On the nature of thinking, imagination, desires and dreams

Thoughts & Thinking:

Are you aware that many times the last remnant of a thought or sentence before one enters the dream state is usually the first remnant of a thought or sentence completed as one leaves the dream state?

Imagination:

So, as you start to fall asleep, watch your thoughts. See what it is that you are thinking about. If the thoughts are very one-pointed (concentration) it may cause one to dream of what is being thought. So if one desires to fly in one's dreams, repeating the sentence that you want to dream of flying may not be enough to induce flying in a dream. What will be necessary is for one to imagine one already flying while holding the thought of flying in one's mind. In school we were taught to see an icon, an image, while translating the action into words. So we repeated "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water." It isn't enough that one imagines Jack and Jill going up the hill, one needs to repeat the visual image from conception to completion: one sees Jack and Jill, their faces, their clothing. They see them approaching the hill, which is covered by brilliant green grass, blowing flowers, both swaying in the wind, bringing you a wisp of their perfume. They both laugh and make a game of reaching the top first, they run hand-in-hand, they breathe heavily, their eyes twinkle, they feel the grass slip under them. Until they have made it to the top, where there's a round stone well. (What's a well doing at the top of a hill, anyway?) Repeating the words "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water" seem impotent without the imagery.

But there is one big obstacle to inducing a desired dream: the thinking mind. As you lay on your bed, look at the thoughts going through your head. You are playing back myraid layers of thoughts and emotions. If you really just stand back and watch you should be able to recognise at least three different thought forms playing back at any time. These thoughts may also be being played back against a backdrop of music. The music will usually have words, and these words are hypnotising you, they are kernels of thoughts and emotions. The cadence will form a beat which is reflected in your breathing pattern, which causes the release of hormones. These hormones will affect the body, which affects the brain, which affects the mind; the mind will affect the brain, which will affect the body, which will cause the continuation of hormonal release. Is it any wonder why so many have sleeping disorders, why going to sleep is so hard?

Want to affect the world? As you walk during the day and you see someone depressed, deep in thought, as you get near them, point to them and say, "Smile, brother" and smile at them. They will usually smile back and you have for a moment made them forget their inner world.

Going to sleep is an art. One should take all the sheets off the bed and make it anew. One should set the thermostat to a comfortable position (68 - 75 degrees, perhaps). One should either exercise (body stretches) before or after the warm to hot shower. If the muscles ache one may want to exercise before hand and take a very warm to almost hot shower. This should get the circulation going into the tired muscles. If one is just lathargic, then a warm shower follwed by body stretches should suffice. Get into your bed and do a full body stretch. Close your eyes and watch your thoughts...

What are you thinking about? Look at your breathing. Does your attention to your breathing become broken through thoughts invading it? Do you find that you are becoming aroused, you are getting angry? No matter what you think, the reality will prove to be different. So why waste your energy on mindless thinking?

Desires:

It has been said that what we dream is what we desire. So if one is lonely one will usually dream of a past lover. Provided that one can examine one's thoughts and negate desire from one's mind, then the dreaming of this person may be prohetic. One will then know that one shall soon meet someone who has the same qualities of an old friend, an old lover, a parent, etc. The desire to know the future (which is why we mostly become frustrated and worried) can be cultivated, but it must be cultivated through understanding and not thinking. One can surrender the outcome to the Universe, a higher power, Nature, etc. Once we understand the mechanism bywhich we frustrate ourselves, it should just drop because we no longer wish to keep giving it energy, to keep the thought form alive. We can decide to breathe in clean air and not pollute it with our thought energies. Then what we breathe out is not toxic waste, tainted by the thought-emotion.

Meditation 1:

One meditation I use for when I can't sleep is to get the body into a comfortable position and to watch my body for itches. Just watch your body, there is probably an itch somewhere. You could scratch it, but another may pop up elsewhwere. Then you would scratch that one, and another shows up elsewhere. It would have been much easier to use a scrub brush while taking your shower and massage those itches out. The itches are there because the muscle nerve ends are starving for air. You could do another in-bed-stretch or you can continue to just watch the itch without scrathing it. It should go away as blood finally flows to it. But another springs up, so watch that one too, and the one after that, and the one after that. You should now be fast asleep. But what about dreaming?

