The Path of a Dream - (Final Paper/Blog Post)
Tashi deleg my dear friend! I come bearing news! My teacher here at the nunnery has started to introduce a new technique to my sisters and I today in class, called dream yoga. I have heard about dream yoga before but have never learnt about it in an academic sense. Today was just an overview of the system and the rituals associated with it. The majority of Tibetan Buddhists believe that it is possible to maintain the functional equivalence of full waking consciousness while asleep. I remember growing up in our beautiful village and having older friends talk about their dreams and trying to control them. Today in our lesson, we went over the Buddhist understanding of the self. Although this is learned repetitively at a young age as it is crucial to have the knowledge of it to grasp the understanding of dream yoga and the doctrine of dreams.
In Buddhist thought there is no concept of self, there is no abiding entity that defines who we are. There are parts that constitute the individual being, called the five skandhas (aggregates) which are used to exhibit that there is no inherited existence.
They are rupa (body), vedana (sensation), ssamjna (perception), samskara (karmic predisposition), and vijnana (consciousness). There is also the concept of an ultimate reality versus a conditional reality that is put into perspective. The self and the world occupies only a conditional reality; their being is conditioned by other factors, all of which themselves are also conditioned.
Currently, we all act “as if” the world is real, but as a Buddhist it is known that ultimately everything is empty of enduring reality. There are also other senses of self that is recognized by all Tibetan Buddhists; we all accept the idea that we had past lives and will have future lives, all of which influence the current life we are living. We also include family and friends as an essential part of oneself and include relationships with spiritual and natural beings when characterizing the sense of the self. Once these foundational concepts are rooted in the mind, then one can being on the path of dream yoga.
I have always had dreams which I remembered. My grandmother used to tell me that dreams were just as real as being awake, and when I was young, I never understood what she meant until I began my academic lessons at the nunnery. Dreaming in Buddhism is a shared experience, with many signs and symbols represented in them. The boundaries between dreams and reality are all permeable and an understanding of the Buddhist conception of an unbounded cognitive universe is essential to practicing and understanding dream practice. Dreams are “seen” and not “had”, meaning dreams are not experiences of pure unobscured consciousness.
In class today, we began with learning about the source of the doctrine of dreams, which comes from the Six Doctrines or Yogas of Naropa. Naropa was an Indian Buddhist teacher, who was a disciple of Tilopa. The Six Yoga teachings have dated back to Marpa, who received them from his teacher Naropa.
The six yogas are; the doctrine of the psychic heat, the doctrine of the illusory body, the doctrine of the dream state, the doctrine of the clear light, the doctrine of the after-death state, and the doctrine of consciousness transference.
The entire objective of dream yoga is to show that all sensory experiences and states are equally illusionary, both the waking and dreaming states that is, and both are ultimately unreal.
My teacher explained to us that being able to manipulate the dream state gives us great potential for understanding and spiritual progress, and eventually become fully aware or enlightened, just like the Buddha. This is the ultimate goal of dream yoga. This ability of manipulating dreams, comes through lucid dreaming. A technique where one develops the conscious ability to shape what occurs in a dream and control the outcomes.
The class ended with my teacher going over the different types of dreams. There is nothing concrete about dreams, they are just a part of the essential nature of our unreal condition. There are three types of dreams, all of which form the progression in dream practice. First there is samsaric dreams. These are dreams that most of us have the majority of the time.
The meaning found in these dreams are the meaning that the dreamer inputs into them, what they project. Also samsaric dreams are subject to interpretation. These type of dreams are related to the three states of existence; the body, speech, and mind of the individual.
The second type of dreams are dreams of clarity. These dreams come more frequently with progress in dream yoga and and here dreams become more clearer and detailed, with more of the dream being remembered.
The dreamer in this case has to be stable, and have a concrete foundation of dream yoga before dreams of clarity being to arise regularly. The last type of dreams are clear light dreams, and they occur when the practitioner is far along the path. These types of dreams only result when the practitioner is very stable in their dream practice and have non-dual awareness.
A clear light dream indicates a state free from dream, thought, and image but at the same time, the dreamer remains in the nature of mind. My teacher made a point of mentioning that clear light dreams differ from dreams of clarity because they are not dualistic. Dreams of clarity takes place in dualist, while clear light dreams produce a non-dual experience, meaning they are greater than conventional reality.
We were about to go on to the next thing when we ran out of time and had to go to lunch. My teacher made a quick mention to karma’s influence over dreams and said how we briefly learnt about this earlier in the year. The lesson today grabbed my attention and I was eager to learn more, so quickly after lunch before my chores began I grabbed all my class notes and headed to the library. Reviewing my notes, I found all the information on karma we learned earlier.
