WHY LUCID DREAMING ? 
ARE THERE ADVANTAGES ?

 The Ancestors have instructed that I should only write or talk about my own experience. This time, however, I am going to deviate from this and fill in a few gaps in the dream paradigms described in the blogs both for you and myself. My approach to dreams revolves around how spirit guides script our dreams but  discussion of other methods would be incomplete without mention of lucid dreaming. 

The question is - can anyone lucid dream? In spite of attempts to do this and learn how, I admit to being mostly unsuccessful. The best I have done is to reenter a dream for a second time which is more or less a repeat of the first. This tells me that this dream is extremely important. I bought a piece of land in South Africa based on this type of a dream which was more of a command than a dream although I did see the land in the dream.  I had to take out a second mortgage on my house to acquire it. Crazy? - yes but the later result turned out to be a life saver so again this was maybe a scripted instruction rather than a lucid dream. 
My impression is that we each have our own specific and unique dream proclivity so that as with all other spiritual endeavors - the Ancestors teach; "you need to find the way (spiritual practice, destiny etc.) that was designed uniquely for you."

I believe this applies to dreams as well. 

Concerning lucid dreaming the Rinpoche counsels ...

                               

Lucid dreaming may not be for everyone including myself.

The key to lucid dreaming is an awareness that one is dreaming and this comes easily for some but not for others. Most lucid dreamers enjoy lucid dreaming as entertainment and enchantment (rather than for spiritual growth and transformation.) That being said I like the Native American wisdom that advises; 

"If you cannot grow corn with it what use is it?"

                                        

These general principles below gleaned from experts have helped me understand lucid dreaming even if I have not mastered it. For meaningful lucid dreaming it does not serve to become enamored with and distracted by Astral dreamscapes. One needs to impose free will in the dream and change it by will, intention and passion. 

 With the awareness and (thats the challenge) that one is in a dream the mind must overcome sensory samsara with intention. One should not direct the dream but follow it once intention has been made. This requires trust, surrender and letting go without trying to control - in other words a non directed intention.

Suggestions when lucid are much more powerful since you are closer to the Source and to one's guides who can help or direct you. In this way it may be similar in some ways to hypnosis. 

Lucid dreaming is also great practice for being in the intermediate stage of death in the Astral.  Ancient wisdom teaches that there is no difference between awake time and dream time - they just have differing forms and qualities. Both according to the Tibetans are Maya - illusion. The one is just as real or unreal as the other.

While dreaming we travel to the Astral realms and can get a glimpse of what this world looks like after death where we will eventually go to reconcile with our karma. We can encounter our guides in the early hours of the morning in R.E.M. sleep when the veil between the worlds is more permeable. Here we can also visit past lives and what the Buddhists call "Store Consciousness" and parallel universes which may help us correct past unskillful karmic patterns. We meet people we know in the dream but cannot recall knowing when we wake up. Lucid dreaming allows us to go more deeply into this potential.

It can also help us reprogram our subconscious. We usually act of the background of the subconscious and not what we would like to think we are acting on. One can heal and be healed in a lucid dream even more powerfully.

"As you think it so it can be, as you believe and imagine it so it will be. " Ancestors

There is another saying; "Imagine, believe, achieve!" 

This is much easier to do in lucid dream than in real time. It resembles being in the Astral after death where what you imagine occurs and we can create our own reality instantaneously. Will, faith and courage are essential for this.

One cannot control the dream only our awareness and intention. The nature of lucid dreaming is instability and illusiveness. It requires a lot of practice to lucid dream effectively.

Click to highlight and download and then play

_MP3s/10_The_Dream.mp3

YOGANANDA & DREAMS

Yogananda was not only an accomplished Yogi but was also adept at dream yoga. He stated that God dreamed the world into existence which is in keeping with the Ancestors' teaching that "to think like God is to think with imagination."

He noted that there were many reasons for dreaming besides instruction and prophesy:

 For fun and entertainment

 As a rehearsal for life and for dealing with unfinished business and dysfunctional karma

As a source of inspirational ideas (for instance the dream that lead to the invention of the sewing machine) 

For working through subconscious worries and fears 

He also confirmed that like awake time it was illusion or Maya and the two were no different.

