I’ve definitely watched my share of TV in my lifetime. After meditating a little on what’s actually happening during the spectating process I have to say that it’s more than I’d like to admit. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve spent years of my life in front of the tube. It’s a scary thought. It recently occurred to me that my viewing habits were directly related to my dreaming practice. When we are in the dream, everything seems so real that we rarely notice that we are the ones creating it. I like to think that we are creating our waking state reality as well. It’s just happening at a different speed. In you’re in a lucid dream you can create a sky scrapper in the blink of an eye. In waking life, there are many steps to complete the construction of a building. In either state, it’s the same forces at work. I would say that a few of them are awareness, creativity, and belief. However, these things are meaningless unless we can wake up from the dream. That goes for the dream of our waking reality as well.

One act in particular traps people very effectively. That would be movies and television. Many people understand that movies and television shows are not real in the sense that they are not actually happening in a box in their living room. However, the catch is that during the moment of watching, most people are so engrossed that they often forget where they are. They forget they are even in their living room. Of course if you were to ask them in the middle of the program they would answer that they were in their living room. The real test is ask yourself how often you realize it when no one is asking the question. Are you viewing the movie as a person watching from your couch or are you a floating awareness constantly acting as if you were seeing the scene from the camera’s point of view? When we take on this role, we lose ourselves in the illusion that is the scene on the television. Do we identify with what we see or the thing that does the seeing?

When we go away from the screen I feel like people approach their life with a similar perspective. People think they are just watching things happen, but like the TV show, think they have little control over the content being shown. To my mind, the trick is to tap into the awareness that is at the core of all experience. When you can connect to that awareness and notice your surroundings and the nature of your reality without identifying it, you can live lucidly. It is just as important to be lucid while being awake as it is to be lucid while you’re asleep. When we begin to live life with the awareness while we are awake, that awareness will carry over to our dreams as well. With this perspective, we no longer get washed away with the tide of illusion. Instead we are a different force which can move at its own discretion and can begin to move deeper and deeper into the mystery of this human experience.

So next time you go to the movies think about where you are every now and then. Realize that you’re not a camera. Take a moment to realize that you’re a human being sitting in a movie theater. Think about how you got there or where you live. I find that if I were to ask myself these simple questions, I would become lucid in my dreams much more often. If you find that you’re getting lost in the movie, don’t feel bad about it. The movie is simply doing its job. It’s trying to take you to a different reality. When I watched Avatar in theaters I found that I was getting swept away in amazement constantly. At a certain point I decided to let myself get swept away and had an amazing cinematic experience. Sometimes it’s good to let go. Especially when you’re making the decision to do so.

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So you’re chilling out talking to your friend at a diner. The waitress looks at you funny and you look away. When you look back she’s turned into a huge cockroach from Men in Black and she’s hissing at you from behind the counter! At this point you have some options. One, freak out and break through the glass window to your left and make a dash hoping that you can hop into your car and dash off. Two, you’ve totally fought off giant bug monsters before so you grab a butter knife and decide to take a stand against aliens who dare cross you at your favorite eating establishment. Three, you stay exactly where you are and calmly ask the over sized insect to sit and share some french toast. Now for most, the first two options seem fairly reasonable but the third sounds like suicide. However, when you’re dreaming, this is the best way to go.

A friend and I were talking about lucid dreaming the other day. He talked about how he would fly away from anything that came to attack him. I told him that although that might be fun, one of the only ways to get rid of these bothersome characters is to talk to them. Most of the time, these characters or spirits can be understood as elements of ourselves that are trying to be recognized. They are the things that we try to suppress that are just looking for a moment of our time. They’re like a neglected child just looking for a little attention from their parents. So why don’t we give it to them? Well, when you’re not lucid it’s easy to think that a monster is a real monster instead of projection of yourself. The other element that’s important to realize is that they can’t hurt you. Knowing this makes starting conversation much easier.

I had a dream a couple months ago where I took a train to Romania. I have never been there in waking life and have rarely even thought of it. None the less, I was there in Romania walking through some old cobble stone streets. I looked to my right and there was a monster made of logs stomping towards me. I was terrified and then I stopped and realized how strange this was and I became lucid. As I had the thought, “This is a dream!” almost simultaneously the monster stopped in his tracks. I looked at the monster who seemed harmless and asked him what he represented. He told me that he was my fear of the unknown. I responded by asking what he wanted to tell me. He said that when I got worried, I should tell myself, “Everything is going to be just fine.” I started repeating the phrase out loud in my dream and before I knew it I was crying uncontrollably. The log monster opened up his arms and I went up and gave him a great big hug.

This is just one example of what might happen when we confront our dream figures. The more scary they are the harder it might be to face them. However, the personal insight might be more healing as well. So next time, instead of using the old fight or flight response, try opening your eyes and take advantage of the power of lucid dreaming. This way we can move away from our instinctual reactions and move towards learning to be present and aware whether it is in our waking or dreaming life. Now go out there and meet some monsters! If they’re anything like mine, they give awesome hugs.

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Hey all! I was just featured in an article on Reality Sandwich which talks about a conversation I had with my friend Adam Elenbaas. We recently sat down for a chat about lucid dreaming. For those who haven’t checked it out, Reality Sandwich is an online literary magazine that’s devoted to issues that are focused on the development of consciousness in our world. Everything from technology’s affect on the psyche to kundalini awakenings all in one spot. The article also mentions the upcoming workshop. Here are the final details. April 15th, 8-10 pm at Atmananda Yoga Sequence 324 Lafayette 7th floor $25 at the door. I’m really looking forward to it!

I’ll be putting up more blogs that will talk a little more about my own experience with dreaming in the near future. Think of it as a sneak peak. Cheers!

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