The Golden Rule & Dream Yoga

The Golden Rule & Dream Yoga

The above article unintentionally provides a distinction between the attitudes of Western “lucid dreamers” and the Eastern approach of dream yoga. Lucid dreamers often make the mistake of giving no attention to dream characters while lucid–even treating them like toys at times for their own ego’s satisfaction. I remember hearing about a lucid dreamer who would kill his dream characters just for fun because “they aren’t real.”

This perspective lacks the wisdom that you literally are the dream characters in your dream, and it also discounts the realness of our dream reality.  If you haven’t yet seen it yourself, the dream reality is as real as the room you’re in right now.  Actually, look around for a second–how do you know you aren’t dreaming?

Rather than torment or even murder yourselves, a more compassionate approach to your dream characters stems from the nondual wisdom of Dream Yoga.  Recognizing dream characters as aspects of your own self, you are practicing self-compassion when you give your dream brother a big hug. This attitude toward the dream environment and characters within it is indicative of your attitude toward your own self.  For example, if you’re having a lucid dream in a dark forest, summon some sunshine into the trees. From this perspective, lucidity can be used to literally bring light to those dark places within yourself.

If you practice the Golden Rule in your dreams, “Do unto others as you wish they would do unto you,” don’t do it only because you learned about it in church.  Practice the Golden Rule in your dreams because you quite literally are the “others” in your dream.  Perhaps then you’ll see that there’s likewise more to this ancient rule in waking life.

The Wrong Way to Lucid Dream

Posted here is a short, good article on what the author says is “how not to succeed at lucid dreaming.” The basic premise is that dream control is not a prerequisite for lucid dreaming. Instead, the author contends, one should first focus on stabilizing awareness in the present moment.

I support this kind of thinking whole-heartedly because it’s a perspective that is outnumbered by a lot of lucid dreaming literature out there boasting, ‘You can control your dreams!” It’s certainly true you can control your dreams when you are lucid, but you soon come to find that’s not necessarily the most satisfying use of lucidity. Instead, you should explore the dream you are already a part of, and allow it to express itself to your heightened state of awareness. If you do this when you’re lucid, you’ll be surprised just how intelligent and profound the scene you’re already standing in becomes.

So before you fly off to the heavens, try keeping your feet on the ground the next time you’re in a lucid dream. Engage what is already present, and you’ll find yourself reflected back in the perfect mirror of your subconscious mind.

Looks like the author of this article and I have a lot in common in our perspectives on dreaming.  To check out his blog visit: www.dreamstudies.org.  I highly recommend it.

Dream Yoga and Lucid Dreaming: An interview with B. Alan Wallace

Linked here is an awesome podcast put on by the guys over at Buddhist Geeks about the similarities and differences between lucid dream practice and dream yoga. Their interview with B. Alan Wallace is a beautiful example of the constructive outcome of East meets West in our warming melting pot of science and spirituality. Again and again, rather than butting heads, East and West actually compliment one another in humanity’s quest for truth. This interview is no exception. One more chance to click here and listen to this thought leader in the field of contemplative science.

New Dream Yoga CD

A new teaching by Lama Surya Das has been recorded and released on this audio book, Tibetan Dream Yoga.  Lama Surya Das is also author of the bestselling book, “Awakening the Buddha Within.”  You can find a more detailed description of the CD here:

http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2008/08/tibetan-dream-yoga-lama-surya-das.html

I think those who have stumbled upon the path of lucid dreaming as a recreational activity or source of adventure can really find much more value to their gifts through the practice of Tibetan dream yoga.  After all, waking up to one’s dreams is concurrently an awakening to reality.

What Lucid Dreaming Is Not…

I recently read an article about lucid dreaming that said, “This ability is comparable to being a God of your own universe wherein your will is the supreme controller and anything you desire can be brought into existence!”

At first I laughed. Then smiled. Then smirked. And finally, I frowned. This is NOT how lucid dreaming should be taught, (cough) marketed. But before I continue, I ask you to take a moment and read the article here: http://www.informativepost.com/2008/07/28/Lucid-Dreaming-1523.htm

Now that that’s over, it’s important we assess what’s wrong with this picture. Lucid dreaming is everywhere these days, with individuals devising any number of ways to package the techniques in a marketable way. The problem I’ve found is that the people selling them are not dreamers themselves, and this article is a clear example of the problems associated with that. Lucid dreaming is not a technique to play “God,” although it’s true there are fewer rules which seem to govern that dimension of the reality. But with enough experience in that dimension, you come to see that your ego is NOT the Dreamer.

