"Awaken in the waking state, — Brihadaranyaka Upanishad."

Core idea: Bhagavatpada emphasizes the difference (vailakṣaṇya) between waking (jāgrat) and dream (svapna) states. What appears in waking seems real (since it is publicly verifiable), whereas dream-objects are solitary, changeable, and therefore not ultimately real. For sadhana (practice) one must stay in waking but adopt a dream-like vision — i.e., see objects as apparitions/appearances rather than as solid, terrifying realities.

1. Waking vs Dream

Waking experience is taken as “actual” because objects are shared and stable.

Dream objects are private, unstable, and may not recur identically — hence not real.

2. Seeing-as: object vs appearance

Viewing an object as a solid, independent thing produces fear and attachment.

Viewing it as an abhāsa (mere appearance) reduces fear — e.g., snake vs rope analogy.

3. Waking = place; Dream = method

Waking is the field/state where practice occurs; dream is a mode/attitude of seeing.

Sadhana: remain awake (jāgrat) but cultivate the dream-attitude of perception (objects as images/prints).

4. Sense-mind confusion in waking

The mingling of sense-contacts + mind + intellect in waking produces a confusion that makes the world appear real.

In the dream, sense-supports are absent — experience reduces to a light/brightness (tejas) — the reveal of the Self.

5. Impressions (vāsanā)

Dream-contents arise from stored impressions; dream is like bringing those “photos” into inner projection.

Because impressions come from past actions (karma), dream can reveal past-life traces; thus dream is an index of conditioning, not external reality.

6. Gaudapāda & three states

Gaudapāda’s teaching (and Yogavaśiṣṭha examples) are invoked: various permutations of waking/dream/deep-sleep function in practice. The teacher stresses that the practice is to look in waking with the dream-vision.

7. Effortful practice

Dreaming about a dream is not sadhana. The real practice is an effortful vigilance in waking while holding the dream-attitude (i.e., seeing the world as non-substantial).

8. Ethical/psychological notes

The text discusses honesty versus double-dealing, the right attitude toward others (no harm), and choosing the path (jnana vs bhakti) according to temperament and need.

Equanimity (samatva) — absence of rāga-dveṣa — is the remedy for inner tension and mental illness.

9. Self as Light in dream

There’s a possibility in dream-experience to directly perceive the Self as Self-luminous (svayaṃ-jyoti). That glimpse encourages practice because it shows the primacy of Consciousness beyond dream/waking.