Dream incubation misfire?

Had an interesting experience last night. I’ve been trying to incubate a dream about practicing the shakuhachi. I’ve just recently gotten into lucid dreaming again as you may know and haven’t had a lucid dream yet, or any success with dream incubation. But last night my shakuhachi did show up in a dream. Not as an instrument though, but as a weapon (had a nightmare about a home invasion).

Thought this was interesting and was wondering if anyone else had similar “misfires” on dream incubations.

For those who are unfamiliar with the shakuhachi, it’s a bamboo flute from Japan traditionally used by the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism as a dharmic instrument. Members of the Fuke sect, or komuso (those people who wear baskets over their heads and play the shakuhachi) use the instrument to meditate and try to “realize the Buddha in one single note”, ichi on jobutsu. After the Tokugawa shogunate took over a lot of masterless samurai joined the Fuke sect and it became famous for being the home of very rough and uncultured monks who would often use the shakuhachi as a replacement weapon for the swords that were taken away from them (this trope often shows up in Japanese samurai movies). That might be where the idea to use my shakuhachi as a weapon came to me for this dream.

Here’s a picture. They do make sturdy makeshift weapons :sweat_smile:.

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Yes, absolutely. Have had many failures as well. But had enough successes and ‘misfires’ to know that is is legitimate and a powerful tool in yoir arsenal.

Last week, I saw Avatar 2, and tried to incubate a dream off it. It worked but I did not become lucid.

For the past 2 years, I have been wondering many times if my dead grandma would ever come and visit me in my dreams. She finally did a few weeks ago and it caused me to become lucid.

A few months ago I was trying to visualize and incubate camping and the details of building a fire out in the wild, before falling asleep. The dream produced was of me in a Ukrainian building with no power, trying to build a fire to keep people warm.

One of the keys that I have read about in having success with incubation is to do it in the liminal state, right before you pass out, seems to have the greatest impact there.

You can aslo reherse and acto out the scene before bed that you want to dream about, believing that you are in the dream, and becoming lucid while awake.

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I’d like to add that dream incubation sees to have “a mind of its own.” I often see that when things happen in the daytime, usually in the background, or in brief passing consciously, I will see them in a dream—but not necessarily what I ask for consciously, so that just means I have to double, triple and go even more deeply down get those thoughts into my “dream-making machine.” To paraphrase @Nighthawk999, take the successes when they come and use the misfires to just reload the water pistol.

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Good to know. I suppose like every skill you get better at it with practice.

That’s beautiful. Glad you were able to have that experience. This is something I’m looking forward to when I get more advanced.

Oh I wasn’t aware of this. Thanks for the tip. I guess because this stage is more subtle and more responsive to though? Will try this instead of trying to incubate when I’m still wide awake.

This is perfect for me! Maybe I could practice before hand a bit.

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Thanks Barry! I suppose it’s a matter of just trying until it happens. Like any other skill you are learning. :smile: I’ll start thinking of the misfires as just practice and try again.

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Yup, I think this is the reason why. You are kind of in a hypnotic state right before entering and while in hypnogogia, and I think the mind is much more sensitive to suggestion in that state.

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