 Originally Posted by Habba
Me Hannah, Jacko and some other person was in some bedroom, that person I didn't really known, ended up in another dimension and I wondered how I could get there, like running across the walls like there is no gravity, it partly worked but something was missing so I stopped, and seen some type of teleported so as I got up to it, I put my finger on the green button and I teleport! I'm back in the same room and I feel like I've done this before. Hannah and Jack suddenly get here, I realise that we are all asleep since we can into here, I noticed how it felt weird to be awake in a dream, it felt like wasn't asleep at all. I was assuming to myself whether it was a lucid dream or not then Hannah asked if I have been practising lucid dreaming, I thought about it for a second and said no because I kinda got embarrassed. To test that it was a lucid I tried to do some dream control, I knew that it probably wouldn't of worked on the first to but I done it anyway, I seen the bear put my hands out and imagined that it will start floating up, it started floating up! I threw the bear at the door and thought I should probably get make it stay in the air and bring it back to myself. It never happened. I decided that I wanted to try and fly, I literally just doing the dimming stroke and I am up on the air. I hear Hannah's mum outside the door ( in the dream) and I don't want to wake up.
Lucid dream?or dream about lucid dreaming?
What I find so beautiful about this is your connection to your friends and family. It is because your connection to them has always been so wholesome that them turning into a dream is so natural. It is starting to make me cry. What a pure and awesome but simple day to day experience. Most of your dreams are about day to day events that are closely related to your day time life. I would encourage you stronger to keep your actions pure in dreams and translate them to everyday life. If you start doing whatever you want in dreams and not care so much about your friends and family then you won't be able to transfer the knowledge of the dream into everyday life. Dreams will just be dreams and life well that will just be life. Seeing how people are in dreams even though they are short automatically demands kindness to them otherwise you will be on your own in dream and daily life and that is not much point. To finally connect with your family and friends like this is a miracle. It might not seem that way now but start being aware of them more and then naturally you will find more and more happiness. The following is from Tenzin Wangal "Dream Yoga" book. It is the Four Foundational Pracitces of Tibetan Dream Yoga this teaching goes back in an unbroken pure transmission to Tibet and then to India and the Buddha. Ask ThreeCat more about this if you are interested she has been to his talks herself. The second foundational practice is the important one where you work with negative emotions and find more happiness in life for yourself and your family and friends.
ONE: CHANGING THE KARMIC TRACES
A version of the first foundational practice is rather well known in the West,
because dream researchers and others interested in dream have found that it
helps to generate lucid dreaming. It is as follows: throughout the day, practice
the recognition of the dream-like nature of life until the same recognition begins
to manifest in dream.
Upon waking in the morning, think to yourself, "I am awake in a dream."
When you enter the kitchen, recognize it as a dream kitchen. Pour dream milk
into dream coffee. "It's all a dream," you think to yourself, "this is a dream."
Remind yourself of this constantly throughout the day.
The emphasis should actually be on you, the dreamer, more than on the
objects of your experience. Keep reminding yourself that you are dreaming up
your experiences: the anger you feel, the happiness, the fatigue, the anxiety – it
is all part of the dream. The oak tree you appreciate, the car you drive, the
person to whom you are talking, are all part of the dream. In this way a new
tendency is created in the mind, that of looking at experience as insubstantial,
transient, and intimately related to the mind's projections. As phenomena are
seen to be fleeting and without essence, grasping decreases. Every sensory
encounter and mental event becomes a reminder of the dream-like nature of
experience. Eventually this understanding will arise in dream and lead to the
recognition of the dream state and the development of lucidity.
There are two ways to understand the declaration that everything is a dream.
The first is to look upon it as a method to change the karmic traces. Doing this
practice, like all practices, changes the way one engages the world. By
changing habitual and largely unconscious reactions to phenomena, the
qualities of life and dream change. When we think of an experience as "only a
dream" it is less "real" to us. It loses power over us – power that it only had
because we gave it power – and can no longer disturb us and drive us into
negative emotional states. Instead, we begin to encounter all experience with
greater calm and increased clarity, and even with greater appreciation. In this
sense, the practice works psychologically by altering the meaning that we
project onto what is beyond conceptual meaning. As we view experience
differently, we change our reaction to it, which changes the karmic remnants of
actions, and the root of dreaming changes.
