In this post – Sai Baba Answers on Recurring Dreams, Baba addresses one of the most puzzling questions seekers often carry, why do the same symbols or visions appear again and again? Are they messages from the Divine, signs of destiny, or simply the play of the restless mind? Baba’s guidance invites reflection. Read further if you are also seeing such recurring dreams.
What is the Meaning of Recurring Symbols or Dreams in Our Spiritual Journey?
The courtyard of the Lendi Garden was bathed in the golden light of dawn. A gentle breeze rustled the neem and peepal trees, their leaves whispering secrets carried by the wind. Shirdi Sai Baba sat on a stone under the shade of an old tree, His eyes half-closed in deep thought. In front of Him, the dhuni (sacred fire) burned steadily, its flames flickering like the unseen currents of destiny.
The traveller approached, his heart troubled by a question that had haunted him for many nights. He had been seeing the same dream, over and over again, a deep river, an old key, and a door that he could never open.
Unable to hold his curiosity any longer, he bowed and sat before Baba.
“Baba,” he asked, “why do certain symbols or dreams keep appearing in one’s spiritual journey? Are they messages? Signs? Or is it just the wandering mind playing tricks?”
Baba slowly opened His eyes and looked at the traveller with deep compassion. He reached for a small clay bowl filled with water and set it between them.
“Tell Me, child,” Baba said, “if I drop a stone into this water, what happens?”
The traveller watched as Baba picked up a small black stone and let it fall into the water. Ripples spread outward, moving in perfect circles.
“The ripples spread, Baba,” the traveller answered.
Baba smiled.
“And if I drop another stone into the same water, will the ripples be the same as before?”
The traveller frowned, thinking deeply.
“No, Baba, they will be different, but the movement will feel familiar.”
Baba nodded.
“So too with dreams and symbols, child. They are the ripples of your own consciousness, appearing again and again because something within you has not yet stilled.”
Are Symbols Messages or Mirrors?
Baba reached for a mirror that rested against the tree trunk and held it up.
“If you stand before this mirror, will it show you the truth or an illusion?”
“It shows a reflection, Baba.”
“And if you come closer, does the image change?”
“Yes, Baba, I can see more details.”
Baba placed the mirror on the ground.
“Recurring dreams and symbols are like this mirror. They do not come from outside, they arise from within. The same images return because your own soul is trying to show you something, but until you understand, the vision repeats, like a reflection waiting to be seen clearly.”
The traveller’s mind swirled with realization.
“Then, Baba, dreams are not messages from some divine realm? They are from… myself?”
Baba smiled.
“Child, do you believe that the Divine and the Self are two different things?”
The traveller was silent.
The Science of Recurring Dreams and Symbols
Baba reached into His jholi and pulled out a small handful of mustard seeds. He let them slip through his fingers onto the ground.
“The mind, child, is like this. Every experience leaves an imprint, like these seeds scattered in the soil. Some of these seeds take root in your waking life, while others remain buried deep in the subconscious, appearing only in dreams.”
He picked up one seed and held it up.
“Science tells you that dreams are the mind’s way of processing the unresolved. The symbols that appear again and again, whether in waking visions or sleep, are the unspoken voices of your deeper self, waiting to be heard. They are not foreign, nor are they meaningless. They are the echoes of something within you that seeks completion.”
The traveller absorbed Baba’s words, feeling the weight of his own recurring dreams.
“But Baba,” he asked, “how do we know if a symbol or dream has a deeper meaning? And how do we understand it?”
Baba took a dry leaf from the ground and crumbled it between his fingers. The fragments scattered in the wind.
“Not every leaf that falls carries a message, child. Some simply return to the earth. Similarly, not every dream is a prophecy, not every vision is divine. The question is not whether the dream is real, it is whether you are awake enough to understand it.”
Vedantic & Sufi Wisdom: The Door of Awareness
Baba looked toward the entrance of the garden, where an old wooden door stood slightly ajar.
“Vedanta teaches that reality itself is like a dream, a play of Maya. The images that come to you in meditation, in visions, in sleep, they are not distractions, nor are they final truths. They are invitations, like this half-open door, waiting for you to step beyond them and see what lies deeper.”
The traveller followed Baba’s gaze.
“And what do the Sufis say, Baba?”
Baba’s eyes softened.
“The Sufis say, ‘Do not be lost in signs, seek the One who sends them.’ A bird does not sit forever staring at the sky, it takes flight. A seeker does not stand at the door forever, he must step through. Your dreams are like the wind moving through the trees. They whisper they stir, but do they change the tree itself?”
The traveller whispered, “No, Baba, the tree remains.”
Baba placed a gentle hand on the traveller’s shoulder.
“Then do not cling to symbols, child. Use them as steps, not as walls. If they come, again and again, they are telling you that something within still waits for its own understanding. But the truth… the truth is beyond all symbols.”
A Logical Example: The Echo in the Hills
Baba picked up a small stone and tossed it into the distance. A moment later, the sound of the stone striking a rock echoed back.
“Child, if you call out in the mountains, the echo returns. If you call again, the same echo will return. But tell me, does the mountain speak, or is it only your own voice coming back to you?”
The traveller’s breath caught in his throat.
“It is only my voice, Baba.”
“Yes,” Baba said. “So too with recurring dreams. They are not a force outside of you speaking, they are your own voice, returning again and again until you listen.”
The Answer
Recurring dreams and symbols are not separate messages from an external realm, they are reflections of one’s own subconscious and spiritual journey.
Vedanta teaches that all symbols are part of Maya (illusion), meant to guide the seeker deeper, not to be mistaken for final truth. Sufi wisdom reminds us not to be lost in signs, but to seek the source from which they arise.
A dream, a vision, a symbol, they are the echoes of the soul, waiting to be understood.
A Final Thought
If a man hears an echo in the hills, does he believe a voice is calling him?
And if he calls again, and the same echo returns…
Should he keep waiting for an answer, or realize that he was the voice all along?
Contributed by: Murali P K – Author of Shirdi Sai Baba – The Guiding Light for the New Age (Volume 1)
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Posts in this Series
1️⃣ Sai Baba Answers About Human Suffering
2️⃣ Why Is God Worshipped in Different Forms?
3️⃣ Existence and Reality – Sai Baba Answers
4️⃣ Why Does the Universe Seem Fine-Tuned for Life?
5️⃣ Is There Life Beyond Earth? Sai Baba Answers
6️⃣ Sai Baba on The Unseen Laws of the Universe
7️⃣ Sai Baba on Consciousness Beyond Science
8️⃣ Sai Baba Answers – Consciousness Beyond Death
9️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Near Death Experiences
🔟 Sai Baba Answers on Spiritual Experiences and Parallel Worlds
