Dreaming Yourself Awake: Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation

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Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation

Dreaming Yourself

AWAK E B. ALAN WALLACE

DREAM ING YOURSELF AWAI 36-37, 59 breaths, counting twenty-one, 50 Browne, Sir Thomas, x Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), 134, 137, 149, 150 on being awake, 92 enlightenment, 137, 148 on mind,89 pragmatism, empiricism, and, 69, 77, 149 on samsara, 137 on suffering, 73 buddhahood, 69, 73, 95, 97· See also enlightenment Buddhism as an empirical tradition, 69

168

INDEX

on dream state, 68-69

See also specific topics Castaneda, Carlos, x Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, 87 choiceless awareness, 107 close attention (stage of shamatha), 4 cognizance, 129-30 consciousness continuity of, 146-50 theories of the origins of, 144· 147 there is no universe without, 143-46 See also dream consciousness; primordial consciousness; substrate consciousness continuous attention (stage of shamatha), 4 counting, 12 creativity, 120-21 critical reflective attitude. See reflective attitude Dalai Lama, Fourteenth (Tenzin Gyatso), 77, 97, no daydreaming and dreaming, 130 death, 58 deities and deity practice, 97-101,103 delusion, process of, 85-87, 135-38

I>harma,78,124,148,150 directed attention (stage of shamatha), 4 distractions, 13. See also obsessive thinking dream body, 31 giving it a rubdown, 54 special, no spinning your, 54 dream consciousness, 23-26 Dream-Initiated Lucid Dreams (DILDs), 30, 129 dream lab, 61-62 dream origins, 131-32 dream practice how to develop an overall practice, 124-25 individualized practice, xiv-xv reviving a dream if your dream persona is disembodied, 127-28 vividness vs. stability, 126-27

See also specific topics dream practice sessions back-to-back, 133 length of, 8 planning, 124-25 dream signs, 28, 41-43, 127 dream yoga, xii-xiv, 21-22, 6]-68, 126 lucid dreaming and, 22

See also specific topics dream yoga practice, 90-92

INDEX

core practices of emanation and transformation, 103-5 dreaming basics of, 2.2.-2.3 sources of, 131-33 dreams nature of, 119-30 remembering, 38-39 subtle cues in realistic, 127 dualism, 138-40 dullness, 13, 15-16, 2.6, 2.9 Dzogchen, 107-8 Einstein, Albert, 61 emotions in dreams, 43 emptiness, 74-75, So, 82., 98, 99 enlightenment, xii Buddhist path to, 71, 73-77 supports in the quest for, 73-77 See also awareness: pristine; buddhahood ethics Buddhism and, 76-77 dream yoga and, 76 in lucid dreaming, 133-34 existence. See nonexistence faith, 93 food and meditation, 133 Four Immeasurable Virtues, 76 Four Noble Truths, 73, 137, 148 Freud, Sigmund, 70, 119

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fully pacified attention (stage ofshamatha), 5 fun, 116-17 Gen Lamrimpa, 96 grasping, 86 Gyatrul Rinpoche, xiii, 104 happiness, genuine, ix, 12.4 Hawking, Stephen, 140-42., 146 healing, psychological and physical, 117-20 Heisenberg, Werner, 83 "I am dreaming," 30, 55-56, 92. illusion, 91. See also delusion illusory body, practice of, 88-90 insight(s), 56-57, 12.9-30 intention, 8, 9 interdependence,81 intuition, 93 James, William, 139, 144-45, 150 Jigme Lingpa, 108 journal, dream, 2.8, 41-43, 125-2.6 purposes of, 2.8 Jung, Carl Gustav, 70, 117, 118 karma, 71 as basis of dreams, 132.-33

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INDEX

LaBerge, Stephen, xi-xii on DILDs,30 on dream consciousness and waking consciousness, 90 on dreams and dreaming, 23,25

lucid dream(s) anticipating, 27 concentrating focus on an object within a, 54 creating stories and continuity within, 57 extending your, 53 "flat," 126 keeping the dream alive,

Exploring the World ofLucid Dreaming, u6, 117, 121 lucid dream research and, 53-55 xi, 119-20 putting them to use, 32-34 lucid dreams of, xi, uS source of teachings received in, 134 on MILD, 29, 45 lucidity proof of lucid dreaming, directly cultivating, 48-49 19,21-22 on wish fulfillment, 116 intensity of dreams and, laxity, u, 15-17 12.9-30 letting go, 7-8, 37 keeping it alive, 55-56 Linde, Andrei, 146 strategies for, 26-27 Longchen Rabjam using anticipation con(Longchenpa), 108 sciously to maintain, 57 lucid dreaming, x-xii luminosity, types of, 129-30 balancing dream yoga and, XlV meditation complementary strategies a space for, 62 stages of, 3-5 for, 46-48 defined, x meditation session for settling the mind in its natural getting started with, 37-40 motivation for, 27-31, 38 state, 49-51 strategies for increasing the memory prospective, 2, 27-28, 39, 100 chances of, 27-31 training in, 31-32 retrospective, 2, 38 lucid-dreaming techniques, mental images, releasing, 37 mind 34· See also specific techniques quieting the, 8, 37