Karma means action, and karmic traces are the results of actions. These karmic traces remain in the mental consciousness and influence our future.
Karma can be described as a law of cause and effect, with any action and reaction having a future consequence and leaving a trace in the mind. These traces then go on to sow a further seed in this ongoing cycle. There are two types of karma; negative and positive. Negative karma formulates when we react with negative emotion, and the trace left behind is negative. Positive karma occurs when we take a moment to stop the negative emotion and decided to produce an antidote to it. This new response is still based on desire, but deposits a positive trace.
When these traces are left, it is logical that the dreams with a corresponding theme arise more frequently.
The ideal response to a negative emotion is to allow it to self-liberate by remaining in non-dual awareness. If we are able to achieve this, then the emotion passes through us and does not leave a remaining trace. It is better to liberate emotion rather than react positively to it because a positive reaction still posits a trace, which acts to restrain us. But this task is difficult to do.
In terms of karma and dreams, the karmic traces manifest the consciousness which illuminates the obscuration caused by these traces, which show up in the form of a dream. Once this understanding of karma and its traces is accepted, it can be used to train the mind to react differently to experience, resulting in new karmic traces that may aid in dream practice. Dream yoga can also give a method of burning future seeds of karma during the dream, bringing the practitioner closer to enlightenment. Once these karmic traces are completely exhausted and run out, all that is left is the pure light of awareness, meaning one has awakened.
The practice of Dream Yoga has gotten me so intrigued, that I decided to stay in the library as long as possible to research what it is about. The doctrine of dream state practice has four main parts. First is comprehending the nature of the dream state. Second is transmuting the dream context. Third is realizing the dream-state or dream context to be Maya. The last stage of dream yoga is meditating on “thatness” of the dream state.
Dream yoga also utilizes all three states of existence in a progression fashion. Once the practitioner gains awareness in one state, it becomes more accessible to attain in the next state. The first realm is that of the immediate moment. By reminding oneself that everything experienced is just as unreal as a dream, it creates an awareness for the non-dual ultimate reality. The next state to master is the dream state, by being able to control and manipulate the outcomes and have awareness we are ready to progress to the next stage. The last progression is develop awareness in the bardo realm. This is the intermediate states after death which is just as real or unreal as both waking and sleeping. This state can also be transformed into enlightenment and with control in this domain it is possible to cultivate power over a future rebirth. This is what make awareness itself more valuable than even the experience or context of dreams, for its potential in governing a rebirth towards enlightenment.
The first practice in dream yoga is a calm abiding practice also called zhine. This is performed before falling asleep and the goal is to train the mind to be still, focused, and alert. Zhine begins with a mental fixation on a object, and when concentration is developed to be strong enough, it transitions to fixation without an object. Generally, the object of concentration is the Tibetan letter “A” with the reasoning for being that it is just a support to develop focus.
Zhine can be broken down into three parts. Beginning with forceful zhine where it is hard to concentrate and has to be forced, to natural zhine when one masters fixation with an object and starts to make the transition towards concentration without an object. Lastly there is ultimate zhine, this being when the practitioner has a mind that is tranquil but also light, relaxed, and pliable. Here the natural state of mind in introduces and the transition towards pure, non-dual awareness begins.
There are also many obstacles that one has to overcome such as, agitation, drowsiness, laxity, self-distraction, and forgetting but once these are defeated, the benefits of dream practice will being to appear.
Upon further research I learned that there are four fundamental preparations or practices to accomplish before performing the main rituals of dream yoga. First is to change the karmic traces. This is cultivated during the day by being in the moment and practicing dream-like nature during waking hours until this begins to manifest in dreams. Second is removing grasping and aversion. This is done by engaging after a reaction has arisen and directing lucid awareness to the emotions that arise from an event and work on changing the response. Next is strengthening intention. This involves reviewing the day before going to sleep and creating the intention to practice dream yoga during the night. Lastly is cultivating memory and joyful effort. This is performed in the morning and involves reviewing the night and remembering dreams.
These steps need to be performed consistently in order to view progress in dream practice. The practitioner can also prepare for the night through deep breathing and various meditations and visualizations to ensure an optimal practice space.
The main practice of dream yoga needs to be carried out in the following sequence. It begins with bringing the awareness into the central channel of the body. This is done through putting the body into the lions position and visualizing a red lotus in the throat charka.