Patanjali's Sheaths of Consciousness

 Patanjali's in describing his five energy sheaths stressed that most dreams arose from the subconscious and the Mind Sheath (monkey mind, narrow mind or ego) and connected one to the Astral or Imaginal realm which is also a template for the intermediate stage of death or what the Tibetans call the Bardot. We connect with this vibration in the R.E.M. (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep in the early hours of the morning. This is also the time when the veil between worlds is most permeable and we can connect with our spirit guides for guidance and empowerment. Sangomas know this since this is the time to drum and dance so the ancestors can come through with messages. 

Yogananda did not enjoy being in the Astral realm during sleep because of its low vibration. The Intellectual Sheath of Patanjali is also referred to as the Causal and this is where Yogananda chose to be. 

He defined different states of consciousness as follows:
The Conscious state
The Subconscious
The Superconscious ( Patanjali's Cataleptic Consciousness) 
Semi-superconsciousness of the dream state in the Causal
...

 Our normal conscious waking state

 The subconscious which contains all memory which manifests especially in dreams

Superconsciousness. When superconscious in meditation yogis  actively tap into the higher vibration and awareness of the Causal (or Intellectual Sheath) in a delta state when the subconscious and ego are on hold. 

Patanjali stated that Cataleptic consciousness was also facilitated by Pranayama - the science and meditation of breath. 

Yogananda claimed that he was also able to enter this deep delta Causal state of "Turiya" during sleep. This joyous state of sleep he called Semi-superconsciousness and was where he preferred to be rather than in the Astral. This state occurs in the early phase of sleep and for most of us is dreamless. Yogananda was able to visit other worlds or parallel universes or "Locas" in this state and connect with gurus and teachings. Kabbalists and accomplished dreamers are able to do something similar. One can be "awake" or lucid in this sophisticated form of dreaming, in other words, know one is dreaming. 

Ancient wisdom teaches that dreams can be a rehearsal for death by paying attention to what it is like to be in the Astral where many of us go in R.E.M. sleep. 

Spiritual masters, moreover, are able to change their vibration during deep meditation or sleep and access the Causal in Semi-superconsciousness. 

A prelude to this is the ability to lucid dream. However, most lucid dreamers use this state for entertainment and enjoyment since whatever they imagine will materialize (as is true for the Astral intermediate stage of death.) Those fortunate enough to be lucid can experience directly what this particular phase of death is like. Presumably if they were able to raise their spiritual vibration and have the right intention they might be able to attain Yogananda's Semi-superconscious state of being in the Causal while asleep. Since I cannot do this myself I cannot speak from experience although every now and again I am in a peaceful realm which makes absolutely no sense when I awake but makes perfect sense when I am asleep.

Click to highlight then download and play

_He_Came_in_a_Dream.mp3

The next few blogs will be on dreams. 

The upcoming talk in July deals with how ancestors script our dreams but I thought I would add to the subject more generally in the next blogs. 

There are several dream paradigms besides the most popular psychological approach which relates to how our subconscious shapes our dream time.

Less well known is how we are informed by our guides while we sleep. This more Shamanic form of dreaming occurs when spirit guides reach and teach us usually from the Astral realm. The Astral is a vibration where we reconcile with our karma and reincarnate to perfect the soul. We lose free will in the Astral but can assist others on this or the other side of the veil between worlds especially in dreams. This is the subject of July's talk.

 Jungian dream analysis is more Shamanic in nature and acknowledges the importance of a source outside of the subconscious that he called the archetypal world or the collective unconscious. This is more akin the shaping of dreams by spirit forces. 

Yogic dream interpretation involves a more sophisticated accessing of the higher Causal realms we will deal with in a later blog. The Causal is the realm of self-realized enlightened beings who retain free will, can operate freely, and do not have to reincarnate. Highly accomplished yogis can access the teachings, and doctrines of their gurus and even download music from the "spheres" or what the Druids and Celts called the Oran Mor (see below.) Yoga dreaming also included shape shifting and the visiting of other locas in the dream world. Yogananda called this the semi-superconscious state and Patanjali, Cataleptic consciousness.

Kabbalists also connected with their teachers on the other side to obtain information. There is a story of a Kabbalist who was in a Yeshiva for many years. When he emerged to reconnect with old friends many years later and they asked him what he had learned in this school of higher learning. He answered; "I learned how to sleep." 