INDEX

settling it in its natural state, 48-51 mind wandering, 136, 146. See also obsessive thinking mindfulness defined, 9 enhancing and developing the faculty of, 15 Mlodinow, Leonard, 142 Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD), 29,45.46 motivation, power of, 27-31

Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava's Teachings on the Six Bardos, So, 107. See also Padmasambhava Nicklaus, Jack, 120 nightmares, 9, 56, 104-6, 117, 132 nighttime dream yoga hindrances, 101-3 motivation for, 95-97 nighttime dream yoga practice, 97-98 nonexistence, So-85, 87, 90, 98. See also delusion; illusory body nothingness, 74, So NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep, 22-23, 48 nyam, 105 object and subject, emergence of, 138-40

lj'l

objectsindreams,43 concentrating focus on, 54 obsessive thinking, 11-12, 100, 136. See also mind wandering open presence, 58-59, 107-8 pacified attention (stage of shamatha), 5 Padmasambhava,88,95,98, 106 on the dream state, 103, 105,107 dream yoga teachings, 79-85, 90-93. 103 instructions for falling asleep, 99

Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava's Teachings on the Six Bardos, So, 107 on nonexistence, 80-83, 85 visualizing him at your throatchakra,99 paranormal experiences and abilities, 108-10 people in dreams, 43 Pepys, Samuel, x performance training, 120-21 personal deities, 97-99, 103 phenomena, 81, 85 mind precedes, 89 See also nonexistence physics, modern, 84 mind and matter in, 140-46 positive attitude, 7, 40

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INDEX

posture, comfortable, 7, 49-50,59

pragmatism, 77-78 prana, 110 primordial consciousness, 70-73, 92-93

breaking through to, 107-11 prospective memory, 2, 27-28, 39.100

psyche, xii-xiii, 117, 118, 131 defined, 70 psychology, 21, 70 purification, lucid dreaming and, 129 qualia, 73 quantum physics. See physics

samsara, xii, xiii, 73, 90, 136-38, 149. 150

self, personal, 82-83 shadow, 117 shamatha, xiv, 1-2, 5, 99, 130

basic technique of, 9 dream yoga and, 78, 102-3 Padmasambhava and, 103 in practice, 6-12 ten stages in the development of, 4-5 in theory, 3-5 three sequential practices on the path of, 5-6 training in, 2-4, 55 without a sign, 6, 59-60

See also specific topics "reality," 85, 90 understanding, 87 See also nonexistence recurrent dream signs, 127. See also dream signs reflective attitude, critical, 29 developing a, 29-30, 43-44 relaxation, 6-9, 11, 13 REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, 22-23 resurgent attention (stage of shamatha), 4 retrospective memory, 2, 38 Rubinstein, Arthur, 120 samadhi, 4-5, 63, 95, 106, 109, uo

shamatha practices, 107 to improve sleep, 36-37 single-pointed attention (stage of shamatha), 5 Six Perfections, 76 sleep basics of, 22-23 lucid dreamless, 57-59 ·shamatha practice to improve, 36-37 sleep problems, 35 "sorcerer p~ase" of dream yoga, 103

Stages of Meditation (Kamalashila), 3 state checks, 28, 44, 53

INDEX

daytime, 44-46 stillness, 13. See also waking: remaining immobile upon strange loop, 142, 143 subject and object, emergence of, 138-40 substrate consciousness, xiii, 70-73 dream yoga and, 72 suffering, 73 tactile field of the body, filling the,14 tactile sensations, letting awareness permeate the field of, 10, so tamed attention (stage of shamatha), 4 Ten Non-virtues, 76 Tenzin Palmo, 108 "This is a dream," ss-s6, 90, 93 thoughts, letting go of, 8, 37 Tibetan Buddhism, 74-78.

See also specific topics

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transformation practice of, 103-4 semilucid, 128 understanding reality, 87 Varela, Francisco, 130 vigilance, 13 Wake-Initiated Lucid Dreams (WILDs), 31,46-48 waking, remaining immobile upon,38-39 waking consciousness, 24 dream consciousness and, 25, 90,101 waking reality, dreaming, and illusion, 85, 86, 88, 91-93, 143. See also "awake"; nonexistence Wheeler, John, 142, 143

yidam, 97 Zong Rinpoche, xiii