Meditation 2:

As you close your eyes, stare with closed eyes into the dark, look at your eye balls, become aware of their movement. If you can stop the centre of your eyes from flailing about, you may soon perceive sparks of light, becoming brighter and brighter, until round globes can be ascertained. Watch what is inside them, there is a picture. That is the thought form, that is the dream kernel. As you fly between them you may feel a gravity pull. If the picture does not please you, resist the gravity pull and fly on, until you approach a scene which pleases you. Go down to the planet and partake of the dream...

It may take awhile before you can get to this stage, just do the exercise every night.

The next part will entail the reverse process, of becoming aware that one is becoming aware, to become aware of one's first thoughts, of seeing the music playing. Sit silently in the dark and watch as you perceive layers of thoughts forming, seeing how the world is now once again intruding into your mind. Do an in-bed-full-body-stretch. (Unless you wish to remember your dreams.) Open your eyes in the darkness, become slowly accustomed to what little light is in your room. After a minute, sit up in bed. Do an upper body stretch. Slowly get up out of bed and do not turn on a bright light while looking directly at it. If you do not have dimmed lights which you can turn on, close your eyes and turn away as you flick the light switch. Feel the light hitting your body. Very slowly open your eyes and slowly turn in the direction which you want to go to. Get the coffee going, turn on the shower, step in an d start becoming ready to join the world.

To remember your dreams, it will become necessary to first become aware of becoming aware, becoming aware that one is waking up. Feel the heat on your bed. The hottest spot should be the last dream. As you slowly shift your body around in the bed, searching for the warm spots to get back into the exact position(s) you were in when you had the dream, the warm should trigger a dream memory remembrance. Work your way backwards, the first thing remembered is the last thing dreamt. Take note of feelings and dream symbols, do not try to make sense of them, nor to connect them. Just keep shifting your body around as you remember the whole dream. As you slowly shift your body a dream symbol or memory portion should become revealed to you. Take note of them, repeat the symbols. Slowly reach over and pick up your pen (clickable) and paper. Using your left index finger, write down a dream symbol underneath the index finger. Move down your index finger and write down another symbol; shift, write, shift, write...

Do your stretch exercises, turn on a dimmed lamp, fill in the symbol with words, verbage.

Take another piece of paper and write down legibly the dream.

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What methods do you have for falling asleep quickly, for sleeping soundly, for programming your dreams, for remembering your dreams?

 

My friend, you have way too much time on your hands. Perhaps.

Do you not have some job you have to jump up and trot off to every day?

Are you preoccupied with sleep?

Just asking.

 

Sure am. I can't remember the last time I had a nightmare. When one is a Buddhist, one has to reconcile one's "belief" in the veracity of dreams and what Buddhism seems to be saying, that dreams should be dismissed. Should one try to cultivate control over one's dreams via lucidity or should it be a natural product of one's own awareness? If dreams are mirrors of our desires, are they then not evidence that desires still exist within one? If one recognises this, what is one to do? I choose to enjoy my dreams, just as I choose to enjoy food or a beautiful natural panorama of mountains and lakes.

 

Cool enough. But . . . what if dreams are just dreams? What if you could be spending more time on panaramas?

 

And what if dreams are "the kingdom within"????

 

“Dreams are a reservoir of knowledge and experience, yet they are often overlooked as a vehicle for exploring reality” wrote Tarthang Tulku. I have been practicing lucid dreaming, that is being awake in dreams, since I was twelve years old and read a book called creative dreaming. Yet I didn’t use it at first to explore reality, rather I used it as a way to fulfill sexual and violent fantasies. Even when I began getting into mysticism, I never tried to induce such an experience in dreams rather they occurred spontaneously during some of my many lucid dreams. I know in truth that these experiences were contact with the cosmic consciousness that is transcendent and immanent, rather then simple animalistic wish fulfillment as described by Freud which masks some kind of sexual desire. Thus these experiences greatly impacted my life as I received instructions to “experience and explore” and was assured that my yogic practices were helpful to bringing me into harmony with the universe, “you are coming in line with the lord.” The experiment that I did for this class was to try to induce contact with the cosmic consciousness while I’m lucid dreaming, actively pursuing more insight into my life. The experiment was a great success as I received eight successful responses out of twenty one lucid dreams. In this paper I will go through one failed attempted and two successes, analyze and explain what I learned.

The method of induction was prayer before my altar which includes pictures of Gurus, Buddha, Christ, Hindu Gods, my biological family and many others. Every night after meditation, I would say my usual prayers and then repeat the following induction technique.

