If Life is But a Dream, then WHO Dreams It? Perspective of Advaita Vedanta

Many great philosophers have boldly declared that the world is like a dream. But did they really believe that SOMEONE is actually dreaming the world? Dream metaphor according to Advaita Vedanta.

0:00 Dream as a Metaphor
4:47 Creation and Creator
10:15 God: Immanent and Transcendent
20:13 Avatara: Divine Incarnation

This idea can be traced back to Plato in ancient Greece and the enlightened rishis of ancient India. Later, this idea became highly refined in the philosophy of idealism taught by Berkeley and Hegel, and in the works of famous Vedantic and Buddhist scholars like Shankara and Nagarjuna.

Use of the dream metaphor is particularly striking in Hindu philosophy. Just like Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are responsible for the creation, sustenance, and destruction of the universe, in a similar way, for the world you create in your dreams, you are responsible for its creation, sustenance, and destruction. And just like the universe returns or merges into Ishvara at the end of time, so too, your dream world, along with everyone and everything in it, merges into you when you wake up.

Unlike a potter who needs clay to make a pot, Ishvara doesn’t need an external source of material. The Mundaka Upanishad gives a wonderful example of a spider that creates a web from material found within its own body. The spider is both maker and material for its web, and Ishvara is both maker and material for the universe, like you are both the maker and material for your dream world.
The immanent aspect of God is called saguna brahman, brahman with attributes, attributes like being the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the universe. That means, saguna brahman is really just another word for Ishvara. Some people refer to saguna brahman as the personal God, to distinguish it from nirguna brahman, the impersonal God. Nirguna means without attributes. Nirguna brahman is pure being, existence itself, the underlying substratum because of which everything exists. The sleeper who lies in bed represents nirguna brahman. Because of the sleeper, dreams can be dreamt. And so too, because of nirguna brahman, everything here exists.
When you dream, you usually project yourself into the dream world as the main character. But during the dream, you don’t know that you’re dreaming. That’s why it seems so real. Yet it’s possible to have a lucid dream, a dream in which you’re fully aware that it’s just a dream. The projection of yourself into your dreamworld represents the Hindu doctrine of avatara, in which Ishvara projects himself into the world as a divine incarnation like Krishna or Rama.

[alandunlap]

When I was 4 years old, I was walking down the street and I found myself, saying out loud, "I'm really here! I'm really HERE!!" Why I thought that was so profound, I don't know. But, suddenly I experienced Life as a Dream, a Lucid Dream, and I was the Dreamer. It was like I went from being an actor on a stage lost in the part, to being in the audience. I thought about telling my parents but I knew it would be a waste of time. They thought Life was REAL. It lasted for a few moments. Took 30 years and some nice drugs to experience it again.

[kmanoham]

I have to say this.... Swami Tadatmananda and Swami Sarvapriyananda are my spiritual guides. It reminds me of my University days where i had fantastic lectures who excited me gave me breadth of knowledge and tutorials that gave me depth and real insight . I am eternally grateful to these two swamis both from the Advaita Vedanta Tradition.

[skylarjon]

This may not have been your intention, but this really helped me understand the films of David Lynch

[maruthikaranth]

How very simply the teachings of Vedanta is put forth with so much clarity and insight. My humble pranamas to Swami Tadatmananda.🙏🙏🙏🕉🕉🕉

[AdarshSingh-fipd]

Please make a series on Ashtavakra gita.🙏🏻

[gridcoregilry]

Thank you so much for all your effort towards making Vedanta known in the world!

[edolavika]

Thank you so much for the insightful explanation. It clears my confusion in understanding God as Ishvara & Brahma. It helps me to understand and know the beauty of the ancient teaching of Hindu while guide me to also understand the hidden teaching in Islam (tassawuf/sufism) & Christianity on immanence & transendence🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[onetwozerojourney]

Thanks Swamiji. So clear. You have been explaining the nature of reality through all your videos with appropriate graphics. Thanks a lot for your work in this regard. Lucky are those who get to know and watch these videos.

[quakequake]

Just brilliant! A thousand thumbs up! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Prostrations to my guru Sri Swami Sivananda!

[rram]

Dream metaphor is indeed insightful. Thanks Swamiji for making this aspect of Vedanta somewhat understandable.

[rishikesannair]

So clearly deciphered a complex philosophy

[wighatsuperreggie]

I really appreciate the clear simplicity of your teaching, so thank you.

[mtmind]

When I had a non-dual experience a few things I immediately understood are:
1- Without duality you cannot know you exist.
2- It cannot be experienced by itself.
3- it can be known fully.
This “experience” happened spontaneously while I was talking to myself trying to understand Advaita Vedanta intellectually. Suddenly I disappeared into an blank nothing with the peculiar quality of awareness.
Then a brief picture of my physical face appeared and then I was in a memory which I can only surmise was me as a child 3-4 years old.
It was non-dual, physically radiant, pure awareness that did not know that it was. Although the room appeared exactly as I knew it from this memory, this time it was everything just as it was/is with no phenomenal existence. Pure beingness. As this was occurring I was also my identity/ego however like you said I was merged with what I later realized was my own current presence.
like Dzogchen’s teaching
of Rigpa. The appearance was developed from the primordial nature of mind which is the inseparability of awareness and emptiness. So this ‘dream’ develops into a dream through the recognition of “I Am” which begins Samasara but merges back to the primordial essence.
At least that’s where I’m at right now. Does that mirror your experience?

[codananda]

This is the best explanation of the concept of avatar that I came across.

[angelarapuano]

Una gioia immensa ogni volta ascoltare questi insegnamenti !
É un video stupendo che studierò con attenzione e devozione 🙏🏻☀️
Grazie ❤

[aliad.]

Thank you. I'm back on track. Your teachings really help me understand the inner world.❤

[ringingthebells]

Swamiji, whatever u have explained that can never be explained in a language and only can be contemplated as i too m finding it difficult to convert this in my own language if at all I had to explain it to others. U fantastically explained which can be easily grasped by someone if he catches the dream clue. I got it more clarified today now. After Mandukya Upanishad, I related everything to dream and got many answers and some were left which today I got. Being a hindu, I was a conventional ritualistic with the only knowledge of avataras and never got an opportunity to understand Ishwara in such a clear way. Thanks to swamijis like u. My devotion to God has become many fold now as I have understood him intellectually. Earlier such knowledge was esoteric and available thru guru shishya parampara but technology has played a major role to disseminate such crucial and most important knowledge to everyone who r seeking for truthness.My prostrations at ur feet Swamiji.

[balajicanabady]

Sincere gratitude for your beautiful explanation of the dream metaphor. Your words were insightful and inspiring.
I would also like to thank you for your time and dedication to teaching others. Your work is truly inspiring, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a student of yours.

[ytrrs]

This is an eye-opener, though all the different illustrations I find in this video, has been heard from this Great Swamiji before, in different aspects in other earlier talks. Especially, the transcendence is now within my full grasp. I plan to send this video link to all my like-minded friends and relatives. Thank you, Swamiji ! My namaskarams to you!

[nkastropil]

So skilled at expounding the great texts 🙏