Dreams Archives - Eckankar

Talking to My Deceased Grandfather in a Dream— A Spiritual Goodbye

In this article, you’ll discover how:

Dreams can offer profound spiritual experiences—especially when they involve loved ones who have passed on.
In ECKANKAR, dreams can be seen as nightly “near death experiences” (without dying!). Dreams are a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds, offering insights, healing, and connection beyond words.
This personal story reveals how one dream became a final conversation, bringing closure and healing.

By Bea Colborne

A Quiet Grandfather, a Deep Spiritual Bond

I have a lot of love for my late grandfather, despite the fact he was an extremely quiet man. I never really knew him as well as I had hoped.

When he was diagnosed with cancer that affected his bloodstream, it was a two-year journey of watching him pass. During this time, I had been progressing through my ECK discourses, one of the Spiritual Living courses students of Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ receive each year.

Overcoming Night Terrors and Reconnecting with Dreaming

As I was beginning to explore the ECK Dreams courses, I was nervous. I am not a dreamer. I used to be plagued by night terrors and had blocked out dreams. This was worrying me at the time. But I had felt like I had grown spiritually, so I was feeling ready to experience dreaming again.

Experience with My Deceased Grandfather in a Dream

One night, I had a dream I was in my grandfather’s kitchen and for once it wasn’t a nightmare. We were having a full conversation. It was an equal back and forth. Light was pouring into his kitchen. In the dream, I suddenly realized: Oh, he has passed on!

This inspired me to carry on the conversation with more intention. I told him I was gay, something I normally kept to myself. Then he told me he was too! To clarify, I don’t think he was actually gay. I understood it as his way of humorously trying to relate with me.

Spiritual Goodbye Through Dreams

When I woke up, I realized it was a beautiful moment of connecting with him properly one last time, Soul to Soul. Saying that he was gay also was a beautiful moment connecting us emotionally to vulnerabilities in a way we couldn’t reach on the physical plane. This meant that when he translated (a way of saying “passed on”), I felt like I had said goodbye in my dreamtime and was content with everything we had together in both places – the spiritual and the physical. In Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ, this is sometimes described as connecting in the dream worlds, which can offer profound healing and insight.

Learn More About Dreams

Learn more about spiritual dreaming.

What Does It Mean to Dream About Deceased Loved Ones?

From a spiritual perspective, these dreams may offer emotional closure, reflect growth in inner awareness, be genuine Soul to Soul encounters, and even proof for the dreamer that there is life after death. Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ encourages dreamers to record dreams in a journal, ask questions inwardly before sleep, and view dreams as part of their spiritual education. Explore Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ dream practices.

Coming Out in a Dream — Emotional Truths on the Inner Planes

Dreams often allow us to express truths we might hesitate to voice in waking life. For Bea, coming out in that dream was deeply healing. It showed that the inner worlds can be places of emotional honesty, spiritual connection, and personal growth, even during times of grief.

How Spiritual Growth Can Unblock Dreams

Many seekers experience blocked dreams due to fear or past trauma (like night terrors). As spiritual awareness grows, these blocks often dissolve naturally, allowing dreams to become more clear, uplifting, and meaningful. Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ’s Dream courses are specifically designed to help students navigate this inner territory with confidence. Learn about Dream 1 Discourses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does it mean if I talk with a deceased loved one in a dream?

Such dreams often reflect spiritual connections or emotional closure. In Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ, they are Soul to Soul meetings on the inner planes. Real experiences.

Q: Are grief dreams “real” or just symbolic?

They can be either, or both. Some dreams are symbolic reflections of inner healing, while others are direct spiritual experiences in higher planes of consciousness.

Q: How can I remember more spiritual dreams?

Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ suggests trying a spiritual exercise before sleep, keeping a dream journal, and treating dreams as real spiritual experiences rather than random brain activity.

Q: What does “translation” mean in ECKANKAR?

“Translation” refers to the passing of Soul from the physical world to continue its journey in the spiritual worlds.

Q: Your Own Soul to Soul Journey

Dreams can be profound teachers, healers, and bridges between worlds. Whether you’re exploring your own grief dreams, spiritual experiences, or want answers about life after death, Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ offers tools to help you understand the language of Soul. Discover more about spiritual dreaming.

Exploring Past Lives Through Dreams

Dreams, Past Lives

Here is a question Sri Harold Klemp has been asked about understanding Spiritual Experiences.

Read on for clues that may help you.

Q&A: Learn about Past Lives Through Dreams

Q: I would like to see my past lives. How do I go about this?

A: It is easiest to trace past lives through a study of your dreams.

To awaken such past-life dreams, make a note of things you greatly like or dislike. Do that also with people. Then watch your dreams. Also note if a certain country or century attracts you. There is a reason.

When we practice the Spiritual Exercises of ECK faithfully, the Inner Master will open us up to those things that are important to see concerning past lives. Most of them need not concern us. No matter what we were in the past during any other life, we are spiritually greater today.

