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A cousin of mine just got married. I was sick and used it as a valid excuse not to go. But I would not have gone even if I had been well. Another cousin, her brother, is also getting married in a month I think. I was close to both of these people at one time. Close enough that I am probably right in assuming both them, and their mother, my aunt, will be hurt and offended by my absence. It doesn't matter that we have had little contact for over 10 years now. I was thinking I should say something on Facebook. Say I am not going, and explain, with as little detail as possible, why. But I don't know if this is something I should do or not. There may very well be envy and jealousy hidden here somewhere. But as far as I am aware, the reason I do not want to go, is because doing so would hurt me. In fact, every time the family gets together, I feel especially isolated and alone. I feel drained and hurt. I have no idea where this is coming from, no obvious reasons I know of. I think, I truly believe, I am happy for them. I have nothing against any of them. I am glad they have found someone to share their life with. But I feel as if everyone else is getting what they want. They are finding someone to share their life with. They have a dream or a purpose or both. They are happy. Everyone around me seems to be finding someone, seems to be going somewhere. I feel frozen, stuck in time. I have attended 3 weddings that I can recall and 2-3 funerals and memorials. I can honestly say that the only marriage and funeral I wish to attend at this point are my own. I think it would kill me, figuratively and literally, to go. To watch other people being happy, having a life worth living and sharing, enjoying the things I have wanted for such a long time. This video does a good job of depicting exactly how I would feel: http://youtu.be/ZEQEvUIcjJw I want them to be happy. But the bright light of their experience casts very dark shadows, and I am in those shadows. I could force myself to go, but I would be miserable and I would have a detrimental effect on others as a result. So, in your opinion, what should I do? Should I post at Facebook and say I am not going, briefly explaining why? Or should I just remain silent and hope they never ask me why I was not there? I slipped by with this sickens my body is fighting. But I have no more convenient excuses handy. I appreciate your help. I know some of you have to be getting tired of giving me advice only to have me completely ignore it. I thank you for your patience. I keep thinking I am somehow broken or flawed. That there is something wrong with me, and as handy as I am, I just can't fix it. Everyone else seems to have it figured out. I am as confused and lost as ever. It's almost like they are from an alien exotic culture, with customs that remain unfathomable to me. It seems so easy for them. Meet someone, have sex with them, get married or not, have a kid, repeat. Like the majority of the rest of the American population. But I just don't get it. I just don't understand it. I feel as if I should, as if I should know this stuff, and that is just additional proof that there is something wrong with me because I don't. Anyway... Enough rambling...

Depends how old you are, and how much you can handle not sleeping and feeling like you are on speed. If proper relaxation is learned, one can keep the body in a relaxed, buttery, blissful state and walk around in dream-like trance states 24/7...walking Samadhi.

In my experience and opinion this is nonsense. First, neigong cultivation does not go against creation and the normal flow of energy. That is simply a mistaken concept. It goes against maladaptive practices and habits but not against our nature. Second, nothing is nothing more natural and consistent with our basic nature than sleep. It is an essential part of our lives with or without cultivation. Certainly, we need less if we cultivate effectively because meditation is as or more restful to the brain as sleep. Perhaps at high levels of mastery, very little sleep is needed. It is still natural and supportive. If we feel as if we are gaining something while awake and losing it during sleep, that is simply a conceptual construct. Certainly if our sleep is dysfunctional we may feel negative consequences of that while awake. It is important that our sleep be healthy and restful (eg. not altered by drugs, diet, electronic addiction, psycho-emotional issues, etc...). The best sleep practice is dream yoga - learning the art of lucid dreaming and using that lucidity for cultivation practices. We get ourselves so confused and distanced from our true nature through intellectual games and belief. What is important is trusting that what we are is just that. Trying to be something other than what we are is the problem we face. All of the above is simply my opinion.

Well, just look at the last three of four posts in "The Father and the Son" thread. Chuang Tzu spoke a lot about death. But those who died never became butterflies. Yeah, I like to consider myself organized but someone else viewing would likely see chaos. Existence is a tricky word. I would likely separate physical (materialistic) existence from spiritual (and even mental) existence. Chuang Tzu existed physically, his dream existed mentally. But physically he did not become a butterfly. If reincarnation were a fact we wouldn't be so stupid when we are born.

Aha! Changes ! Normal dream normal reverie , normal changes in perspective no reincarnation nor astral projection- subject is not necessarily death. Heck he could be considering his career for all we know.

Do you believe that I can dream? Like if I tell you I had a dream and go on to describe it, would you tell me to go fuck myself because there is no evidence of it anywhere to be seen, or would you accept it? What would you do, honestly? What do you do? How do you react to people recounting dreams? What about feelings? If I say I feel weird, do you believe me? So if a taoist builds a boat, is it evidence of taoism? If a qi gong master makes a painting, can this be evidence of qi the same way that when a scientist makes a telescope it is evidence of science?

