Sutra 1.38: Meditate Upon Your Dreams

Sutra 1.38: Svapna-Nidra-Jnana Alambanam-Va

By making the object of meditation your dreams, you will acquire insight and stability.

Sutra 1.38 directs us towards our dreams or non-dreams. Either way, the advice is to meditate upon them. To become “one” with something I can usually barely remember feels obscure and so for me, this sutra becomes more relevant when I substitute contemplate for meditate.

When it comes to dreams, there are a many of metaphors we could use to fashion a mirror for ourselves and reflect upon their significance. Like the fact that we “awaken” from the fabrications of our minds every single morning or that we give up identification with our bodies and minds each and every night, yet we do not cease to exist. But, what I think might be quite simple, yet most profound would be be to examen the quality of our rest, our sleep, and our dreams with the quality of the majority of our thoughts.

On average, humans have anywhere from 6-70,000 thoughts per day and regardless of that vast difference, that is ALOT of thoughts. If we were to categorize those thoughts into positive, negative, or neutral, which way would yours tip the scales? Thoughts bleed and breed in both directions. Perhaps mom and pop bled complaints, victimhood, gossip, and lack onto you because their mom and pop bled it onto them and so now your mind is extremely versed at perceiving the shadows, the shallow, and the shameful. For if this is the reality that you consistently partake on the inside, it will be the same reality you consistently experience on the outside. We may be fooled that life works from the outside in, but when the smoke clears, we must realize the opposite is true. What is within will be what is without, not only in your daytime, but in your nighttime as well.

It very well might be time for a tourniquet to stop the flow of thoughts that are not really even yours or unique. What if every time we noticed negativity, we prayed for peace instead? So now our thoughts become the very portals themselves for prayer to our higher power. We could even take it a step further and formulate a formula for our prayers: begin with gratitude, then ask for guidance, then outline our goals. Can you imagine the magnitude of magnificence that must arise from that kind of shift in our internal world?

Be your own referee, call time-outs in the court of your mind often. You are the coach, write a new playbook and set posts of prayers to block the bad and usher in the blessings.

Grateful to you dear Yogi,

Your time and consideration are precious and I’m so honored to have received them today. I am overjoyed to share all that is yoga and connect and collaborate with those interested in walking this path together.

All my love,

Andrea Dawn