Creation is Like a Dream

Rama: "O wise one, the story of Leela haunts me. If worlds can exist within worlds, what then is this creation we call the universe? How did it come into being?"

Vasishtha: "Rama, you ask about creation as if there were a beginning. Listen: there is no creation. There never was a creation. What appears as the universe is nothing but a dream in the infinite mind of Brahman, the Absolute."

Rama: "(puzzled) No creation? But I see mountains, rivers, beings of all kinds. Are these not real?"

Vasishtha: "Let me ask you—when you dream at night, do you not see mountains and rivers? Do you not encounter beings who speak with you, who seem as real as I do now? In the dream, you never doubt their reality. Only upon waking do you say, 'That was just a dream.'"

Rama: "Yes, but waking life persists. My dream ends when I open my eyes."

Vasishtha: "Consider this: in the dream, time also seemed to pass. You may have lived years in a single night's dream. And when you woke, you did not return to the dream—you awoke to find it had no independent existence at all. So too, when you awaken spiritually, you will see that this 'waking' world is equally dreamlike. It persists only because you have not yet opened your true eyes."

Rama: "If all is dream, who is the dreamer?"

Vasishtha: "(leaning forward) Now you approach the heart of wisdom. The dreamer is pure Consciousness itself—sometimes called Brahman, or the Self. This Consciousness is without beginning or end, without form or limitation. In its infinite nature, it spontaneously appears as countless worlds, just as your mind spontaneously projects dream scenes without deliberate effort."

Rama: "But why does Consciousness dream? What is the purpose of this cosmic illusion?"

Vasishtha: "The question assumes a purpose, a 'why'—but these are concepts from within the dream. Light does not ask why it shines; it simply shines. Consciousness does not create for a reason; it spontaneously manifests its infinite potential. The question 'why' arises only when you believe yourself to be a separate entity within the dream, seeking meaning."

Rama: "Then is there no real difference between liberation and bondage?"

Vasishtha: "In absolute truth, no. A dreamer who believes he is imprisoned in the dream suffers; when he realizes it is all a dream, he is free—yet nothing in the dream has changed. The prison bars remain, but they cannot bind a dreamer who knows he is dreaming. This is the whole teaching, Rama: you are already free. You have never been anything but the infinite Consciousness dreaming the universe. Recognize this, and suffering ends."

Rama: "(in awe) This teaching is at once the simplest and most profound I have ever heard."