Beginner’s luck in lucid dreaming might tell you otherwise, but it’s only to give you a taste of the boundless possibilities once you truly master the dream of life. After some time lucid dreaming, you’ll find that unexpected events, people, and most especially places seem to emerge from someplace deeper.  If unexpected, unplanned, out-of-your-control events can occur to you, then how could you be the only one dreaming?  And so, the moment you that you feel comfortable being in “control” of your dream life, the real secrets of that world force you to wake up again, and paradoxically, give up control.

So before I continue let me say very clearly that “you” don’t control the dream.  Sure you control some elements of the dream, and in fact the more lucid you are the more you can control those elements.  But the Dreamer behind the dream is ultimately in control, and waking up to this fact is the real goal of lucid dreaming practice. If you’re serious about lucid dreaming, I suggest grounding yourself in an Eastern text such as Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s “The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep.” (You’ll find it here )

I find it hard to dismiss the above article immediately because I understand that perspective.  I too once found my way into the Dream World that way.  I too wanted to taste the power of being completely in control of my own world too…of “playing God.”  But just like so many others, I eventually found that the idea of controlling the Dream World wasn’t the whole picture.  Through a series of dreams, I found my way to a deeper understanding of what lucidity is to be used for, and what its reality really means for our life. I don’t intend to discount the value of the above view by writing this post.  I just think that we need to balance that perspective with a healthy dose of humbleness, respect and curiousity for what the Dreamer has to say too.  Lucid dreaming is more about exploring than it is about controlling.  It’s exploring the intelligence and wonder of a much deeper aspect of your Self–the Dreamer behind the Dream.

Ultimately, you and the Dreamer are One. But until that is experienced as a direct realization, any attempts at complete and utter control by your ego identity will only be partial lessons along the way to a much greater Truth.  Valuable lessons they may be, and entirely necessary.  But they are not to be mistaken with Truth.

Lucid dreaming is a path toward Self realization, but that path is definitely not about “being a God.”

Are you lucid dreaming?

Iamluciddreaming.com is a brand new website with some very unique features for dreamers.  Most interestingly, it aims to be a homepage specifically for lucid dreamers.  I recently spoke with the founder of the lucid portal, Brett, and he had this to say about the site:

“My mission is to create a website that is worthy of being the homepage of lucid dreamers, be they experienced or new to the topic.

I aim to achieve this by:
1) Providing free gadgets to assist lucid dreamers that all work without leaving the homepage.
2) Including other general purpose gadgets to make our homepage fun and useful.
3) Allowing the homepage to be customised by dragging and dropping gadgets in to preferred order and by adding and removing gadgets as required.
4) Allowing a Google search directly from the homepage (and from any other page too)
5) By responding to members requests for new gadgets and features.

Gadgets currently include:
1) The lucid dream clock, which instructs us to perform regular reality checks. The alarm will sound wherever you are on the website, even on Google search result pages.
2) The dream journal  which allows dreams to be recorded, dream signs to be identified and other data to be captured that is of specific interest to lucid dreamers.
3) The dream “to do list” which allows us to plan what we will do once we become lucid.
4) The forum gadget which shows the latest forum postings. This is automatically updated without having to refresh your browser.
5) The lucid dream blog gadget, which lists member submitted blogs and when they were last updated.
6) An article index so we can see what new or updated information is in our articles section.
And 16 other general purpose gadgets.

Our Articles section is another highlight. This is implemented as a Wiki, which means that members can easily add their own articles or jointly author articles. They can also leave comments against other peoples articles. I want the website to be a community effort so will be encouraging contributions.

We also have a virtual dream room (chat room) on Google’s new virtual world: http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=1858774668520004810“

On top of these features, Brett gave me some inside info on what the future of iamluciddreaming.com may hold.  I won’t reveal his secrets, but I suggest you keep an eye on his page for some surprising updates and add-ons. 

This is one lucid dreamer that is using technology in creative ways to spread dreaming consciousness around the globe.  Stay tuned.

Waking Quote of the Day

“They say that dreams are only real as long as they last. Couldn’t you say the same thing about life?”–Waking Life

The key to lucidity is to know that at any second, you could wake up from this dream of life.  Living on that razor edge of nowness, that is the awakening.

