Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Yogis and Lucid Dreaming

You may be surprised to learn that according to some schools of Tibetan Buddhism, perceived reality is considered to be unreal. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching in some Tibetan Buddhist sects. It's considered to be the highest and most definitive path to enlightenment. But even more amazing, not only is reality unreal but that there is essentially no difference between reality and dreams! Because of this, certain Tibetan Yogis practice conscious dreaming, or lucid dreaming to achieve a better understanding of this concept.

Dzogchen and Reality

Because perceived reality is unreal in Dzogchen, everything perceived during your life through your senses including sight, sound, smells, taste and touch are considered a dream or dream-like. A careful examination of your life and your nightly dreams shows they are very similar and thus there is no difference between them. We experience our waking life as more concrete while the dreaming life is more detached. But according to Dzogchen once you realize there is no difference and life is only a big dream then you can liberate yourself from emotions, attachments and the ego and finally and truly become enlightened.

Tibetan Yogis and Lucid Dreaming

One path to this enlightenment is to realize in your dreams that you're dreaming. The Tibetan Yogis trained themselves to dream consciously with the ultimate goal to awake from the dream we call reality. Different yoga practices are possible while dreaming. This allows the yogi to better understand the dream-like nature of daily life and reality. This allows them to diminish their attachments in waking life. If you understand that your waking life and dream life are the same then you lose your sense of attachment for physical objects and concerns.

Tibetan Dream Yoga

Tibetan dream yoga comprises three parts; daytime practice, morning wakeup practice, and nighttime practice. During the day you contemplate the body as illusory and unreal. Your mind and mental activities are considered the same. You regard the world and everything in it as dreamlike and unreal. Wakeup practice includes breathing out with the "ah" sound by sitting up in bed, head raised, and emphasizing the exhalation. You then stand up, reaching towards the sky with the same "ah" exhalation. At night, you remind yourself to awaken within your dream. You sleep in the "sleeping Buddha" position of lying on one side, legs together and slightly bent and resting your head on your open hand then visualize the letter "A" on the surface of the moon.

As you can see, certain groups of Tibetan dream yogis practice lucid dreaming through Dzogchen to show the ultimate unreality of nature and its similarity to dreaming. You don't need to become a yogi or Buddhist to learn to lucid dream. There are many different lucid dreaming techniques and the basics are quite simple and easy to learn. As long as you have the time and patience to practice a few simple techniques, there's no need to convert to Buddhism just quite yet!

J. Bryan Baker is the author of "The 7-Day Quick Start Guide to Lucid Dreaming", a free 24-page report available for a limited time at LucidDreamingCourse.com LucidDreamingCourse.com.