Hello there I have the same Dream! My friend went to the Shipibo Temple of the Way of Light (twice I think) and highly recommends it. The link to their site should fill you in on all the details. When I finally save enough money for the trip, this is where I will be going: http://templeofthewayoflight.org/ In the appropriate, ceremonial environment with a trained professional, I couldn't agree more Best of luck to you on your journey!

It's all on the surface here. You like polar bears, but when you see how brutal they can be, you act surprised. This is why you had this dream. You don't understand what you like and why. You need to contemplate it. This dream calls your attention to this aspect of the bear you've been ignoring. When the "but" goes away, then you understand. If you just read your own post, you can understand 75% of what you want to know. Do you ever bother to read your own posts?

Deciphering dreams is like trying to put a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle together. There are just so many pieces, some even the dreamer doesn't realize, that it may take years to dig into the depth and pull out the various causes. However, Let me give it a shot. Your favorite animal is the polar bear. There had been some form of brutality in your life (or someone you knew or know) so the brutality was transferred to the bear. Other than that - I have no idea. I rarely dream. I dreamed most of last night. Of all things I was trying to recall the name of a song I heard on the TV right before I went to bed. I never did get the answer in my dream but when I woke up one of the first things I did this morning was turn on the computer and find the title of the song. Listened to the song by about eight different artists and all was good. Happy Trails!

I usually go through cycles in my motivation in lucid dreaming. When I first found out about it, I was into it, then I slacked off, then I got into it again, then I slacked off again. Right now I'm just coming down from a super motivated time period. Like for the past two months I'd have a lucid dream about 2-4 times a week. The trick I found is just awareness. Awareness in waking life, and awareness in "sleep" life. Unfortunately, being aware like that the whole time is incredibly tiring I could never really find a time to just "shut down", and I'm far too lazy to eat healthfully or do any steady qigong routine among all the other stuff I have going on in my life right now So the past couple of days I've not been paying too much attention to my dreams. Awareness has gone down a lot (in dreams), my dream recall has been horrible.... but I have more energy when I'm awake so.... eh.

What is more interesting to me is that, the 'real' world is just as dream-like as the dream world.

Not very long at all. I practiced it all of maybe 2 weeks? Then started KAP. I do get frustrated easily and posted about my "itchies" problem but looking back...actually I had quite a bit of success in those 2 weeks. First week I did Lucidology 101 I had a lucid dream. It's just that it didn't happen when I was 'trying' for it during the usual Lucidology trance techniques. But rather kind of spontaneously occurred toward early morning on it's own. The guy at Saltcube is helpful with the people who buy his courses. He'll answer questions, post on the boards occasionally and about a month ago - free of charge to people who'd already bought one or both courses - sent out a "Troubleshooting Lucid Dream/OBE" pdf doc. He answered my concerns about "the itchies" in it. So overall...I'd say I'm very glad I bought them. I just didn't spend enough time with it before KAP started up.

I haven't attempted lucid dreaming in many years, its just never interested me, I think that is because I am more interesed in teh waking lucid dream Anyhow, a very effective technique for inducing lucid dreaming that I used 7 years ago was this: When you are awake, anytime you see a light switch look at it, note whether it is up or down. Then turn your head away and look again. If it changed then you are dreaming. Also, when you are awake, and you see a clock, note the time it says, then look away, then look back. If it has changed then again... you are lucid dreaming. You do this while awake, and the habit ends up being a habit you have while asleep, and you will eventually look at a clock and have the time change wildly. Then you go, oh snap I'm asleep! And wake up. Then knowing you are asleep you can manifest things into your dreaming reality. GoldIsHeavy, I asked, because some of your posts I read int he past made me think you would agree with me that all of life is born out of the mind. I'd be very interested in a long discussion about that concept. The "life is a dream" concept, that is.

Yes, I think that it can be interpreted specifically or generally. It is the things themselves changing, but as the world of life is made up of those things, it is at the same time the world changing. All one big organism. I'm a little confused as to what everyone else believes the story is saying, but no, this is not my contention at all. He's just dreaming. The dream illustrates what it is to die and/or be born; each creature melts into the Great System, and each emerges from it. We are the same, same but different.

