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The body dies, but consciousness does not die. It travels with our astral body and continues into our next life. This involves Prārabdha, Sanchita, and Āgāmi—the fruits of past actions, the accumulated store of karma, and the karma being created now. First is Prārabdha, our destined karma. As we have been discussing, past and present actions prepare your future nest. Mahāprabhujī said in his golden preaching: "Past is gone. Future is not here. Your future will be like your presence." Therefore, we must live now to create a better tomorrow. Where there is action—any kind of action—there will be a reaction. And where there is a reaction, there will again be an action. It is a cycle of action and reaction. We do not know if we are currently in a phase of reaction or action. But one thing we know: we must go through this destiny. If that is so, why do we meditate and pray? Must we go through it anyway? Yes, but there is a chance through human intellect and Viveka (discernment) to navigate it. Many may not believe in astrology or constellations. We do not believe that a black cat crossing our road on Friday the 13th has any significance. But if, on that day, a black cat crosses your path and you later have an accident at the next traffic light, you might still give some thought to that black cat. You think, "I don't believe, but it could be true." Similarly, if a Paṇḍitjī examines your horoscope and warns you of a potential accident, advising caution, you may take precautions. By following the wise instruction, your bad destiny is averted. The signs of astrology protected you. Consider taking medicine for an illness. If you have a poison bottle and a doctor warns you not to take it, but you insist it is medicine, you will suffer. By following the doctor's advice, you avoid suffering. On the line of your destiny, a saint or Gurudev can place a nail to block its course. This past destiny travels with us in our astral phenomenon like a backpack and is with us again in this life. This is the level of unconsciousness, part of the Mūlādhāra chakra. Some dreams can also appear from past lives. Without overcomplicating, a dream is our reality in some form. At some time, we have been a witness to something. Dreams can become an indication, or they can simply be the fulfillment of desires. According to dreamology, how does one master the dream? There is a very nice practice, which is a little hard—not physically, but to master it requires a certain level of practice. The first practice: Do you know exactly when your consciousness turns from being awake to sleep? We know these seconds. We have a soft pillow, a nice bed, we are tired. We lie down, close our eyes, and think, "I want to sleep. I'm tired. I must sleep quickly." In doing so, we disturb our sleep. Do you know this border, this form of the egg, how your consciousness slides? These are mere seconds. First, master this process; then you can enter into meditation. It is not that nothing is happening; it is happening. The second level: How do you cross the border from sleep to dream? Is the dream real? Can we perform karma in a dream? Yes. Let's conduct an experiment. In a dream, you go to Budapest, ring your friend's doorbell, find they are not home, write a note, stick it on the door, and return. You wake up and phone your friend. "Did you hear the bell? I was ringing." They say, "No." "I left a note; did you see it?" "No." So, whatever you do in a dream, does it become karma for us? If yes, the note should be there. You cannot perform karma in a dream, but it awakens a desire to do so. You wake up and may act on that memory. How do you go from deep sleep to the dream? These are three different levels of consciousness: Jāgrat (waking), Suṣupta (deep sleep), and Svapna (dream). In a dream, you finish one dream and go to another. How did you manage this? Do you know if you returned to sleep or went directly? With what speed do you travel in a dream? A mosquito lands on your ear, and you are immediately awakened. In the dream, you were in Tokyo. The mosquito lands, and you awaken in Vepen. How quickly did you come from Tokyo to Vepen? Master these three levels, and then the next begins. When you dream, wake up. Open your eyes, close them, and continue the same dream. This is the fourth level of practice. The fifth: open your eyes, get up, go to the bathroom, return, close your eyes, and dream the same thing. If it is pleasant, yes; if it was a horror, do not do it. The next level: get up, dress, put on your shoes, walk around the block if safe, or move through rooms, open and close windows, then sleep and dream the same thing from the same point. The final level is to continue the same dream in your next sleep, the next day. This then becomes Yoga Nidrā. As in Mahāprabhujī's bhajan: "Yogī jñānakī yoga nidrā vīrla santāna jānīhe." Then you will