The wealth and position we enjoyed in past lives mean nothing unless we know how to lift ourselves from materialism into the higher worlds. This does not mean to shun the good things of this life—family, home, wealth. God loves the rich man as much as the poor. We get no special benefits if we fall for the negative tricks of asceticism or unusual austerities.

We live the spiritual life beginning where we are today. We look to see the hand of Divine Spirit guiding us toward the greater consciousness, which leads us to becoming a more direct vehicle for Spirit.

—A Modern Prophet Answers Your Key Questions about Life, Book 1

Would you like to read more? View the free Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ Soul Adventure Magazine or subscribe now.

The Gift of a Spiritual Dream

Dreams, Past Lives

Dance of a Lifetime

By Harold Klemp

“Rose,” a woman from Germany, had a dream where she was at a great dance, but everything looked like it was from the early 1950s. The clothes, the people, the music, the decorations, even the very structure of the room—it was all from the early 1950s. It occurred to Rose that that was when she was born.

In the dream, Rose looked around for a partner. She was going to dance with her aunt. But her aunt was dancing with someone else, and she looked happy. So Rose looked for another partner. But everybody was already dancing.

In this lifetime, Rose has had a very difficult time with her mother. It’s been a rough road. They haven’t always seen eye to eye. Her mother would give very definite rules, and Rose would have to follow them. Rose didn’t like it, and this caused hard feelings.

In her dream, Rose looked along the wall. There, sitting on a chair all by herself, was her mother.

“I’ll go dance with her,” Rose decided. “She looks unhappy.”

She went over to her mother and asked if she’d like to dance. The mother said she’d love to. So they started dancing and, true to form, her mother said, “Straighten your shoulders. Put that arm up higher.” And other rules that a German mama might have for her child.

But Rose noticed that they danced together extremely well. In fact, it was the best she had ever danced. Rose admitted to not being a very great dancer out here in the physical world. But there, even with her mother, it was just wonderful.

Rose thought to herself, No one’s ever led me through a dance like this before.

When Rose awoke, she knew the meaning of the dream. Between lives, before this one, Rose had chosen that particular Soul to be her mother. Rose had said, “This is a onetime deal only, OK?” Rose knew she needed certain spiritual disciplines so she could lead a safe and happy life and eventually find Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ.

In a very special way, her mother led her to a very secure future and a good life. Rose is a happy woman now. She has a lot of zest for living. She accepts the blessings of the Holy Spirit with all her love and gratitude.

—Adapted from “Thanks for the Help and Love” in The Road to Spiritual Freedom

Would you like to read more? View the free Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ Soul Adventure Magazine or subscribe now.

Spiritual Dreams

Dreams

Spiritual Meaning of Dreaming in History

There is an ancient and universal tradition about the true nature of dreams which has lost favor in modern times. This view holds that dreams are of divine origin, that they are a portal to spiritual worlds, and that they bear messages from heaven and prophetic insights.

The Gilgamesh saga of ancient Mesopotamia shows us that dreamers used various techniques to increase the chances that a deity would appear in their dreams. A god might send a dream message to a single priest or a group of dreamers.

The Egyptians were said to believe that dreams were caused by the soul taking out-of-body journeys during sleep. In the Old Testament, God says, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.”

In Jacob’s famous dream at Bethel, he saw a ladder reaching up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending upon it. At the top was the Lord. When Jacob awoke from the dream he exclaimed, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

The Chinese also believed that the soul could separate from the body during sleep and journey into the spiritual worlds, where it could communicate with the departed, then return to the body with memories of the visit. High Chinese officials were expected to seek divine guidance through their dreams so they would obtain the insights needed for wise political judgment.

In ancient India the soul was also thought to leave the body during sleep and visit other places. Indian texts also state that children dream of impressions from past lives and that old people could dream of the world to come.

The Greeks, such as Homer, believed dreams had a divine origin and that the messages were often direct and readily understood. Like nearly all ancient cultures, the Greeks believed that the soul was able to leave the body at night, take trips into other worlds, and visit with the gods.

The list goes on, but these examples show the widespread belief held by our ancestors in the spiritual nature of dreams.

What Is a Spiritual Dream?

It is one of the greatest losses of modern psychology in its pursuit of scientific foundations that this ancient view was discarded. For spiritual dreams are as prevalent today as they were in ancient times.

Thousands of people are reporting out-of-body journeys in the dream state—journeys to distant locations on earth or to higher spiritual dimensions.

They are reporting prophetic dreams, past-life dreams, telepathic dreams, healing dreams, and dreams of illumination and divine love, guidance, and protection. The dreamers having these kinds of adventures are too numerous to ignore.

The dream teachings of Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ define the nature of Soul. You are Soul, a particle of God sent into the worlds (including earth) to gain spiritual experience.

The assumption is made right from the start that spiritual dreams are real, that they are a vital part of life, and that they are an essential and key element in one’s spiritual growth.

The goal is spiritual freedom in this lifetime, after which you become a Co-worker with God, both here and in the next world. Karma and reincarnation are primary beliefs.

Do you want to understand the nature and reality of your dreams? And experience the wondrous potential for love and happiness they can bring into your life? Learn more about spiritual dreams.

