If I want to meditate while I’m already in a lucid dream (as opposed to mediate while awake to incubate a lucid dream; or meditate to enter a lucid dream, such as WILD or Yoga Nidra), what kind of meditation am I supposed to do?
I’m expecting you guys to say “Whatever you like”, which is a fine answer. But I’m wondering if any of the main traditions, such as Tibetan Buddhism or the Tantric versions of yoga have any recommendations.
For example: which asana should the dream body be in? My real body would probably be in savasana for attempting yoga nidra or WILD, but once I’m in the dream state my dream body can be in a different posture (and possibly form, if I do a transformation). The obvious choices are savasana, vajrasana or one of the seated meditation postures such as half lotus, but maybe a standing pose would also work. And given that I’m in dream state and can transform, some poses that would be physically impossible in the waking world become possible … such as discarding the physical body entirely and becoming disembodied.
And then, what kind of mediatation? For example, I could focus on bodily awareness as one normally does in savasana after yoga practise … except of course here it will be the dream body that I’m focussing my awareness on. (This is how I sometimes do TF’s in lucid dreams … I ask myself, what kind of body do I inhabit right now?) Alternatively, I could bring to mind one of the visual patterns known as yantras (or even ask the unconscious/dream environment to show me a yantra); or recite a manta; or listen to the internal sounds that the mind makes; or concentrate on my breathing (might be a bit strange in a lucid, given my real breathing is no longer under conscious control and my dream body doesn’t need to breath; or I could dismiss the entire hallucinated dream environment and see the “void”; or any of a number of other things.
EDIT: Other possibilities that I left of the list are:
meditating on one of the chakras, e.g. the heart chakra. anahata. Some of the Tibetan Buddhist texts seems to suggest this one for use within lucid dream state
Dancing one of the shrine maidens’ dances (mikomai) from Shinto, or some similar form of ritual trance from one of the shamanic traditions.
The simple answer is that there are no limits, so essentially your question just boils down to what to try first…
So, depending on dream stability and your own level of dream control, the initial starting point could be to copy the meditation style you find most useful in waking life and attempt that in a lucid dream.
Personally, I have had success intentionally entering the void to meditate. Another thing I tried was attempting to cast off my physical body with the aim of… discovering more about past events. That… went a bit weird. Essentially, relinquishing control of the physical body to become a passive observer.
Regardless of what you decide, I’m sure the results will be interesting. Good luck.
Thanks obfusc8. I think that’s right … Some experiments could be done to see what works.
I found that meditation on anahata chakra was quite emotionally intense after a while.
Also, I am sometimes slightly hypoglycaemic (not severe enough to be a medical issue - i had it checked with a blood glucose meter a while ago). One of the things that becomes noticeable in this kind of meditation is whether my blood sugar is slighly low. (In much the same way that minor sprains, bruises, scratches etc. become noticeable in the meditation people usually do after hatha yoga practise). Blood glucose is officially manipura chakra, one step down from anahata, I think, but that’s probably close enough to fall within the scope of the ncreased awareness.
I have never succeeded to meditate in a LD yet. It is something I really hope to do someday. But my level of dream controI is not so good (still working on that )
I would like to try walking meditation or chanting.
I imagine the active aspect would help me keep the dream stable (the movement or sound serving as an ‘anchor’). I mean, I am afraid the more passive, internal, ‘empty’ kind of meditations could cause me to wake up.
Meditation while lucid is a very interesting subject indeed. I am very curious how your experiments turn out. It would be nice if you could share some experiences here.
It’d be interesting to try a mindfulness meditation where you’re mindful of the entire world as an extension of your mind. Coincidentally, I’ve resolved a while back to meditate in a lucid dream. I’ll get back to you all how that goes.
I used to be able to initiate out-of-body experiences through meditation, which I included in my dream journal here. In a lucid dream, once, I did the same. It worked, but not the way it usually did from my default state of mind, which was interesting to note.
I’m curious about the results of a non-dual meditation in a lucid dream! Can you reach a state of one-ness so all-encompassing that your dream body melts into the dream world, and dreams into waking?
I have just come across a more detailed description of meditation while lucid in the Buddhist tradition. This is from the Six Yogas of Naropa, translated by C. A. Muses in Esoteric Teachings of the Tibetan Tantra:
Recently I had an interesting experience with meditating in a non-lucid dream, which turned lucid: I have trouble falling asleep this night. Someone I know is in the same room, he is very restless, up and moving, not able to fall asleep either. I suggest he tries meditation to calm down, but he refuses. I go to another room, lie down and start to meditate myself Some time later I find myself bicycling on a long straight road. I recognize I am dreaming because I was ‘awake’ and meditating just now. (…)
In another non-lucid dream I come across a small meditation center: I think this is a beautiful opportunity to sit down and meditate. But I hesitate because I feel very restless. Then some people come in and invite me to sit down and just relax. A young man starts to recite a long and wonderful poem, it touches my heart, this is just what I needed (…)
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