Dream 7: Vishnu, Shiv, and Adi Shankara

There is a small story behind this dream. Adi Shankara is very renowned as the re-invigorator of the Advaita philosophy. One day I found the beautiful work of His, named vivekachudamani, and started working on its translation.

The same evening, I met another person who claimed that atheism and Nietszche philosophy are far more superior to the denial which Upanishat creates. She also claimed that she has gone through vivekachudamani and other texts without much satisfaction. I stopped talking on that issue due to ideological differences, but thought more about the criticism she made.

For a moment my faith was trembling. Then came the night and the inevitable sleep. I saw Adi Shankara in my dream. He chanted a few verses and then Lord Vishnu and Shiva appeared together in front of me. I forgot the chant by the morning, however.

Dream 1a: Hanuman

My memory is failing, or so it seems. I missed to discuss the appearance of Hanuman in my previous posts. After a few nights of seeing Lord Vishnu in my dream, I woke up once in the night. I could see a monkey sitting on the couch. Somewhat old and all curled up, sitting in a corner of the couch. I blinked my eyes quite a few times but the monkey was right there. Finally, He vanished.

Dream 6: Mother Lakshmi

Being upset at some point of time is perhaps an essential ingredient of any relation; even of a devotee and the Mother. One fine evening, something didn't work and I got annoyed by the Divine Mother. I murmured, ‘‘You want me to remain hungry, so be it’’.

I slept without eating. Around 3:00 am in the morning, I saw a dream. In one corner of my room, I could see Goddess standing, albeit against light. I could see Her there, in somewhat low light. My dream shattered and I woke up. To my surprize, the figure could be seen with open eyes too! I rubbed my eyes, the figure was still there. In a few moments She vanished.

Dream 5: Krishna, Ganesh, Adi Shankara, Varaha, and Garuda

There was a long gap, about a few months, between this dream and its predecessor. But luckily I saw many incarnations together. I saw a room with a few sages and and saints and then came a beautiful procession. My eyes moved from left to right, trying to identify all the incarnations. First one was Garuda, with a golden body. Next was Varaha incarnation with mighty fangs. Ganesh was very similar to my previous dream. Then there was Adi Shankara and finally Krishna.

I again forgot the reasons of gathering and the voices, if any.

Dream 4: Rama and Sita

Dream 4 and Dream 3 may be swapped in order. I don't remember their order well enough. In this dream I saw a dark room where I was sitting. Soon I heard Rama and Sita enter the room. They came and sat in the darkness and talked. I think this dream was very long and I heard them talking for long. Unfortunately, I forgot their dialogues by morning.

Perhaps my spiritual advancement in this mundane world is not good enough to hear the dialogues from Saketa-loka.

Dream 3: Ganesh

I clearly remember a night when I saw Ganesh for the first time in my dream. He had a beautiful white head, which had some pink spots at the trunk portion. He was standing in front of me, wearing a shiny pink robe. He spoke to me, and told that Sarasvati gave Him a conch-shell. I forgot the name of the conch-shell by next-morning.

Later, my mother confirmed that according to one legend, Sarasvati gave Ganesh a conch-shell in the Lotus-forest of Lakshmi. Quite consistent!

Dream 2: Sri Rama

After I saw Lord Vishnu in a dream, my thirst for seeing Him again grew. I kept craving for His appearance. Each night I would wonder if I will get to see Him again. It didn't happen for about two weeks.

After two weeks, I saw myself in a train. I closed my eyes and saw the beautiful face of Sri Rama. The dream was momentary and I just saw the face of Lord Rama. But it was another joy that came to me in an otherwise mundane world.

Dream 1: Vishnu

My affection with Lord Vishnu grew many-fold when I saw Him in a dream. Those days I was very depressed with mundane cycle of life and always wondered if I have something special to boast about. I had nothing! But just in a day or two, I saw Shyam Sundar in a beautiful form. He stood in front of me. Tall figure, with four sub-organs or Sudarshan Chakra, Lotus, Kaumodaki Mace, and Pa~nchajanya Shell. He had a beautiful garland of flowers and an exquisite golden yellow silk robe at the waist.

A deer in my backyard shattered the dream. Not to mention, the deer was an unwanted guest, since my backyard was never visited by a deer again.

Perhaps the deer represented the desires (as has been represented again and again in our texts) and Vishnu represents the Poorna-Brahma. The desires take away our attention from the Poorna Brahma.