Conscious Dreaming by Buddha: Controlling Your Dreams

Hi Lucid Dreamers how are you? I hope you all are fine. In this article on controlling your dreams, I will discuss the techniques of Conscious Dreaming shared by Gautam Buddha for achieving success in Lucid Dreams or say Dream Yoga.

Be ready, this advanced technique for lucid dreaming by buddha sounds easy but it is tough to practice it.

People Live in the State of Sleep

The man is asleep. He is unaware of his own being. He spends his whole life in sleep, daydreaming, in hypnosis.

Hey reader, are you aware of yourself, now? I am sure that for many people the answer is 'no'. You are asleep now. But you can say that I am fully awake now. It's daytime, how can I asleep now?

Listen to what Buddha says about this. If your eyes are open then don't be in the illusion that you are awake, you may be still asleep and dreaming about something.

The only difference is that the sleep of the day is called daydreaming. But dreaming is there. During the night, you dream. During the day also, you dream.

Then how can you say that you are awake now? No, you are not aware, definitely not.

And if you are not aware now, then how can you believe that you will be aware in a dream during sleep? No, it is not possible at any cost.

The practice done during the daytime is transferred in dreams during our sleep. If you practice unawareness during the day, surely you will get the same unawareness in dreams as well.

Buddha and Anand's Story on Conscious Sleep

Anand, a very close student of Buddha, getting difficulty to go in asleep one night. In the same room, buddha was also sleeping.

As he wasn't able to go to sleep, the whole night he remain watching the Buddha. In the morning when buddha gets up, then immediately Anand asks him, Tathagat(Buddha) during the whole night, I was watching you.

I got very surprised that, the way you slept at the night, in the same way, you get up in the morning. You have even not changed your sleeping posture at any stage of your sleep.

I change my sleeping posture many times during my sleep. But you never change your body posture during sleep. How do you do this, Tathagat?

Buddha said, " During my sleep, I know that I am sleeping and during my sleep, I do not think that I should change my body posture. My body won't change its posture without my permission. My whole body is fully conquered by me. If my body changes its posture on its own, then how would I say that I am the master of my body "

By listening to this, Anand got more surprised. He asked Buddha, "How can I do the same?"

Listen to what Buddha said to Aanand. The only treasure of humans is awareness. This is the only phenomenon that does not leave a person even in death.

Awareness is The Real Treasure: It Leads to Conscious Dreaming

Other all wealth, money, relations, etc leaves a person in his death. Awareness is the only thing that goes beyond death. So, you have to gain more and more consciousness, you have to increase your level of awareness.

Buddha and Insect Story: Awareness Through Action

Let's take one example Ananad, Buddha said. When some insects sit on your face, then quickly you flew or remove that insect from your face, yes.

Do you do this with awareness, I mean do you do this by knowing that you are removing the insect from your face? Or you remove it without knowing that you are removing it from your face. I am quite sure that, most of the time or say all the time, you remove it by being unaware. You even do not know that when your hand was lifted up and hit that insect.

Most of the time you do this. This is one example, you do many things without being aware. You do things in sleep(unawareness).

But this is totally the opposite in my case. I always remain aware of myself. When an insect sits on my face, I become aware of that insect. I lift my hand in full awareness.

I remove that insect from my face in awareness, love, in sympathy. And I bring my hand down from my face in awareness. I do all the things in the totality of consciousness. I never do daydreaming.

If a thought arises in my mind then I do not go in the flow of that thought, instead, I watch that thought and that thought gets vanished.

If I speak with you, then I speak in full awareness. I if lift my hand to explain something, I am giving force to my hand in awareness. Each act is done with mindfulness.

If you spend your life in this way. Then, a day comes, definitely come, when you go to sleep by being fully conscious. During sleep, you actually know that you are sleeping.

Dream elements won't affect you, as you know that this is your dream. Then it becomes your choice whether you want to see a dream or just enjoy complete pure sleep full of awareness like me.

Buddha's New Disciple and Mind Reading Shravika: Awareness Remove Darkness

A long time ago a prince became a monk. He received the initiation of Buddha. The day after initiation, he went to the city to beg.

Buddha advised him that you have always been a prince. Don't have the habit of begging, stay for a few days and if you become good at begging then you can go. Only yesterday I told about you in a decent family. So go and eat there, bring some food for me too.

I have a disciple named Shravika, a lady who respects and loves me. I told him about you, so there you go. The monk went there.

He sat down to eat, and as soon as he sat down to eat, he thought, very surprising, on the way he thought, today I have become a beggar, don't know what I will get to eat?

