PLAYING WITH THE
CLOUDS: THE FOUNDATIONS OF TAOIST DREAM PRACTICES
INTRODUCTION: The beginnings of dream practices in China are lost in the depths of antiquity. It
is said that the emperors of the Shang Dynasty some 3500 years
ago had attached to their court a category of ritual performers
called Zhan Meng in charge of interpreting dreams and
facilitating dream divination. These dream specialists worked
together with the shamans and other ritual specialists
interpreting omens which appeared either in the clouds, natural
events or in dreams so as to chart the best human course of
action for the emperor and other government officials. The
interest in the experiences which took place in dream state were
not only confined to the government. There was a group of
individuals who in the inaccessible recesses of the sacred
mountains, far removed from ordinary human interaction, explored
the infinite potential of dream state. These practitioners were
those who followed the way of nature back to its origins living a
simple life in accordance with the rhythms of nature. They were
called Taoists, from the word Tao meaning path or natural way of
living. Like the ancestry of the dream practices, there have been
Taoists in China for over 4000 years of recorded history. Very
little is known about these Taoists, even in China, because they
carried out their practices in utmost secrecy. Not because their
practices were dangerous and had to be hidden, but simply because
one very important aspect of their self cultivation was
withdrawal from ordinary society so as a to cultivate a point of
view radically different from most people. Over the centuries the
Taoists developed a highly efficient and coherent system of
practices aimed at realizing the full potential of human beings.
The Taoists were not content with having good health, and living
a quiet life. Their practices were aimed at developing not only
the physical aspect of their being but most specially the subtle
and invisible aspects called the energy body.
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THE WAY OF ENERGY: A
fundamental aspect of Taoist practices is the concept of energy
or life force. Energy was understood as a vital force which is at
the foundation of all phenomena, both physical and subtle. This
energy which they chose to call QI manifests in a wide spectrum
of variable intensities or frequencies. From the most subtle
which is invisible to the eyes and can only be perceived with the
most refined sensitivities in states of mental calm and
heightened awareness, to increasingly denser aspects which we
begin to perceive as emotional states to the densest aspects as
solid matter. A modern analogy would be from radiation which we
are unable to sense consciously, through electricity which gives
a good shock to a stone which is easily felt as very hard. The
ancient Taoists would sense all these states not as separate but
rather as a spectrum of variable intensities. Constantly aware of
this energy which animates everything the Taoists went on to
explore the non-physical aspects of the life force in their own
bodies. The physical body we all can touch and feel is only the
densest aspect of the life force, the grossest aspect of the
energy spectrum. There are increasingly subtle aspects of the
spectrum where the life force never reaches densification. Every
time a Taoist sits down to calm the mind and meditate something
very peculiar takes place. The focus of the five senses and the
mental attention begins to shift gradually from the dense
physical to the more subtle aspects of the body. The longer the
practitioner is able to remain calm without distracting thoughts
arising or getting drowsy the more refined the sensitivity to the
life force becomes. Some ancient Taoists by remaining focused on
the subtle energy for hours day after day were able to sense the
life force circulating through their bodies. After years of
practice they were able to chart the flows of the life force in
their subtle bodies with precision through what is called the
energy meridians. The discovery of the energy meridians brought a
level of refinement to the Taoists practices where soon it began
to have a profound effect on healing the body. Illness was
understood as arising when the circulation of the energy was
blocked from reaching organs and glands. It was observed that
from the blockages at the subtle level of circulation, in time a
physical malady would appear precisely in those areas affected by
poor circulation. In order to keep energy circulation at an
optimum level the Taoists created a large variety of exercises,
dietary practices and meditations. However good circulation is
not enough to maintain good health. The Taoists noticed that our
emotional states have a profound effect on the quality of the
life force circulating through the meridians. If a person is very
angry there is an increase in the heart beat and the circulation
of the blood. The rate of breathing changes, often accelerating.
