Archive Page 13
This article is Part 2 in the series Mastering the Art of Lucid Dreaming.
Misconceptions about dreams and conscious dreaming abound. Many view dreams as frivolous and consider lucid dreaming a waste of time and effort, when in fact lucid dreaming can be an extremely beneficial practice. Dreams can provide us with a very effective method of learning more about ourselves and, in turn, discovering how to improve our waking lives.
Some view conscious dreaming as solely a spiritual pursuit, while others consider it "New Age mumbo jumbo." Learning to have conscious dreams may be a spiritual experience for some, but spiritual practice is not required in order to learn conscious dreaming. Conscious dreaming can provide the dreamer with very practical results.
Many people also believe that learning to control your dreams will interfere with the mind's natural dreaming process. This is also untrue. The experienced dreamer always has the option to refrain from exerting any control over the dream environment or events — to allow his or her unconscious mind to …Continue reading
Mastering the art of conscious dreaming — also referred to as lucid dreaming — involves learning to become aware that you are dreaming while the dream is taking place. Once the dreamer has learned to recognize that he or she is dreaming, the possibilities are endless.
Dreams can be fun and exciting, offering the opportunity for adventures limited only by our own imagination, but the entertainment value is not the only benefit to learning to control our dreams. Dreams can also be an important tool for personal growth and for improving mental and emotional wellbeing. They provide us with a glimpse into the inner workings of our unconscious mind, bringing us closer to understanding ourselves.
Throughout history, various cultures have recognized the value of dreams. In ancient Greece, visitors slept within temple chambers in the hopes they would be blessed with a conscious dream that would provide information to guide their actions in waking life. Tibetan yogis recognized the significance of dreams and developed a set of techniques known as Dream Yoga specifically for the purpose of mastering the art of conscious dreaming. Native American tribal shamans used dreams for …Continue reading
As promised, here is an easy exercise to help you develop expanded awareness. I call this technique "practicing opposite behavior."
For one week, try performing all your everyday tasks in reverse. If you always put on your right shoe before your left, force yourself to stop and think, to become aware of what you are doing, and to put on the left shoe first instead. If you always step into your pants with the left leg first, try it in reverse instead. If you always take the milk out of the refrigerator before you get the cereal out of the cabinet, force yourself to stop and deliberately do it in the reverse order.
While you're performing the actions in reverse, take note of any resistance. Does it feel odd to perform the action in the opposite way? Do your mind and body seem to rebel?
Keep up this reversed behavior throughout the day. Pay attention to the actions while you do them and consciously make an effort to do them in reverse. Obviously not every action …Continue reading
Basic awareness and energy sensing are part of the foundation of nearly every mystic path. It is impossible to master any advanced techniques without first acquiring a certain degree of skill in the techniques that make up that foundation. Attempting to practice advanced techniques without developing a proper foundation is like attempting to run a marathon without first learning how to walk — you won't get very far.
To provide you with a solid foundation from which to work, I'll start by covering the basic topics of awareness and sensing energy and will work up to more complex techniques later.
In the beginning, people usually have the most luck using a combination of visualization and physical sensation, so this exercise will involve a bit of both. …Continue reading
Conscious dreaming — sometimes called lucid dreaming — simply means being consciously aware that you are dreaming, while the dream itself is taking place. For some this skill comes naturally, but for most of us it takes practice. There are dozens of valid reasons to master the art of conscious dreaming, some of which I’ll describe in detail in future articles, but for today I’m going to discuss how the practice alters your perception of reality.
Conscious dreaming, in the most fundamental sense, is about perception and awareness. It is about training yourself to remain acutely aware at all times. If you lose that constant awareness while dreaming, you quickly lose lucidity and slip back into an unconscious dream state. Dreams are slippery things, and often it is difficult to maintain a firm hold on the lucidity you worked so hard to achieve. Sustaining your awareness is paramount.
The beautiful thing about working to develop your awareness for lucid dreaming is that the practice carries over to waking life. In order to recognize when you are dreaming, you must first train yourself to …Continue reading
Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has searched for meaning in the universe. In the hunt for ultimate truth, we have scoured both the universe without and the universe within, striving to locate the source of that unshakable feeling, that inner "knowing" that triggers us to believe there is something more to reality than meets the eye. Throughout the ages, the practice of magic and mysticism has offered individuals the ability to exercise a measure of control over their reality. Magic, in all its many guises, has allowed seekers to tap into higher levels of consciousness, to interact with and manipulate the forces and energies around them, and to cause changes in their reality.
Magic has acquired many definitions throughout the years. The notorious Aleister Crowley defined magic as "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will." Dion Fortune later defined it similarly as "the art of causing changes in consciousness at will," and Murry Hope expressed magic as being "concerned with the conversion of universal energies into practical energies that can be utilized according to the needs of the occasion." In my view, all of these definitions are lacking. They describe the pursuit of end results rather than the journey itself. They describe magic as an intermittent act rather than a continuous state of being.
Magic, like science, is about exploration and discovery. It is about finding the boundaries of reality and then finding ways to …Continue reading