He remembered his favorite food. As soon as he sat down to eat, he was surprised that the same food was on his plate which was very close to his heart.

He thought it must be a coincidence. He was about to get up after eating and he remembered that he used to take a little rest every day after eating but today he will not be able to rest, he has to go to Buddha.

Today I have to rise again and go back to the ashram under the sun. The lady who had served the food stood in front and said, "Monk, I would be very happy if you would take a break of two minutes after eating." Then he was very surprised. That was what was going on in his mind.

But he thought it would be a coincidence again. He said politely, of course, I will rest here for some time. The mat was spread and he lay down.

After that, while lying down, he realized that today I have neither a home, bed, nor shade. Now everything has become strange, till yesterday everything was mine.

That Shravika, the woman who had gone earlier, came back and said: Bhante (monk) if you don't mind, let me apply. The bed is neither yours nor mine. The house is neither yours nor mine. We are just guests on this earth.

Now it was very difficult to believe in coincidence. Now the matter had become very simple. The monk got up and sat down and said: Do my thoughts reach you? Do you read my thoughts?

Shravika said, as soon as she started seeing her thoughts, she started waking up to her thoughts.

Shravika said, "By waking up and seeing the thoughts, the thoughts gradually disappeared and now the mind has become so sensitive that when someone thinks about something near me, his thoughts appear to me."

The monk got up, panicked, and got ready to go back. Shravika said: Lie down, take rest. Monk said no, rolled his eyes, and ran out the door.

He didn't look back even once and didn't even thank Shravika for the food. He went to Buddha and said I am sorry, but tomorrow I will not be able to go to her door for food. Buddha said why? What's wrong? Wasn't the food good?

How did she treat you? Did she not give hospitality? Hadn't she welcomed you? He said: No, the greeting was very nice. I got everything I loved. They are very nice people and the lady who served me there is very nice, but I would not go there again.

Buddha said: Why? The monk said: The reason is that the woman reads the mind of others, she knows what the people around are thinking.

And when I saw that beautiful girl, my head was filled with lustful thoughts and I also became lustful. She must have read my erotic thoughts too. Do you want me to show her my face again?

Tears welled up in his eyes. He said sorry, she treated me very well, but did I know she can read thoughts too?

What must she be thinking about the way I treated her? I don't know what I thought in my mind. It's all been read, I misbehaved with her.

Hopefully! If I'd known she read minds, I might have been more careful. But I didn't even know about it. Buddha said: You will have to go there tomorrow also, I know this from the beginning, although I have sent you there.

I have a habit of sending new monks there. And that's why I am sending you there so that you can learn to be aware of yourself. Don't be afraid to go tomorrow too.

But today you fell asleep, and you didn't pay attention to what was going through your mind. Will you look inside yourself tomorrow and know what thoughts are coming inside you?

But go there. The monk had to go there yesterday out of a sense of duty. It will be easier if you think yourself in the place of this monk.

What if you had to go to a house where a beautiful girl could read your thoughts? How will you go to that house? Will you be able to go to sleep mentally? (Note: here sleep means unconsciousness, not being aware of the self.)

This time that monk was very alert. He was walking very carefully on the road.

As soon as the mind awakened inside, all sleep was broken. As if a lamp has been lit. When the monk reached the stairs of that woman, he was very calm and awake inside.

He became so calm that he could hear his heartbeat. He was watching his mind very carefully so that no thoughts may enter.

He entered the house, sat down, ate, and left. Yesterday he ran away showing his back, today he returned dancing.

Fell at Buddha's feet. Buddha asked what happened. He said that an amazing incident happened.

You used to tell me again and again, wake up from within, wake up from within. I could never understand this. But today I came to know what it means to wake up from within.

And not only did I come to know what it means to wake up from within, but I also saw that when I was climbing the ladder of that Shravika, the thought process stopped completely and I became completely still.

There was complete silence, I could hear the sound coming from far away. And the bliss and nectar I experienced in that peace are beyond imagination, and difficult to describe in words.

Buddha said: "My friend, thoughts come to the mind of one who sleeps, thoughts disappear from the mind of one who is awake."

To sleep means to be in thought, to be awake means not to be in thought. For example, if a lamp is not lit in a house, the thief will be attracted to that house, and if a lamp is lit in a house, the thief will not be attracted to that house.

Conclusion:

A lot of undesirable things are living inside us also because we are asleep and the lamp within us is extinguished. This lamp may be lit, but no one else will light it.

Everyone has to wake him up himself. And everyone is qualified of awakening it. And everyone has potential, whoever works, makes that possibility a reality.

I hope you have learned something very precious from this post. Thank you for reading. Keep reading, and keep practicing awareness.