Body temperature and muscle tone also increases accordingly. The
body is literally boiling over with energy. However the quality
of the energy boiling over is very poor due to the negative
effect of anger. It was noticed in antiquity that if a person
goes to sleep with a tremendous amount of unresolved anger, first
of all falling sleep becomes extremely difficult. There is mental
agitation and the person is talking internally for hours. Then
when eventually fatigue overcomes the body and the person falls
asleep, there is invariably a succession of dreams where anger
predominates. In their refined exploring of the subtle energies
the Taoists were able to feel where the emotions, both positive
and negative, arise in the body. In the case of anger it was
noticed that profound changes took place in the liver. This organ
not only became more hot, but it could also become constricted
and blocked so much that the circulation of the life force
required so much effort that pain was felt on the side of the
liver. With the discovery of the profound effect that emotions
have upon the quality and circulation of the life force the
Taoists created an entire branch of practices to refine the
emotions. One of the simplest practices discovered was that of
the Inner Smile, whereby the practitioner sends a smile of
appreciation to any part of the body along with a continuous wave
of positive feelings. Another very powerful practice which
developed was that of the Six Healing Sounds, where certain
sounds are made which induce the vital organs to vibrate more
harmoniously thus releasing tensions and blocked emotions in the
organs.
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Stretching exercises for the meridians
THE EMOTIONS AND DREAMING
One of the great insights of ancient practitioners was the fact
that, if a daily regimen of energy practices is maintained-
specially refining the emotions-the quality and quantity of
dreams changes. If a person goes to bed after having cleared the
vital organs from unresolved emotions the amount of emotional
dreams and nightmares dramatically decreases, sometimes to the
point that they disappear completely. This does not mean that the
person ceases to have dreams, but rather that the quality of the
dream shifts from restless to harmonious and pleasant. One of the
greatest insights gained exploring the connection between dreams
and energy practices was that dreams are experiences taking place
at the level of the subtle bodies. In other words, as a person
begins to fall asleep and the senses gradually disconnect from
the physical world, they turn inward. A process akin to having a
good meditation. As the senses turn inward, the consciousness
which was focused on the physical world through the senses also
turns inward-in the direction of the subtle energy body. The
Taoists consider falling asleep as a process no different from
entering into a meditative state. Just as in deep states of
meditation if the body is fatigued the practitioner may fall
asleep and go unconscious, so going to sleep has to take place,
paradoxically, when one is not fatigued. For the Taoists falling
asleep is an open door for playing fully conscious with the
subtle energy body and carrying out energy practices without the
limitations of the physical body. Every time we let go into sleep
our consciousness shifts its focus from the physical dense body
to the subtle energy body at the other end of the spectrum. If we
speak of sleep then it is of the physical body, since the subtle
aspects never falls asleep. The subtle energy aspect operates 24
hours through our lives. We may not be consciously aware when we
shift our conscious focus to the subtle body, however we all do
that many times during our waking hours. For example we all had
the experience when we were children in school of sitting bored
through an uninteresting class. Then as the teacher continued
talking we gradually began to go with our minds somewhere else.
