Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.29.67
Ūti· What drives us to actDreams Combine Impressions from Different Experiences
“Sometimes in a dream we see something never experienced or heard of in this life, but all these incidents have been experienced at different times, in different places and in different conditions.”
What the purport teaches
- Dreams may contain events never seen or heard of in this life. The purport explains that their elements were experienced in previous lives under different circumstances.
- The mind combines experiences from different times and places into unfamiliar scenes. Having experienced gold and mountains separately, one may dream of a golden mountain.
- Such dream scenes are mental concoctions rather than new, independent experiences. Under illusion, the mind joins separate impressions together.
Try this today
Recall one dream and note how it may combine separate familiar elements into an unfamiliar scene.
Ask yourself
How does the example of a golden mountain help me understand the mind’s combinations?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.