The Tibetans look at the dream time as a rehearsal for the Astral or what the Tibetans called the Bardot or the intermediate stage of death where we go before reincarnating. By paying attention to our dreams, learning to navigate them and especially being lucid one would more easily be able negotiate the Bardot and have less chance of getting lost or becoming earth bound. Here they can visit past lives, since the Astral is timeless, access prior karma or store consciousness and correct old unskillful behavior. These mystics seek to pierce the veil of Maya or illusion to glimpse transcendent truth and awaken out of the illusion of life's dream which is no different to the dream of sleep. Hence the Ancestors teach...

and..,

One of the features especially of Causal and even Astral dreaming is the power of prophecy. Prophecy is limited by free will and the number of variables involved. Hence it is difficult to obtain prophecy on complicated global events because of the huge number of variables each of which is governed by free will. Our guides in the Astral may be able to help us with the more immediate future because they are not localized in space and time and have access to our life book or Akashic records and know what our destiny is. The future too far ahead also has too many variables for accurate prophesy. This lower Astral order of prophesy has usually to do with keeping us out of trouble and warning us in our dreams though we can still ask specifically (because of free will) in the form of "how does it look for...?" this or that.

The Zohar

The Ancestors add...

Deep or dreamless sleep or the yoga Turiya occurs when we first fall asleep. Dreams occur during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in the early hours of the morning when the veil between worlds is more permeable and our Astral guides can contact us. Click to highlight then download and play

_-_MP3s/08_Save_Your_Morning_Prayer.mp3

"Oran Mor; the Melody did not stop. It continued its song, filling all of Creation with its divine harmony. And so it continues today, for all those who listen. 

The primordial myth of Creation, common to all people, tells of a mighty melody – the very breath of the primordial God – that sang Creation into existence. To the Celts it was known as the Oran Mór, "The Great Melody", a melody that did not cease with the initial creation, but goes on and on and on, inspiring Creation along its holy pilgrimage of giving and receiving blessing." 

GREETINGS

Just got back from a week or R and R with an old friend that I grew up with and so hence no formal blog this week.

In view of the upcoming talk on Death May 20th (see events schedule) I thought I would include a few sayings to ponder over with a song or two.

All good things for the coming week.

The song speaks to the possibility that we all have of going to the Causal realm of the more enlightened and not having to reincarnate anymore to perfect the soul (addressed in the talk.)

Click to highlight, then download and play

-_MP3s/11_Golden_Chariot.mp3

And this one incentivizing the possibility 

-_MP3s/02_Dont_Let_Me_Take_This_Trip_Again.mp3

TREATMENT OF SPIRITUAL CRISIS

I will be away next week and there will be no blog 

In indigenous societies life was simple. There were (and still are) four basic archetypes; Healer, Teacher, Warrior and Visionary.  Healing always occurred in the context of the community. 

Today, however, each one of the archetypes can take on many manifestations; the warrior rather than being a soldier could be the C.E.O of a company, the visionary a shaman, spiritual leader, musician, artist, movie maker, the healer a massage therapist or nurse, the teacher working in I.T. The primary gift of the spiritual crisis is to help one who is lost find their God given unique archetype or destiny. The process though sometimes catastrophic can prove to be transformational if channelled in the right way.

The Treatment will depend on the cause although the general measures are usually applicable to all. The transformation has the potential to turn out LIGHT or DARK depending on many variables and especially on how the crisis is supported, accepted and not judged or discriminated against. 

In my limited experience the two primary mechanisms seem to be:

 1. Kundalini by opening up the Sixth chakra or Third Eye can allow access to the Cosmic Field. The Field can be divided into Knowable and Unknowable aspects - mostly it is an Unknowable mystery but the spirit world is real and can comprise many forms of spirit entities; human, non human, cosmic, terrestrial (tree or plant) water, mythological, light or dark. 

The psychotic personality may be overwhelmed by the presence of these intrusions as we would all, if the Veil was totally permeable. 

2. Dissociation due to severe trauma which often involves soul sickness or soul loss can facilitate Field access in a functional or dysfunctional way.

There is often a protective amnesia of the horrendous event that needs to be brought forward with forgiveness and even gratitude. This may require shamanic or other assistance. 

 Drugs and entheogens (mind altering plants used in sacred ceremony) can also allow the veil to open.

Entheogens used in sacred ceremony usually have more to do with the Kundalini mechanism. Drug and alcohol abuse more to do with soul sickness/loss.



Part of the healing process involves forgiveness for the trauma that caused the dissociation as well as forgiveness of self.

Buddhists and Yogis that are expert in channelling a Kundalini crisis may be difficult to find in the West. However, when there are no such resources there may be sangas, ashrams or similar spiritual retreats where the sufferer can find support and a sense of community.

