DREAM ON, BUT SLEEP IS VERY IMPORTANT, TOO.

Everybody dreams. Some remember their dreams; others don't. The brain never sleeps; neural pathways are always active, whether mediated by ego during waking state or without it, as happens during sleep. Activation of neural pathways produces dreams. During sleep, we go through four to five cycles of deep sleep and dreaming episodes, each of roughly 90 minutes duration. Electro-encephalography (EEG) studies done on the human brain during sleep, show that deep sleep is characterised by production of low frequency (1-4Hz) Delta waves, known to help produce life and mood-enhancing chemicals. At this stage, we are totally unaware of our surroundings. But, dreaming episodes characterised by Rapid Eye Movement (REM), are of light sleep kind, from which one can be woken up quiet easily.

Dreams are both internal and external. Since ego, the director, is absent during sleep, neural pathways have free run. Thus, day-long experiences or existing memories are the driving force for internal dreams. When there is sanyam or tremendous thinking activity on a particular thought during waking time, it leads sometimes to solution-dreams. Several great inventions and discoveries have come through such dreaming process. Externality of dreams comes because brain is both receiver and transmitter of human thought. Hence during sleep, memories or signals from knowledge-space impinge on the brain and may modify neural pathways. This can give rise to strange dreams of events and places never visited or interacted with. This is also the mechanism of getting prophetic dreams of which there are many instances.

Why don't we remember dreams? Brain scientists say part of it is to do with creating long-term memory. But it is dreams we remember that make life interesting. We still don't make life interesting. We still don't know why we dream. A possible answer may lie in how synapses behave during sleep. Synapses are connections between two neurons; they allow the transfer of information through passage of neuro-chemicals across the synaptic cleft, the distance (about 0.02 micron) between neuron and synapse that exchanges neuro-chemicals. Scientists have found that during deep sleep, the synaptic cleft widens by about 20%. Perhaps it helps in allowing the cerebro-spinal fluid to flow through it and to remove toxins from the brain.

The more we dream during the night, the less restful is the sleep. A really restful sleep is deep sleep without dreams. This helps in flushing out toxic material from major part of the brain. Besides this, the increase of synaptic cleft may also help in explaining the dreaming process. During sleep, neural pathways are active without ego, so circuit production is quiet random. But only those pathways produce circuits in which neural connections are still strong. Thus 'loosened' synapses or those with increased synaptic cleft might not take part in the information transfer and hence, in the dreaming process. So dreams could be random in nature. Besides, this loosening of neural pathways may also explain the removal of some memories of day-long experiences. Sleep is therefore necessary to remove clutter or irrelevant information from the brain.

Too often, we have dreams connected with our suppressed desires; most are based on unfulfilled emotional needs and pyschological knots based on strong memories that do not get loosened during sleep and cause recurring dreams. Resolution of these knots through wisdom allows the loosening of strong memories and helps in brain detoxification, producing dreamless sleep.

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WHAT YOUR INTENTIONS ARE ALL ABOUT.

An intention is an idea, vow, promise, yearning, or intense aspiration that you intend to carry out. We announce our intention to marry, to take legal action, or say that it wasn't our intention to hurt someone's feelings. But just having an intention or stating it, is no guarantee of actioning it; so many forces are at work, that may delay or derail the final result. The word 'sankalp' has several connotations but mainly - an orientation of the mind or heart; intention, determination, decision, wish, resolve and will-power.

Why will-power? Because even your will weakens over time; whereas sankalp acts as a strengthening element. The yogic view sees sankalp as resolve or promise to oneself, embedded in the subconscious mind, repeated frequently so that it becomes a reality. Intention, though, can be wholesome or otherwise; malevolent intentions are designed to harm life, property or reputation. Good intentions are to promote materialistic goals and Mahasankalp, higher intentions, are for enlightenment of self and others.

Sankalp could be to realise materialistic wishes, and Mahasankalp is meant for achieving Self-knowledge and enlightenment. Most sadhanas are done with this intention. And by implication, the mundane sankalpas should, in a way, help in the fulfilment of the Big Intention. From intention to final action, there are certain phases. Many intentions remain unfulfilled, because there is no resolve - the drive, zeal, or will-power to activate them. Even after activation, one needs to sustain the flow, to have stamina, to not to be discouraged, to see it through. Additionally, there is need for conviction and discipline, and all this depends on one's character. Most early enthusiasms wane in the absence of discipline to carry things through. That's why Buddhists emphasise the discipline of Right Effort.

