Tibetan Dream Yoga – The Royal Road to Enlightenment
Over the past three decades, in addition to Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, with whom I co-authored the book “Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light” many other important Tibetan Lamas have also published or taught on the subject of Dream Yoga. The advice of these teachers, some of whom have passed, as well as the profound dreams of other dharma students, have served as a rich mine of material for this new comprehensive book “Tibetan Dream Yoga- The Royal Road to Enlightenment”.
In the modern era Sigmund Freud observed that the most common dreams are typically the product of our anxieties and preoccupations. The prevalence of common dreams has spawned mechanistic type theories by contemporary scientists hypothesizing the inconsequentiality of all dreams.
In this book I have attempted to balance the slate by consolidating information as to the function and meaning of dreams, and the transcendent possibilities they represent. In contrast to the aforementioned quasi scientific theories, rich Dream Yoga traditions attribute mystical and trans-personal value to some classes of dreams. Tibetan Buddhist Dream Yoga masters, along with teachers from other traditional cultures, recognizes that, while it is true that many dreams are relatively inconsequential in regards to content, some dreams have great significance.
Tibetan Buddhists distinguish between ordinary dreams and “dreams of clarity,” which may also include waking-dream visionary experience. The lamaic/shamanic masters of Dream Yoga understood the important spiritual reasons for developing one’s capacity during sleep and dreaming. These capacities include visionary revelation, travel and contact with other dimensions, the advancement of culture and religion, the diagnosis of disease, assistance in healing and finally enlightenment. Dreams of clarity have been described by the Tibetan Buddhist masters of Dream Yoga as those dreams infused with greater awareness on the part of the dreamer.
Clarity type dreams, many of them characterized by lucidity, have fueled religious and cultural advancement, predicted the future, and led to spontaneous healing. Ancient peoples recognized that dreams often precipitated extraordinary creativity, or heralded great events.
In this book I include many extraordinary and inspiring examples of these clarity type dreams, both familiar and not, and the spiritual possibilities they represent. Additionally I have endeavored to present practical exercises drawn from dream yoga retreats, which will complement those of the original dream yoga book.