That's hilarious! The dream police! Possibly true though, I never had that happen before, other peoples inner body is doing its own thing on that plane that physically people are not aware of down here. They do have their own will and likes and dislikes still, so it's still quite possible if they don't want to have 'naughtyness' with you they will say so, I don't know about the dream police, I never forced the issue. And I would like to make a contention with this term 'lucid dreaming' as the topic is partly called. It has always seemed to me a cop out(cop, no pun intended)for people who don't quite believe it's possible. If you wanna call stuff 'lucid dreaming' you can, but when you transfer your consciousness to your inner body it's OOB. When you sleep your inner body is out mucking about anyway, your consciousness just has not been transfered, OOBE/astral projection is simply placing it where you want it. Taoist practice includes that, as does the western esoteric tradition. Call it what you will due to shyness and worrying people will say your crazy. I highly recommend the book 'The Art and Practice Of Astral Projection' by ophiel. There are few better on the subject of 'how' to do it. A lot of other books are just talk, one well known one by Sylvan and Muldoon(2 writers), if my memory serves me correct, is an outright fake, yet it is very well know.

I would like to read this myself, is there a pdf version somewhere out there? Being without job and with less money than i need for basics that would be nice.. and after reading all your comments ( for which i thank you, it made a nice read) i would like to throw in another association popping up. you all seem to be of one mind that it's about change, in whatever way... the dream was of a butterfly, which is an animal that very beautifully shows us the nature of, real transformation.

Hehehe. You got it. Nah! And it is true, after a dream, we sometimes slowly regain realization of who we really are. Not the butterfly.

It couldve been about death,,using the metaphor of a dream ,,,but he goes back to experiencing himself as Chuang,, reversible death ? Ummm nah.

A perfect example would be wondering if I was actually a butterfly after awakening from a dream of being a butterfly.

I agree totally... except that If there IS a reason to read the stuff, then one has to demystify to understand,, the mystery of mystical is not understanding.,, and Im not as certain the word dream refers to the nightly sleepy alpha wave histrionics. It could be.

Wait as minute. How could Chuang Tzu tell the story of his dreaming if he "has no recollection of his dream"? Remember, Chuang Tzu was a mystic. He would naturally wonder if he really is a human dreaming or a butterfly dreaming. Moeller might be trying to make Chuang Tzu a Materialist. He was not. Also I will mention that Lin Yutang, born and educated in China. Yes, his Father was a Caucasian Christian. Lin was further educated in the West. His translation of the Chuang Tzu is consistent with Giles'. We cannot remove the mysticism from Chuang Tzu.

Our regular waking experience isnt so different, yes some things are based on physical situation, but much is not. Its a dream with some different rules. Why equate the two if not to draw attention to the similarities? Does one not imagine themselves to be what they are,? Is the soldier still a soldier ,when he isnt soldiering? The dreamer, is he still Chuang ,when he isnt ...fulfilling the life of Chuang? We think ourselves constant, a body persisting.. but the body is not exactly the same moment to moment, emotion to emotion, situation variable. I see no need to nail the wording down when the rabbit is caught. Its fine vague, perhaps clearer,since overprecise wording can be quite misleading.

No system has a monopoly on any of those. Do you dream? Do you have sex? Do you have the elements present in your body (yes we all do)? Do you have the Jing, Chi and Shen present within your body in order to alchemize yourself spiritually (yes we all do)? Then you can learn how to apply these factors to your spiritual growth. I am absolutely sure that Chunyilin has knowledge of these practices...as you expand your consciousness you naturally begin to understand "things" on a deeper level. It would only make sense that he does since I have some understanding of these things and he's ten times more enlightened than me. Don't be fooled by the idea of "more is better". Often the simpler something is the more powerful it is...but it still requires the years of intense and disciplined study to become skilled....all systems do. Pour your sweat and tears into disciplined daily practice and you will see results.....and also teachers will be more open......even happy.....to teach you things they don't write about on books, because they know you've been busting tail in applying there methods (most people don't put in the effort). On a separate note....I've heard and experienced (some) way to many bad sideffects of toying around with Mantak Chia's stuff. Never played with Michael Winns techniques though.

Well, it's just a bunch of small jade tiles woven together (maybe about a pound all in all)-- a quick trip to a rock shop could land you some jade pebbles to throw into your pillowcase and you'll have the same setup. In the case of this pillow, the shades of jade are made to look like a butterfly. The backing material is synthetic, so the whole thing couldn't have been overly expensive.(?) Buddha or not, I automatically think of a huge statue looking for me as scary. My thinking was that Merlin had to change gears into something a bit tamer for me to accept him. As it happened, after that dream I got very into Tibetan Buddhism for a number of years and then got out into something more feel good, new agey after getting bummed out about all those lower realms. So maybe I'm following the basic format of that dream. Maybe b/c of the power of that dream and also that I'm aware that rocks can be very powerful, I've been a bit hesitant to add jade's energy into my experience but I'll definitely try it. -Yoda 8)

I have Lakota Indian "Dream Catchers" around the house and they work most of the time.