Hello, I’m aware that you exist unitive consciousness that pervades all, contained in the zero point field interconnecting all matter. You know all, see all, you are all, beyond time and space, yet caught within. I recognize I am part of you and ultimately you. I will call you Shiva, yet know that I mean you, and understand you are nameless. I feel your presence here and now as I stare at various of your forms, and connect to the consciousness of the wise, the gurus and such. I know you have contacted me before in various states. Thanks.

(Then I would repeat three times the following)

Shiva, in dreams, I have been contacted by you. After I realize I am dreaming, I shall remember to calmly call out for your presence to manifest in a comforting positive image, speak to me and answer any questions I might have. I do this for the benefit of myself and others.”

After bowing, I would sometimes decide ahead of time which positive form I would focus to manifest the cosmic or unitive consciousness’s vast intelligence and wisdom. According to my plan when an attempt to manifest a certain image failed, I would move on to another one. So began the experiment and by only the second night, I made my first attempt at contact.

I was in the living room of my house with a few gathered guests, my sister Stephanie, her friend Amanda and a few others that I cannot recall. I realized I was dreaming all of sudden without any technique, it just occurred to me suddenly, this comes from years of practice. I screamed out for Jesus, for god, for Buddha, anyone. I said out loud, “I know you can hear me, you manifested before… please…” The dream characters are growing concerned with my behavior and they want to know what’s wrong. I turn around and say, “Shut up! You are just dream characters…” and I threw an object through the window shattering glass all over the room. Amanda claims that she can help me with my problem. This intrigues me so I follow her into my room. Instead of helping me with my experiment, she starts making out with me. Suddenly she telling me that she wasted so many kisses on Tommy (her current boyfriend) and asks if I’ll ever forgive her. I get lost in the prospect of having Amanda as a girlfriend forgetting completely about what I was suppose to do, and wake up excited.

In this dream, I was unable to contact the cosmic consciousness and got lost in ego desires, as well as wish fulfillment evidenced in Amanda’s confession of love to me something that would never happen in waking life. These desires are powerful, thus it is how the majority of my attempts went, thirteen of them dealing with ego levels of consciousness. Many of these lucid attempts were long searches in which character attempted to distract me with sex or nothing mystical happened. Now, let’s move on to a successful contact.

I am wandering down this beautiful mountain trail that reminds me of California where I lived for a time. I realize that I’m dreaming due to the feel of it. I demand to the dream that it manifest the unitive consciousness supreme intelligence symbol in the form of Shiva, a Hindu god, now! I keep venturing down the trail, not expecting anything to happen because I had demanded something and that usually doesn’t work. Yet to my surprise at the bottom of the trail on a flat cliff area is the white body of Shiva glowing in an otherworldly light much different then the usual dream images. I feel very comforted and blissful as I run down the mountain towards his form. As I fall before his feet, I tell him that I am here to give him my life. His third eye is creating a powerful swirling vortex that is pulling all the energy of the dream into it. He explains in a deep powerful voice that it’s alright, “your breath is perfectly ok.” I wake up.

This dream was very moving to me because of its central message of surrender to the cosmic consciousness, which does all, through each breath. It was about being in the moment rather then trying to give away future or past moments. I also think it was aimed at the sacrifices I do for Shiva. Shiva is the god of drugs, and I would often smoke pot saying a mantra “Om Shiva Shakara Hare Hare Ganga,” which is a specific prayer mentioned in the hippie bible (Remember; Be Here Now) for taking dope. I take the dope as a sacrifice for Shiva, a way of giving my life to him. However such sacrifices are not needed in my case as this dream shows. All I need is to sacrifice each breath which is my central meditative practice. Because of this dream and other incidents in my life, I decided to lay off dope for three years. On to another success my friend, a beautiful journey into deeper understanding.

I’m flying down the street superman style and I realize that I am in a dream. I call out to the cosmic consciousness. I land on the ground and keep repeating, “It’s everywhere!” and a dream character responds, “He said it’s everywhere.” Suddenly a light pinkish purplish extraordinary dream image manifests shining from the sky and filling the dream, comforting me with the usual peace, this assures me that it is indeed the cosmic consciousness. I see images of the destruction of the white house and my own house. These images are disturbing, yet as they occur I am informed by a gentle feminine voice that these are not precognitive images. I wake up.

It took me a little while to get the message of this dream. I asked myself, since these images are not precognitive what is their point? Then it hit me, the cosmic consciousness is urging me to appreciate the comforts of my house and my country, which could easily be destroyed by the divine will. Eventually, these building will be destroyed but not in the violent way shown in the dream. It also seemed to make clear my attachment to the comforts that I am blessed with and a reminder that many other human beings are dealing with the harsh realities of god’s destructive aspect.

