Ayurveda and Dreams
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In the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about sleep. Let’s wrap up that topic with some brief considerations about dreams in Ayurveda.
In the Vedic world view, there are three states of consciousness, jagrat, the waking state, svapna, the dream state and sushupti, the deep sleep state. The waking state corresponds with our gross body, the dream state with the subtle body and the deep sleep state with the causal body. In our waking state we manipulate things in the physical world, using our five senses and five organs of action. And in the dream state we use our subtle senses to experience a different kind of life, that of the subtle world. Yet the two feed into each other. Our dreams may foretell events to occur in the physical world and the physical world provides the cast of characters for our dream experiences. When we awaken from a scary or embarrassing dream, it’s a relief to realize that it’s just a dream and I didn’t really just go to violin lesson without my violin. Yet is physical world any more real than the dream world?
As Puck says at the conclusion of A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream.
Indeed, the so-called real world is in fact no more real than a dream. Beyond the three states we have mentioned is turiya, the transcendent fourth state in which we abide in the Real. The other three states are just superimpositions, all equally impermanent and devoid of real essence.
Meanwhile, as we live our relative life in the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, dreams provide important information about our prakriti or constitution and our vikriti or current imbalance.
The nature of vata, composed of air and space, gives us dreams of flying and scaling the heavens. We might think of the story of Hanuman, the son of the wind god. When he is a little baby monkey, he sees the sun and thinks it’s a big mango fruit. So, he jumps up to catch it. Luckily Dad’s on childcare duty at the time and gently brings him back to earth. Later, as a grownup devotee of Ram, Hanuman leaps from India to Lanka, again revealing his airy, vata nature.
The fiery nature of pitta brings dreams of meteors, lightning-flashes, fire, the red desert rose, the brilliant red flame-of-the forest plant or and other flame-coloured flowers. This evokes the sparkling brilliance of pitta, which at times can touch on genius.
The watery kapha dreams of large lakes or pools decked with myriads of of blooming lotus flowers, swans and ruby sheldrakes. These dreams capture the calm and serene nature of kapha.
When vata is provoked, we may have scary dreams of running or being chased. Monsters are pursuing us. When pitta is provoked, we may see a forest fire in our dream. Also, because pitta is so hot, we often experience dreams where we are unclothed, usually in the most embarrassing of circumstances, such as at a professional conference. When kapha is provoked, the waters we see may become cloudy and muddy. The elephant is very much a kapha being. And there is a story about the elephant king, Gajendra, getting stuck in the mud. While he is bathing, a crocodile catches hold of his hoof and pulls him down into the mud. He cries out to Lord Vishnu, who uses his sudarshan chakra, the weapon of light, to destroy the crocodile and free Gajendra. To this day, when kapha is provoked and pulling us down into slime, it’s helpful to take the bitter herbal formulation Mahasudarshan, named for Vishnu’s weapon.
Of course, sometimes we may have nightmares or terrifying dreams. In Jewish tradition, if we have a nightmare, we consult a rabbi or spiritual guide to transform the dream into its highest potential. We acknowledge that every dream is fundamentally a good dream. Much the same is done in Sufi circles too. If we are having recurrent nightmares, this might be a product of trauma, and it may be beneficial to speak to a therapist.
To help have good dreams, eat a light evening meal, avoid late night snacks, do some spiritual reading before bed and say a prayer as you lie down to sleep.
Good night, dear friends, and sweet dreams!
Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.
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