In these past few years I have come to the very strong realization that when we wake up and begin to interact in our dreams we are operating in a domain that is far deeper than just our own consciousness. I believe that there is much to learn in this domain.
As usual, I have been exploring how to actualize this realization by going in a few directions that may be a bit off the beaten path. I apologize, in advance, to any that might be put off a bit by my typical non-standard approach to these studies but I have always been considered to be a bit of a ronin even from the early years of my studies and training.
Anyway…here are three things that have been on my mind with regard to accessing and working in the dream state:
Body
I have realized that my dreams become more vivid when I have sufficiently relaxed my body before bed. This, of course, can be achieved through meditation but there are other somewhat less spiritual means as well. From a trikaya perspective it feels as though one is able to better free the Illusory Body (samboghakaya) when one somewhat sedates the physical body (nirmanakaya).
Bandwidth
I have also come to the realization that in our normal state of consciousness we only have limited mental bandwidth available to us. I agree with Donald Hoffman that evolution has brought us to a place where we only take in that which we need to survive out of a firehose of available data. When we begin to slip away from the physical plane of the body through meditative yogas we can also start to turn off a few systems which frees up a ton of bandwidth.
I think that in nocturnal meditation and certainly in the dream state we naturally gain access to greater bandwidth. Perhaps that is why our dreams can get so wild at times with the unimpaired flow of “psychic data”.
Dissociative Boundaries
The model of a living and universally conscious universe within which we are dissociated alters resonates very strongly with me. Within this model each of us maintains a dissociative boundary that gives us autonomy but across which we impinge upon each other’s space (for the most part unknowingly). In this way we are all connected and we all are an interactive part of a still maturing conscious universe.
I believe that when we wake up in the dream state we may be enhancing that naturally occurring interaction by softening those dissociative boundaries and making them more permeable. I also believe that we are doing that very same thing during the waking state through deep meditation. When we are able to take our bodies somewhat offline and increase our available bandwidth (and learn how to control that increased flow of psychic data) we find ourselves immersed in our shared universe at a very intrinsic level.
Here is a quote from Edward F. Kelly PhD :
“…the antecedently existing universal consciousness or universal self that is the source of the manifest universe is in some sense slowly waking up to itself as evolution of more complex biological forms enables fuller expression of its inherent capabilities.”
