dream meditation and nirvana

[Universal Mind]

I have never tried to meditate in a lucid dream, but I have read from those who have. There is the legend that a few seconds of lucid dream meditation is worth many hours of waking meditation. I am wondering if anybody here knows first hand what dream meditation is like, as well as what the post-meditation effects are and how long they last. It seems like if lucid dream meditation is so powerful, a lucid dreamer could experience higher consciousness in the dream state and even after waking. It seems that one could experience nirvana in a lucid dream, perhaps even after waking. What is the truth about this? When I meditate silently on a mantra in the waking state, I make the mantra activity near effortless. Straining to think it or to concentrate on it reduces the level of consciousness. Similarly, I saw a correlation recently between straining to do things in my lucids and lack of intensity in them. That got me to thinking that acting in a lucid dream should be like meditating silently on a mantra. Then I started thinking that actually meditating in a lucid dream might produce the ultimate form of lucid dream, considering the wild flow of thought that comes with meditating on a mantra in a relaxed state. With all of this in mind, I would love to read about first hand accounts of dream meditation. Do any of you have any?

[Leo Volont]

I believe I am probably the source of that original quote, from the Dream Guru who told me that ‘even a few seconds of Meditation in a Dream are worth thousands of hours of Waking Meditation’. And yes, in several instances I have found that dream to have proven True. In the most important instance, a dream became Lucid, surprisingly, while I had dreamt of having been a Commando/Terrorist who had hijacked a bus. Becoming Lucid, I asked the driver to pull over so I could get out. I noticed that I was not wearing shoes, which, of course, plainly means that I was on Holy Ground, and so I looked around to see what was so special. I was on the outskirts of a City, near the rail yards and gravel pits. Just meters away was an old rusty iron railway overpass. But it was all exquisitely beautiful and so I had no doubt about it being Holy Ground. In keeping with the sacredness of the moment I decided to Meditate. I intoned an AUM and arose up off the ground to hover a few meters off the ground in quiet serenity. And, true to the Guru’s words, not seconds transpired when the air shimmered in waves and ripples and turned a wonderful shade of violet-pink. I was in a state of curious expectancy about it all when just then the space some 10 meters in front of me simply tore open and out poured the Pure White Light, like magnesium burning before a chromium mirror, bright and real. The substance of the Light quickly took up a form – a Paramahansa Swan… not a living bird but a very ornate statuesque representation of one. It was large – more than a meter high and wide. And it was amazingly beautiful – in the brightest White Light but still one could discern the textures of the shapes and detail. But there was little time for amazement when the Swan shot across the distance between us and penetrated into my forehead. And then a new one formed up to replace it, and it shot over into my forehead as well… and again and again and again, each time more quickly, but each time the ornate and elaborate Paramahansa Swan became simpler, more streamlined. As they formed up more rapidly, they became plainer and plainer. Finally they were coming at a rate of 8 or 10 per second, and the birds were mere ‘Vees’, like as in the way young children draw birds flying in the sky, as two joining lines tapering outward. And they were all flying into my forehead. When I awoke, the sensations acquired in the Dream persisted. My Agna Chakra was still pulsating with the feeling of this Spiritual Energy, no longer perceptible as Light but tangible as a pressure sensation. The sensation by proximity also energized my Crown Chakra as well as my throat and heart chakras. Many Spiritualists maintain that they can perceive the White Light while in waking consciousness. I’m not one of them. Not long ago, I was meditating on the sofa, more inclined then I should have been according to all of the traditions… somebody might have supposed I was just napping… when I became conscious that my entire brain was aflame in the White Light, as though my head contained a great fluorescent tube, but as I came into my ordinary conscious state, aware of my surroundings, the White Light melted away but I knew the Condition persisted because I still felt the same Feeling – the pressure sensation continued. Such feelings continue strong for a day, and take a few days to melt away. The Corollary to the Gurus words is that any Spiritual Practice attempted in a Dream will bear almost instant Fruits – Prayers, Mantras, special postures, etc. But even then, each Prayer or Mantra will prove only as powerful as it actually is. Some Dreamers hold the theory that all these Spiritual Disciplines operate only by suggestion and imagination, and so they would all be equally effective, but that does not prove to be the case. These Prayers and Mantras vary in their potency, indicating by just such contingencies a Reality verified by the qualities of Limitation and Condition which Imagination alone would not recognize or submit to. So it can become something of a Hobby, using one’s Lucid Dreams in order to experiment with the Prayers and Mantras and other Spiritual Practices of the World’s highest Spiritual Traditions. The East is famous for such potent Traditions, but one should not underestimate the West. Just a few months ago I went Lucid and began repeating the “Hail Mary”. I was, again within seconds, swept up into a Vortex of white luminescence and unfortunately experienced a discontinuity of Consciousness – remembering afterward only that I was going up, and then that I was coming down, and not remembering anything about what had happened when I had reached the Highest Point. I suppose I was in Heaven. I had regretted that retained no memory of where I had been, but the very next week, I did dream of being in the Offices of Our Lady Queen of Heaven. In Dreams, all Spiritual Progress is sustained and builds upon itself. Each Initiation brings us to a New Level to which we can return as though by Privilege instead of by Effort.