Harold Klemp, the spiritual leader of Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ, is one of the foremost advocates of spiritual dreaming in the world today.

Dreams & Medieval Past Lives

Dreams, Harold Klemp, Karma, Past Lives

Understanding and Interpreting Dreams

Have you had a dream about a certain period of history? Could this be a memory of a past life?

Discover a deeper insight into your dreams in this answer from Sri Harold Klemp.

Dreaming about Medieval Times

Q: I haven’t been having any dreams that I can remember for the past month. This is unusual for me; I usually have dreams all the time. Is it karma? I would like to know, if possible, because I learn from my dreams.

Another thing I would like to know is, are there knights on the higher planes? I am attracted to medieval wars and battles.

A: In answer to your first question: By the time you read this, you will have started to dream again. There are times when Soul shifts gears; this is when we don’t always remember our dreams. But it is a passing thing.

About your attraction to knights and medieval wars and battles: Your interest in that period of history is due to your many past lives there.

It was a time of great adventure, chivalry, and heroics. The forces of darkness and light were in a hotly contested battle for centuries, and you played a part in those unsettled, but interesting, times.

History can teach us much about how mankind’s unlearned lessons repeat themselves. This allows us to use our knowledge to avoid unnecessary problems, because we can sidestep a lot of them.

People make history. You might enjoy the historical novels by Mary Stewart that bring to life the times of King Arthur at the beginning of the Middle Ages: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment, and The Wicked Day.

You’ll find many spiritual insights in these books, for the author is adept at looking at past-life records on the Causal Plane.

—A Modern Prophet Answers Your Key Questions about Life, Book 1

Would you like to read more? View the free ECKANKAR Soul Adventure Magazine or subscribe now.

Dreams and Our Spiritual Journey

Dreams

By Sri Harold Klemp

Dreams—the stuff of wonder, fear, the unknown—are certain to pique our curiosity.

A Dream of Prophecy

As a classic example, there is the case of Samuel Clemens, the American humorist known as Mark Twain. He foresaw the death of his brother Henry, who also worked on the Mississippi riverboats during the 1850s.

One night, Twain awoke from a nightmare in which he clearly saw a metal coffin for his brother. On it lay a bouquet of white flowers, a red rose in the middle.

A few weeks later, Henry suffered severe injuries from a boiler explosion on the river.

He died shortly after.

When Twain arrived a few days later, he found the setting exactly as it had appeared in his dream. People had taken pity upon his brother and had collected money for a metal coffin, instead of the wooden boxes usually used in river accidents.

As Twain paid his last respects, a woman entered the room and placed on the coffin a bouquet of white flowers with a single red rose in the middle.

Dreams for Insight

Dreams touch every level of our life. They may let us glimpse the future, or give suggestions for healing, or share insights into our relationships. Above all, they can and will steer us more directly toward God.

A woman had been running her life by the forces of power and control instead of love. Her inclination was to control other people, to tell them what to do. It was second nature to her.

She did realize she had developed some bad habits, but she couldn’t pinpoint what they were doing to her life.

So the Dream Master, her spiritual guide, gave her an experience about habits.

One night in the dream state, she found herself in a basement with a group of people. Crust-covered leeches were crawling all over the walls and floor. The basement was dark.

The other people felt it was very important to keep plucking the leeches off themselves. They spent most of their time just sitting there, plucking and plucking.

Suddenly a door opened from the outside. Sunlight poured into the basement, and a second group of people came in. They seemed very unconcerned about the crusty creatures.

The first group tried to warn them, “Be careful of these leeches. Keep plucking them off, because they’ll get all over you, and they stick!”

The second group didn’t seem to care. They were too busy laughing and enjoying themselves. The first group simply could not impress upon these happy people that leech-plucking was important.

The second group left the basement, and sunlight poured in through the open door. About this time, the dreamer awoke.

The dream was upsetting and left the woman with a feeling of discomfort. But from this experience she was able to take a bad dream one step further, to a higher level, and raise herself spiritually.

How to Change a Dream Yourself

In contemplation, the woman visualized herself walking out of the dark basement into the sunlight. She made an effort to dispel the frightening effects of the dream by moving from a darker world into a higher, lighter one.

As she did this, she realized that the crusty things that hung on like leeches were actually habits. Her habits. They were the habits of control, fear, power, and other practices that did not allow the people she was with to have their freedom.

She also realized that the people in the second group were simply engaged in the love of everyday life and loving Divine Spirit, the ECK. This love was the Light and Sound, from the greater worlds of God.

A definite effect occurs when you begin working to change your inner space, to uplift it from power to love. Something happens out here.

You begin to have brighter vision; you become more willing to allow other people as much freedom as you would like for yourself.

Lesson learned!

Wisdom of the Heart

Many of the first steps to the higher states of consciousness are taken in the dream state. Dreams are a way for you to find wisdom of the heart.

And once found, no one can take it from you.

Would you like to read more? View the free ECKANKAR Soul Adventure Magazine or subscribe now.