We began to dream with the eyes open about doing something far
more enjoyable at that moment. Our conscious focus was far away
from the classroom and the teacher. If this day dreaming went on
for a long time, and all of a sudden the teacher asked us a
question, we had to forcefully bring back our mental focus to the
teacher, with predictable inability to answer the question
properly. Ordinarily we say we were fantasizing at that moment,
doing something which was not real in a physical sense. The
Taoist would not call it fantasizing but rather shifting
attention from the physical to the subtle, just as when we are
dreaming in bed. Dreaming is not an action which is confined to
falling asleep. We dream 24 hours a day. A part of our
consciousness which is not fully engaged in the physical plane
dealing with day to day problems is focused on the subtle aspects
of the body. Many times a day we shift conscious focus from
physical reality to subtle reality. Our awareness at that moment
may be focused on a friend that is at the other side of the
planet. Sometimes if our focusing is intense enough something
unexpected may happen: the phone rings! It is our friend calling
from the other side of the planet to tell us they were thinking
of us just at that moment. Has this happened to you? Ordinarily
we call these happenings `coincidence'. A word for labeling the
unexplainable. For the Taoists familiar with the full spectrum of
the life force this is not something unexplainable. When we shift
our mental focus onto someone far away at that instant we are in
direct contact with the subtle body of that person. The
geographical distance is irrelevant. One of the insights which
opens as one begins to consciously shift mental focus from the
physical to the subtle is that the life force is not limited by
physical reality. It could not be because the physical is just
one aspect of the energy spectrum. There is the rest of the
spectrum operating simultaneously beyond the physical. So energy
is not limited by space, nor time which is also a function of
space. Every time we place the head on the pillow and fall asleep
our consciousness focuses its gaze upon a dimension which is not
limited by time or space. A dimension which is extremely fluid
and efficient because it is not limited by time or the
constraints of distance. In dream we have all experienced how in
the fraction of an instant we can change from walking to flying
across the landscape or being here and then on the other side of
the moon. The practices developed by the ancient Taoists around
dream state were designed to tap into the inexhaustible reservoir
of possibilities that transcending time and space offers. One
essential notion they got rid of was the ordinary belief that
dreams are fantasies with no basis on reality. A dream may not
have any basis on physical reality, but then physical existence
is not the only realm of experience there is. What we ordinarily
call reality is limited to physical experience and is just a
fragment of the totality of being. Dreams, intuitions, feelings
we dismiss into the dust bin of the not-real. The Taoists would
call that a fragmented vision.
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THE PRACTICE OF
DYNAMIC SLEEP A fundamental goal of Taoist dream practices is
the ability to enter dream state deliberately, as an act of will,
fully conscious. Ordinarily as we begin to fall asleep and relax
our senses disconnect one by one we become progressively
unconscious, entering a twilight zone which rapidly eclipses into
total darkness. From that moment on until we finally awaken
several hours later we lose awareness of where we are or that we
are asleep. In Taoist dream practice one of the first things the
practitioner does is make a firm decision to remain conscious as
one enters dream state. This initial step is done by voicing a
mental command of what one intends to practice or experience
during that sleep session. The sleep command is a powerful
expression of willpower which is usually voiced over and over as
the practitioner prepares to sleep. This repetition of the sleep
command, like all energy practices is to be done with complete
awareness and mindfulness, rather than mechanically or
unconscious. As one begins to enter the twilight state of
drowsiness the sleep command begins to function like a beacon
guiding the consciousness across the threshold of the
unconscious.
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Chen Tuan in different phases of Dream Practice
OPENING CIRCULATION The
sleep command however is not the initial step in dream practice.
Dream practices are not isolated from other modalities of Taoist
exercises. Usually a novice in the Taoist system will begin by
learning to open communication with the life force through a
series of exercises designed to open the flow of the energy
meridians. Only when the meridian system is circulating properly
and a degree of physical and emotional balance has been attained
does one begins dream exercises. It has been discovered since
ancient times that if the circulation of the life force is not
balanced, the resulting imbalance manifests very clearly in the
quality of one's dreams. Generally as the meridians are opened
and one learns to regulate the emotions through specific energy
practices, there is a reduction of ordinary dreams. One begins to
have less and less of turbulent emotional dreams which originate
from congested organs and in its place the luminous dreams of
profound experiences begin to manifest from time to time. A
practitioner, who for example has been keeping dream journals for
several years, after a months of intense meridian exercises and
meditations usually report very infrequent dreams that are very
widely spaced apart. After some time they also begin to
experience greater clarity in dream state. Dreams are more vivid,
the images more powerful carrying a sense of transcendence. In
Taoist practice it is said that as we improve energy circulation
and begin to harmonize the emotions in the organs there is a
change in the quality of one's energy from a gross state to a
refined one. This is reflected as better health both physically
and mentally. As the quality changes one can also say that the
potential of the individual changes. The nervous system, the
brain, the glands, the vital organs are all able to function at a
greater degree of harmony. Instead of investing a great part of
their vitality fighting illness and trying to maintain balance in
the midst of fatigue and emotional upheavals, the organism is
operating in an energy surplus mode. The state of energy
abundance is fundamental for the unfolding of dream practices. A
Taoist invests years of constant effort bringing about such
state. If dream practices are attempted otherwise when the body
is tired and fighting imbalances, then one discovers that nothing
happens, because the body needs the sleep for the basic function
of resting the nervous system and the brain and repairing damaged
tissues.
