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Literature on Tibetan Lucid Dreaming

TIBETAN YOGA AND SECRET DOCTRINES

BOOK III THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE: THE YOGA OF THE SIX DOCTRINES

CHAPTER III: THE DOCTRINE OF THE DREAM-STATE

(1) The third doctrine, concerning the Dream-state, consisteth of four parts: Comprehending; Transmuting; Realizing the Dream- state to be Maya; and meditating on the Thatness of the dream- state.

[PART I: COMPREHENDING THE NATURE OF THE DREAM-STATE]

(2) The first part, Comprehending [the nature of the Dream- state] compriseth three practices: Comprehending it by the Power of Resolution, Comprehending it by the Power of Breath, and Comprehending it by the Power of Visualization.

[Practice I: Comprehending It By The Power of Resolution]

(3) With respect to the first, Comprehending it by the Power of Resolution, that which has been called ‘the initial comprehending of the dream’, referreth to resolving to maintain unbroken continuity of consciousness [throughout both the waking- state and the dream-state].

(4) In other words, under all conditions during the day [or waking-state] hold to the concept that all things are of the substance of dreams and that thou must realize their true nature.

(5) Then, at night, when about to sleep, pray to the Guru that thou mayest be enabled to comprehend the dream-state; and firmly resolve that thou wilt comprehend it. By meditating thusly, one is certain to comprehend it.

(6) It hath further been said [in this connection]: ‘All things are the result of causes; they depend wholly upon resolutions [or motives]’

[PRACTICE 2: COMPREHENDING IT BY THE POWER OF BREATH]

(7) In the second practice, Comprehending it by the Power of Breath, the methods are: Sleep on the right side, as a lion doth. With the thumb and the ring-finger of the right hand press the pulsation of the throat arteries; stop the nostrils with the fingers [of the left hand] ; and let the saliva collect in the throat. {As a result of these methods, the yogin enjoys as vivid consciousness in the dream-state as in the waking-state; and in passing from one state to another experiences no break in the continuity of memory. Thereby the content of the dream-state is found to be quite the same as the content of the waking-state, in that it is wholly phenomenal and therefore illusory…}

 

[PRACTICE 3: COMPREHENDING IT BY THE POWER OF VISUALIZATION]

(8) The third practice, Comprehending it by the Power of Visualization, consisteth of these processes: The visualization itself; deriving the Greatest Benefit from the Visualization; And preventing the Spreading-out of the Dream-Content (this last process refers to overcoming the tendency of dreams to lose their coherence, or to be lost to memory upon waking.).

[THE VISUALIZATION ITSELF]

(9) In the first, the Visualization Itself, the method is as followeth: Thinking that thou art thyself the deity Vajra-Yogini, visualize in the throat psychic-center the syllable AH, red of colour and vividly radiant, as being the real embodiment of Divine Speech. (Midway between the heart psychic-center and that of the throat, in a space about four inches long, a tube-like psychic- organ is said to exist. If the vital force be quiescent within it, sleep ensues; and if the vital-force be in motion within it, dreams occur. Hence the visualization chiefly concerns the throat psychic-center.)

(10) By mentally concentrating on the radiance of the AH, and recognizing every phenomenal thing to be in essence like forms reflected in a mirror, which, though apparent, have no real existence of themselves, one comprehendeth the dream.

[DERIVING THE GREATEST BENEFIT FROM THE VISUALIZATION]

(11) In the second, for Deriving the Greatest Benefit from the Visualization, the method is as followeth: At nightfall, [strive to] comprehend the nature of the dream- state by means of the visualization just described above. At dawn practice the pot-shaped breathing seven times. Resolve [or try] eleven times to comprehend the nature of the dream-state. Then concentrate the mind upon a dot, like unto a bony substance, white of colour, situated between the eyebrows. (The visualization of the dot is, in this practice, chiefly for the purpose of attaining mental concentration, or one-pointedness of mind.)

(12) If one be of plethoric temperament, the dot is to be visualized as being red of colour; If one be of nervous temperament, the dot is to be visualized as being green of colour.

(13) If by these means the nature of the dream-state be not comprehended, then proceed as followeth: At nightfall meditate upon the dot. In the morning practice twenty-one ‘pot-shaped’ breathings. Make twenty-one resolves (or efforts) to comprehend the nature of the dream-state. Then, by concentrating the mind on a black dot, the size of an ordinary pill, as being situated at the base of the generative organ, one will be enabled to comprehend the nature of the dream-state.