In indigenous societies the energies would most likely be channeled into initiating the person to become a shaman even if they were schizophrenic, bipolar or other. These psychoses have the advantage of enabling the potential shaman to easily access the spirit world and cosmic Field. The initiate would be trained to facilitate the positive and exclude the negative energies. 

In a Western society, however, they would be given medication - often appropriately but many times not which would suppress any transformation. In the movie "A Beautiful Mind" John Nash a genius mathematician and paranoid schizophrenic  eventually figures out how to do this and manage his life and destiny effectively in spite of the visions and voices in his head.

Not everyone who undergoes sangoma initiation in South Africa becomes a healer. Sometimes for those in a desperate crisis the initiation becomes a way of channelling the energies in the right way. The person may become a musician or an artist. A C.E.O. of a company may go back to being a C.E.O. but in a different way. A psychotherapist may go back to his/her profession but now with some shamanic skills. Its all about integration. 

Spiritual intrusions are best managed shamanically. Spirit possession is extremely difficult to treat but some specialists in the Catholic church and a few powerful shamans are able to exorcise these malicious intrusions. Sadly the prognosis for this is often poor. 

Patients with a history of severe abuse or trauma would need careful treatment by a myriad of alternative effective methods currently available. Eventually once stabilized they could also become channels, psychics or healers because of their unique abilities.

Grounding methods are essential initially and include; discontinuing spiritual practice and substituting exercise, jogging or working out. Eating meat and somatic therapy are helpful in bringing the spirit back into the body (in SouthAfrica this is often done for a shaman in trance to facilitate their return to the body.) Mindfulness meditation under supervision can be helpful and music soothing.

The therapist trained in this type of work would allow full expression of the experience which will reduce the possibility that it will surface later in a dysfunctional way. There should be no judgment surrounding the manifestations and if at all possible the process should not be suppressed by medications. When the catharsis is very intense it should be expressed with the therapist's help. 

There are instances where the process is so severe that it cannot be handled on an out-patient basis. There are few facilities offering supervision twenty-four hours a day without the use of  suppressive medications. 
Trained assistants who take shifts in the client's home for the duration of the episode can help or even supportive family members or friends. Sometimes the crisis may demand extraordinary measures. Episodes can last days or weeks and may be associated with a lot of physical activity, intense emotions, loss of appetite, and insomnia. There is a danger of dehydration, malnutrition and exhaustion all of which can aggravate the problem.

 Sadly facilities for treating these sufferers are lacking in our society. However, with support, acceptance and unconditional positive regard or love where the concept of "normalcy" is viewed in a different way there can be remarkable healing and positive transformation. U.S.A. is also a mnemonic for universal self acceptance.

Click to highlight the link, download and play

MP3s/05_Oi_Voi_Vei.mp3


-_MP3s/13_Ai_Yai.mp3

Spiritual Crisis

Healing songs from the Spirit World for those in need of Equanimity and current blog appropriate

Click to highlight and then download and play

Hishtauut.mp3

_MP3s/13_Ai_Yai.mp3

-_MP3s/01_Isles_of_Gonne.mp3

 07_Lets_Be_Saved.mp3

-_MP3s/02_Do_Not_Let_Me_Fear.mp3


_-_MP3s/05_Equanimity.mp3


-_MP3s/04_Love.mp3

-_MP3s/05_Oi_Voi_Vei.mp3

 THE MANIFESTATIONS AND CAUSES OF SPIRITUAL CRISIS

(Just a reminder for those interested in the subject there is an excellent movie called Crazywise showing at 7pm, 24th of April at Montecito Hall. See flyer below.)

Last week's blog was on the various manifestations of Kundalini rising. Its important to know that one does not want to have a full blown Kundalini experience which can be devastating. A spiritual crisis can occur from overzealous involvement in various forms of spiritual practice which open up access to the "Field." A Vegan or vegetarian diet can facilitate the predicament. The idea is to slowly raise the Kundalini up the hierarchy of chakras and gently energize and balance them as well as their energy channels. A life long, dedicated spiritual practice is essential for this. For practitioners of Kundalini yoga this is the intention although many would prefer their practice to be more dramatic.  Fortunately most of the time it is not. It is often in those who are spiritual neophytes that this serpent power can run rampant. In the last blog we discussed mostly the more positive, transformational aspects of Kundalini awakening like those described by yogis and shamans. 
This week's blog is on the more adverse presentations that occur with no apparent Kundalini phenomena although the mechanism may still be important. 
Involvement in shamanic rituals especially those involving entheogens or mind altering plants may also be responsible, as may substance abuse.
Clearly there will be many patients who have a crisis because they do have a psychosis and need treatment. They will require psychiatric care and medication.

