the dreamer to pass on some healing energies or prayers.
The best way to distinguish between false and true dreams or visions is the amount of emotions that explodes during a false one. True dreams or visions have an ethereal quality untainted by temporary sensorial nature or earthly sentiments. They occur when the mind is calm and indicate that the karmic consequences of our pre- and postnatal bad actions are ready to be burnt.
Harmony of life force and a calm mind decreases meaningless dreams and hallucinations and increases connection with the superconscious. Some basic prerequisites on the path of establishing a relationship with the higher self are eating clean (e.g. having a fruit diet at night), keeping the bowel clean, meditating regularly and practicing high frequency archetypal qualities like devotion and love.
Article by Reiki Master Supriya Nair
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Dr. Supriya Nair, IMD, PhD has been a Reiki and Kriya Yoga practitioner since 2008. A conduit between the scientific and spiritual worlds, Dr. Supriya has a profound fascination for the healing arts. Apart from holding the title of Usui Reiki Master Teacher, Dr. Supriya is a certified Health Coach and proficient in various integrative medicine modalities. She is also the author of "Train Your Brain to Unchain Your Pain."
To get in touch with Dr. Supriya, you can reach out via email at suprianair@gmail.com or connect with her on Facebook at facebook.com/supriyanair111 and on Instagram at instagram.com/proconscious.cafe.
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