The oddest things are happening

[Jainarayan]

The other night I had a dream. In the dream were... are you ready for this... ?

Sri Shiva and Sri Vishnu. Now, Sri Shiva did not appear as we normally think of him, but it was him. I was going with someone (or a few people) to Mount Kailash (I know it's forbidden to climb it), to offer a tray of sweets to the Lord. We stepped out a door into the snow, where he was reclining. I was particularly eager to see Maa Parvati, but she was somewhere else.

The next thing I remember is seeing Sri Vishnu approaching, standing in a chariot or open carriage like royals use. He was wearing his crown and was dressed resplendently and majestically. I remember looking upon him in awe, and then I remembered nothing else. I hope I never forget the dream.

Now, the next thng that's hapening is that since I've been using the Mahasudarshana yantra to meditate, chanting Om namo Narayanaya, and wearing the locket version of it, I've been "seeing" Sri Vishnu in his four-armed form in my mind.

The skeptic in me says I'm spending too much time on Hindu DIR, and it's in my subconscious; these darshans and dreams can't possibly happen to a regular schlub like me. On the other hand if these are indeed genuine, it's possible that the Lord is saying "I know you have had faith in Me with everything you've gone through, now I'm letting you know I really am here".

 

[Sumit]

Wonderful dream
This dream may be due to two reasons. One is that you thinks a lot about Hinduism and Hindu deities. The other possible reason may be you read any book or viewed any video about those deities.
However I also like to see such dreams but I only see horrible dreams since my childhood. :angel2:

 

[Jainarayan]

This dream may be due to two reasons. One is that you thinks a lot about Hinduism and Hindu deities. The other possible reason may be you read any book or viewed any video about those deities.

That's what I was thinking. We dream for a few reasons, sometimes the brain is just sorting through its files, sometimes it works out solutions to problems through dreams, sometimes those solutions seem like messages. But whatever their source, the dream and the images are nice. I hope others experience it too.

 

[Ekanta]

Its not necessarily imagination...

svādhyāyād iṣṭa-devatā-saṃprayogaḥ (yoga sutra 2.44)

From (perfection in) self-study (texts & meditation), communion with the deity of his devotion [iṣṭa-devatā].

Comment: Gods, sages, and perfect beings to whom he is devoted come before the vision of the man intent on study of the self and give him their help, in such ways as teaching.

 

[Jainarayan]

:namaste Thank you. I haven't gotten to chapter 2 yet in the Yoga Sutra. I am hoping it is to help me learn and be stronger, and I am attempting to practice deity yoga.

 

[Maya3]

It does not matter why, the fact that you dreamt it is meaningful.

Maya

 

[Maija]

Jainji, i am always impressed and humbled by your sweet devotion to Lord Narayana. I have ony dreamt once of Sri Krsna and i recommend you write it down, even then i didnt see Krsna, i only danced and sang sweet kirtana thru the night surrounded by His prescence. Sometimes when i run i imagine im running and Krsna stands before me like a carrot on a string, as i bound along im forever chasing after..But all this pales in comparison to seeing multiple deities in your dream. what sweet splendor came before you. you must write this out or draw it out like a divine comic strip in your journal

 

[Jainarayan]

Oh, I'll remember it especially now that I've desribed it here. If one has a particularly striking dream, it's best to write it down as soon as possible so the memory doesn't fade. I once had a similar experience dreaming of my aunt whom I miss very much. She died of liver cancer at age 63. In the dream I saw her looking as healthy and vibrant as I ever knew her to be. I asked her how was it possible she was here? She said "I am always here". I wrote that to someone as soon as I was able, and now I'll never forget it.

 

[Iti oj]

Im happy for you. Also another great thread.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam JaiNarayanJi _/\_

You have been blessed by Sri VishnuJi, take this dream as a boon from Sri VishnuJi and thank Him for that

I asked myself the same questions when I began to dream about Mahadev, here is my personnal conclusions of this. Please don't take these words as authority, this is just my personnal understanding of this phenomena

When I first saw Mahadev it was in a dream, but I realized who He was only a week later. I haven't seen or had any interest in hindu Gods, never seen in movies (what movies?) or books or anything. And religion wasn't my priority at all.

