Thread: The Art of Dreaming (advanced)

This is a book by Castaneda I've read several times over with great interest over the last 5 years, and it contains some of the most provocative and frightening information about the high art of dream travel that I have yet to encounter. It is not for those that don't want ALL the knowledge available, and it is not for the faint of heart.
It encompasses an area that I strongly believe, and that I feel is all but left entirely out of most LD discussion: the worlds that we create and experience ARE REAL.

(I strongly advise that you find and read "The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Indian Way of Knowledge" before tackling this, but if you're open enough, you should pick up pretty quick)

The Art of Dreaming

Good luck on your journeys, and safe travels.

~L

I knew that name Castaneda sounded familiar! I don't recall where I last saw of the Teachings of Don Juan, -- oh, wait! I saw information about it on a Wikipedia page. I don't recall if it was on that book or what, but I know I found it when I was reading about lucid dreams on 'Pedia.

You say it's not for those who don't want ALL the knowledge available. I take that to mean there's a great deal of knowledge within the pages of that book, some that might be eye-opening to the point of being frightening to some?

"...eye-opening to the point of being frightening to some?"

You have hit upon the crux of it, yes.

Sounds tasty, I'm intrigued... What are these mind-blowing parts? Could you share a quick example?

i didnt read this book but ive heard it is about something like MILD

Actually, wiki has a decent summary of the contents:


"The Art of Dreaming is said to describe the steps needed to master control and consciousness of dreams. The Toltecs of Don Juan Matus' lineage believed that there are seven barriers to awareness, which they termed the The Seven Gates of Dreaming. In The Art of Dreaming Castaneda describes extensively how a state called Total Awareness can be achieved by means of dreaming.

According to Castaneda there are 7 Gates of Dreaming, or obstacles to awareness, which when overcome yield total awareness. Four of the Gates of Dreaming are discussed in The Art of Dreaming. What follows is not so much a technique in achieving lucidity, but rather the practical application of lucid dreaming. By acting a certain way while dreaming, one can cause psychosomatic changes in one's being, including an alternate way of dying.

What follows is a point-form summary of the philosophy surrounding Toltec dreaming as a way of "Sorcery that is a return to Paradise".

1st Gate of Dreaming(stabilization of the dreaming body): Arrived at when one perceives one's hands in a dream. Solved when one is able to shift the focus from the hands to another dream object and return it to the hands, all repeated a few times. Crossed when one is able to induce a state of darkness and a feeling of increased weight while falling asleep.Location in the body - in the area at the base of the V formed by pulling the big and second toes of one foot to the sides.
2nd Gate of Dreaming (utilizing the dreaming body): Arrived at when one's dream objects start changing into something else. Solved when one is able to isolate a Scout and follow it to the realm of Inorganic Beings. Crossed when one is able to fall asleep without losing consciousness.It is also referred to the activity of dreaming together with other practitioners. Location in the body - in the inside area of the calf.
3rd Gate of Dreaming (traveling): Arrived at when one dreams of looking at oneself. Solved when the dreaming and physical bodies become one. Crossed when one is able to control the Dreaming Emissary.Location in the body - at the lowest part of the spinal column.
4th Gate of Dreaming (Seeing): Arrived at when one is able to perceive the energetic essence of every dream item. Solved when one falls asleep in a dream, in the same position in which one has gone to sleep. Crossed when one wakes up in this reality, located only not in the physical but in the energy body."



Hope this helps!

~L