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THE FOUNDATION OF
CALMING THE MIND Preliminary to dream practices are also the
states of mental calmness brought about by long meditations. When
the senses turn inward in deep practice, the brain changes waves
from active Beta to Alpha, deep Alpha and in experienced
meditators to Theta and even Delta. This sequence of changes is
very similar to that taking place as we fall asleep. The brain
moves from polarization in Beta to greater integration in Alpha,
Theta and Delta. This means that a regular meditation has learned
to `fall asleep' consciously seated quietly in a cushion. We need
to sleep in order to integrate the hemispheres of the brain and
allow the nervous system to rest and repair itself. This
essential step is accomplished in the hours of the night when we
cease activities and turn the senses inward like a mediation. So
if a person is meditating daily and able to integrate the
hemispheres of the brain to some degree there is a resulting
change in sleep patterns. Most experienced meditators need less
sleep than people who do not practice. As their practice
progresses is not unusual to begin sleeping an hour less after a
few months. Some advanced practitioners get by with only three to
four hours and in the Tao system there have been many great sages
who eventually transcended the need to sleep at all. A sign of
such people would be the absence of a bed in their house!
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THE SHARPENING OF
MENTAL FOCUS If a practitioner has reached the level where
the sleep pattern is changing through practices of concentration
and circulation of energy then there is also an increase in the
ability to focus the intention for long periods of time. In
meditation when the senses are turned inward the attention is
focused on something such as the breath, an energy center or the
circulation of life force in a meridian. As the years go by the
practitioner automatically develops greater capacity to remain
focused without distractions when the attention is placed on
something. This is an increase in mental power and also an
intensification of the will or intention. In dream practice the
intention which has been strengthened in sitting practice is then
developed further in dream state. The Taoist aims at entering the
normally unconscious states of sleep fully conscious, carrying
forth the awareness and the intention like a candle in the wind.
The sleep command being voiced as one falls asleep is the first
stage in training the intention to remain sharply focused through
the ocean of the unconscious. This simple gesture opens the
possibility of extending consciousness into areas where normally
we go blank. The Taoists view dream practice as an opportunity to
train the intention and the will in conjunction with the subtle
aspects of the body. In other words consciousness which is used
to being active only when awake in the physical learns to be
awake in the subtle also. This is the subtle dimension which is
operating 24 hours of the day.
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-THE BREATH AND CALMNESS
Ancient Taoists discovered that as the mind becomes calm during
meditation a similar process of calmness takes place in the way
we breathe. The breath and consciousness are intimately connected
and the change in brain waves that accompany a good meditation
are in fact facilitated by a corresponding change in the gross
breath passing through the nostrils. Agitated states of mind are
generated when the left hemisphere of the brain is most active.
This is when we generate Beta waves. At the same time that the
left hemisphere activates there is a predominance of breathing
through the right nostril. Our breathing alternates from nostril
to nostril throughout the day. Generally we breathe through the
right nostril from 45 to 90 minutes and activate the left
hemisphere of the brain becoming more active. Then for a brief
period of 3 to 5 minutes we breathe through both nostrils as the
left nostril eventually takes over activating the right
hemisphere of the brain. When the right hemisphere of the brain
is active we enter into a more relaxed mental state with less
activity and less agitation. In meditation in order to enter into
a state of calmness a change in the breathing pattern has to take
place. If the practitioner is activating the left hemisphere
through the right nostril breath then the first change will be to
switch it to the left nostril, inducing calmer states to
manifest. Eventually as the practice deepens and the brain
becomes more integrated the breath takes place through both
nostrils at the same time. This is the state where Alpha, Theta
and Delta waves begin to manifest.