So why bother about this dream? How can I know this dream is a blessing from Mahadev instead of something my mind made up ?

More than 4 years after I still remember it very clearly. And more importantly, this dream changed my life. The first dream I was told to go to India, some months later I had an unexpected opportunity to go there, and discovered Sanatana Dharma, and encoutered Lord Shiva in His great temples in the south.
I had others dream I remember completely clearly, each of them I was told to do something, or to learn something: how to do puja. I had no idea how to please my Lord, I dreamed of Mahadev showing me how to...And then saw online that it was true ! Since then I worship

Others dreams are blurry, or are conscious dreams (where I am conscious and can control everything in the dream, yet asleep)

But there are some when I know my Lord was there. Should He be from inside, from outside, from both, I don't care. Those darshan changed my life, and let me there.

It is the same for you I think, considering how kind and devout you are, maybe it's a way of Sri VishnuJi to say He is satisfied ? That you must go on with your path ?

That is your relationship with Sri VishnuJi, that is your job to figure out what He wants ^^

Something in Sri Vishnu resonate with you, that is what makes a relationship with the Ishta Devta. I had nothing to do with Mahadev, He was scaring me as Rudra ! But I learned the meaning of His Tandav, He was always here, all around, and finally now I am in awe and accepted this relationship, as Shiva is the greatest of all artists...And creation, evolution, destruction, is something that is present and living in every creative person. When I draw, when I create, I consider creations like my own childrens. Yet I am suffering and destroying those incompletes worlds, to plant the seeds of thousands of new ones in one mind....
We have something in common, with bhakti you can take this spark and make it a flame. You share great devotion that please Sri Vishnuji, you are a very devout and compassionate person, I sincerely admire many qualities in you that make me think about the greatness of Sri VishnuJi, who is just and compassionate too.

What are you to have Darshan of the Lord ? You are but a dust of His greatness, you are a spark from His flame, you are separate yet never separate from Him, like we all are


I hope the best for you JaiNarayanJi _/\_ treasure those moments with Sri VishnuJi

Aum Namah Shivaya

 

[Vrindavana Das]

The skeptic in me says I'm spending too much time on Hindu DIR, and it's in my subconscious; these darshans and dreams can't possibly happen to a regular schlub like me. On the other hand if these are indeed genuine, it's possible that the Lord is saying "I know you have had faith in Me with everything you've gone through, now I'm letting you know I really am here".

I will go with the second possibility as the explanation of the dream. Supreme Lord is the Supreme and Independent master who is attainable (aimed at) by meditation. He is not subordinate to the process. Therefore, His coming into the dream is by His own causeless mercy and sweet-will. Not due to any mechanical process.

:namaste

 

[Maija]

I can relate...though I haven't had an experience this profound for a LONG time. When I was in highschool, I was extremely close to Ammachi.

Little things, I'd do, bhajans were always playing alongside her photograph when I went for class, offerings of wildflowers I'd pick on my walks to class.
Quite literally, she was on my mind all the time and yet I never felt the need to trek to meet her when she'd come to do darshan all over the US- I felt her already with me.

Anyway, I was once camping with friends on a highschool field trip and I started seeing Amma's face in the moon, I was not sleeping. I kept blinking and turning away as we slept underneath the stars in our sleeping bags, finally I asked a classmate I was not very close to--does the moon look different tonight. He said it was a very nice moon, "No, but does it look different?" I kept prompting but the guy saw nothing, I'd close my eyes and reopen and still her face was there, etched into the moon, unmoving yet watching over me.

Finally, I went to sleep and Amma was left watching over me. It was such sweet slumber.

I wonder why such moments have not come again? :sarcastic lol

I think that at that time, I possessed a quality which you do now, one that though I have flickering moments of- in between work and family time with my husband,- an intense longing to see the Lord Narayana, to have that union. In a sweet way, it's like my 2 year old, when she sees a dog, she bends her knees and pleads, lowers her voice to a soft and sweet whisper (Hey - this is HARD stuff for a toddler) and will grab whatever is closest to her, a leaf, a stick to offer it to the animal, beckoning that the animal please come. And whatever the animal will do she just waits for it to come back...very strange comparison :sad:, should have kept that one to myself but it's one I can't help thinking every time she calls out for that dog or cat, holding only a leaf in her open hand.

