If we get sensual immoral dreams, does that indicate we are fallen? How should we respond?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question, if a devotee gets bad dreams bad dreams in the terms of dreams involving sensuality and other such immoral things then does that indicate that a devotee has very deep rooted conditionings and that it indicates a fallen spiritual state or what exactly? Answer not necessarily actually all of us are in our own way fallen and all of us have a lot of material desires which are there in our heart and they come up from the subconscious mind and sometimes when we are in Jagruti that means when we are awake and sometimes they come up in Swapna that means when we are not awake so actually what we do in Jagruti is what we are responsible for what we do in Swapna we are not responsible for because in general we don’t have free will at least we don’t have the capacity to consciously execute our free will in our dreams Baldevinde Bhushan explains that the dreams, most of the times in the dreams things happen in a things happen in a way that is in which we are not exactly in control sometimes we are observers in the dream sometimes we are participants active participants also but we are not controllers in the dreams so because we are not doing things by our free will free will is there in Jagruti so what we do with our free will is what we are responsible for Baldevinde Bhushan explains that the dreams involve our subtle body and basically just as the supreme lord creates the gross material world to give us our karmic reactions and to help us do our karma whatever we want to do similarly the supreme lord creates the dreams with subtle matter the world is created with gross matter and the dreams are created with subtle matter and that is used by the lord to give minor karmic reactions so some people may have nightmares when they sleep and that causes suffering so that is a minor karmic reaction the same thing were happening in life real life that would be a major karmic reaction that would cause huge suffering so minor karmic reactions are coming up so if we get bad dreams generally in terms of sensuality then there are two things which we have to take care of are we exposing ourselves intentionally or unintentionally to provocative stimuli during the day time which may be causing those dreams if we are harbouring fantasies and are wanting to fulfill them but are not fulfilling them in jagruti then when they are getting fulfilled in swapna then that indicates that we are also playing a part consciously right now in our jagruti stage which is expressing itself in swapna so then if we avoid that provocative stimuli and stop titillating ourselves then then the dreams will usually decrease and taper off but if the dreams are coming without our provocation without our exposing ourselves to any provocative stimuli then that means that some of our past impressions which are in the subtle stage and if we cooperate with them they can go in the gross stage but if we don’t cooperate with those that means from the past conditionings we have certain pushings if we act on those pushings during jagruti they will go into the gross stage but if we don’t go into jagruti if we don’t do them in jagruti don’t act on them then they will stay in the subtle stage and sometimes certain karmic reactions may come upon us in the subtle stage through dreams that means that you know karmic reactions don’t just come as events in the external world they also come as events in the inner world sometimes for no reason we start feeling bored sometimes for no reason we start feeling lazy, sometimes for no reason we start feeling, no apparent immediate reason we start feeling irritated, similarly sometimes for no apparent reason we start feeling lusty so we have to understand that this is simply the reaction of our past actions so when we indulge in something that creates two reactions, one is if it’s a bad karma there will be a physical karmic reaction but a psychological karmic reaction is that that desire becomes stronger and comes back later, so even the desires are karmic reactions and sometimes the desires are so forceful that they almost compel us to act on them Krishna says in Arjuna season 3.36 अनिच्छन पिवाश नहीं बला दिवनियो जिता but if we are determined to fight it off then Krishna may let those desires get actualized at the subtle level so that there is no gross fall but at a subtle level they get actualized and then that way the reactions get exhausted so in that sense we could consider that sort of dreams as a way of being saved from gross fall by something happening at a subtle level but this shouldn’t make us complacent we should know that whatever happens at a subtle level if we are not cautious that can come to the gross level quite easily from the subtle to the gross level is like a slippery slope down which we can fall at any time so therefore as devotees if we find ourselves being getting these dreams and we don’t have any external provocations then we shouldn’t get too worried about them but maybe we can do something purifying just before sleeping for example we may chant one round or we may chant the rasimha prayers or we can even have some Prabhupada Hare Krishna playing very softly near the ears or in the earphone at night so that even when those dreams start coming up there will be a spiritual sound vibration going on in our consciousness without our conscious knowledge or conscious action that can also act as a counter for these kind of negative dreams that come up so overall as devotees if there are immoral dreams coming up it’s a matter of concern but if we are not doing anything to provoke them in our conscious stage then we shouldn’t get too worried about them, we should just pray to Krishna that they go away and even if they come they will go away over a period of time, generally if we dwell on those dreams in the day time too much sometimes dwelling on what should not happen becomes a negative self fulfilling prophecy, that means this shouldn’t happen, this shouldn’t happen, this shouldn’t happen we keep thinking about it and by that thought of negative dwelling our thoughts give those particular fantasies, mental energy and then they get actualized either as repeated dreams or sometimes as physical events also so generally whatever happens it’s best for us to try to intensify our Krishna consciousness and not let such things distract us, Draupad writes in the purport of 6.20 to 6.23 that a devotee does not allow incidental occurrences to distract him from devotional service, so we should see these as incidental occurrences and a devotee should not let oneself be disturbed by this will go on enthusiastically in devotional service and over a period of time these will disappear because the even if there are some impressions in the subconscious which are coming out, those impressions are not unlimited many of them are getting burnt away by the process of bhakti, even if some of them remain and surface, whatever remains in surface is not unlimited and if we are not giving fresh fuel to it, we are not creating fresh impressions now, then what is remaining inside even if it doesn’t get burnt up and surfaces still, it will get exhausted, so we have to be patient and stay enthusiastic in devotional