In Zoroastrian tradition, Ahura Mazda is represented on earth by fire. The incence holder is placed on a pedestal with three steps, signifying the 'intent' of devotees to follow the three sankalps of good thoughts, good words and intent to do beneficial deeds according to the Law of Asha, Truth.

Invention in Islamic tradition is niyyat, often stated before daily prayer, or while donning the two-piece cloth and saying, "I do this for Hajj". It's like saying: "I am putting my will behind this act". In case of unmindful intentions, the Quran (2:225) states that God will not call you to account for your thoughtlessness or unintentional oaths, but for the intention in your heart - believing, feeling and meaning.

In Judaism, intention, Kavanah, refers to sincerity of devotion and the mental state while absorbed in prayers.

Intention accompanied by offering is meant for fulfillment of a wish or gaining merit before performance of prayer or ritual, whether 'lower', for material gain, or for higher spiritual achievement. In the spiritual domain, intention can have two dimensions - emotional, yearning to connect to Divine Grace and mental, as when saying: "Mera yeh sankalp pura kare Ishwar". Here there is intentional surrender of one's efforts to Divine will. This is like saying, Inshallah, God willing.

Sankalp finally refers to sincerity of promise. To most, it sounds like a truism today, says Rabindranath Tagore, "When we are told the moral goodness of a deed comes from goodness of intention". Integrity has largely to do with purifying our intentions.

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GOD'S FAVOURITE PEOPLE.

There is a beautiful story from Persia of a man who prayed to God to show him who was the most devoted to the Lord, God appeared and told the man to visit the home of one of His devotees in a certain village. So the man set out to the place where God directed him. When he arrived, he found the devotee had never undertaken the pilgrimage to Mecca. When he asked the reason for his not visiting the holy city, the man told him that he had saved money to undertake the pilgrimage, but a neighbour approached him begging money for his starving family. The devotee gave him the money he had saved. The visitor then said, "Your pilgrimage has been accepted. By serving your fellow beings, you are a true devotee and servant of God".

By serving selflessly, we expand our hearts from our own self to our family, to the community, our country, the world and ultimately the cosmos. Selfless service comes from an understanding that we are all members of one large family of God. True selfless service encompasses helping more than our own physical family; it includes all humanity.

We are often moved and inspired by reports of those who have risked their lives to save someone. We honour heroes who have died for their country. Service is one of the great acts one can do in this lifetime. It is rare that the average person has to face the choice of giving up his or her life physically in order to save someone else. But there are numerous opportunities that offer themselves to us daily in which we can help someone. The sacrifice may be of our time, of our money, of our resources or of our skills. But there is no dearth of chances to work selflessly for the good of humanity.

People who have helped others selflessly have helped improve the quality of life on this planet. Throughout the ages, some have worked tirelessly to cure diseases or to make discoveries and inventions to make people more comfortable and safe. Others have given their lives for the freedom and rights of others. Some have devoted their lives for the spiritual upliftment of others. Each of us in our own sphere can use our God-given talents and our knowledge and skills selflessly to make a contribution to make the world a better place for all and become God's favourite.

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HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR DIFFICULTIES?

Are you worried? Are you miserable? Worries and miseries are twin evils that go hand in hand. They co-exist in this world. If you are miserable, you are worried. We must face facts. Although we cannot run away from them, we must not let these twin evils of worry and misery overcome us. We must overcome them. We can do so by our human efforts, correctly directed with determination and patience. With proper understanding and carefully applied intelligence, we should be able to subdue our emotional feelings and do away with worries and miseries. Our worries are of our own making. We create them in our minds, through our inability or failure to understand the danger of our egoistic feelings and the inflated and false values we attach to things in their perspective, in that nothing is permanent in this world and that our own egoistic self is our wild imagination running riot in our untrained mind, we should be going a long way to finding the remedy to eradicate our worries and miseries. We must cultivate our minds and hearts to forget about self and to be of service and use to humanity. This is one of the means whereby we can find real peace and happiness.

Many people have longings and hankerings, fears and anxieties which they have not learnt to sublimate and are ashamed to admit them even to themselves. But these unwholesome emotions have force. No matter how we may try to bottle them up they seek a release by affecting the physical machinery resulting in chronic illness. All these can be repelled by correct methods of meditation or mental culture, because the untrained mind is the main cause of such worries.

