What is it that these awakened beings see when they ‘sleep’? Can they still get precognitive dreams, or glimpses of the future, or glimpses of the past? Can they meet with dead beings and teachers in their dreams and receive teachings? In their sleep, can they give teachings to people who are dreaming?
What is your perspective on astral projection? Is it the same as lucid dreaming? If not, how it differs?
I’ve heard some people say that astral projection is in a higher degree of consciousness than a lucid dream. In such a scale, we’d have non-lucid dreams, then lucid dreams and then astral projection in that order. Would you agree with that?
The other question is on the nature of reality, more specifically on the continuity of consciousness. In my experience, my observation of how I perceive everything, I notice a discontinuity on the stream of perception, if that make sense. It’s as if the stream of consciousness was more like a frame-like river, than a continuous river. I perceive something (a smell, a thought, a vision) and then I perceive something else, I find there are gaps in between. That makes me think that consciousness is a discontinuous flow. Are these gaps what we call ignorance?
Now, I also realize that there’s something perceiving those gaps so THAT must be continuous. I guess you’d call that awareness, is that right?
My dreams are all appearing in a sort of darkness and I don’t exist as a separate consciousness but just as an observing consciousness or ‘point of view’ with no separate dream body. I wake up with a heavy feeling.
Once I am dreaming lucidly - which did not happen yet - how could I understand the darkness?
Thank you, Andrew, for the in depth answer to my question. I only found this podcast now (still finding out how this website works!) and I am super delighted about what you are pointing at. I think I need to listen to it several times and also the interview you mention. Thank you so much!
This darkness-thing is super interesting. My first response would be that I am experiencing what you call ‘consciousness darkness’, even though when in it, it feels as if I am the darkness - infinite space, limitless, dense but also not-dense…, no “I” in that sense, I am the darkness itself - BUT, kind of also perceiving from there as that - which means that that perceiver or observer is still consciousness, right? It seems to be a perspective or viewpoint within darkness while being darkness. Sounds like a contradiction but only when using words to describe it.
Then, within that darkness, what appears are the dream figures acting their roles in the dream-play. One of the dream figures might or might not be Michèle, strongly involved and identified with the dream play.
Oh, how confusing is that! Reason why Michèle wakes up with a sense of distress, feeling heavy, not knowing what to make out of the whole thing. On top of it the dream play Michèle experiences is more often than not very intense, nightmarish…
Katie, I experience this kind of ‘shaking’ as well. How funny - never thought of sharing this with anybody. It does not last long. And it does not seem to have any effect or resulting in anything.
Thank you Andrew for responding my questions with such clarity! I was delighted to hear both of them.
I’ve bought the book that you suggest on astral projection and your point of mentioning OBE´s as a stage of Dream Yoga makes a lot of sense now, thank you!
I’ve also appreciated very much your commentaries on the nature of consciousness and awareness. I’ve never heard of the discontinuity of consciousness and I’m very happy to hear that my experience is actually a well known fact. And consciousness being a manifestation of ignorance wow! I need to dive deeper on that one, thank you! So so rich.
thank you SO much @Andrew for the distinction on astral projection…
AND the epic book recommendations
» Waking, Dreaming, Being.
» Naked Seeing.
brilliant. @katielove what I learned with epic Jade Shaw is that you are most probably talking about the vibrational state which is the gate to astral projection. Next time, you can try to say (inside yourself, so that you don’t go out of the altered state of consciousness) “out of body now” and see what happens. (I experienced it myself on a 30 days quest I did with her “The Art of Astral Projection”)
I have fallen back on a lucid dream, inspired by you, @Andrew
This is the only way I can get close to describing how it was - a mixture between soul retrieving and 1 hour of bio-energetic breathing… my body was all tingling when I woke up
It was also resembling the body sensation of when I experience sleep paralysis and wake up tingling but the difference is the energy - in sleep paralysis I have a bad feeling, but after falling back I felt I was the Universe and nothing at same time, in a good way, when I woke up the feeling was GREAT.
For the lucidity group Andrew mentions at the very beginning- he mentions the days that it is held, but not where / how we can join it. I don’t see it on the schedule here on Night Club… how can we access this great offering?
No dead people - haha