Question: If one has a dream about one's spiritual Master, is it reliable?

Sri Chinmoy: At times the wrong forces, hostile forces, take the form of spiritual persons or a spiritual Master and they appear in a dream. At times they are successful and they do many bad things. How can you recognise them and how can you distinguish the real Master from the hostile forces? When a wrong force, a hostile force, stands in front of you in your dream in the form of your spiritual Master or a great saint, the first thing you will notice is its impurity. If you see there is no purity, then immediately you will know that it is not the Master, but a wrong force in the form of the Master. Many times it has happened that the wrong forces came and stood in front of a seeker, and the seeker bowed down to these wrong forces. You must never, never bow down in a dream unless and until you are sure that that particular person is really your Master or Krishna, Christ, the Buddha or some other great spiritual Master. Otherwise, the moment you bow down and touch the person's feet, occultly that wrong force will take away some of your divine qualities. I know of many, many cases in India in which sincere aspirants have been mercilessly attacked by wrong forces. They thought that it was their Master, and they lost their divine qualities. So when you see your Master in a dream, first see if he brings with him a flood of purity and the fragrance of a flower or the radiance of light. This purity can never be brought by the wrong forces. The moment you feel absolute purity and the fragrance of flowers, you can rest assured that it is a divine person who has come. But if he feels impure or if you are alarmed or frightened, then you can be sure that it is an impersonation by a wrong force.

Some people have good dreams about their Master while others have silly, absurd dreams and then they are confused. It is not the fault of the Master. The disciple must distinguish one from the other.