< Memory >

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I once asked Andrew how important Memory was in Buddhism and he said it was monumentally important, for a number of reasons.

I think my memory was best in HS when I had studied some memory tricks (after stumbling on an ingenious book in the library). I am wondering how long it will take me (if ever) to get back to that level:

I have been looking for ways to improve my memory, and thought this thread would be a great place to share some techniques on the Art of Memory.

One of my favorites is the Memory Palace:

" How to Create a Memory Palace

  1. Step 1: For your first memory palace, try choosing a place that you know well, like your home or office.
  2. Step 2: Plan out the whole route — for example: front door, shoe rack, bathroom, kitchen, living room, etc. Some people find that going clockwise is helpful, but it isn’t necessary. Eventually, you will have many memory palaces. You will also be able to revise the memory palace after you test it a few times, so don’t worry if it’s not perfect on the first try.
  3. Step 3: Now take a list of something that you want to memorize — a shopping list of 20 items is a good place to start: carrots, bread, milk, tea, oats, apples, etc.
  4. Step 4: Take one or two items at a time and place a mental image of them in each locus of your memory palace. Try to exaggerate the images of the items and have them interact with the location. For example, if the first item is “carrots” and the first locus in your memory palace is the front door, picture some giant carrots opening up your front door.
  5. Step 5: Make the mnemonic images come alive with your senses. Exaggeration of the images and humor can help."

Will have some more tips and techniques in the future.

Please share any that you all know of.

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Thanks for this important thread!

brilliant!

I have learned A LOT with the expert Jim Kwik on this topic:

he’s simple, so sweet, has a lot of game techniques, he’s also powerful and funny.

I did this in team work with Dave Asprey’s teachings - It has really cool clarity about food that is good for your brain.
I give you my example. I eat organic and healthy food since 2005. But only in 2023 I realized that I was eating pumpkin seeds, almonds and nuts in a wrong way: I was not toasting them. I started doing that inspired on the mentioned quest and it was a huge change in my life.

»» I remind you that harnessing the important super power of GOOD SLEEP is ESSENTIAL for a good memory.

About the genius memory work with Jim Kwik:

My favorite memory game is MEMORIZING PEOPLE’S NAMES, and this is a great example of how a game can have multiple benefits:
Remembering it grounds me: when I’m doing this, I 'm giving my attention to the people around me and become more present. I love asking people’s names - wrote several articles about it. People are not so used to it and there’s a spark whenever I ask someone’s name :slight_smile: it’s a great way to get out of the automatic way of relating in public spaces.
I realized something important connected to my beliefs:

I’ve had several occasions (in Restaurants) where after knowing someone’s name, I would authentically think some seconds about that name and seeing things in it they had never seen before (most people don’t know about the origins of their name) - people were SO grateful do find out more about themselves through their name.

Story about the power of Visualization IN MEMORY: In my favorite restaurant (by the beach, super cool music AND amazing people) I already know people’s names. At one point though, they hired more people. One of them has the same name as another person who works there :slight_smile: I realized that when this other Luís would say his name I would think “opaaaa… now there are two” and this was blocking / taking the space from doing the job of ASSOCIATING THE FACE WITH THE NAME. I did a class with Jim Kwik at that time and after that class I could clearly associate this new Luís to his face, body and posture. Amazing. I also do associations to remember better :slight_smile: this is one of the gifts of having a mercury in Pisces…

»» Your mercury sign and placement can help you with this, beloved :cowboy_hat_face: so that you bring about the best traits of it, naturally.

Another simple and powerful recommendation from Jim Kwik is to teach things - in this way, you remember them! It was great sharing this here!.. :cowboy_hat_face: Did I already tell you you are an awesome teacher? :fire:

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MEMORY HAS A RHYTHM OF ITS’ OWN

JW Dunne (@ his book “An experiment with time”) explains very eloquently the importance of not trying to force memory, which I confirm from my practice:
“Memory- Train. Now, when you are trying to recall a succession of observed impressions, the images pertaining to these are observed as if they were actually arranged in an order corresponding to the order in which the original impressions were received. This supposed arrangement is called, as everybody knows, the ’ Memory- Train\ and it is noticeable that the process of remembering events in the order in which they occurred is one which involves sometimes a very considerable mental effort. But if you are merely allowing your mind to wander—as in a day- dream—without knowingly aiming at any definite goal, the set of images which is then observed appears to be arranged in a sequence which has little correspondence with any previous observed succession of events.
Train of Ideas. This curious succession of images is called the “Train of Ideas”, and it is possibly a very significant fact that the simple, undirected following of a train of ideas appears to entail no mental effort or fatigue whatsoever.” (page 30) @NightHawk999 (or anyone reading this message) if you want this book I can send it to you by email in pdf format :rose:

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This is all good stuff! I’ve never tried Memory Palaces, but I may try it, and try using it for remembering LD details while inside LDs!

I think the memory that is most beneficial for dreaming is retrospective memory of life experience. And this can be nicely trained with a day journal, or a daytime mnemonic tool like palace or rhyming, where the thing remembered is a whole experience, like a dream: location, people, dialog, feelings, emotions, thoughts.

Of course reaching for recall at every waking during the night is a great exercise and builds dream experience recall.

I think it promotes solid growth to try to “be” the same way both night and day: pay purposeful attention to all experience, reflect on this experience (for inducing lucid dreams – “is this dream-like?”), and then practice recalling these experiences. Do this around the wheel of day and night.