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THE SLEEPING TIGER In dream
practice the practitioner aims at entering calm states of mind as
quickly as possible. Taoists have traditionally brought about
such changes by adopting the position known as `The Sleeping
Tiger'. In the Sleeping Tiger position one lays on the right side
of the body. The right hand may be cupped around the right ear or
under the pillow. The left arm is extended resting on the left
side. The right leg is slightly bent at the knees, supporting the
body, and the left leg is extended without making it totally
straight. The purpose of this posture is to press on the right
side of the ribs upon certain acupuncture points which induce a
rapid change of the breath from the right nostril to the left. In
this posture the road is open to enter the calmer states of mind
and eventually induce simultaneous nostril breathing. The posture
of the Sleeping Tiger was not confined to practitioners in China
only. The same posture is adopted by dream practitioners in Tibet
and India. The same posture has been found in a sculpture of the
sleeping priestess or goddess in the Hypogeum in the island of
Malta dating from 3800-3600 BC. The Hypogeum is believed to have
been used for receiving prophetic healing dreams by practitioners
who spend the night within its precincts. The Sleeping Tiger
posture is not only used for entering dream practice it is also
the ideal posture for entering death. In Asian art the Buddha at
the moment of death is always shown lying on the right side with
the right hand cupped around the right ear.
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THE PRACTICE OF
DELIBERATENESS A novice after adopting the Sleeping Tiger
posture and voicing the dream command will then have a long and
rocky road still ahead. at the beginning usually nothing happens.
One goes unconscious as usual or if too anxious to accomplish the
goal of the practice have difficulty falling asleep. Worse yet
some practitioners keep waking up over and over without having a
restful night of sleep. What is lacking is a key ingredient of
the practice which is going to sleep with deliberateness.
Normally we go to sleep without clarity of purpose, we simply
cannot go on from fatigue and exhaustion so we lay down and close
the eyes. Whatever happens next is beyond our conscious control.
In dream practice the scenario is totally different. The
practitioner has a clear goal and is carefully creating the right
conditions to fulfill it. But not everything is tight control,
there is also the conscious ability to let go into the unknown
with the same deliberateness of a swimmer who jumps from a diving
board. One lets go into the unknown voicing the command ready to
accept whatever happens.
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THE STAGES OF DREAM
PRACTICE If the desire to succeed in the practice is
excessively strong then, the ancient Taoists warn, one is headed
for trouble. First because frustration and impatience is going to
develop as we fail to reach our goal. Second because excessive
force is a quality which has to be balance with yielding in order
to develop the energy practices to their highest potential. It is
suggested in dream practice that we begin with the simple command
to have a restful sleep regardless of how many hours we sleep.
From that one follows with the command to remember dreams or
simply to awaken at a certain time without alarm clocks. From
those simple commands then one can eventually build up to the
monumental task of becoming conscious within the dream that one
is asleep. The ability to become conscious that one is asleep in
the middle of a dream requires that the awareness focuses with
such intensity that it is not only possible to maintain the
thread of the dream but also at the same time step back to
realize that one is dreaming. This is made possibly because there
is a surplus of energy and sleep is not being used primarily to
rest and repair the body. The body has to be rested and balanced
for dream practice to unfold. If one is fatigued or carrying a
heavy burden of unfinished emotional situations then progress
will be very very slow. The body will be mainly occupied with
maintenance without a surplus to `play in the clouds' as the
Taoists would say.
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POWER NAPS OF THE
SLEEPING TIGER It is generally assumed that dream practice is
best done at night time when the day is done. Taoists dream
practitioners are not content to have only one opportunity per
day at entering dream state consciously so the practice of power
naps was developed early on. Power naps consist in taking short
naps several times a day, lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to an
hour. The frequency of power naps allows the practitioner to
develop the necessary skills at entering dream practice very
rapidly. A by product of power naps is that the body is truly
rested so sleep is truly deliberate and not out of fatigue. One
of the greatest Taoist dream practitioner of the past was Master
Chen Tuan of Henan province in China. He lived during the 10th
century and practiced power naps in a cave at the sacred mountain
of Hua Shan in west China. It is said that visitors had often to
wait while the master completed power naps. Chen Tuan is said to
have realized the highest levels of Taoist practices in dream
state, spending months at a time in deep conscious sleep. Beyond
the constraints of time and space in a dimension that it
extremely fluid.
