Dreams and the Perception of Reality (Warning: This will confuse you!)

Date: 08/02/15

Time: 11:45 PM

Location: Kolkata, India

                                I've come across many people who do not believe in the idea of dreams and dreaming. I do not speak of the casual dreams that we have at night and forget as soon as daylight pushes open the eyelids. This is in context of those dreams which are way beyond a given person's reach, and it's structure is supported by the aid of imagination and not a single hint of reality resides in it. These are those dreams which we would rather exchange for reality. Its not only about unearthly and fairy tale stuff, but its also about things which are real, but far too unreachable and beautiful for becoming a reality for a given person.

                                Dreaming big isn't that bad...it never was. Even if those extraordinary dreams do not come true, I'd say, its completely fine to waste our time there. Its very important that we do not pay heed to those who complain about the "dreamers" in the room. When we dream of things which are apparently elusive, we offer a part of our mind to actually be inside the dream. We want our minds to believe in the dream, which in turn makes the mind order the body to function accordingly. This makes the body react the way it would if the situations were real. For example, if you are dreaming about having a dog (can't think of any other example because this is my most recurrent dream, correction: unobtainable dream *sigh*), your body will probably release oxytocin, which will make you feel the same love, the same feelings of comfort and longing which you have when you look into the eyes of a cute and cuddly dog. 

                                Its wonderful actually, how we can feel the same things, experience the same situations and live the same moments...both in the real and the unreal world created by our minds. There's very little difference between the two worlds actually. Reality is a continuous phenomenon and a dream is reality, offered in bits. Alright, the previous statement may be a bit confusing if you have not heard of the "phaneron" concept. This theory says that there's a difference between reality and how we perceive reality. What we perceive is actually the product, obtained after the input is passed through the filters of our senses. Then again, there's filtration by our mind. This means whatever we understand from our surroundings, is actually a product of our mind...just like a dream. Reality is real because we think its real. Reality is what we perceive most of the time, and some random person from the past, decided to name this phenomenon "real". Our dream is "reality offered in bits" because we perceive things within dreams as well. This world of dreams is only experienced by us when we have the time and leisure to dream...unlike reality which we experience all the time. Both are products of our mind.

                                In fact, certain people (called solipsists) believe that whatever they perceive, is just a fragment of their mind. You'll never be able to make them believe that what they see really exists, simply because they consider even you to be a fragment of their thoughts. In this universe nothing is really certain. It might just be that these people are the one's who are correct in their perception. It is also possible that now, when I'm writing this, the pen, the paper...all are just moving and scribbling in my thoughts. Maybe nothing exists...not even my body, just the mind which makes a world of its own, a mind which thinks body parts exist, a mind which thinks that reality is real. 

                                In the very same way, it can be that you...yes YOU, you are the one who is making all this up. Maybe right now, you are reading just another fragment of your own mind. You just think that some other person has written this, but maybe that's not true...and probably, now your mind is revealing all the secrets to you as you read this. Its your mind which just thinks that its reading words on paper and thinks that the information is being supplied from an external source, but truly, all of it is a product of your fascinating mind which hides and reveals at the same moment...Remember Matrix? There was this character, Morpheus, who talks about the same thing, explains it just perfectly- "What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."...Then another one- Cypher - "You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious." Just replace the "Matrix is telling my brain" with "Mind is telling my body"...but all these perspectives and theories will always have a "maybe" hanging to it.

                               This two syllable word is in fact the law of the universe- "Maybe". Nothing is certain, it never was, it never will be...and probably that's the best part about this universe...Another great thing about this universe is the existence of human minds...we are more than fortunate to have one. Its our responsibility to do the best possible things with the aid of our minds...and dreaming certainly falls in the to-do list! 

                                It might just be, that one fine day you realize, your reality is just a dream, and what you dream of, is your real reality.

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Images from (order same as that of the images):
blogrope.com , linkdin.com , whats-your-sign.com , devianart.com , paulcbrunson.com

P.S.- In case you are thinking about why I mentioned pen and paper instead of keyboard and screen, this is part of a journal entry (written and not typed) dated 8th Feb, 2015. Lots of edits are there of-course, but I decided to keep that part untouched.