The consciousness of surrender and the surrendered consciousness: ecstatic dreams of Lord Krishna

ISSN： 1469-9362

Source： Journal of Beliefs and Values, Vol.25, Iss.3, 2004-12, pp. : 325-337

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Abstract

This article is based on research at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the main UK centre of the Hare Krishna movement, and it examines ecstatic dreams of Lord Krishna which devotees at the Manor claim to experience. With a focus on one key informant's account of such dreams, the article explores the role the dreams play in spiritual and devotional life. Moving away from psychoanalytic and from similar or related psychological interpretations of spiritual dreams, it advances an alternative approach, a phenomenologically oriented approach rooted in the work of the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. The article further contends that this provides students and scholars of spiritual dreams with a helpful model, not merely for analysing accounts of ecstatic dreams reported by members of the Hare Krishna movement, but also, perhaps, for interpreting spiritual or ecstatic dreams reported by adherents of other faiths.