Dream Yoga

[Sky Dancer]

The waking state is not permanent. It comes and goes every twenty four hours. And yet, according to the great sages, there is something in us that is “always conscious,” that is literally conscious or aware at all times through all states, waking, dreaming, sleeping. And that “ever present awareness is Spirit in us”. That underlying current of constant consciousness (or non-dual awareness) is a direct and unbroken ray of pure Spirit itself. It is our connection with the Goddess, our pipeline straight to God.

Ken Wilber


When we dreamm we think it's real, our senses tell us it's real. We feel pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, fear and courage.

When we wake, we think the waking dream is real too.

There is a practice of lucid dreaming, learning to awaken to knowing that you dream when you dream. Lucid dreaming afftects the waking dream too.

Discuss.

 

[lizzie]

My personal take is that subconscious is always present, but conscious is not. I don't associate dreams with spirit, but rather with soul- the part of us that has desires, fears, passions and other emotion-induced traits.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Tibetan Buddhists suggest that mind influences reality to such an extent that it is as if we were continually dreaming when awake.

 

[lizzie]

Well, that's probably an excellent point, as the human mind loves to fill in the blanks, lol.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Well, that's probably an excellent point, as the human mind loves to fill in the blanks, lol.

Somehow, the teaching that "reality" is of the same nature as "dreaming" brought home the Buddhist teaching on "emptiness" in a way I could understand.

 

[lizzie]

How so? I don't think I'm following the relationship between reality/dreaming and emptiness.

 

[Sky Dancer]

How so? I don't think I'm following the relationship between reality/dreaming and emptiness.

I'll go slow because I have to. I'm not so great at explaining this. Let me start with something else and work up to it.

Take water, for example. We, as humans, know water as what we drink to live, and what we bathe in. But for a fish, water is his home. Which is true? Is water what we drink and bathe in or a fish's home? If it would come up to a vote, the fish would win. There are many more of them than humans.

That's an example of lessening the solidity about something that we all take for granted. It gives a hint of the concept of emptiness of inherent existence.

Chagdud Rinpoche would say, it is as if we are all continually dreaming. When we realize that, we wake up. We are enlightened.

Please imagine the situation. You are inside of a dream, one in which you go to sleep every night and have a wide assortment of night dreams. You wake up from the night dreams every morning into your waking dream, not realizing that it is another dream. In this waking dream, every now and then come little suggestions or reminders of the dreamlike nature of the situation you find yourself in, from synchronicities to articles that are talking about how life is like a dream.

If you start to pay attention to these clues, which are like alarm clocks or what I call lucidity stimulators, a very interesting thing begins to occur they happen more often. You begin to realize that just like in night dreams, our waking dream is a reflection of the mind that is observing it. This is exactly what the quantum physicists, in this waking dream of ours, have discovered that not only is there nothing separate or objective in this waking dreamscape of ours, but the very act of observing the universe literally calls forth, or creates the universe.

You discover that if you see that this is a magical, synchronistic, dreamlike universe that every moment is offering you exactly what you need in order to wake up, it will spontaneously shape-shift and do exactly that, as it is nothing other than your own reflection. But being like a dream, this only becomes true if you see it as such.

 

[lizzie]

Interesting Sky- I'll have to ponder that for awhile.

 

[Avatar4321]

dreams are an odd thing. Especially mine.

 

[lizzie]

dreams are an odd thing. Especially mine.

Would you care to compare notes?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Dreams are a fascinating topic as long as you don't take them literally.

 

[Avatar4321]

dreams are an odd thing. Especially mine.

Would you care to compare notes?

Unfortunately, i forget them easily. I just know they are weird because I always tell me wife about my weird dreams.

 

[lizzie]

dreams are an odd thing. Especially mine.

Would you care to compare notes?

Unfortunately, i forget them easily. I just know they are weird because I always tell me wife about my weird dreams.

I write mine down for later entertainment, lol.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I analyze mine and find them rich with insights.

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Tibetan dream yoga isn't about the content of our dreams. In fact, dream yoga is really about our waking life. The Buddha said life is like a dream. Everything that appears so solid to us is really insubstantial, like the reflection of the moon on water. Rather than trying to manipulate the circumstances of our lives to produce happiness, we can find true fulfillment by working for the welfare of others."

Lama Tsering Everest