Whenever you have worries in your mind, do not show your sulky face to each and every person you come across. You should reveal your worries only to those who really can help you. How nice it would be if you could maintain your smiling face in spite of all the difficulties confronting you. This is not very difficult if only you really try. Many teenagers worry too much when they are jilted by a friend of the opposite sex. They may even plan to commit suicide, compelled by the plight of frustration and disappointment. Some even end up in lunatic asylums. Many such broken-hearted youth lead miserable lives. All these unfortunate events happen due to lack of understanding of the real nature of life. Somehow or other, departure or separation is unavoidable. This may happen of a life career; sometimes in the middle and sometimes at the end; it is certainly unavoidable. When such things happen one must try to find out where the cause lies. However, if the separation is beyond control one must have the courage to bear it by realising the nature of life. But on the other hand, it is not difficult for anyone to find new friends, to fill the vacuum if one really wants to.

"Wheresoever fear arises, it arises in the fool, not in the wise man", says the Buddha. Fears are nothing more than states of mind. One's state of mind is subject to control and direction' the negative use of thought produces our fears; the positive use realises our hopes and ideals, and in these cases the choice rests entirely with ourselves. Every human being has the ability to completely control his own mind. Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and that is thought. This fact, coupled with the additional fact that everything which man creates begins in the form of a thought, leads one very near to the principle by which fear may be mastered.

A noted British anatomist was once asked by a student what was the best cure for fear, and he answered, 'Try doing something for someone'. The student was considerably astonished by the reply, and requested further enlightenment whereupon his instructor said, "You can't have two opposing sets of thoughts in your mind at one and the same time". One set of thoughts will always drive the other out. If, for example, your mind is completely occupied with an unselfish desire to help someone else, you can't be harbouring fear at the same time.

"Worry dries up the blood sooner than age". Fears, worries and anxieties in modernisation are natural instincts of self-preservation. But constant fear and prolonged worry are unfaithful enemies to the human organism. They derange the normal bodily functions. If you have learned how to please others, you always will be in a good mood. This is because your mind does not allow worries to be accomodated in it.
The Voice of Nature: For the sake of material gain, modern man does not listen to the voice of nature. His mental activities are so pre-occupied with his future happiness that he neglects the needs of his physical body and entirely forgets the present moment for what it is worth. This unnatural behaviour of contemporary man is the immediate result of his wrong conceptions of World Order of human life and its ultimate purpose. It is the cause of all the frustration, anxiety, fear and insecurity of our present times. One who really likes to have peace should not disturb another man's freedom. It is wrong to seek happiness by disturbing and deceiving others.
If man is cruel and wicked, always lives against the laws of nature and the cosmos; through his acts, words and thoughts, he pollutes the whole atmosphere. As a result of such mis-deeds and thoughts, nature may not produce things which man requires for his living but instead man may be faced with epidemics and various kinds of disasters. If, on the other hand, man lives in accordance with this natural law, leads a righteous way of life, purifies the atmosphere through the merits of his virtues and radiates his loving kindness towards other living beings, he can change the atmosphere in order to bring about better results for the happiness of man. You may be a very modern busy man, but do not forget to spend at least a few minutes a day in reading some valuable books. This habit will give you a lot of relief and enable you to forget your worries and to develop your mind. At the same time, you have to remember that you have a religion also. Religion is for your own benefit. Therefore, it is your duty to think about your religion and to spare a few minutes a day to fulfil your religious duties.
Mental Health and Criminal Tendencies: In relation to health, it is not AIDS, or cancer, that is the most alarming of the ailments of our age. These sicknesses are now under control, and there is every hope that a cure for them will be found in the near future. Actually, the most alarming of all is the prevalence and increase in all kinds of mental ailments and disturbances. We are forced to build more and more hospitals and institutions for the mentally sick and neurotics of various kinds. There are many more who do not receive any treatment, but who are in great need of it. 
It may be asked why the criminal element within our society is mentioned in the same breath as the positive and far-reaching results stemming directly from the research work of Freud is the recognition that criminals and delinquents are also mentally sick people, more in need of treatment than punishment. It is this liberal outlook on the problem that is the basis of all 'progressive' social reform, and which open the way for reclamation rather than revenge.
Know Thy Neighbour: We can never know how other people live; we may not even know anything about the lives of people of different social levels from ourselves or of lesser or greater wealth. If we are healthy we cannot know what it is like to be sick and if we are invalids we cannot understand the energy of the strong. Such lack of experience makes for intolerance, because tolerance is born only of understanding and without experience there can be no understanding. Hence it is a good thing for us to get as wide an experience as is possible of all aspects of life, and especially to travel and let us make sure we do not always travel in luxury!
Man's Unhappiness: The Buddha thought that all man's unhappiness comes from wanting extraordinary things, the pleasures that money can buy, power over other men, and, most important of all, to go on living forever after one is dead. The desire for these things makes people selfish, so that they come to think only of themselves, want things only for themselves, and are not worried what happens to others. The only way to avoid this restlessness is to get rid of the desires; but when a man achieves it, he reaches a state of perfection and calm.
We do not enjoy pleasures but were ourselves overcome by pleasures (i.e., by endless anxiety in seeking those pleasures all our energies were sapped). We suffer more than we enjoy in seeking the pleasures of this phenomenal world.
Time Will Heal Our Wounds: Trouble passes. What has caused you to burst into tears today will soon be forgotten; you may remember that you cried but it is unlikely that you will remember what you cried about! As we grow up and go through life, if we remember this we shall often be surprised to find how we lie awake at night brooding over something that has happened to upset us during the day, or how we nurse resentment against someone and keep on letting the same thoughts run through our minds about how we are going to have our own back against the person who has harmed us. We may fall into a rage over something and later wonder what it was we were so angry about. And even if we do remember, we realise what a waste of time and energy it has all been, and how we have deliberately gone on being unhappy when we could have stopped it and started to think about something else.
Whatever our troubles, however grievous they may appear, time will heal our wounds. But surely there must be something we can do to prevent ourselves from being hurt in the first place. Why should we allow people and troubles to drain our energy and make us unhappy? The answer is, of course, that they do not, it is we who make ourselves unhappy. You may have had some trouble in your office or the place where you work but you should not bring or extend such troubles to your home and create a bad atmosphere among your loved ones who are innocent.     