In conclusion, the experiment really inspired me to continue this prayer and keep getting as much wisdom as I can through the practice of lucid dreaming. The messages and memories of these dreams will stay with me for a long time continuing to inspire my life which is a mission to be here now and realize who I am. The lesson this experiment can teach you is that at least in some cases one can induce mystical experiences in lucid dreams rather then just letting then happen spontaneously. As a result my dreaming is now more integrated into my waking yogic practices and is no longer simply a way to act out egoistic desires and sexual fantasy. I can see why the Tibetan dream yogis equaled this practice to that of meditation, and I am in awe at the potentialities of this yoga for exploring reality.

 

Exactly what does that mean?, that they should be ignored?, that they should be dismissed?

Dreams are not just dreams when one finds meaning during the waking life. One becomes aware of one's experiences and tries to co-relate them to the dream. If one can find meaning, one keeps testing to see if the meaning is repeated. If one can then have confidence in the meaning of the dream then one can be better prepared to deal with life.

So, if I dream of loose teeth, knowing that it means that I will be financially strapped I watch very closely my expenditures. Of course that is usually when an unexpected bill comes up, like having to pay more taxes, having to pay for a car repair, etc. One may not be able to do anything about it, but when it comes one can at least take solace that one knew that it was coming, thereby not becoming angry and frustrated. Then one just accepts life.

Just as one becomes aware of dejavu, one can become aware of when something bad is about to happen, so one can decide not to act or go in a certain direction when one's intuition flares up. When it does one usually immediately remembers the dream. That is a warning. One can choose to ignore it or one can tempt fate.

I've oftened wondered if people who die in air plane carshes dreamed about it days before. I know that I dreamdt nightmares about a trip and they went away after I changed my travel plans. It is kind of easy to think that it is a warning when one has the exact same nightmare for fourteen consecutive days.

I once wrote a dream down and it came true 5 years later. I remembered my dream as it unfolded before my very eyes and I knew that I would have a great vacation. Everything in my dream came true (with the exception of one part that I am still waiting to come true. That part may take another 20 years before it comes, but I feel confident that it will eventually come.)

My parents are always telling me that dreams don't mean a thing, that they are spirits talking to us. So one breakfast my aunt comes to the house. We greet her and she starts to give us presents. I then repeat my dream to her, that I saw her come to the house and she gave us all presents, that my present had a white cat in it, and that I had told myself that if I touched the cat I would have bad luck. My aunt opened the box and inside there was a white porcelin cat. As I told her that I couldn't accept it she pulled back the present, gave me another which had cologne in it. I then thanked her for her beautiful present.

Now, who knows if anything would have happened if I had accepted that present.? I doubt that she had malice towards me. I often wonder if the person who she gave it to had bad luck, but I tend to think that it was meant for me and that it would not affect another person.

 

GanjaPrince,

It'll be interesting to see if I have a cosmic consciousness dream tonight, because some times I dream what is being discussed here, like a few weeks ago when we were discusssing lucid dreaming. If it doesn't happen within 7 days I'll let you know, but as a Buddhist it is hard for me to conjure up human deities. (Although, as I mentioned in my 5 year dream, above, I was told that I will in the future live in Sedona, Arizona, where Buddha, Christ, Mahavira, Manjoor and all the rest of the Enlightened beings live. WIll it happen? If it comes, it comes. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm happy just being here, now.)

 

The clear light dream is probably what you want to shoot for then, or meeting a buddha...

The Tibetan Buddhists are filled with human-like dieties as symbols for reaching deeper levels of reality, deeper into realization that Nirvana is Samsara... Perhaps you could conjure up some Bodhisattvas? Or the green tara? You heard of those?

How do you feel about the Tibetans? They are my favorite Buddhist group... are you a mahayana Buddhist or theravadan? I have much respect for both traditions.

 

http://www.betterbuddha.com/lucid_dreaming_Dzogchen_and_Tibetan_practices.htm#clear

Thanks,

You've given me something to think about. I have some cards which are shapes which have to be coloured in. Maybe I'll get the coloured pencils out. Heck, they're begging to be scanned into a computer and coloured in with a paint program. I used to use them as meditation devices.

http://www.dreamyoga.com/

 

WhiteFeather, that's freakin' awesome! So are you saying there's a way to manipulate one's dreams? I should try this!