Dreams are often a means for the mind to cope with everyday life, involving the past and the possible future, and all are projections from (and “as”) the mind. Phantasmagoria, in most minds, are the self-protrusions of thought, stemming from the old past (though often concerned about the future). Dreams, though superficial as they are, are an attempt by the mind at adjusting and dealing with life’s ups and downs. Dreams are often a scenario of what may occur that is challenging; they are often a postulated sequence of future events. Usually, though, they are far more superficial than what the waking brain would actually benefit from. If the mind is full of conflict, problems, fear, frustration, anger, friction, and manipulation during the day, chances are that it will dream with a great deal of these “scenarios” going on. A mind of great harmony, mindfulness, awareness, and wholeness, on the other hand, need not dream with such “scenarios” much at all. Dreams, for such a mind of awareness, would be few and far between. A mind of wholeness and integrity would not often dream; dreams, for such a mind, may occur, however, if certain unusual (rather incompatible) foods have been inadvertently consumed.
With a mind of great mindfulness, wholeness, and awareness, sleep is an extension of the quietness, awareness, and harmony that has gone on during the day. That quietness is natural and is not the result of some secondhand method or stale blueprint. Silence, during sleep, can be a motiveless vastness that is beyond accumulation, greed, fear, struggle, strife, wanting, getting, being, not being, conflict, opposites, time, concocted images, and disorder. Then, occasionally, such a mind may see images or patterns of what will actually happen in the future; however, these insights would not merely be speculative protrusions of the mind; rather, they would entail flashes concerning what actually takes place in the future.
Sleep can be when regeneration and rejuvenation take place, washing the mind free of habitual garbage from the past. Silence can be of clarity and great order. A mind without the beauty of real silence and harmony is an impoverished mind.
Giant Robberflies rival dragonflies in their effectiveness as predators. They easily catch other flying insects in flight and are voracious hunters.
Robber Fly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
That robber fly might look a bit more like a nightmare than a dream to its prey! I ended up with a photo of a robber fly once, and it took me ages to identify it. But my goodness — what an interesting creature!
This one was unusually cooperative in letting me get really close to it! The next day, when i was telling the guy who was redoing a flagstone pathway in our backyard about it, he said that he didn’t know what they were. Just as i was explaining what they were to him, one – a big one – flew by and hung around a bit! Weird! 🙂
So inspiring! Thanks for the post.
So glad that you appreciated it, FS! 🙂
You are welcome
that was really very interesting, Thomas. I sometimes have incredible dreams with a lot of truth. I should write them down. Have a nice day, regards Mitza
Good, Mitza! 🙂 If one is very aware throughout the day, then the mind can be free to exist beyond the ordinary nonsense. Have a great day/evening! It super hot here, with a heat index of 39.5.
That robber fly looks like something on the cover of a sci-fi magazine. cool!
Thanks, Michael! 🙂
I’ve never seen a Robber Fly before and it looks a little like a dancing octopus. That was an interesting post Tom … I went to bed at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night and slept through until 5:00 this morning and could have slept more. I think the rainy weather we had all day yesterday and a long and tedious week at work just zapped my brain – I felt like I needed to refresh my mind and missed yesterday’s walk (as well as a 5K to aid in a cure for arthritis) and my brain did not get the reboot I usually get from walking. Sleep is a mini kickstart for your brain and if perchance you dream, all the better.
Well, i think that most dreams are very crude and unnecessary, as is being afraid of Thor’s wrath. I know a guy who has an aquarium business and he often goes without getting any sleep (or he gets very little); he has so many aquariums to take care of. It will take its toll on him as he gets older.
Robber flies can be seen flying from bush to bush, looking for tasty prey to feast on; they sure know how to hunt!
I know I got more sleep before this blogging really took off – I think I’ve mentioned several times that up until last Thanksgiving I only had 18 subscribers and only 2 regularly commented, and only 1 after my friend Marge passed away. Then all of a sudden more people followed and I followed back and things blossomed. I always got more sleep before those days. The AM radio station I listen to for news has a health reporter and at least once or twice a week she mentions how you must get more sleep as it will impair your brain’s ability to function at capacity, and eventually be detrimental to your health, not to mention weight gain. Maybe I’ve seen robber flies and could not identify them?
There are days in summer here we pray for a whole horde of these given our fly population.
We have a good number of Robber flies here on the river, and not so many flies! 🙂
Can I borrow some please 🙂
You know, I’ve seen these insects flying around, landing on my banana leaves or wildflowers and had no idea what they were called. Thanks for the schooling Tom! 🙂 Hmmm…a Robberfly eh? Little thieves! LOL
Thieves for sure! They rob winged insects of their lives! They often fly from plant to plant searching for a tasty victim; they mean business and are often crazy-hungry to get another meal.
Its always worth reading your articles 🙂