The second way of understanding the practice is to realize that waking life is
actually the same as dream, that the entirety of normal experience is made up of
the mind's projections, that all meaning is imputed, and that whatever we
experience is due to the influence of karma. Here we are talking about the
subtle and pervasive work of karma, the endless cycle of cause and effect that
creates the present from the traces of the past, which it does through the
continual conditioning that results from every action. This is one way of
articulating the realization that all phenomena are empty and that the apparent
self-nature of beings and objects is illusory. There is not an actual "thing"
anywhere in waking life – just as in a dream – but only transient, essenceless
appearances, arising and self-liberating in the empty, luminous base of
existence. Fully realizing the truth of the statement, "This is a dream," we are
freed of the habits of erroneous conception and therefore freed from the
diminished life of samsara in which fantasy is mistaken for reality. We are
necessarily present when this realization comes, as it is then true that there is no
place else to be. And there is no stronger method of bringing consistent lucidity
to dream than by abiding continuously in lucid presence during the day.
As stated above, an important part of this practice is to experience yourself
as a dream. Imagine yourself as an illusion, as a dream figure, with a body that
lacks solidity. Imagine your personality and various identities as projections of
mind. Maintain presence, the same lucidity you are trying to cultivate in dream,
while sensing yourself as insubstantial and transient, made only of light. This
creates a very different relationship with yourself that is comfortable, flexible,
and expansive.
In doing these practices, it is not enough to simply repeat again and again
that you are in a dream. The truth of the statement must be felt and experienced
beyond the words. Use the imagination, senses, and awareness in fully
integrating the practice with felt experience. When you do the practice properly,
each time you think that you are in a dream, presence becomes stronger and
experience more vivid. If there is not this kind of immediate qualitative change,
make certain that the practice has not become only the mechanical repetition of
a phrase, which is of little benefit. There is no magic in just thinking a formula;
the words should be used to remind yourself to bring greater awareness and
calm to the moment. When practicing the recognition, "wake" yourself – by
increasing clarity and presence – again and again. until just remembering the
thought, "This is a dream," brings a simultaneous strengthening and brightening
of awareness
This is the first preparation, to see all life as a dream. It is to be applied in the
moment of perception and before a reaction arises. It is a potent practice in
itself and greatly affects the practitioner. Remain in this awareness and you will
experience lucidity both while awake and during dream.
There is one warning regarding this practice: it is important to take care of
responsibilities and to respect the logic and limitations of conventional life.
When you tell yourself that your waking life is a dream, this is true, but if you
leap from a building you will still fall, not fly.
If you do not go to work, bills will go unpaid. Plunge your hand in a fire and
you will be burned. It is important to remain grounded in the realities of the
relative world, because as long as there is a "you" and "me," there is a relative
world in which we live, other sentient beings who are suffering, and
consequences from the decisions we make.
TWO: REMOVING GRASPING AND AVERSION
The second foundational practice works to further decrease grasping and
aversion. Whereas the first preparation is applied in the moment of
encountering phenomena and before a reaction occurs, the second practice is
engaged after a reaction has arisen. Essentially they are the same practice,
distinguished only by the situation in which the practice is applied and by the
object of attention. The first practice directs lucid awareness and the recognition
of phenomena as a dream toward everything that is encountered: sense objects,
internal events, one's own body, and so forth. The second preparation
specifically directs the same lucid awareness to emotionally shaded reactions
that occur in response to the elements of experience.
Ideally the practice should be applied as soon as any grasping or aversion
arises in response to an object or situation. The grasping mind may manifest its
reaction as desire, anger, jealousy, pride, envy, grief, despair, joy, anxiety,
depression, fear, boredom, or any other emotional reaction.
When a reaction arises, remind yourself that you, the object, and your
reaction to the object are all dream. Think to yourself, "This anger is a dream.
This desire is a dream. This indignation, grief, exuberance, is a dream." The
truth in this statement becomes clear when you pay attention to the inner
processes that produce emotional states: you literally dream them up through a
complex interaction of thoughts, images, bodily states, and sensations.
Emotional reactivity does not originate "out there" in objects. It arises, is
experienced, and ceases in you.
