Imagination... is but another name for absolute power and clearest insight.
- William Wordsworth

            When the body is empty, that is, when we feel hungry, we eat. Food is then transformed into the vital energy the body needs. But what happens when the body is well nourished, and yet we feel tired? Why do we sleep?
According to Collins English Dictionary (Australian Edition), the definition of 'sleep' is "a periodic state of psychological rest during which consciousness is suspended and metabolic rate decreased." It might be true in a physiological sense, but it still doesn't explain the effect of sleeping, which is the purpose of this chapter.

Every living creature sleeps regardless of the time being spent in this state, and during sleep we dream. So what is a dream? To this day, there is no acceptable definition of 'dream'. As we know, every creature is composed of a Physical and Spiritual Body. The Physical body is dense matter or condensed energy, while the Spiritual body, which is also referred to as the Inner Self, is the refined Energy oscillating at different frequencies and varying densities. For further information on the Spiritual Body, you may also read the Anima chapter in this site.

The energy that a body needs is obtained by eating food, which nourishes the body with proteins, carbohydrates and fat. But the Energy that a Soul needs is reached through meditation and sleep. Everybody dreams. All mammals have Rapid Eye Movement (R.E.M.) during sleep, and in this state dreams and/or projections take place. During sleep the conscious mind rests temporarily, while the unconscious part of the mind continues to function. Therefore, sleeping is a time for inspiration, a time to draw inner resources not usually available to the individual in his/her state of wakefulness. At the same time our brain operates at various frequencies:

• Beta is the wakefull state (14 to 30 cycles per second).
• Alpha is a relaxed mindset used in meditation or daydreaming (8 to 13 cycles per second).
• Theta is the sleep state (4 to 5 cycles per second).
• Delta is the deep sleep state (less than 4 cycles per second).

Throughout my research, I cannot give a general definition of dreams, as they are of various types. In most cases people ignore dreams because they can't connect them with the present. But, what if human dreams have nothing to do with present reality; what if they are just reconnections (through a symbolic journey) to another reality that the physical human has no idea exists (or denies the existence of) in the first place. This would explain why dreams are plural and visions are singular. This also indicates that the philosophies of successive restrictions (human religions) need to be redefined to include the existence of a Multidimensional Universe. Since Time is a human concept, the reality we perceive at this moment is just an illusion. Most dreams are in color and some - if not all - of our five senses (seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting and smelling) are activated. In a dream state we passively accept without question the events taking place. If a dream is in black and white, then its meaning is not of the present but of a previous experience, whether in this lifetime or an earlier one.

One important factor that we should keep in mind is that dreams are of various types and they should not be confused with OBEs (Out of Body Experiences). If you wish to find out more about dreams, then please go to Dream States .