Most of those in Western lands, recognize primarily our wakeful self to be our true consciousness, and may begrudgingly admit that our dream state involves some portion of our consciousness, as well, but then it pretty much stops there. For those that are familiar with Indian consciousness, they recognize that there are actually four consciousness states. First, we have the state of wakefulness, we then also have the dream state, followed by the dreamless state of deep sleep, and finally for those that calm their mind and concentrate within, there is that state of enlightenment, or attunement to that which is our Creator. For those of Indian persuasion, the recognition and the belief in these four consciousness states makes for not only a more complete person, consistent with who and what we really are but also emphasizes the prime importance that other states have in regards to our consciousness, for to simply be concerned just about our wakefulness and nothing else, is to conform to a lesser being than what we actually are.
A valid argument could be made that because Western nations do not typically spend the time and make it their point to create a structure to teach us about the vital importance of these other states of consciousness, the society that we live in, thereby, becomes more fixated upon the material, and thereby the physical form that our soul is embodied in, which is thereby indicative that we have reversed the priorities that we should have for our good development, by focusing upon the needs of our wakefulness, and thereby our material desires, that thus supersede that which is eternal, and therein lies the error of our ways.
Indeed, considering how much of our time is spent in sleep, each and every day, and to recognize thereby not the importance of that sleep being something far beyond just physical rest, is to lose sight of our true consciousness and its importance to our self. The dreams that we have, are for our benefit, and those who do not pay attention to those dream states, are those who lose out on learning what they could learn, even if it simply is, that within the dream state, the sense of time and space, seems to have disappeared. That which is the dreamless state is not only necessary for bodily replenishment, but also a chance for our consciousness to simply exist, without seeming to exist at that moment. Finally, in those societies, in which so many of us are intimately involved with day-to-day activities and responsibilities, there needs to be that time when we calm our minds to take in the fact, that as much as we might feel that we are part of an endless drama, of good and bad, of ups and downs, that within the great ocean of consciousness, there is a serene calmness, that thus takes away the storms of life, to replace such with a vision that is much larger than our self, letting us know that not only are we never alone, but we never will be alone, for we all are part of the greater whole, that impresses upon us the need to see beyond what we think is so real, to the ultimate reality of rediscovered enlightenment.