Later in the night, usually around midnight or after two hours of sleep the next stage involves increasing clarity. The practitioner performs a breathing exercise and visualizes a centre of clarity; a white ball behind the eyebrow charka. Another two hours after this the practitioner switches sleeping position, focuses on heat charka and brings the full awareness to breathing. The purpose of this stage is to develop power. The last step in the dream practice is to develop fearlessness. The yogi makes themselves comfortable and focuses on the “secret charka” and the aim here is to develop awareness throughout the night.
There are many important aspects to the rituals performed during dream yoga but the most valuable are body position, focusing the mind, and the sequence. These all aid the flow of energy throughout the physical and subtle body.
The rituals of dream yoga help develop the capacity that we all have for lucidity in dreams. Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer develops the awareness during the dream they are having, and can manipulate the experience in the dream and the outcomes. There are different levels of lucid dreaming but the practitioner wants to evolve the flexibility of the mind. First, recognizing the dream-state is important, but then the individual wants to challenge and transform it. There are different aspects to manipulate within the dream to advance lucidity. They are; size, quantity, quality, speed, accomplishment, transformation, emanation, journey, seeing, encountering, and experience.
By being able to manipulate these if various dream situation, one is considered ludic and has this awareness that can lead to enlightenment.
Lucid dreaming itself is not the goal of dream practice, but is a very important development along the path of this practice. The final goal of dream yoga is that of being awaken, liberated, or enlightened. Dream yoga is apart of a larger spiritual path and its results should affect all domains of life by altering the practitioners identity and by integrating the dream practice with the life of the practitioner.
The objective of dream yoga is to become prepared for death and bardo, which in integrated with clear light and full awareness.
After running out of time researching at the library, I rushed to do my afternoon chores. The whole time I could not take my mind off of dream yoga. I have this feeling deep inside that is telling me that this is the right path for me to take to reach enlightenment. I must go back and speak to my teacher about beginning this process on dream practice immediately. Well my dear friend, our journey so far has been a very exciting one. I read in my research that there are dream yoga retreats where the practitioner goes into isolation, and I hope to fully devote myself to this, starting immediately. If this is the case, we might not be able to speak for while, but I’m sure we will meet again. Ghaley shu, my friend.
Notes
1 Serinity Young, “Dream Practice in Medieval Tibet”, in Dreaming ed Deirdie Barrett, (Vol. 9, No. 1, 1999), 27.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid, 28.
4 George Gillespie, “Dreams and Dreamless Sleep” in Dreaming ed Deirdie Barrett, (Vol. 12, No. 4, 2002), 200.
5 Stephen LaBege, “Lucid Dreaming and the Yoga of the Dream State: A Psychophysiological Perspective” in Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground ed B. Alan Wallace, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), 235.
6 W.Y. Evan-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrine of Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Oth, Accoding to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup’s English Rendering, (London: Oxford Universit Press, 1958),164.
7 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep ed Mark Dahlby, (Delhi: Motil Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 2004), 61.
8 Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light page 37
9 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep ed Mark Dahlby, (Delhi: Motil Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 2004), 62.
10 Ibid, 63.
11 Ibid, 27.
12 Ibid, 30.
13 Namkhai Norbu, Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light ed Michael Katz, (Ithaca, New York: Snow Lions Publication, 1992), 39.
14 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep ed Mark Dahlby, (Delhi: Motil Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 2004), 33.
15 Stephen LaBege, “Lucid Dreaming and the Yoga of the Dream State: A Psychophysiological Perspective” in Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground ed B. Alan Wallace, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003),236.
16 Namkhai Norbu, Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light ed Michael Katz, (Ithaca, New York: Snow Lions Publication, 1992), 29.
17 Ibid, 51.
18 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep ed Mark Dahlby, (Delhi: Motil Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 2004), 88.
19 Ibid, 95.
20 Ibid, 104.
21 Ibid, 110.
22 Ibid, 121.
23 Ibid, 139.
Works Cited
Evans-Wentz, W.Y. Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines or Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup’s English Rendering. London: Oxford University Press, 1958.
Gillespie, George. “Dreams and Dreamless Sleep” in Dreaming, Edited by Deirdie Barrett. Vol. 12, No. 4, 2002.
LaBerge, Stephen. “Lucid Dreaming and the Yoga of the Dream State: A Psychophysicological Perspective” in Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground, Edited by B. Alan Wallace, 233–258. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
Norbu, Namkhai. Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light, Edited by Michael Katz. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lions Publications, 1992.
Rinpoche, Tanzin Wangyal. The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and SLeep, Edited by Mark Dahlby. Delhi: Motil Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 2004.
Young, Serinity. “Dream Practices in Medieval Tibet” in Dreaming, Edited by Deirdie Barrett. Vol. 9, No. 1, 1999.