 

[PREVENTING THE SPREADING OUT OF THE DREAM CONTENT]

(14) Preventing the Spreading-out of the Dream-Content hath four divisions: The Spreading-out into the Waking-State, the Spreading-out because of Fatigue [from the exercises], the Spreading-out because of Physical or Mental Affliction, and the Spreading-out into negativeness.

(15) The Spreading-out into the Waking-state occureth when one is about to comprehend the dream, in view of thinking that it must be comprehended, and then waketh up.

(16) The antidote for this is to eat nutritious food and to perform bodily work [or exercise] until fatigued. Thereby sleep becometh deeper; and that cureth it.

(17) The Spreading-out because of fatigue occurreth when a dream recurreth frequently without any change of content.

(18) The antidote here is to meditate often upon that dream and to resolve most firmly to comprehend its essential nature; amalgamating in the process the ‘pot-shaped’ breathing-exercise with the visualization of the dot between the eyebrows. (The purpose of this combination of exercises is to gain better control of the mind, for indomitable mental control prevents and cures all the various spreadings-out of the content of the dream.)

(19) The Spreading-out because of Physical or Mental affliction occureth when one dreameth many dreams and recollecteth nothing of them upon waking.

(20) The antidote here is to avoid pollutions and impurities, to take the initiation of Samadhi, and to visualize the dot as being inside the root of the organ of generation. Thereby this spreading-out will be cured.

(21) The spreading-out into Negativeness is the disinclination of dreams to come.

(22) To overcome this, visualize, whilst meditating upon the ‘pot-shaped’, the dot as being in the root of the generative organ; and, in particular, with propitiatory offerings the Viras and the Dakinis.

[PART II: TRANSMUTING THE DREAM-CONTENT]

(23) In the second part, the Transmutating, as it is called, the process is as followeth: If, for example, the dream be about fire, think, ‘what fear can there be of fire which ocurreth in a dream!’ Holding to this thought, trample upon the fire. tread under foot whatever be dreamth.

(24) After having gained proficiency in this, then turn the thought to the various Buddha Realms [thinking that they are attainable].

(25) Accordingly, when about to sleep, visualize a red dot as being within the throat psychic-center, and firmly believe that thereby thou shalt see whichever of these realms thou desirest to see, with all its characteristics, most vividly.

 

(26) By concentrating the mind thus, one beholdeth the Buddha Realm which one hath wished to behold–The Tushita Heaven, or the Happy Western realm. or that called ‘Happy to Know’, or any other of the realms.

(27) This practice serveth as a test of efficiency [in the art of transmuting dreams.

[PART III: REALIZING THE DREAM-STATE, OR DREAM-CONTENT, TO BE MAYA]

(28) The third part, Realizing the Dream-State [or Dream- Content] to be Maya, hath been expounded as followeth:

‘At the outset, in the process of realizing it to be Maya, abandon all feelings of fear [or dread]; And, if the dream be of fire, transform the fire into water, the antidote of fire. And if the dream be of minute objects, transform them into large objects; Or if the dream be of large objects, transform them into small objects: Thereby one comprehendeth the nature of dimensions. And if the dream be of a single thing, transform it into many things; Or if the dream be of many things, transform them into a single thing: [Thereby one comprehendeth the nature of plurality and of unity.] Continue such practices until thoroughly proficient in them.’

(29) Then by visualizing one’s own body as seen in the dream- state, and all other bodies similarly seen, as being Maya-like bodies of deities, they will be realized to be so.

[PART IV: MEDITATING UPON THE THATNESS OF THE DREAM-STATE]

(30) The fourth part, meditating upon the Thatness of the Dream-State, is, as hath been said, ‘to meditate upon the real essence of the thatness’; And thereby, the dream propensities, whence arise whatever is seen in dreams as appearances of deities, are purified.

(31) By concentrating the mind upon the forms of the deities seen in the dream-state, and by keeping the mind free of thoughts, in the quiescent condition, the forms of the deities are attuned to the non-thought condition of mind; and thereby dawneth the Clear Light, of which the essence is of the Voidness.

(32) If one attain mastery of this process, then, whether in the sleeping-state or in the waking-state, one realizeth both states to be illusory [ in so far as their content are concerned]; and all phenomenon will be known to be born of the Clear Light [which is the noumenal reality sustaining the Maya],

[Here endeth The Doctrine of Dreams.]