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THE REALM OF FLUIDITY The
physical dimension is the portion of the energy spectrum most
affected by time and space. It is a dimension where there is a
tremendous gap between wish and fulfillment of the wish, or
between imagination and realization. It is a dimension where
anything we do is limited by time and at the same time takes time
to accomplish. One of the direct experiences which arises out of
consistent dream practice is that time and space have no
influence whatsoever in the subtle energy dimensions. Time and
space are not a limiting factor and play no role whatsoever in
phenomena. It is extremely hard for physical beings to imagine
the state beyond time and space, specially if we have no direct
experiences of subtle energy in our bodies or consciousness. We
all have experienced in our sleep the extremely fluid nature of
dreams. We are able to fly, move great distances, transform
ourselves into something else, become objects or simply turn into
pure consciousness without a body. These are all random
experiences of transcending physical corporeality. As mentioned
before dream practices are not truly aimed at working with
ordinary dreams arising from unresolved emotional states or poor
energy circulation. And Taoist dream practices have nothing to do
with dream interpretation. The ability to remain conscious in
dream state is for learning to play in the dimensions without
time and space. Dimension where imagination and reality are one
and there are no limits. Master Chen Tuan during his long naps
learned to transcends the mental limitations of time and space.
One very common problem practitioners have to overcome is the
unconscious projection of physicality into the non-physical
dimensions. When describing dreams or talking to ourselves in
dreams we are limited by the language of time and space. We speak
of `going somewhere', `hurrying up' and `coming back tomorrow'
and so on. One of the habits the dream practitioner learns is to
be present all the times speaking the language of the instant
that has no past or future, just eternal now. In conscious dream
state anything that is imagined is experienced simultaneously as
dream reality. If one thinks of a house, there is a house
instantly. This is totally different from the dense physical
dimension where the thought of a house, and the mental image of a
house does not manifest a physical house right away. As we all
know the thought of a house might take years of effort to
manifest. This is why Taoist say that the physical dimension is
very dense and very inefficient when it comes to manifesting
reality. There is a tremendous gap between imagination and
manifestation. In the fluid state of conscious dreaming it is
possible to have direct experiences in an instant. Experiences
which are as real and powerful as physical reality. If in a dream
we have a very strong experience of loving someone, as we awaken
into the physical dimension we still carry the emotional
impressions of that love experience throughout the day. If dream
state was pure fantasy there would be no powerful impressions to
carry during the day and no emotional residue to recall.
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Chen Tuan in different phases of Dream Practise
SUSTAINING FOCUS The ability to
remain focused in conscious dreaming is made possible by the
cultivation of mental power and increased vitality. Beginners who
are able to awaken within the dream do so for very brief instants
before either awakening fully into the physical or going
unconscious into deeper sleep. Sustaining focus is very much like
learning to ride a bicycle. One has to maintain a crucial balance
for indefinite time, which in this case is not awakening into the
physical or going unconscious, and at the same time carry out the
numerous exercises for developing the use of the will and the
intention. As we grew up we learned to focus our attention in the
physical world through all of the physical tasks such as learning
to walk, talk and memorize in school. As babies our attention
span for concentrating on anything was very limited and could not
be sustained for more than a few seconds. As we entered school we
learned more and more to use our mental focus for longer and
longer uninterrupted periods. Usually the best students are those
who from very early learned to focus their attention with
intensity for long periods of time. A great teacher would be one
who is able to keep the attention of the students fully engaged
for long periods of time also. So in the physical dimension we
become skillful at sustaining focus of the consciousness for long
periods of time. In dream practice the ability to sustain focus
is a skill that develops gradually with much difficulty and many
set backs. This is so because sustaining focus in the physical
dimension requires only a fraction of the energy it takes for
doing so in the fluid dimensions beyond time and space. A good
analogy would be the difference between trying to run underwater
and on the ground.