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Brilliant Idea my friend.

You will not be disappointed, I think of all the memory techniques it is one of the most powerful I have come across.

What makes these techniques especially potent is when you combine 2 or more.

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Very Smart. I remember these techniqes being a God send for remembering peoples names back when I first started doing them.

Why they dont teach them in school is beyond me.

You are projecting my Dear Firend :green_heart:

Dont act like you have no :sagittarius: in your chart :wink:

I am really happy you like this topic, its one that is pretty close to home for me. It blew my mind, and showed me some amazing things the mind is capable. I also think the visualizations and memory stuff staarted to bleed into my dreams way back then, but I did not appreciate it at the time.

At least 3 dreams in HS involved me remembering a problem or translation from a homework assignment I could not solve, and falling asleep with it on my mind (tenaciously obsessing about it), only to later have the solutions to each problem come to me in a dream on 3 separate occasions.

I am so excited to share more of these practices with yall, like I said for me they were life changing.

Maybe memorizing sacred texts has additional benefits of not just increasing faith, but perhaps these practices also start to bleed over into dreams and enhance them?

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The fact that I may be an awesome (and humble) teacher does not take it away from you, who at the moment has a lot of progressed energy in :sagittarius: one doesn’t need astrology to see that in you!..

this is SO amazing! thanks for sharing.

please do! :pray:t3: :cowboy_hat_face: :fire:

yes, Tibetan tradition says that the mind is, at least, 7 times more powerful in LD than in the vigilant state… and I have experienced that with “om mani padme hom” and in my first University study task (the breathing exercise - first during the day, then in the night, lucid).
An idea just came (if you didn’t do it already) - to memorize some Allah names and take them into the dream realms… and see what happens! :heart_eyes:

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Memory Trick to Memorize a List

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@Dream_Hacker

How to Memorize Fast and Easily // Mind Palace: Build a Memory Palace

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How to triple your memory by using this trick | Ricardo Lieuw On | TEDxHaarlem

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Anytime Sister :green_heart: :fire: :cowboy_hat_face:

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You’re not a mind reader are you!?!?!?

Now I understand why so many people call you the Queen of Intuition:
:green_heart:

I started memorizing the 99 names a few days ago, was amazed how much these techniques helped lock in the first 20 names.

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this is SO genious… and what a gift that grandpa likes fishing and the granie loves to cook! hihihi.
I think I’m gonna use this technique… it’s genius! thaaaaanks BB! hihihi

I’m just a human, with true curiosity - like you. :cowboy_hat_face:

did I already mention that I have a cousin who converted himself and became a muslin because he fell in love with his present wife? they are still in love after all these years and they have a very special intimacy also because of the rituals, including healthy food :heart_eyes:

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LOL

Anytime my friend.

No.

When did he convert?

Curious what his favorite passages are?

Book 1, the opening prayer is one of the most beautiful prayers I have come across.

Can you also ask him about this quote or saying (I dont think its in the Quran, but maybe another holy text):

“If you pray to Allah with your full heart,
then he will also hold you in his heart.
If you pray with a group in earnest,
Then Allah will put you in the company of more blessed people/beings (angels by your side)”

Its not the exact quote, hopefully he knows where to find it? Would really like to read the text passage it came from.
If

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Had the thought today that the practice of Dusting off the memories, and doing memory maintenance is almost like a form of meditation or premeditation.

It provides a temporary break from whatever thought stream may have taken over.

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While trying to find useful ways to spend those insomnia minutes, I came up with the idea of declaring:

“Let the doors of memory be opened!”

And I just observe what comes in. Sometimes I’ll seed it with a memory and watch where it goes. It often goes back to very early life memories in childhood, and moves from memory to memory quickly by association. Sort of like a “life flashing before your eyes” moment.

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Very interesting, almost like an wake time incubation, I wonder if you could refine this practice to memory subsets, like:

Show me one of my most happy memories?
Show me one of my saddest memories?
Show me one of my most fearful memories?
etc. etc

Very cool

Have you found it helps fight the insomnia?

Doing a memory review of academic materials before bed, seems to be a little less stimulating, and for me, helps get the visualization forces of liminal dreaming start to flow.

I can totally see how calling on a past life memory would help the mind grease the skids for the dream state, but the caveat would be if a bad or agitating memory comes up, it might prolong the insomnia or precipitate an unrestful dream.

Memorizing holy texts before bed:

I wonder if this helps incubate Sacred dreams?

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It’s an ongoing research project :). Generally I’m honing in on the realization that I need utter, total, complete mind and body relaxation. No thoughts, no visualizations, nothing “back burner” even in my mind. Sheer and utter acceptance and release, no trying to do anything: lucid dream, fall asleep, etc. If anything, I think the “memory doors” helps lucidity, but not (directly) insomnia. Sometimes if I really let myself get very passive while observing the memories, I may make progress towards sleep.

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next time that I meet organically with him, I will share this with him… it will touch his heart I think. Thank you :pray:t3:

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@Dream_Hacker My approach, while falling asleep is “if I can’t sleep, then meditate.” I use the visualization of the throat chakra that Andrew discusses in the “Dream Yoga” book and also just rest in spaciousness, just noticing any thoughts, feelings, memories that arise and letting them go. Similar to any other meditation practice.

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