should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
alan...
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should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

i'm memorizing the satipatthana sutta and practicing it as well as learning jhana meditation. should i be learning lucid dreaming or is this a side track that will distract from my dhamma practice? i have some dhammic goals to practice in the dream world, but nonetheless, there is no such thing mentioned in the pali canon so i'm wondering if it's something i should be bothering with at all.
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Ben
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by Ben »

alan,

If you are practicing satipatthana then I reckon you have your work cut out for you. Keep in mind that Dhamma practice should be something that we can sustain day-in day-out for years and decades. Its a long-term project.
In time, you will naturally begin to develop greater awareness during sleep. That will happen as a natural bi-product of sustained effort on and off the cushion.
You may get to a point where you will be able to meditate while your body is resting in sleep mode.
Kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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alan...
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

Ben wrote:alan,

If you are practicing satipatthana then I reckon you have your work cut out for you. Keep in mind that Dhamma practice should be something that we can sustain day-in day-out for years and decades. Its a long-term project.
In time, you will naturally begin to develop greater awareness during sleep. That will happen as a natural bi-product of sustained effort on and off the cushion.
You may get to a point where you will be able to meditate while your body is resting in sleep mode.
Kind regards,

Ben
sweet! thanks ben!
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DNS
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by DNS »

Try to remember your dreams when you awake in the morning. We tend to have similar dream patterns, so that you might be more aware the next time you dream.

Do you dream in color? I find that asking this question while you dream helps a lot. If you start noticing that you are aware of the colors in your dreams, you become more aware while dreaming.

(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
alan...
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

David N. Snyder wrote:Try to remember your dreams when you awake in the morning. We tend to have similar dream patterns, so that you might be more aware the next time you dream.

Do you dream in color? I find that asking this question while you dream helps a lot. If you start noticing that you are aware of the colors in your dreams, you become more aware while dreaming.

(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
Do you have lucid dreams? Thanks and yes its from a beautiful picture series ill post a link.
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Ben
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by Ben »

David N. Snyder wrote:(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
I noticed it too. Unfortunately, his technique is all wrong and in the full-size picture you can see that there is something seriously wrong with his bow.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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DNS
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by DNS »

alan... wrote: Do you have lucid dreams?
Sometimes. I look for the colors while I am dreaming and then it is like, 'eureka' I am aware of dreaming; at least it works most of the time. Most of the time I don't dream or maybe I am dreaming, but don't remember them. :tongue:
Ben wrote:
David N. Snyder wrote:(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
I noticed it too. Unfortunately, his technique is all wrong and in the full-size picture you can see that there is something seriously wrong with his bow.
Now that you mention it, I see that too; it should have the string between the fingers.

Buddha was a leftie? Source? :tongue:
Digity
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by Digity »

I have lucid dreams. When I first got them they would be of an evil nature...I felt like a demon was in my presence. However, they've changed and now they're much more neutral. For instance, just a few days ago I had a lucid dream where I saw patterns. All my lucid dreams now seem to be just seeing patterns...not sure why. Anyway, last time it happened I actually became mindful of it and was able to briefly change the image of the pattern into an image of the Buddha meditating. I tend to get freaked out when I start having lucid dreams and try to quickly wake myself up...I just find them weird and they kind of creep me out. However, I'm trying to control them more. It might be useful for when we pass away and if we're presented with images, etc...like we're in bardo....and can be mindful maybe it'll ultimately help us proceed forward correctly in the afterlife.
alan...
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

David N. Snyder wrote:
alan... wrote: Do you have lucid dreams?
Sometimes. I look for the colors while I am dreaming and then it is like, 'eureka' I am aware of dreaming; at least it works most of the time. Most of the time I don't dream or maybe I am dreaming, but don't remember them. :tongue:
Ben wrote:
David N. Snyder wrote:(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
I noticed it too. Unfortunately, his technique is all wrong and in the full-size picture you can see that there is something seriously wrong with his bow.
Now that you mention it, I see that too; it should have the string between the fingers.

Buddha was a leftie? Source? :tongue:
what is wrong with his technique and bow?

EDIT: i suppose the bow is not being bent backward which makes no sense. but his technique of where he has the arrow and how his fingers are is not the way most do it but that's the way some people do it in certain countries and styles. Image
Last edited by alan... on Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
alan...
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

David N. Snyder wrote:
alan... wrote: Do you have lucid dreams?
Sometimes. I look for the colors while I am dreaming and then it is like, 'eureka' I am aware of dreaming; at least it works most of the time. Most of the time I don't dream or maybe I am dreaming, but don't remember them. :tongue:
Ben wrote:
David N. Snyder wrote:(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
I noticed it too. Unfortunately, his technique is all wrong and in the full-size picture you can see that there is something seriously wrong with his bow.
Now that you mention it, I see that too; it should have the string between the fingers.

Buddha was a leftie? Source? :tongue:
cool! there's a ton of techniques, it's great that you have a personal one as that is usually the best way to go.
tinhtan
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by tinhtan »

David N. Snyder wrote:
Ben wrote:
David N. Snyder wrote:(By the way, nice avatar. Is that Siddhatha displaying his archery skills?)
I noticed it too. Unfortunately, his technique is all wrong and in the full-size picture you can see that there is something seriously wrong with his bow.
Now that you mention it, I see that too; it should have the string between the fingers.

Buddha was a leftie? Source? :tongue:
and also the arrow head is not placed on the right side

maybe that's what the painter saw in the dream ? and in a dream everything may happens, what seems wrong when we are waken up, is not within the sublime material - the "one" can passed through the wall (dense material)...
alan...
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

tinhtan wrote: and also the arrow head is not placed on the right side

maybe that's what the painter saw in the dream ? and in a dream everything may happens, what seems wrong when we are waken up, is not within the sublime material - the "one" can passed through the wall (dense material)...
again, it depends on what school/country/style youre in, the arrow head can go on both sides depending on who is using the bow.
Last edited by alan... on Tue Dec 25, 2012 3:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by Cittasanto »

you know it also means resting?
it isn't necessarily meaning sleeping.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
alan...
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by alan... »

Cittasanto wrote:you know it also means resting?
it isn't necessarily meaning sleeping.
what means resting?
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Cittasanto
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Re: should i be practicing lucid dreaming?

Post by Cittasanto »

alan... wrote:
Cittasanto wrote:you know it also means resting?
it isn't necessarily meaning sleeping.
what means resting?
relax
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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