Question: Why can I not remember my dreams for more than a split second after waking, even if I try?

Sri Chinmoy: There are quite a few reasons why you do not remember your dreams for more than a split second after waking, in spite of your best efforts. But there are two main reasons. One is that you do not give adequate importance to your dreams. Although you are trying your best to remember them, still you do not give your dreams adequate importance, You have lost something, you have misplaced something, and you want to get it back. But you are not trying your best; you are not offering your utmost sincere effort to find the thing that you have lost. There is no intensity in your search. That is one reason.

Another reason is that it is not the Will of God that you remember your dreams. Perhaps you had a bad dream, an unaspiring dream, a frightening dream, and you want to remember it. The Supreme knows that by remembering this undivine, frightening dream you will gain nothing, absolutely nothing. On the contrary, if you consciously remember that bad dream and think of it for a few hours, it will create fear in you and will only ruin your inner aspiration. Again, if you get a very high, lofty dream and if the Supreme sees that you are unable to assimilate it, He will not allow you to remember it. If He sees that you will become bloated with conscious or unconscious pride and say, “Oh, I had such a lofty dream, I am so great,” then He just takes it away from your conscious mind. He wants you to keep it inside the very depth of your heart, and gradually, gradually He allows the seed to grow inside you. In the course of time it will germinate and grow into a mango tree. When it is a tiny plant, there is a great risk that it may be destroyed by you or by others. But when it becomes a full-grown tree, it cannot be destroyed. At that time there will not be any pride in you. When you become a real mango tree full of mangoes, you will humbly bend down and offer your fruits to sincere seekers.