Tibetan Dream Yoga

Check out The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. It is truly an excellent book and instructional manual by a dream Master.

This link has been already in ld4all but I add it again

sawka.com/spiritwatch/abuddhis.htm

Tarab Tulku also guided me to the practice of lucid dreaming.

swamij.com/yoga-nidra.htm

dream yoga is good for when we go to sleep,
but the highest thing is to clean the entire energy system up in all the bodies
so that one can simply leave the body when they wish to, through the top of the head

essentially, being conscious in dreams does not have a strong tendency to produce spiritual consciousness or greatly improve the well-being of the self in waking life, although possible and practicing dream yoga is excellent

meditation is like being able to do the same thing any-time you wish.

it is instructed by Shiva in a very long discourse on many ways to meditate that to project awareness in the heart as one is drifting off to sleep will make one a master of dreams.
the third eye center also helps to maintain awareness without losing consciousness, and hence this website sums up a good technique

but the lower Kingdom of the 7 chakras is nothing compared to the upper kingdom, with the crown chakra being by far the most important center for spiritual realization.

If one studies the Dream Yoga’s they will find that they are about maintaining a state of meditation throughout the entirety of life and death. Though perhaps we are discussing Dream Yoga from differing esoteric traditions. It is an extremely powerful way of attaining spiritual realization and enlightenment. It also was never intended to be practiced by itself. Dream Yoga is not just a LD practice.
As a cultivator I personally disagree with the statement that the crown is the most important chakra for spiritual realization. Without the proper cultivation of all chakras and bodies realizations can not be attained. In many alchemical systems there tends to be a general disregard or disrespect for the lower centers and world. This is understandable considering the types of attachments that are associated with them. Many of these traditions while transmitting some very powerful techniques are very fire path oriented and tend to be focused on escape. Getting away from the physical world and running away out the crown. It would be wonderful if more Yogis focused on attaining the higher states in this deminsion and manifesting Heaven on Earth.
That said, thanks so much for the post I love so many Vedic systems.

thank you very much!

arguably the heart is most important for humanity as a whole,

and the crown only for serious seekers of full manifestation of the Kingdom

it is indeed so, it can become escapism, when one may be better suited to Karma yoga, seeking after Raja or basic asceticism,
this seeking coming and arising from dispassion, a dispassion which comes from the third chakra
and a stifled willpower that WANTS something, doesn’t believe it can have it (lack) so goes into spiritual seclusion as a form of rebellion
not necessarily succeeding

these trends are evident in me.

I have always been particulary interested in the Indian systems that fully utilize the conception vessel as well as the governing. Completeing the flow and cooling and grounding the heavenly qi in the earthly plane and body. I have found it so much easier to carry a meditative state throughout my day and life this way. There are even some Kriya systems that do so. I wish I could remember names. The ones I am thinking of are along the Silk road and undoubtedly shared with Taoist Sages.
As far as the comment about the heart, sure. In Chinese Mysticism we would say the Hun or the ethereal soul resides in the liver but also the upper, middle and lower dantians. The middle hun is the spiritual drive to be of service to humanity and the universe.

I am not very familiar with these terminologies,

you are speaking of using the downward current of energy flow, from heaven to earth, rather than upward ?

My kriya school does this however it also raises kundalini up the spine

the position of the palms is always down that, in meditation, the energy flows and grounds, rather than opens to psychic and dissolving within it, and it is very peaceful and liberating.

this requires the beginning of a new thread as the language becomes too complicated although still loosely connected to Dream Yoga.

I will pose then, Yogananda said that if every person would adopt yoga (meaning his Kriya meditation) we would have world peace

however I do not see that many minds wish to leave the body at all, and simply want meditation that produces clarity and reduces stress, which is what the yoga does, but it does more than that in time.

there is a fear in me for some reason that asks these questions.

The governing vessel is the same as the channel that you use to draw the energy up the spine. The entirety of its flow actually comes to just below the nose. In Taoist alchemy and many other systems we would cycle the energy back down through the channel that runs from the governing under the nose down the front of the body to the perineum(the conception vessel). The back channel is more associated with fire, masculine, yang and the front or conception vessel more associated with yin, cool, water and feminine energy. Therefore we would balance and harmonize evolutionary and Heavenly qi through both energy channels and ground it in the lower dantian. There is of course a great deal more we do with these meridians.

I thought Yogananda attained the state of Rainbow body. Is that not so?

i have not heard much about rainbow body,
recalled reading it in some Buddhist explorations I did

but never heard about Yogananda,
he attained nirvikalpa samadhi,
i do not know which dimension he ascended to, what his highest attainment and level was.

I believe the classification for the Rainbow body in Vedic traditions would be Paramukta or supremely free. One who has ascended fully yet can take a physical form at will as an Avatar. Babaji fits in here.
I actually looked up and was mistaken Yogananda did not reach this state. His body however did not decay at all in the twenty days before cremation. There is a letter from the mortuary in L.A.

I am very curious to discuss Bhakti yoga
it is said the highest way to full liberation is the simple chanting of the maha mantra

I have only heard of Bhakti Yoga. Have you trained this method? You study and train Kriya Yoga right?

yes I study and train Kriya
I have read of Bhakti,
there is God,
he is Krishna, here is mantra,
chant:
you are free

it is much more intricate, the Baghavad-Gita has a tremendous amount of detailed knowledge on the science of karma, reincarnation, the various systems of yoga.

I am always interested by traditions that say “highest way to full liberation” as so many systems make this claim. Including Kriya.
I am a big proponent of Sanskrit mantra personally. It has helped me transform my life a great deal. Have you ever read the works by Thomas Ashley Farrand?
I am always rather curious of Krishna worshipers. Would it not from their point of view be more wise to focus directly on Narayana? I have never received an answer.
What line of Kriya are you in? How long have you been training?

I have come to the conclusion in my life personally that the fastest way is an alchemical path, be it Vedic, Taoist, Buddhist, Bon or otherwise. I have not seen the same cultivation within Masters of other traditions. They also tend towards the preachy it seems.

alchemical as in energy working or ?

what line of Kriya ? what lines are there ? We have quite a few sat - gurus
they are lamp lighters as Christ, various other great yogis were

what mantra do you use ?

Narayana, who is he ? The Krishna followers consider Krishna the Supreme Personality of God(head), the most High,
while this is great, the mantra OM
is very powerful, and the syllable / mantra is missing from the maha-mantra,
and Hare + Om is very nice
yet Hare Krishna has no Om in it…

Alchemical as in the transmutation of subtle energies. Kriya would be deemed a form of alchemy.

Umm, I was just asking your lineage of Initiation is all.

Narayana is the original dreaming God sleeping in another realm beyond the Gods. Story went that Brahma and the original were dreamed out of a lotus in his below button.
Vishnu is a more descended form of Narayana. Krishna was an incarnation of Vishnu. So sure Krishna could be considered the Godhead in a manner of speaking. I have worked with differing mantras for different purposes. In my training there has been a bit of study on words of power. Right now I am doing a discipline with a Ganapati invocation.
I am a strong proponent of knowing what each syllable does where it resonates from and how to use it.

fascinating, i am interested in those aspects of mantra very much so

moved to spiritual corner since it is more meditation than dreaming :cool:

Ok now I have read a lot about dream yoga now in all those topics, but it seems that I can’t find good excercices! :neutral:
I still don’t get it, I think. :tongue:

Does someone know how to -practice- it?

Your best bet is to get a copy of
The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep and look into retreats by the same author. These systems are quite powerful and complex and a good Master is indispensable.

Blessings