Lucid Dreaming is an Ancient Practice

Introduction
Lucid dreaming was taken very seriously by some cultures during ancient times. For example, in the 8th Century, TheTibetan Book of the Dead described of a form of Yoga designed to become conscious while dreaming.

Yoga of the Dream State
“Milam,” the Yoga of the Dream State is one of many different types of Yogas practiced Tibetan Buddhists. The intention of this form of Yoga is to help to attain spiritual power and enlightenment or “awakening.” The word “Buddha” means “one who has awakened.”

The Yoga of the Dream State or Tibetan dream Yoga is a philosophical practice that includes lucid dreaming. Just like lucid dreaming in the Western world, the objective of Tibetan dream Yoga is to awaken the consciousness in the dream state, however Buddhist monks have a more secret and deeper knowledge of the power of dream consciousness that is possessed or understood only by a few.

The goal of the Yoga of the Dream State is to control the power of the lucid dream and then complete tasks to enter into a higher level of consciousness. These tasks include:

• Practice a spiritual discipline
• Receive initiations, empowerments and transmissions
• Visit different places, planes and worlds
• Communicate with an enlightened being
• Meet with other sentient beings
• Fly and shape-shift into other creatures

The Practice of Yoga of the Dream State
A common element in Eastern and Western lucid dreaming preparedness is to compare your dreams to waking reality and understand what it feels like to be conscious. This will increase your self awareness and you will find it easier to induce dream lucidity.

Another common element of ancient lucid dreaming and lucid dreaming today is dream recollection. As soon as you awaken, reflect on all the dreams you can remember. Remain stationary and meditate on you dreams. Physical movement disturbs the astral body and can cause you to forget your dreams.

In Tibetan Buddhism, it is believed that you travel during sleep, revisiting places you have been to in real life, and repeating all of your experiences.

Dreams are mirrors of our spirit. Our dreams are a reflection of ourselves. We meet ourselves in our dreams. They can help us to better understand ourselves and reality. Dreams can show us other dimensions, worlds, other lives and our afterlife.

In Tibetan dream Yoga, the spiritual practice goes deeper than that of Western lucid dreaming. It helps us to better understand life and death. Tibetan dream Yoga teaches us how to find our way through the seemingly meaninglessness state of our existence. When we reach this deep level of consciousness, we can “see” through the deceptive nature of our mind and correctly experience the spectacular human existence. You learn the true nature of reality.

During waking life, we are like sleepwalkers or dream characters, semiconsciously making our way through life in a chaotic fashion. We need to be awakened. Spiritual life is awakening from the dream of unreality. All of our spiritual practices are designed to awaken us from the daydream of illusion and uncertainty. Buddhists teach us to awaken to who and what we truly are. We can then recognize the difference between the real and the unreal in our daily life.

Tibetan Buddhism teaches how to reach lucidity and how to practice spiritually while sleeping. This is the core of Tibetan dream Yoga, and the center of all the practices associated with it.

Once you master the control of your lucid dreams, it is possible to dissociate your dream body from your physical body. During the normal dream state, dream­ing occurs within the body. As you become a master lucid dreamer, the dream body can separate and journey to other unimaginable places.

© 2009 Gary Gardner, All Rights Reserved