CONSCIOUSNESS AS A GUIDE.

There are infinite levels of consciousness; all is consciousness. This play is infinite; the Divine is infinite; the levels are infinite. God is infinite so everything is infinite. We cannot say that there are ten levels, twenty levels: it's infinite. That's the idea. Life is a journey to the infinite. You can never say that you have already reached it, that this is the end. It is always a beginning. Time means the distance between two things. Most of the time we are in the past and when we are in the past, we create a distance. So if we want to go out from the time, we must get free of the past. Or maybe we are in the future, and then again we create a distance between the future and ourselves. We wait for the future and we don't live now, in the present.

Time is now, but we create a distance: we are either in the past, or in the future. If we want to get free from time, we must get free from past and future. We have to be always in the present, with the present time in our hands. If we become servile, we lose our freedom with our way of thinking. If we don't hold on to anything, we are free. If we learn to leave, we will be free. We hold on and then we say we are not free. Learn to leave fast, never possess, get free from past and future: time will be with you and you will be fully free.

It would be easier to do so by realising the value of life, of existence. We don't know the importance of our lives, and that's why we waste the present moment. We are always absent from life. We are in the past or future, with memories of the past and fears of the future. This is normal human life, the way of living: always absent from the present. The power, the joy of the present is so strong, so beautiful and big, that you will not miss your memories. Why do you invoke memories? Because you miss something and when you miss something, you open the album. The power of now, of the present is so great and full that you won't miss anything.

When you live in the present our capacities grow more. Generally, we have memory of the past to enable us to remember the past. When we live in the present we do not need to rely on memory. The ultimate aim of nature's process of making the human consciousness grow is to give us the realisation, to increase our consciousness. That's the only object of life. All the rest are processes or experiments with or without love, with or without suffering. All the tools of nature are working  to make humanity more conscious.

Spirituality means to live with that consciousness. Everything is moving and changing but we are witnesses watching the play, not disturbing it, not interfering, just enjoying.

The Self is a big word. Bring your Self to the front seat so you can direct your own movements. That's why Sri Aurobindo said: "To grow your consciousness, grow your awareness, your understanding, your knowledge. If you exist with consciousness, with good understanding, with knowledge, you are able to give direction to your movements. Then, you can tell your mind where to go. But now you have no control: if the mind wants this, you go there".

Life is movement and the movement needs a guide. Consciousness is the guide.

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