DISSOCIATION   

It is important to know that the Kundalini does not always appear to operate in case of spiritual emergency or crisis. Sometimes Dissociation can be the mechanism. The human condition  may demand that for survival we dissociate from what is happening around us when it is extremely traumatic. 
Soldiers in dire situations sometimes Dissociate and carry out extreme acts of bravery almost without knowing it - in a sense they are no longer "there" but somewhere else. This is often well portrayed by Hollywood war movies when the disastrous situation becomes quite surreal and the director actually captures the mood of Dissociation on film. The same mechanism can occur in children who have suffered sexual, physical or even severe verbal abuse. It also occurs in those involved in horrendous Satanic cults.
Any severe traumatic situation which is unbearable can precipitate this survival mechanism. The Flight or Fight reaction also includes Freezing and Feigning Death - possible Dissociation should be added to these four. Just as Kundalini is a catalyst for crossing the veil between worlds and entering a "non local Field" of possibilities, Dissociation can do the same thing. This is why those who have been through extremes of trauma also have the ability to access the Field and have paranormal or psychic experiences and gifts.         

Any of the factors in the figure below can cause Dissociation (as well as soul sickness and even soul loss.) Under these circumstances the victim may also begin to access the spirit world. S/he then may begin to get downloads from the Field which,  somewhat like the internet, is open to both light and dark forces. It is hard to predict who will get what and from which source. 

The person's weakest energy system or chakra will usually be the most vulnerable to these energetic or vibrational effects - good or bad.  Even if there is no malevolent intent the effects can still be very disturbing.

Dissociation can be a gift if it can be channeled into receiving non local information from the positive rather than the negative side of the Field. Hence the person may be labelled schizophrenic, bipolar, psychotic etc, or a gifted channel or talented psychic. Indigenous societies are adept in channelling the right energies in the best directions shamanically and preventing negative entities from intruding. In contrast our medical paradigm serves to suppress the dynamic with pharmaceuticals and inhibit spiritual transformation and growth.

Rumi said; 

"Out there beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a Field. I will meet you there." 

The Field like the internet is value neutral. Would that the sufferer meets Rumi out there rather than Lucifer.

Causes of Dissociation

MANIFESTATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Having a spiritual crisis is a little like getting a complex disease with many possible manifestations. There are conditions like toxic mold, Lyme disease and others that are very confusing to the medical profession because the symptoms do not fit neatly into any specific category. Many systems in the body are attacked and this can be confusing. Often the weakest system is the most vulnerable. Unless one thinks of it one will miss the diagnosis. The same is true for Spiritual Crisis. Eventually spiritual "dis"-ease can lead to organic disease but initially there are no organic problems.
The Southern African indigenous healer (Sangoma or Nyanga) is fortunate in being able to diagnose a spiritual illness either with divination ("The Bones",) trance possession or even following a dream. Frequently sufferers in Southern Africa with a spiritual disease are evaluated by the medical profession only to be told that they have nothing wrong with them - that they are confabulating or are crazy. On going to see a sangoma they will be correctly diagnosed and treated effectively spiritually rather than with anti-psychotic drugs. This is frequently relevant to a shamanic calling, the Wounded Healer archetype and what is called in South Africa "The Ancestor Sickness." The client or "patient" then may have to undergo a rigorous initiation called "Thwasa" before becoming a Sangoma.

 These sufferers may also be having one or more of the following;

Dreams of rivers. lakes, ocean and water.
Psychic dreams.
Psychic and paranormal revelations - just knowing things that cannot usually be known.
Buzzing in the ears (tinnitus.)
In indigenous societies a "stroke," paralysis.
Migraine/headaches, neck pain and other somatic manifestations.
Dreams of dismemberment, being torn apart by wild animals, traveling into the underworld or mythical realms.

On the other hand spiritual counsellors in the West may want to know - have there been?

Episodes of unitive consciousness or "Oneness Experiences" (Maslow's "Peak Experiences".)
Vibrational energy moving through the body and especially up the spine, tingling, burning or heat sensations.
A crisis of psychic opening with paranormal downloads,  past-life experiences or de ja vu.
Communications with spirit guides and "channeling" or the more devastating possession states - light or dark.
Near-death types of experiences (NDEs.)
Visitations, hallucinations, visions, hearing voices and are these useful or chaotic.
And even close encounters with UFOs and alien abduction experiences.