Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 6

WHO is the Mother of Dreams? And what is a Dream, after all? Where is the world of dreams?

Dreams simply mean possibilities, whatever has not happened physically, materially upon earth till now, but can happen one day. This when translated in the human mind is termed imagination.

The Rishis spoke of three worlds, three states of being and consciousness. The waking state, the dream state and the sleep state. The waking state means the physical conscious­ness, the material reality, earth. The dream state means the inner consciousness, the world of subtler formations. It is called the mid-world. Further beyond is the sleep-world, where all outer formations and movements are stilled into their fundamental essences. These are the three stages of the manifestation or evolution of a transcendent Fourth beyond (Turiya). The Transcendent first throws itself out into es­sential types, original norms of creation, the generic pattern. It is concentrated being and consciousness (Prajna). It is the matrix of creation out of which sprout forth seedlings of an infinite variety. The seeds burst forth and scatter them­selves in multiple forms and in multiple directions, pursuing all lines and possibilities of growth and fruition; it is called Hiranyagarbha, the golden embryo. Last comes the actua­lity; the physical reality into which all the possibilities

* Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems (Cent. Ed., Vol. 5), p. 67.

Page 42

embody themselves one by one, become earthly facts and figures. It has been named Virat, the Vast, the Concrete.

The Mother of Dreams then is the divine intermediary, the supreme creative Force, the' Mother of Energy. The mighty dynamo fabricating and throwing out endless streams of possible and impossible things. Worlds and gods and men and creatures are all her children – built with her flesh and blood, inspired by her breath, moved by her gesture. But she is the Mother not only of the Shining Ones, but also of the Dark Ones. Calamity and prosperity, rise and fall are cadences in her enchanting symphony. She holds them all in her bosom and carries them forward through a variegated play, a chequered progressive evolution towards their highest and supreme Destiny upon this earth.

Page 43