Dreams in Other Religions

Hinduism:

In Hinduism, particular importance is given to the time when you have a certain dream.  Like other belief systems, Hindus also have their own dream dictionary that relates symbolism with their suggestive meanings in the scriptures.

According to Hindu scriptures, there are mainly six types of dreams.1. To hear in the dream what has been heard during the day. 2. To see in the dream what has been observed during the day. 3. To dream about something which has been dealt with during the day. 4. To get a desired thing in the dream. 5. To dream of an unheard or unseen thing. 6. Dream as a result of physical ailment. The fifth type of dream from the above is the most important in signifying a good or bad reward. The sixth type of dream is of intermediate importance in signifying a reward.

Dreams observed at sunrise are effective for a week and dreams observed during the day are considered practically without significance.

Taoism:

Symbol of Tao

Taoism has a very distinct approach towards dream, since they regard dreams as a sign of mortality while it is considered better to 'not to dream' as it signifies immortality.

In an excerpt from the Book of Nourishing the Vital Principle and Prolonging Life(Yang-hsing yen-ming lu) one finds the following:

'Movement subdues the cold; Stillness subdues the heat. The reason for being able to attain long life is having the ability to move and to be still. Chuang Tzu said: "The perfected Man does not dream whenever he sleeps." Shen Tzu said: "If one does nothing during daytime, one will not dream at night"

This passage reveals that 'not to dream' was regarded as a symbol of having reached the highest stade of Taoist self-cultivation. Conversely, it implies that a person who still has dreams hasn't yet attained immortality.

They believed that dreaming and thinking too much will disturb one's spirit and hinder one's ability to become and immortal.

This negative thinking regarding dreams has its roots in Taoist philosophy of the causes of dreams, which maintains that dreams are a result of spirits connecting to human beings and most of them were thought to be evil spirits and demons.