Someone asked: who makes us dream, and is there a 'programmer' behind our dreams?

The Dream Body Creates the Dream

What makes us dream is our own dream body. How much of the dream's story we actually get to know depends on whether that dream body, after going out and doing things, chooses to come back and tell us about it — or tells us only the part it wants us to know.

A Personal Memory

Pra Ajarn recalled an experience from many years ago, when he had been ordained for about seven vassa (he has now been ordained more than thirty). Before traveling to New Zealand at the invitation of a senior monk, Luang Na Suthammo, he dreamed of his own teacher, Luang Phor. In the dream, Luang Phor appeared very clearly and told him he could ask for a wish, which would be granted. Everything in the dream was vivid and clear — but when he turned inward and asked his inner body what wish to make, the dream body wouldn't let him know. It wouldn't reveal what wish had been asked, even though every other detail in the dream was crystal clear. That one point alone stayed hidden. Afterward, Luang Phor granted the wish, then put an arm around his shoulder and walked with him.

Each Level Has Its Own Dream Body

As for whether there's a 'programmer' behind dreams — dreaming actually happens in a chain, passed along from one level of body to the next. The coarse celestial (deva) body is the dream body of the refined human body; the refined celestial body is the dream body of the coarse celestial body; the coarse brahma body, in turn, is the dream body of the refined celestial body — and so on, continuing in sequence, level after level.