Traditional Dream Yoga and Meditation...

Beyond Dreaming
1

Hello all,

This is my first post here, so I hope I’m not being redundant. I tried to search a little, but I couldn’t find much…

I’m looking for some traditional literature with references to lucid dreaming type exercises. So far, I’m only aware of one book called ‘The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep’ that covers this topic. Is there anything else out there related to Taoism, Buddhist Yoga, Indian Yoga, or other shamanic practices that discusses lucid dreaming in a more traditional context? I’m interested in anything I can find whether it be instructional, historical, or simply explanatory…

I’m mainly looking for some direction. The past few years of lucid dreaming have brought me an incredible amount of enjoyment and fun, but now that I’m here I feel like there’s something more productive I could be doing with these abilities. I figure the traditionalists are a great place to start before I get lost and drown in a sea of new-age dabbling.

Thanks!

-jason

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I’ve put your post in the “Beyond Dreaming” forum, where it has more chances to be noticed by people interested in meditation.

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Hi Jasone.

Try this site -> swamij.com

Theres a lot of usefull info, but you should certainly check the part on yoga nidra, which deals with lucid sleep and consciousness during sleep / dreamstages in general.

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In Dzogchen school of Tibetan Buddhism, there are 3 Dream Yoga books:
-The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rimpoche (the one you have)
-Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural light by Namkhai Norbu
-Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying by the Dalai Lama

I haven’t read them. The third seems to be the content of a 1992 conference about lucid dreaming. I don’t think it’s about practises.

Did someone here read the two last books?

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I was thinking about buying the last one… But I’ve read the one from Namkhai Norbu. Very thin book, and it’s not really as practical as Wangyal’s delicious book, but more philosophical where the author describes how several profound mystical dream experiences were connected with his daily path. Also interesting is the interview done by Michael Katz, where Norbu shares his vision about the Western approaches towards dreaming.

There’s another book about dream yoga I’ve bought: Gyatrul Rinpoche - “Meditation, Transformation and Dream Yoga”. Haven’t read it so far, but I’ll let you know how it goes :smile:

There’s also an audio cassette available: Lama Surya Das - “Tibetan Dream Yoga: a complete system for becoming conscious in your dreams”, but if you read the comments on this one, it doesn’t seem to be as good as the title seems to suggest…