Binaural Beats Lucidify Your Brain

Before you read any further, click on this link and hook up some headphones.  Then select “Focus.”

http://i-dose.us/

Now that you’re hooked in, I’ll continue by saying that I-Dose.us is a great site exploring a new psychotechnology called Binaural Beats.  Binaural Beats are auditory artifacts that project two slightly different frequencies in each ear.  Those different frequencies come together in the brain to form a third, integrated beat sound.  In some ways, a binaural beat is an illusory sound arising from the brain independent of physical stimuli.  It’s as if the brain creates the sound, in other words.  Sounds a bit like a dream to me…

As you should have seen from the link, there’s a binaural beat mixed specifically for inducing lucid dreams.  I haven’t tried it out just yet, but I’m excited by the possibilities of these psychotechnologies for augmenting our brain’s potential.  While I believe every practice should have the ultimate goal of achieving lucidity naturally by developing in-the-moment awareness during waking and dreaming life, I think certain psychotechnologies have their place as a part of a balanced practice.  It’s always good to remember though, that no technology could ever work better for developing lucidity than returning your awareness to the present moment right now.

How to Remember More Dreams

Here’s an interesting article that I provide not so much for the lucid dreaming content, but because it expresses the frustration of a lot of common dreamers.  By common dreamers, I mean to say the common man–since he is a dreamer too.  He just does not remember many of his dreams.

http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/51786174846109.php

Although I am much better at remembering my dreams now, I can relate to the problem of having trouble with dream recall.  The good news is that since I went from remembering a few fragments per week to a few, full dreams per night, I know it’s possible to transform your dream recall as well.  Here’s some simple tips:

1.) Start a dream journal: This is a very simple way to begin remembering more dreams.  While it’s crucial you record your dreams in the journal to develop excellent recall, the real reason having a dream journal works is because it sets an intention to remember more dreams.  One view I stress in my working with dreams is to improve your relationship with your Dream Maker, or superconscious mind.  The first step to this is to take a constructive action that says very clearly, “Dreams, I care about what you have to say.”  A dream journal is the perfect first step to starting this relationship off on the right foot.

2.) Write down fragments!  Now that you have your journal, it’s important to record any dream snippets you have at first.  Often dream fragments are all you’ll get if you’re just getting into dreaming, but fragments are beautiful messengers nonetheless.  Sometimes I find that my dream fragments provide crucial advice or creative solutions in a fraction of a second.  Irregardless of their level of profundity, be sure to write down any bit or piece of dreams you can remember.  Over time, these will build into full-length dream memories upon awakening.

3.)  Write them down immediately upon awakening.  Until your recall improves, you’ll need to be disciplined in your practice of recording your dreams.  If you don’t write your dreams down right away, they’ll soon fade into a vague pool of nighttime haze.  The reason for this is that human beings have both short-term and long-term memories.  Dreams are generally only stored in short term memory because we don’t give much attention to them.  However, by writing down your dreams you give conscious attention to their content and begin a pattern called rehearsal, which converts your dreams to long-term memory.

4.)  Be patient.  Even the best dreamers don’t remember their dreams every single night.  Many find in fact that their dream recall comes in cycles, independent of factors such as sleep deprivation and journaling.  As in building any relationship, patience is a key to understanding and development.

5.) Honor the dream.  By trying your best to understand the metaphor of your dream you are honoring its message.  Sometimes the message is clear, and sometimes its harder to understand.  Sometimes the result is simply an intellectual insight, and sometimes it requires conscious action.  However, if you’re not paying attention to what the dream is trying to tell you, then it’s not going to reward you with better dream recall.  After all, if you’re not listening to a new friend, why would they keep telling you their secrets?  Honor the dream by being grateful for its message and it will honor you back.

Lucid Music: Phish’s Mike Gordon

Really neat article on how dreaming inspires Mike Gordon’s writing process.  As he says, “Dreams have been my road map through my whole career.”

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/art_life/display_ent.htm?StoryID=77295

Phish fan or not, I suspect you can relate to Gordon’s source of inspiration if you’re reading here.   Dreams, which have been called “the most spontaneous of our creations,” are a greater source of creativity lying just beneath the surface of our conscious mind, awaiting the dip of our lucid toes.  Your first lucid dream (and every subsequent adventure for that matter) is an opening to a world within that already contains all the energy, ideas, and answers one has been exhausting for without.  So I offer that instead of turning up that ipod and going deaf on phish music just yet, perhaps first you should turn up the lucid volume and start listening to your dreams.