There is an infinite variety of stimuli to which you may react: attraction may
arise at the sight of a beautiful man or woman, anger at a driver that cuts in
front of you, disgust or sorrow at a ruined environment, anxiety and worry
about a situation or person, and so on. Every situation and reaction should be
recognized as a dream. Do not just slap the sentence onto a piece of your
experience; try to actually feel the dream-like quality of your inner life. When
this assertion is actually felt, not just thought, the relationship to the situation
changes, and the tight, emotional grip on phenomena relaxes. The situation
becomes clearer and more spacious, and grasping and aversion are directly
recognized as the uncomfortable constrictions that they truly are. This is a
powerful antidote to the state of near possession and obsession that negative
emotional states create. Direct and certain experience of using this practice to
untie the knot of negative emotion is the beginning of the real practice of
lucidity and flexibility that leads to consequent freedom. With consistent
practice, even strong states of anger, depression, and other states of unhappiness
can be released. When they are, they dissolve.
The teachings generally refer to this particular practice as a method to give
up attachments. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to give these up. It does
one little good to suppress desires; they are then transformed into internal
turmoil or external condemnations and intolerance. And it also works against
spiritual development to attempt to flee from pain through distraction or by
tightening the body in order to choke off experience. It can be healthy to give
up worldly life and become a monk or a nun or it can be an unhealthy attempt
to escape difficult experiences through suppression and avoidance.
Dream yoga cuts attachment by reorganizing the perception and
understanding of the object or situation, by altering the view and thus allowing
the practitioner to see through the illusory appearance of an object to its radiant,
light-like reality. As the practice progresses, objects and situations are not only
experienced with greater clarity and vividness but are also recognized as
ephemeral, insubstantial, and fleeting. This levels the relative importance of
phenomena and diminishes the grasping and aversion based on preference.
THREE: STRENGTHENING INTENTION
The third preparation involves reviewing the day before going to sleep, and
strengthening the intention to practice during the night. As you prepare for
sleep, allow the memories of the day to arise. Whatever comes to mind
recognize as a dream. The memories most likely to arise are of those
experiences strong enough to affect the coming dreams. During this review,
attempt to experience the memories that arise as memories of dreams. Memory
is actually very similar to dream. Again, this is not about automatic labeling, a
ritual of repeating "It was a dream," over and over. Try to truly comprehend the
dream-like nature of your experience, the projections that sustain it, and feel the
difference of relating to experience as a dream.
Then develop the strong determination to recognize the dreams of the night
for what they are. Make the strongest intention possible to know directly and
vividly, while dreaming, that you are dreaming. The intention is like an arrow
that awareness can follow during the night, an arrow directed at lucidity in
dream. The Tibetan phrase we use for generating intention translates as
"sending a wish." We should have that sense here, that we are making prayers
and intentions and sending them to our teachers and to the buddhas and deities,
promising to try to remain in awareness and asking for their help. There are
other practices that can be done before falling asleep, but this one is available to
all.
FOUR: CULTIVATING MEMORY AND JOYFUL EFFORT
The fourth foundational practice is engaged upon awaking in the morning. It
further cultivates strong intention and also strengthens the capacity to remember
the events of the night.
Begin by reviewing the night. The Tibetan term for this preparation is
literally "remembering." Did you dream? Were you aware that you were in a
dream? If you dreamed but did not attain lucidity, you should reflect, "I
dreamed but did not recognize the dream as a dream. But it was a dream."
Resolve that next time you enter a dream you will become aware of its true
nature while still in the dream.
If you find it difficult to remember dreams, it can be helpful, throughout the
day and particularly before sleep, to generate a strong intention to remember
dreams. You can also record dreams in a notepad or with a tape recorder, as this
will reinforce the habit of treating your dreams as something valuable. The very
act of preparing the notebook or recorder at night serves to support the intention
to recall the dream upon waking. It is not difficult for anyone to remember
dreams once the intention to do so is generated and sustained, even over just a
few days.
If you did have a lucid dream, feel joy at the accomplishment. Develop
happiness relative to the practice and resolve to continue to develop the lucidity
the following night. Keep building intention, using both successes and failures
as occasions to develop ever stronger intent to accomplish the practice. And
know that even your intention is a dream.
Finally, during the morning period, generate a strong intention to remain
consistent in the practice throughout the day. And pray with your full heart for
success; prayer is like a magical power that we all have and forget to use.
This practice merges into the first foundational practice, recognizing all
experience as a dream. In this fashion the practice becomes uninterrupted
around the wheel of day and night.
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