How to distinguish between reality and dream or imagination?

Answer 1

Pinch me.

Ahhh! Clear And Distinct!
We can't doubt it without being irrational!

The Matrix makes me want to puke.
"Welcome to the Real World"
my a s s.

Answer 2

It is unfortunate that you will encounter many angry, immature, and petulant bloggers on this sight. But the army must march on, even if the dogs bark.
I would recommend a couple of sources for consideration. (1) The phenomenology of Heidegger, and Vedic sources, such as the Srimad-bhagavatam.
In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna states that what is night for the materially conscious is day for the introspective sage, and vice versa. Reality is something that must be understood in the following way: our possibilities taken together with our limitations. As such, reality is more encompassing than dream. Dreams do happen to us in reality, that is we factually dream. But dreams are just a portion of what we experience. So dreams are only partial experiences of reality. There is a quite large range of experiences that we can have within reality, and dreams and imagination are among them. Imagination gives us some control over our dreams. It is that part of reality that enables us to encounter the states of a dream while awake. In all of these states, we are constrained to reality, though reality 'transcends' these states; that is, reality encompasses and surpasses both dream and imagination. Dreams increase dramatically our possibilities, and yet also increase our limitations, for although we can imagine so much more in a dream, we are also unable to effect reality beyond the dream by the actions we execute within the dream. So, we might say that for every new possible experience made available to us by way of dreaming, a new limitation is imposed: that new experience does not effect the 'transcendental' reality which surrounds the condition of the dream. The sleeping person cannot climb a mountain in the waking world, by doing so in sleep. So we can say, the effects of dreams are far more quixotic than the effects of waking life, constrained to the memory of the dreamer. But in the end, even waking life ends, just as a dream does. Perhaps death is just waking up to some greater reality. In any case, I think that the best way to determine some sort of difference between these states is to discuss the possibilities and limitations that each possesses with respect to each other.
Imagination, may in fact, possess the greatest of possibilities, of all of these, since it enables us to experience not by the mere accident of our present material circumstances, but by purposeful intention. The limitations to imagination must be whether we can fully realize that which we can imagine; that is, can we make our bodies fly in the "objective" waking world, simply by imagination? Some mystic traditions say that this is possible, and if so, then perhaps imagination and reality are closer than we would have thought at first glance.
In truth, we could spend a far greater amount of energy discussing this, but at least I hope the above has given you some sense of the types of investigations will yield the kind of answer you are looking for.
Anyways, I hope the following thoughts are helpful to you.
Cheers,
Bhavasindhu dasa

Answer 3

dreaming attention reflects, that is one important peculiar quality about it, everything relfects like a mirror in a dream, the energy of yourself bounces back, this type of energy rules the dreaming attention. Normal reality is based opon jugment of incoming energy that is familiar, your reality is your own and can only be distingished by you. Dreaming attention is the opening to a wider attention called the second attention, this is when your awarness shifts from a normal state to another... the best way to describe this proccess is to give an example of a radio... when you tune the dial new frequencies of radio waves become availible, dreaming is a natrual shift from normal reality to somthing new. If you can hijack this normal shift and learn to push your dreaming attention through controled repeditive acts inside your dreaming body, you can refine the force that controls the "dial on the radio" If you can make it that far you can join us in a new type of adventure/evolution that some of us humans are working on. You will find the answers if you have the energy.

Answer 4

Check out the Brain in a Vat Argument by Rene Descartes in Meditations on First Philosophy.

Answer 5

I don't even want to think about that, there are so many people who are on the verge of insanity because those lines are so marred for them, I fear for my own sanity so I'd rather not delve any deeper into this question than I have to

Answer 6

your parents were dreaming of going to Palestine, now you are there, reality. they threw my parents out of there homeland, reality. I'm a refugee now dreaming of going back, but i can't, I'm not a Superior Jew from Dan tribe, I'm just a Darwinist animal.

Answer 7

REALITY IS STH THAT UR LIVING AND DOING THINGS (AS LIVE IS A REALITY)
DREAM IS STH WHICH U WISH TO DO..OR U WISH TO MAKE IT REALITY...MOST OFTEN DREAMS R NOT TRUE...
BUT I WISH U BEST OF LUCK FOR UR DREAMS..BUT DONT FORGET THE REALITY...

Answer 8

reality is when you are awake imagination is when you sleep...but it seems that you are sleeping all the time if you ask stupid questions lik this so go on and call us when you wake up ....and smell the fricking coffee

Answer 9

There is really no way to distinguish them. Don't stress yourself over it.

Answer 10

if it seems too difficult, it's gotta be real.. cause if it were easy... I'd be dreaming.