Are dreams what you're mind is thinking about when you are sleeping and not choosing the things to think about?

your mind can choose the things to think about prior to sleeping, but the mind mainly dreams of those things that stood out most in the prior 48 hours. it is theorized that the dreams are the process of putting important things into your long term memory, and reliving the whole process. r.e.m sleep is the deepest sleep, it is characterized by the rapid eye movement, thus r.e.m., which is when you dream the most.

There is no universally accepted explanation of what dreams are, what causes them and why we dream. The most rational theories are wide ranging and include the following:

1) That dreams are an expression of the sub-conscious mind, an attempt by our consciousness to solve problems, whether they be ongoing dilemmas or merely food for thought. If this theory holds, the one all-inclusive method for dream deciphering isn't written in any book. It's all in the head of the dreamer. For instance, the meaning of the appearance of spiders in a dream would be entirely different depending upon whether the dreamer is arachnophobic, ie has an impulsive fear of spiders. Indeed, this would explain why many dreamers experience recurring themes when dreaming.

2) Dreams as "mental housekeeping." That is, a dream is merely the dreamer's brain catalogueing and organizing data acquired throughout the day in the form of seemingly random imagery. Many scientists hold that the human brain more effectively transfers information from short term to long term memory through the process of dreaming.

3) Similarly, another supposition suggests that we dream because even such a complex and vast memory device as the human brain requires the need to store data efficiently. According to this theory, the purpose of dreaming is to remove junk and clutter that is judged by some level of cognitive activity beyond our conscious perception as serveing no purpose in memory.

4) Another belief is that dreams are nothing but random emissions produced by the lower brain during sleep. These emissions are received by the fore and mid brain, and are interpreted into visual images, sounds, smells, textures, emotions, etc. That would tie into the theory that dreams come about through a process of oscillation. That is, as much of the forebrain and mid brain remain active during sleep cycles, dreams are no more than a bi-product of those activities.

Freud said that dreams were indulgences of the self-conscious, an expression of our hidden desires. Of course, it has since been proven that Freud was a quack who had a hidden indulgence of his own, that of a sexual infatuation with his mother.

My theory? I believe that all of these explanations are valid, and that when we dream, it could be any one of these processes at work. With such a complicated organ such as the human brain, it would be too simple to say that any one of these theories explains all dreams by itself.

What Smokey and Blaze said.

I tend to view dreams as Jung perceived them, archetypes made manifest. I definitely can tell the differences between types of dreams for myself, and I am also big in lucid dreaming, where you can control your dreams.

Smoke blue lotus flower...very mild...awesome for lucid dreaming

Or if you don't like smoking you can brew a tea with it...i personaly think our dreams are a portal to true self...if your feeling guilty, sad, angry ,confused, happy, depressed,etc.etc.
it all plays out in our dreams..if you pay attention to them you can make waking life more comfortable

Eh, I don't need anything to trigger it beyond just making the shift. I've been working with it for 16 years or so, so the shift is fairly automatic.

I definitely agree. It's a safe area to act out something and see if it will work, so you can take it to the awake side of things. Or another way to look up answers in general, or deal with something that you absolutely won't deal with in awake mode, but need a release.

Works good for me after a particularly stressful day...
Shamans have used it forever...I'm keen and on aromas ,sounds, and natural things to help ease consciousness..only when needed though

Yeah, but its all basically a training process. So, the person chooses what would be the aroma, sound, image, etc. to facilitate that shift.

It works for you because you chose to allow it to have that effect. For me, when I hear a horse neigh in my dreams, any of them, its the signifier that I need to shift. If I see a horse, it won't necessarily do it, unless its a specific type of horse. Now when a raven kaws or is seen in my dreams, its a signal to pay attention, though I don't have control over the dream. It is important, and must be remembered.

to me .... dreams are mostly cheap entertainment.

vivid technicolor dreams shrouded in the mists of subconsciousness,
with the eclectic aromas of emotions wafting on the winds of my mind

I think dreams may be a subconscious method
of working things out.

I had this dream for, literally, 30 years.
Nightly (nearly) since the age of 15.
It was a very benign dream.
Shortly after falling asleep, I dreamt of
the Pillsbury doughboy or the Michellin tire
man (to give you a visual) sitting in my
hand, getting bigger and bigger.
Every freaking night. Thirty years.
Over the years I tried mightily to
figure it out.
One day, I did.
I slept on my side, and one hand would cup
a boob, for support.

I never had the dream again, after
figuring it out.

Hmmmm..... maybe your boobs were growing every night.[Dolly ... lol]

This shows every possibility
of being true :-)