[Universal Mind]

That is some really trippy stuff. I am going to try that in my next lucid. Screw the drug stuff. This sounds incredible! I experienced what seemed to be Nirvana for three hours at the Memphis Zoo in 1991. Since then, I have been trying to recreate it. I had a taste of it on mushrooms in 1999, but it wasn't the same. The zoo experience seemed to be the clearest and most perceptive my mind has ever been, that I remember. I have been thinking that I can recreate the experience in a lucid dream, and doing a lot of that might help me experience it again in the waking state. You've given me some good ideas. Thanks.

[Leo Volont]

Originally posted by Universal Mind That is some really trippy stuff. I am going to try that in my next lucid. Screw the drug stuff. This sounds incredible! I experienced what seemed to be Nirvana for three hours at the Memphis Zoo in 1991. Since then, I have been trying to recreate it. I had a taste of it on mushrooms in 1999, but it wasn't the same. The zoo experience seemed to be the clearest and most perceptive my mind has ever been, that I remember. I have been thinking that I can recreate the experience in a lucid dream, and doing a lot of that might help me experience it again in the waking state. You've given me some good ideas. Thanks. Well, jeepers, you must have written somewhere about your Memphis Zoo Experience. Could you 'cut and paste' it on over. We all would be most interested in your Nirvana... or your Satori, Enlightenment, Samadhi, Muksha... or any such Liberation or Enlightenment.

[Kaimelar]

I've had experiences that resemble what you call "nirvana", although Im not sure if its the same thing, but these have been experienced in church while praying Our Father or Hail Mary. It seems very interesting though, cuz I never thought about praying in a dream. I know nothing about mantras, is there somewhere on the internet where I can learn a little more about them?

[Universal Mind]

Leo, I found something I wrote about it in the philosphy forum a while back. It is in a thread titled "Kanji's 'Universal Mind' Theory". Originally posted by Universal Mind Hello? Did somebody say my name? I have discussed this here before... I experienced what seemed to be \"enlightenment\" or \"Nirvana\" for three hours at the Memphis Zoo in 1991. I had the \"perception\" that everything is one, everything is rooted in nothing, everything is astoundingly beautiful, everything is composed of consciousness, and that things are eternally okay (Turmoil is an illusion.). It seemed to be the clearest my mind has ever been. I still think it might have been an acid flashback. (Be careful... Acid can take you in completely the opposite direction. I don't recommend it.) I am also not too sure about reaching a permanent state of this, but that would be incredible. It's worth studying. I saw another version of what some Buddhists consider \"enlightenment\" when I was on mushrooms on Pensacola Beach in 1999. (I don't recommend mushrooms either. For about an hour of this mushroom experience, I was terrified out of my mind and thinking I was trapped forever in a nightmare.) There is the Zen-Buddhist (or maybe just \"Zen\") tale of the pupil who tells his master that he has reached enlightenment, and the master replies, \"There is nothing left for you to do at this moment but laugh.\" In other words, enlightenment involves realizing that everything is meaningless and therefore all action is absurd, which makes it hilarious to observe. On the beach, I was tripping very hard and watching two of my friends throw a frisbee back and forth. I saw what appeared to be the ultimate meaninglessness of everything, and that made the frisbee throwing look absolutely pointless and absurd, and I laughed hysterically about it. My brother was also tripping, and he had the same perception. We were both laughing with great amusement. I made the comment, \"It's so meaningless.\" One of the guys in our group heard me say this. He was not tripping, and I hit a serious religious nerve of his when I made the comment. He started arguing with me and wouldn't drop it. I tried to chill him out, and it didn't work, so I ended up having a temper tantrum on him (It's not a good idea to taunt somebody while he is tripping. He might really wig out and lash out.). It was a major buzz killer, and I lost the perception I had. I haven't been back to it since then. One of my goals of lucid dreaming is to reach that state again. I think that can work. Those are two forms of "enlightenment" I reached, but the first one seemed much more real and profound. The first one was of complete bliss and clarity, and it felt like I was somewhere I had been for eternity. It all started when I was in the aquarium room and saw a school of fish as one conscious being in the form of many fish. Then I percieved that that being was the fish in the other aquariums, and the rocks and plants too. I walked outside of the aquarium and saw that the elephants, goats, birds, sky, and EVERYTHING was this one being. I saw it as something infinitely complex, and as nonexistence itself at its core level. That is a paradox, but I saw its reality. I had read and thought about the idea before, but this was the first time I can specifically remember percieving it. This happened two days after I learned transcendental meditation. That was what I was doing in Memphis. Maybe that had something to do with it, but then again, the experience never happened in full force again. At least not yet. Also, I did acid for the first time three months earlier, so maybe it was a flashback. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was in a time window where I had virtually no worries. I had also just come out of the worst depression of my life, which had to do with the fact that I had finally successfully treated my hypoglycemia. I was ecstatic about that. My major theory is that it was a combination of all or most of those factors. I am determined to reach that awareness again.