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babs5005 's review for:
Dreaming Yourself Awake: Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation
by Brian Hodel, B. Alan Wallace
"Dreaming Yourself Awake: Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation," by B. Alan Wallace, is a fantastic read.
The book is divided into 3 parts.
Part 1 describes lucid dreaming, and gives exercises and tips on how to become a lucid dreamer. I'm proud to say that I actually did use some of the exercises described in the book, and I managed to recently "wake up" while dreaming once.
What I did to prepare for a lucid dream experience was to ask myself throughout the day such things as "Am I awake, or am I dreaming" and "Is this a dream?" while looking at my hands. Sometimes I would pinch myself hard, just to see if I was really awake. I did this for several days before finally, it happened, and I woke up in a dream. Unfortunately, I was so excited to wake up in a dream that I woke up for real.
I only lucid dreamed for approximately 5 seconds, but I was still proud.
So. . . it's going to take me a while before I become adept at lucid dreaming. This is going to be a process, but I think it's a good idea to become 'awake' while dreaming because I sleep so much that I need to utilize my sleeping time more efficiently. Once I become an experienced lucid dreamer, I intend to practice various activities that I would like to master while awake. I plan to go on dream adventures, and do things that I can't do during my normal waking hours.
I also would like to gain enlightenment by exploring my psyche while dreaming lucidly. According to "Dreaming Yourself Awake," it is possible to enter a lucid dream and delve into something called the 'Substrate Consciousness,' which, so say the Buddhists, is where all your karmic imprints are stored. You can see and confront any unconscious emotions and beliefs that are contained within your substrate consciousness while you dream. If you dream deeply enough, eventually you can tap into 'Primordial Consciousness' which is the ultimate goal of enlightenment.
The topic of enlightenment is addressed in part 2 of the book, where Dream Yoga is explained.
I had never even heard of Dream Yoga before I read this book, but now I've got more books coming on the topic en-route from Amazon even as I type these words. OMG, Dream Yoga is where it's at. First of all, I found out that the whole time I've been meditating 'lazy style' which is when I meditate in my bed before sleeping, I have been practicing Shamatha, or 'meditative quiescence.'
Basically, I found out that my favorite way to meditate is legit--I'm not just too lazy to meditate correctly. Furthermore, whenever I was awake, and I would check to see if I was dreaming, I'd often ask myself, "Maybe reality is just a dream." I've seen the movie 'Inception,' I know you can have a dream within a dream that turns out to be you dreaming.
I swear I read once that Carl Jung wrote that he had a dream, and in the dream he dreamt that he was actually dreaming of himself. That's Dream Yoga for you. It's just like 'Inception.'
Anyway, Dream Yoga encourages you to ask yourself, "Am I dreaming" when you are awake, and then to affirm, "Yes this is a dream," because dream yoga says that reality is a dream. You learn to become lucid in a dream during sleep, so that way you can become lucid in the awakened dream state as well. It's what the Buddhist mean when they say they are awake.
Part 3 of the book explains some Buddhist concepts and talks about the illusionary nature of reality. "Dreaming Yourself Awake" is an excellent book. I'm really glad I read it, and I plan to read more books on the topic ASAP.
The book is divided into 3 parts.
Part 1 describes lucid dreaming, and gives exercises and tips on how to become a lucid dreamer. I'm proud to say that I actually did use some of the exercises described in the book, and I managed to recently "wake up" while dreaming once.
What I did to prepare for a lucid dream experience was to ask myself throughout the day such things as "Am I awake, or am I dreaming" and "Is this a dream?" while looking at my hands. Sometimes I would pinch myself hard, just to see if I was really awake. I did this for several days before finally, it happened, and I woke up in a dream. Unfortunately, I was so excited to wake up in a dream that I woke up for real.
I only lucid dreamed for approximately 5 seconds, but I was still proud.
So. . . it's going to take me a while before I become adept at lucid dreaming. This is going to be a process, but I think it's a good idea to become 'awake' while dreaming because I sleep so much that I need to utilize my sleeping time more efficiently. Once I become an experienced lucid dreamer, I intend to practice various activities that I would like to master while awake. I plan to go on dream adventures, and do things that I can't do during my normal waking hours.
I also would like to gain enlightenment by exploring my psyche while dreaming lucidly. According to "Dreaming Yourself Awake," it is possible to enter a lucid dream and delve into something called the 'Substrate Consciousness,' which, so say the Buddhists, is where all your karmic imprints are stored. You can see and confront any unconscious emotions and beliefs that are contained within your substrate consciousness while you dream. If you dream deeply enough, eventually you can tap into 'Primordial Consciousness' which is the ultimate goal of enlightenment.
The topic of enlightenment is addressed in part 2 of the book, where Dream Yoga is explained.
I had never even heard of Dream Yoga before I read this book, but now I've got more books coming on the topic en-route from Amazon even as I type these words. OMG, Dream Yoga is where it's at. First of all, I found out that the whole time I've been meditating 'lazy style' which is when I meditate in my bed before sleeping, I have been practicing Shamatha, or 'meditative quiescence.'
Basically, I found out that my favorite way to meditate is legit--I'm not just too lazy to meditate correctly. Furthermore, whenever I was awake, and I would check to see if I was dreaming, I'd often ask myself, "Maybe reality is just a dream." I've seen the movie 'Inception,' I know you can have a dream within a dream that turns out to be you dreaming.
I swear I read once that Carl Jung wrote that he had a dream, and in the dream he dreamt that he was actually dreaming of himself. That's Dream Yoga for you. It's just like 'Inception.'
Anyway, Dream Yoga encourages you to ask yourself, "Am I dreaming" when you are awake, and then to affirm, "Yes this is a dream," because dream yoga says that reality is a dream. You learn to become lucid in a dream during sleep, so that way you can become lucid in the awakened dream state as well. It's what the Buddhist mean when they say they are awake.
Part 3 of the book explains some Buddhist concepts and talks about the illusionary nature of reality. "Dreaming Yourself Awake" is an excellent book. I'm really glad I read it, and I plan to read more books on the topic ASAP.