Dream is a disease
Beloved Osho,
When I go to sleep at night, I am swept away by such incredibly surreal dreams that I wake up in the morning surprised I am in my same bed.
Osho, is there a way to channel this phenomenal energy that goes into dreaming at night, into watchfulness?
The phenomenon of dreaming and watchfulness are totally different things. Just try one thing: every night, going to sleep, while you are just half awake, half asleep, slowly going deeper into sleep, repeat to yourself, “I will be able to remember that it is a dream.”
Go on repeating it till you fall asleep. It will take a few days, but one day you will be surprised: once this idea sinks deep into the unconscious, you can watch the dream as a dream. Then it has no grip over you. Then slowly, as your watchfulness becomes more sharp, dreams will disappear. They are very shy; they don’t want to be watched.
They exist only in the darkness of the unconscious. As watchfulness brings light in, they start disappearing. So go on doing the same exercise, and you can get rid of dreams. And you will be surprised. Getting rid of dreams has many implications. If the dreams disappear then in the daytime your mind chattering will not be so much as it used to be. Secondly, you will be more in the moment – not in the future, not in the past. Thirdly, your intensity, your totality of action will increase.
Dream is a disease.
It is needed because man is sick. But if dreams can be completely dropped you will attain a new kind of health, a new vision, and part of your unconscious mind will become conscious. So you will have a stronger individuality. Whatever you do, you will never repent, because you will have done it with such consciousness that repentance has no relevance.
Watchfulness is the greatest magic that one can learn, because it can begin the transformation of your whole being. It is only through watchfulness that resurrection happens… you are reborn.
Osho, Beyond Psychology, Ch 44, Q 1