Well Fawzo, be pal-o-buddy-o-mine, an ageless question of which I'm not sure we'll ever have a complete truth about. WARNING!....my personal view is a bit ragged, jagged and inter mixed with several philosophies, so may seem a bit "crazy". I don't recall all the technical terms and "labels", but.... it's all chemically induced. However, stress and anxiety are two of the best known inducers of "strange dreams" as well as the outside influences like (grateful) mentioned. This is where I firmly believe that losing touch with reality comes into focus as, also said above, a person finds the line between fantasy/dream and reality completely blurred or indistinguishable from our waking conscious. Much like LSD, tetracannebanol, mescaline, peyote or even heroin can induce....so I have read.... ....a blurred line between the two states of consciousness. (1) But, are we responsible for the origins and playing out of those thoughts in dream form? I would say someone like the yogi's, shaman and other highly trained priests/esses, who are well versed in mental conditioning and training, would say "yes", while those of us who have little control or expertise in this area would say "no". Part of my search for Self truth has been in this area of "control" over our thoughts/dreams/emotions. So I completely agree with the evaluation that certain people, with given "gifts" or "abilities", can control those thoughts. The rest of us? Eh, we're just fodder for yogi jokes....Why did the mortal cross the road with a mule? To explore what was his ass' fault!* If one believes like many Native American cultures, that this physical realm we are in here and now typing to a forum is the Dream-state and when we "dream" in this reality, it actually opens the doors to our "true reality", which is on the other side of this plane. How can we be held accountable for that? By our conscious awareness. It's not the "thought" or the few bytes of info, rather our actions in letting those random thoughts play out or materialize like Grateful** said. My only disagreement or opposition to this basic thinking from our Native "hosts" in America, is then why is our dream, if this conscious state is our 'dream', so linear? In this, conscious reality, we progress from infant to elder, apprentice to master all in a linear manner, unlike our altered, dream state which has us young, old, super-human, less than pig dung all in the same unaware state of sleep. That to me would be an incredibly difficult, far too random to make sense of, "reality" to live in. Now, much of that line of thinking may well have come from a chemically induced state of being, which to the observer is just as real as sitting here and then gets translated into real, physical plane, actions. So even less within our 'control', but we do have a responsibility to the action of taking whatever (chemical/herb/potion etc) induced such thoughts. However, in contrast to that view, I can also see, where if a person has that ability to control their thoughts, to a point of effectively relating to and positively interacting with the effects of such an chemically induced state of reality, it could well become an addictive plane of existence. This is what I think the "masters" of transcendental meditation actually accomplish. They freely move in and out of this area of the brain's abilities, and focus on the connection to the Universal Stream of conscious reality, without the substances of course. My friends up in Hupa country, have all done a Vision Quest as part of their ritualistic, shamanistic way of life. Peyote and/or mescaline and/or certain mushrooms are drank in a "tea" and what comes of that journey is said to affect the "rest of one's life" and if properly done produces one's correct path in Life. Even the oldest one, Gray Eagle, now in his 80's, has only done this twice in his life. Once as a maturing teen to find his way, once during his difficult time as he called it, to find his way BACK to his proper path, in his 30's. It is not a "party" experience, rather an attempt to answer many of Life's deepest questions concerning Self. Yeah, I know, but I "warned ya"! I do have a rather odd view of this topic, but to me, just as "sound" as any other. Of course that does little more than show my own need for proper medical attention and mental evaluation by the "experts"...but hey, any has been who tends to show a sporadic nature is "just an authority" IMHO! But alas my friend, have no worries, you are technically crazy for even thinking in such a way. We all know that everything from the inner most recesses of our thoughts to the other side of the Universe is all a dream. Nothing is "real", there is no reality and no one lives there. We are all nothing more than fantasized neuro-reactive, fraction of a millisecond worth of synapse in The Creator's mind! So what does s/he take to induce better dreams?(2) Blessings of Peace, *asphalt - road- doh! ** "...I believe we are responsible for processing them in a way that causes no harm to ourselves or others; but to their origins and our responsibility for them, not so sure..." (1) See PM in your mailbox! (2) I've been told, by those in the "know" it's Hydra-sapien-i-craniol, a succinctly strong, pate-like concoction of hypothalamus, frontal lobe and visual cortex. (This can be served chilled on crackers or bread or eaten warm, spooned directly from the convenient, bowl shaped container it comes in.) (No need, wife has already called them!)