At this particular point in time, there is not an accepted, unanimous, biological answer to the question "what are dreams?”. The reason we don’t have an accepted answer to that question is due to the fact that at this point, modern, Newtonian based science does not recognize the element of “spirit” as it relates to physical life. Because of this, though we can see what portions of the brain are active or dormant during sleep, the search for the answer to why we dream is a quest left to the realm of psychological and philosophical theory.
Without beating around the bush, it must be said clearly and simply that it is impossible to understand why we dream if we are unwilling to look at that which we call “spirit”. And it is impossible to understand why we dream if we are unable to open our minds to view consciousness as being more than just a byproduct of the brain. Rather we must look at the brain as a sort of receiver of information which it then translates and broadcasts to the body.
Scientists now know that when we sleep, slow-wave activity appears in our brains as the neurons in the cortex switch themselves off and essentially go electrically silent. But when we reach the REM phase of sleep, the brain is essentially re-awakened. Blood flow rises sharply in several brain areas linked to processing memories and emotional experiences and the portion of the hindbrain that connects the cerebral cortex with the medulla oblongata (called the Pons) sends signals to the thalamus and to the cerebral cortex. The word Pons is Latin for bridge. This translation is extremely important because it does not merely refer to the bridge between parts of the brain, but also the bridge between spirit and the brain.
When we sleep, we withdraw a large portion of our consciousness and perspective back from the physical dimension (often called the third dimension). We re-join “source perspective” in much the same way as we do when we die. This perspective is a non physical point of consciousness. It is a perspective which transcends dimensionality and is completely unified. When our consciousness withdraws to this degree, we are in a state of complete allowing. There is no resistance present in our consciousness. Because of this, source energy is able to flow unrestricted to our bodies and learning is consolidated.
It is very important to understand thought in and of itself when one is trying to understand dreaming. Whatever consciousness is giving its attention and energy to creates a thought out of that specified focus. We, in our human form which we have grown so accustomed to, are physical expressions of thought. And thought…thinks. Thought is one of the most powerful, energetic vibrations within this universe. Thoughts which are thought repetitively become more and more manifested as their signal becomes stronger. In other words, they become “thought form”. When those thoughts which have become thought form, continue to be thought frequently and with enough focus, they then become physical form.
When we decide to come back from source perspective to our physical perspective and thus direct our consciousness back to the third dimension (where our bodies exist in physical reality), we pass through these dimensions of thought and thought form back to where we left off. This is why we wake up in the same “energetic vibration” so to speak as we went to bed with. It is during this re-entry that we pass through the thoughts which we ourselves have created that form the substructure of our physical reality. We essentially come into contact with the pre- physically manifested reality. This re entry happens in split seconds. And the Pons area of the brain is the first area of the brain to be re-activated by that large stream of consciousness which is re-entering the physical body. The brain registers these thoughts according to how it understands things. Because of this, the primary visual cortex is dormant while the secondary visual cortex is reactive and decoding those thought signals. So it is the brain which posits the sensation that a dream is taking place all night long, when it is really only taking place in split seconds and is being deciphered upon re-entry. The process of remembering a dream occurs when your physical brain translates non physical thought into its physical equivalent.
The higher frequency dimensions beyond our physical dimension are not subject to the physical brain’s ability to interpret or judge what is possible vs. impossible or what is real vs. unreal. Instead the energy within those dimensions instantaneously responds to individual thought. Because of this, they consist of intensely individual and often surrealistic manifestations of thought. This is why interpretations of dreams and symbology within dreams are so highly subjective. Though it can be said that in general certain events and symbols translate as certain things to the whole of humanity, an event or symbol may be a representation of one thing to one person and a totally different thing to someone else. What you dream about, is always an individual representation of the thoughts you have been thinking (some of which you do not consciously take note of). And your emotions are your indication of the energetic vibration of those thoughts you’ve been thinking. For this reason, the most important thing to take note of when re-examining a dream is how you feel during the dream relative to each subject you encounter in the dream. For example, if you pay attention to how you feel relative to “waves” if you were to have a dream about waves that were overpowering you, you could find that the particular manifestation of waves is the visual representation of the thought that you keep having about something or someone in your waking life which causes you to feel powerless.

Your dreams are your creations and your manifestations just like your physical reality is. It is not possible for you to dream about anything that you have not created through your own individual thoughts. It is important to note that once a thought manifests in your dreamscape reality, it means that you have given that particular thought a significant amount of focus. Your dreams are a manifestation of what you have been thinking often and with significant focus during your waking, physical life. It takes less focus to manifest thought into the dreamscape reality than it does physical reality. Dreams represent the current vibrational condition of the dreamer. Because of this, your dreams are essentially a preview of the essence of what is to come in your physical life. This is especially true when it comes to very emotionally charged and repetitive dreams. For this reason, understanding your dreams and most importantly how you feel in your dreams can help you to understand what you are creating for yourself before you create it. We all know, it is much easier to change the direction of our focus and attention before it manifests as opposed to after it manifests at which point we end up staring at physical proof to back up and intensify the original thought.
The most important question to ask about a dream is “how is the way I am feeling in this dream echoing in my waking life?” in other words, “when have I felt similar emotions to this in my waking life”? By asking this questions, you can start to decipher your mind’s own unique dream symbology. Dreams are one of the most powerful indicators of where you have been putting your focus. Because of this, they can serve as a priceless evolutionary tool by helping you to recognize and solve internal conflicts in your life before they manifest into your physical reality. If you can delve deeply with awareness into what thought based condition the dream offers awareness of, a healing process can begin and intentional, positive focus can be restored leading to intentional, positive manifestation in your physical waking life.

Author's Bio: 

Teal Scott is a well known esoteric, extrasensory who writes and teaches publicly about spirituality, the meaning of life, and the road to health and happiness.
See more at: www.thespiritualcatalyst.com