The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep
Going to follow the format you have given but always reference the Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangal Rinpoche
First Lesson - Based on the First Two Foundational Practices p.159
So I have noticed many sounds in meditation:
Rain on the window
Leaves rustling in the wind
The overall sound of the wind
The fan on my computer
My breathing
The cpu on my computer working
Some burping in throat
A cow calling
My stomach grumbling gently
I am very much interested in getting more connected with my senses
So the first foundational practice is about realising everything IWL is just like a dream changing all the time. It is called "changing the karmic traces". As soon as I go into the state of shamatha and focus on sounds, past and future ceases and all sounds dissolve like a dream. This is the point of focus I rest on in the dream time and in daily life. When mind is distracted with speculation based on my own narrow perspective I am not lucid and not in the state of shamatha. Tenzin Wangal says:
'Upon waking in the morning, think to yourself, "I am awake in a dream."
When you enter the kitchen, recognize it as a dream kitchen. Pour dream milk
into dream coffee. "It's all a dream," you think to yourself, "this is a dream."
Remind yourself of this constantly throughout the day.
The emphasis should actually be on you, the dreamer, more than on the
objects of your experience. Keep reminding yourself that you are dreaming up
your experiences: the anger you feel, the happiness, the fatigue, the anxiety – it
is all part of the dream. The oak tree you appreciate, the car you drive, the
person to whom you are talking, are all part of the dream.'
So if we do this and keep to shamatha due to this understanding then our karmic traces will disappear as we wont react to things as we see them all as a dream. He says that there are two ways to be sure of this one is that appearances are dreamlike and the other is that our perception is subjective to our experience. The experience of just listening to the sounds with no interpretation for example is the place to be rather trying to interpret something that is dreamlike and always changing. So here the exercise on shamatha is the basis for the dream yoga that is being learnt. The is the basis for developing all day awareness or constant lucidity. This means you don't hold onto your perceptions and attitudes as real IWL. TW says about IWL:
'As stated above, an important part of this practice is to experience yourself
as a dream. Imagine yourself as an illusion, as a dream figure, with a body that
lacks solidity. Imagine your personality and various identities as projections of
mind. Maintain presence, the same lucidity you are trying to cultivate in dream,
while sensing yourself as insubstantial and transient, made only of light. This
creates a very different relationship with yourself that is comfortable, flexible,
and expansive.'
This is to be done experientially not just repeating words but really feel it like done in the lesson one of this workbook. It is to be done without the subtlest concepts of existence or non-existence but totally free of concepts as practiced in lesson one. The second foundational practice fits neatly onto to this it is called "removing grasping and aversion". So when object provokes us we think they are real and we react emotionally but instead of creating karma we dissolve it by reminding ourselves of the dreamlike nature of reality. It could be any emotion excitement or disgust but we must remember not to hold onto these as it is not our practice and the nature of everything is free and already perfect. Lucidity is and has always been the only thing that is real and stay in that and not get carried away by personal agendas.
'There is an infinite variety of stimuli to which you may react: attraction may
arise at the sight of a beautiful man or woman, anger at a driver that cuts in
front of you, disgust or sorrow at a ruined environment, anxiety and worry
about a situation or person, and so on. Every situation and reaction should be
recognized as a dream. Do not just slap the sentence onto a piece of your
experience; try to actually feel the dream-like quality of your inner life. When
this assertion is actually felt, not just thought, the relationship to the situation
changes, and the tight, emotional grip on phenomena relaxes. The situation
becomes clearer and more spacious, and grasping and aversion are directly
recognized as the uncomfortable constrictions that they truly are. This is a
powerful antidote to the state of near possession and obsession that negative
emotional states create. Direct and certain experience of using this practice to
untie the knot of negative emotion is the beginning of the real practice of
lucidity and flexibility that leads to consequent freedom. With consistent
practice, even strong states of anger, depression, and other states of unhappiness
can be released. When they are, they dissolve.'