Sorry if this reply was too quickly sent...I'm rushing off to work but wanted to share a similar moment bc they are so sweet and they stay with you for life.

 

[Jainarayan]

Vanakkam JaiNarayanJi _/\_

You have been blessed by Sri VishnuJi, take this dream as a boon from Sri VishnuJi and thank Him for that

Yes, I think it was a boon/favor/honor. I haven't been meditating much in the past few weeks, and my external sadhana has been slipping, but every day is an antharyagam (internal) puja. It's not entirely correct to say I haven't been meditating, because I consider "soul searching" a form of meditation. And soul searching I have been doing plenty of. When I meditate "formally" it's with the Mahasudarshana yantra for deity yoga and mala; I also wear a Mahasudarshana yantra as a locket. When I meditate on the yantra on the altar, it seems to come alive, 3-dimensional.

When I first saw Mahadev it was in a dream, ...

So why bother about this dream? How can I know this dream is a blessing from Mahadev instead of something my mind made up ?

To use the old saying "God(dess) works in mysterious ways". He or She calls to us and pulls us along, much like a parent pulling a child along, knowing what is best for the child. God knows what we need and want.

More than 4 years after I still remember it very clearly. And more importantly, this dream changed my life. The first dream I was told to go to India, some months later I had an unexpected opportunity to go there, and discovered Sanatana Dharma, and encoutered Lord Shiva in His great temples in the south.

Now that's special!

It is the same for you I think, considering how kind and devout you are, maybe it's a way of Sri VishnuJi to say He is satisfied ? That you must go on with your path ?

That is your relationship with Sri VishnuJi, that is your job to figure out what He wants ^^

Well, I hope He is satisfied, though today I am not such a good boy. It's Ekadashi, and while I usually always keep the fast, today I am not. I've been sick for the past week, and I think the last thing He expects is for me to run myself down more.

We have something in common, with bhakti you can take this spark and make it a flame. You share great devotion that please Sri Vishnuji, you are a very devout and compassionate person, I sincerely admire many qualities in you that make me think about the greatness of Sri VishnuJi, who is just and compassionate too.

What are you to have Darshan of the Lord ? You are but a dust of His greatness, you are a spark from His flame, you are separate yet never separate from Him, like we all are


I hope the best for you JaiNarayanJi _/\_ treasure those moments with Sri VishnuJi

Aum Namah Shivaya

Thank you so much. :namaste

 

[Jainarayan]

I will go with the second possibility as the explanation of the dream. Supreme Lord is the Supreme and Independent master who is attainable (aimed at) by meditation. He is not subordinate to the process. Therefore, His coming into the dream is by His own causeless mercy and sweet-will. Not due to any mechanical process.

:namaste

Thanks for the encouragement. I think you are right because I have been desiring to see Him. Not out of any lack of faith and as a test, because I know He's there, but simply to see Him. It's said that it can take up to a year for the yantra to work, but many times it can begin to work immediately. I've been trying to mend my ways (not that I'm a serial killer or anything like that ), but I have much penance to do.

 

[Jainarayan]

Little things, I'd do, bhajans were always playing alongside her photograph when I went for class, offerings of wildflowers I'd pick on my walks to class.

Quite literally, she was on my mind all the time and yet I never felt the need to trek to meet her when she'd come to do darshan all over the US- I felt her already with me.

Yes, that's the antharyagam puja. Mental offerings are just as appreciated as the grandest puja in temple.

I wonder why such moments have not come again? :sarcastic lol

Well, sometimes less is more. Those fleeting glimpsesare the ones that stay with you and are the most meaningful. If this ever happens again, I will be happy; If this never happens again, I will be happy, having experienced it once.

I think that at that time, I possessed a quality which you do now ...

one that though I have flickering moments of- in between work and family time with my husband,- an intense longing to see the Lord Narayana, to have that union. ...

Sorry if this reply was too quickly sent...I'm rushing off to work but wanted to share a similar moment bc they are so sweet and they stay with you for life.

It was a very nice post and I appreciate it. I appreciate all the nice comments.