understand your unconscious, subconscious, and conscious. Then you will understand Turīya, which gives you knowledge of past, present, and future. Thus, dreams are our other life. This is the story I told you long ago about Mahārāja Janaka Videhi. In a dream, he went to a battlefield, fought, lost, ran into the forest, and hid for ten to fifteen days. When he woke up, there was no battlefield, no forest, no dog that took the chapati from his hand. He had one question: What is reality? This life or the dream life? Because when I enter a dream, this world disappears. And when I return to this waking state, the dream disappears. The answer was given by his Gurū, Aṣṭāvakra: Ultimately, neither the dream nor this waking life is true. The reality is the one who was present—the Sva, the Self—who saw the dream and who thinks, "I am dreaming" or "I am the king." And now you are awake. So who was that in the dream? Who remembered this life, and who now in this life remembers the dream? The Self—truth, consciousness, and bliss—everlasting, immortal, unborn, indescribable. That is thy Self. When we realize this, we overcome the duality of individual consciousness where knowledge, knower, and object become one. They merge into one, becoming Nirvija Samādhi, Nirvikalpa Samādhi. At that time, what we call individuality dissolves; individual qualities are finished. Then you will see that you were only dreaming. A story tells of a bhakta who went to Lord Śiva and said, "Please show me your Māyā, your miracle." Śiva said, "It will be hard for you," just as Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa, "Who are you? Show me, please." Kṛṣṇa then had to reveal his form, and Arjuna had to pray, "Please return to your beautiful human form." The bhakta insisted to Śiva, "It doesn't matter, show me, please." Śiva said, "Okay, then dive into the lake." He dived in and lost consciousness. He dreamed that he died and was reborn into a happy family with parents, a beautiful wife—every wife is nice and beautiful, why do I always say this?—and very nice children. He became a grandfather, died, and was born again as a farmer. The work was hard; a cobra came, he did not see it, stepped on it, was bitten, and died again. A third life began. A king had died, leaving a testament: "I have no children; the next king will be whom my elephant gives the flower garland." This man was born as a nomad, moving constantly, like a gypsy—every day a different view, a different landscape, a daily picnic, bound to nothing. He was traveling with his whole family. Now, who does not want to become king? People decorated themselves, applied makeup, wore fine clothes like a king. The elephant carried a beautiful garland in its trunk. The elephant moved peacefully through the crowd. Some offered a coconut, some sugar, gesturing for the elephant to place the Mālā on their neck. Ambition, desire—it is very difficult to become free from desires. Man is never satisfied; the body becomes tired and old, but ambition never tires. One always wants to become more and more, richer and richer. This is called Bhūk, hunger. Very few have inwardly no Bhūk, no desire. Surprisingly, the elephant went out of the crowd. People ran behind it; some ran far ahead and sat in front again. Man is never satisfied. The body becomes tired and old, but ambition never tires. One always wants to become more and more, richer and richer. This is called Bhūk, hunger. Very few have inwardly no Bhūk, no desire. Finally, the elephant approached the nomad, an old man traveling with grandchildren, goats, dogs, and chickens, and gave him the garland. He became a king, received a kingdom, but then another king attacked to take the kingdom. On the battlefield, he was killed—someone put a knife in his stomach while he was taking an afternoon rest. He screamed and woke up, meaning he came out of the water. All this happened in thirty seconds. In these thirty seconds, how many lives did he experience? That is Māyā, that is time. So we do not know if we are dreaming now or if this is reality. Therefore, "Brahma-śaktir jagat mithyā"—this life is a dream. This situation will not be here tomorrow exactly; it will be something different. Everything is past, so a dream is our past reality. You can only live as dreams, and dreams also influence our destiny. Everything is played within your consciousness. That was the answer. A little about your dream, Satya. Therefore, let us work as Gulābjī said: in Indian methodology and philosophy, we do not think very much about the past. The past is gone; do not waste your time. "He did bad to me, she did bad to me, he was lying, she was doing this"—forget it. If you are still remembering this, it is torturing you. This is your memory, your enemy. Thank you. Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagvān, thank you. Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Summer seminar