Book description
Mapping the uncharted territory at the edges of psychological
knowledge, these fascinating essays explore compelling aspects of dreams
and dreaming. They discuss topics as diverse as memorable dreams, lucid
dreaming, the role of dreams in the evolution of human consciousness and
the relationship between dreams and the waking state. In 'The Dream and
Its Embedding', psychoanalyst Patrick Mahony demonstrates, with
absorbing case studies, how dreams can become effective therapeutic
tools, while dream scholar Kelly Bulkely concludes in 'Big Dreams' that,
ultimately, the function of dreams is to make the brain grow. Luigi
Zoja, dream analyst, explores the profusion of nightmares among
soldiers, prisoners and other victims of war in 'Nightmares'. And Madhu
Tandan, who lived for seven years at an ashram in the foothills of the
Himalayas, explains how dreams can access a level of consciousness
beyond the psychological. This volume is the first in the 'Boundaries of
Consciousness' series, which, under the leadership of Sudhir Kakar,
seeks to bring together psychoanalysts, philosophers, religious studies
scholars and neuroscientists in order to expand the frontiers of current
psychological understanding. Subsequent volumes will spring from
symposia held at Wasan Island, Canada, on the supernatural, death and
dying and creativity and imagination. Edited and introduced by Sudhir
Kakar, On Dreams and Dreaming will be of interest to scholars and to all
who dream and seek to understand why.
