Comments on: Open Practice: Vipassana-Induced Lucid Dream (VILD)

By: sensit

sensit — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:23:25 +0000

Based on your post, it seems to me that you are pretty open for alternative explorations. Have a look at my review on Bonpo Dzogchen Teachings‎ by Lopon Tenzin Namdak

http://sensit.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/bonpo-dzogchen-teachings%e2%80%8e-by-lopon-tenzin-namdak/

By: unknown

unknown — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:08:05 +0000

yesterday i had the lucidity of a lucid dream while seemingly awake and without any kind of dream anyway other than trying to concentrate on what i understand ‘emptiness’ to mean. i’m trying to practice samatha at the moment but haven’t got a teacher yet so i thought that it might indicate some progress but probably not?

also i have had that lucidity while i seemed to be dreamlessly asleep but still hearing the music i had on on headphones. the more recent experience was more interesting though. this was before my meditating much at all though i had been to a couple of classes i don’t remember practicing what they taught, not to the degree that was asked at least.
i also have suffered from psychosis with grotesquely grandiose [quasi?] buddhist themes: when i was briefly an inpatient i even spent a lot of time thinking about those little lines you see in your vision in the sky which are seem like a bit of a theme in buddhist philosophy. i wonder if it’s all connected and who’s ever going to take me on to teach me with such a bizarre history? but i’m stuck because i have a serious sincere belief in not just in being able to alter your conscious states through buddhism [is this just scientific fact?] but in nirvana at death for all sentient beings. which isn’t really buddhist exactly which is just another problem is getting really started with things. oh well, any advice from anyone appreciated…

By: j greene

j greene — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:47:05 +0000

o ya, what peacemaker said. Take the traditionalists with a grain of salt. We are the astronauts. Every step is a bold new world.

By: j greene

j greene — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:45:37 +0000

Ya, vipassana==increased lucid dreaming. My experience is similar.

I do vipassana while sliding into sleep too (well, vipassana all the time ideally, but u get the idea) – good results.

Just today a guy suggested behaving really well while in dreamland. Exercising great control over self, controlling anger, being really self-sacrificing – u know, really saintly. Planning to give it a go.

By: Shinzen Young On Lucid Dreaming and The Five Ways < ~C4Chaos

Shinzen Young On Lucid Dreaming and The Five Ways < ~C4Chaos — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:01:04 +0000

[...] I’ve been applying Shinzen Young’s Five Ways approach to my meditation practice for almost a year now and all I can say is that I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of it. It had dramatically improved my sitting meditation, relieved my migraine headaches, made me consistent with my open practice, and most importantly, it gave me a general sense of happiness and contentment in life. In addition, by applying the Five Ways, I’m also able to induce lucid dreams more frequently. That’s why I have incorporated it in my regular practice. See Vipassana-Induced Lucid Dream (VILD). [...]

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:52:49 +0000

thanks, haquan.

i’ve tried WILDs (as taught by LaBerge) but i wasn’t particularly good at it. that said, the vipassana-induced lucid dream technique i described above is a variation of WILD since it’s also wake-induced.

Turing test on the dream people we encounter? i haven’t thought of that. good idea. i’ll try that next time i’m lucid enough in my dreams

let me know how VILD works for you.

By: haquan

haquan — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:13:15 +0000

Nice!

I’m going to try it. I’m very good at producing WILDs in conjunction with progressive muscular relaxation – have you tried that? Basically autohypnotic technique.

Obviously lucid dreaming could be an ideal platform for Tantra – meeting the 5 Buddhas, becoming the 5 Buddhas, actually walking around inside the Mandalas – the possibilities are endless!

Have you tried the Turing test on the dream people you encounter? Check it out!
D

By: Peacemaker

Peacemaker — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:52:02 +0000

It’s nice to see someone practicing in this way. I wouldn’t worry about traditionalists if I were you. Actually lucid dreaming is used as part of the path, not so much a side track- unless your doing it for the sake of dreaming only without combining it with Shunyata. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition there is a practice called “sleep yoga” (clear light sleep) and “dream yoga” working with dreams like you say. And Dzogchen or Mahamudra- (same Vipassana tecnique just different emphasis on “insight meditation”) use the mindfulness meditation also as a preparation or preliminary to dream yoga. The idea is that you meditate with a subtle level of mind in dream yoga so that you realize the nature of your mind more powerfully (quick path to liberation and enlightenment). You can try to induce a subtle level of mind before Vipassana/Mahamudra with highest yoga tantric tecniques such as Tummo meditation. But messing with your inner energy system is dangerous and not even necesary. Because there are traditions that really upon sleep and dream yoga- the moment when your energy system naturally goes more subtle without the risk of energy imbalance. Either way Vipassana is the foundation to everything and a very powerful practice. Just watching your own mind during daily meditation will give you the mindfullness to be able to recognize when your sleeping and to practice lucid dreaming tecniques.

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:27:41 +0000

Omnipleasant,

great to see you here thanks for your comment.

to answer your question: in my experience, when i start to fall asleep and drift into fantasies, then that’s the doorway in the the dream state. if i lose lucidity and plunge into the fantasy then it becomes a full blown dream. the trick, of course, is to maintain the awareness that i am dreaming without getting completely caught in the fantasy. it’s easier said than done. but with practice i get luckier and luckier

good luck with your practice. let me know how it goes.

By: Omnipleasant

Omnipleasant — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:10:19 +0000

I practiced lucid dreaming for years and had some minor success with it. This VILD method appeals to me, so i’ll try it out. I have a question though: when I fall asleep I notice my thoughts start to drift into fantasies. I find it hard to imagine it to be possible for me to fall asleep with vipassana awareness of the present moment. What are your experiences with this?