Replay on Zoom:
Transcript → Weekly Q+A [#57]
Questions Addressed:
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Hello Andrew, I listened to the interview with Clare Johnson about transforming nightmares. It was a really inspiring and insightful interview. Clare talked about yoga Nidra and going into WILD (wake induced lucid dreaming. Can you explain the WILD? What is your experience with yoga Nidra? And what is your experience with yoga Nidra and WILD? I am really looking forward to your answer.
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I want to examine what I think was a "nested " lucid dream with you, and the role of ego. I woke up and knew that I was awake in my dream. I said so directly to others in the dream, but soon suspected that it was not true lucidity, because at another level I understood that I was dreaming and that I was lucid. I was embarrassed. I didn’t feel my normal electrical buzz when I became lucid. I understand that the ego fears lucidity because of the dissolving of the ego, but where is the ego in lucidity? And what is that part of my consciousness that is watching me dream that I am lucid? Is nested dreaming just the ego coming in and stopping lucidity, and where does the ego go when I become lucid? Whew.
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Is the truth much simpler than we can perceive it? And why does it sound so complicated? For example is meditation a state of hypnosis really for that there are quite simple steps not requiring vast amounts of teachings and it’s available to all for free because it’s our innate nature. If Emptiness is our nature why is it so complicated to teach it?
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Andrew has previously mentioned the three year retreat he attended and that it produced great Spiritual benefit. Can you share more about that and how to possibly attend one? Did you stay at a Temple or Center for the whole 3 years or did you commute some of the time? Was that not extremely difficult having a Dental practice? Do you think this is an experience we could duplicate at home, or would that be much too difficult? Thanks for your thoughts on this.
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I have a kind of question about the headless meditation, but also could you say more about your feeling experience of it. I enjoy this experience very much and it’s a new and recent experience for me. It’s a relief to get rid of my brain for any moment. I find sometimes I do it in one place or if I’m walking, I can really connect with bringing an object on to my shoulders, it’s like it draws towards me, it’s still there and on me at the same time. My body feels all doughy and disconnected from my usual stiffness and clunkiness. Other times, usually after a few attempts, I am struggling to keep my head off so I can put the other thing there and I’m fighting a bit in my mind to do it. I find it hard to phrase the question, but how long would you have any object rest on you and what process would you use to reduce the separateness, if you get what I mean.
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A couple of Mondays ago, at the guided meditation meeting, you suggested, as our ‘homework,’ that we ask ourselves while we meditate where our “mind” is. I’ve been doing my homework, and as I have looked for my “mind” during meditation (and have had a hard time finding it!), I’ve also begun to question my “thoughts,” my “emotions,” and the distinction between the two; as well, I’ve wondered what the source of my “consciousness” is, and is that source one and the same for my “awareness”… I suppose it’s too much to ask you, here, to define all these terms! But might you offer some advice on how to look at some of these “functions” so as to help us clarify in a helpful way how they are all working together, which deserve more focus, etc.?
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Hi Andrew, not sure I truly understand what you meant when you said that even in lucid dream the ego does not normally go “offline”. So does that mean one is still essentially deluded in the lucid dream?. What then is the real meaning here of “lucidity”?