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SURPLUS ENERGY The fuel for dream
practice is surplus energy-not only abundance of vitality but
specifically a surplus of vitality to be invested in learning to
sustain conscious focus in dream state. The preliminary energy
practices mentioned before lay the foundation for starting dream
work but they are not enough. At some point the practitioner has
to dig deeper into the available resources and learn to utilize
them more and more efficiently. The obstacles and lack of
progress encountered in dream practice serve as a mirror
revealing where the weak points and blockages are in one's
overall energy structure. There is usually a deepening work in
the area of the emotions, which is where a large portion of the
available vitality is trapped in unresolved issues. There is also
a process of harnessing the energy outwardly spent through the
senses. Fluidity in both the physical and mental state is
cultivated through movement exercises such as Tai Chi and Qi
Gong. So there is a progressive movement towards excellence and
efficiency that gradually transforms the individual into a new
being.
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THE MASTERY OF TIMING One
of the crowning insights of the ancient Taoists is the awareness
that we are at the most fluid and efficient when we are operating
at the right moment. If we carry out some action during the wrong
timing then a monumental amount of energy is required to produce
results and sometimes even that is not enough. In contrast when
the action is riding the river of the right timing there is a
minimum of effort needed to accomplish extraordinary things. One
of the deciding factors in all energy practices is the
recognition of the right timing. In dream practice it means that
one learns to listen to the body and the life force. Listening
for that moment when the totality of one's being points in one
direction with uncompromising power. Listening to the right
timing means that the Taoist is totally committed and available
to the practice whenever it calls. This is the result of a
decision taken fully conscious at some point in the past. Without
a strong decision and a definite commitment there is no way to
begin directing the life force in the direction we want to go.
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ULTIMATE PURPOSE
OF DREAM PRACTICE The development of the intention and the
will, the ability to sustain focus through the subtle dimensions,
the harnessing of one's vitality and the ability to become fluid
and abandoned at the right timing are all directed at one
important experience. That is the transition of consciousness at
the moment of death from the physical to the subtle body. Dream
practice is the training ground for learning to utilize the
intention, the will and consciousness in conjunction with the
subtle energy body. At the moment of death there is a separation
of the consciousness from the physical body into the subtle
energy body. A crossing from time and space into the ocean of
infinity. The dream practitioner is someone who through sustained
effort has learned to swim in the ocean of infinity without
tiring or becoming scared. Someone who is consciously at home in
the complete energy spectrum of the life force. Someone who is no
longer fixed on the physical dimension as the sole reality worth
exploring. For the Taoists the ability to embrace the full
spectrum of the life force is the most important task a human
being can accomplish in this lifetime. It is said that `If one
realizes the Way in the morning one can die at peace in the
evening'. The great insight of the ancient Taoists went even
beyond life and death. So detaching the consciousness from the
physical into the subtle dimensions is not an end in itself. It
is simply a beginning of another cycle of being. A new cycle
which continues under different conditions from the physical and
yet carries a precious gift from the world. The gift is the
`luminous pearl' of indestructible insight condensed through the
alchemy of refining the intention and the will. The traveler
takes only that from the crossing through this world.
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-BIOGRAPHY OF JUAN LI:
Was born in 1946 in Cuba from Cuban and Chinese parents. In 1969
became interested in the dream work of Carl Gustav Jung and upon
graduation from the University in 1970 came to Zurich to study at
the Jung Institute. Since 1969 he began to keep a daily record of
his dreams, some of which he illustrated in watercolors. From
Zurich he went to India where he began to study yoga, eventually
becoming acquainted with the Hindu dream practices. After 1971 he
began to reside in Nepal where he continued his yoga studies with
several Tibetan teachers. It was there that he became aquainted
with the Tibetan dream practices. In 1982 he met Mantak Chia who introduced him to more teachings of
Taoism and the internal energy work. By 1985 enough changes had
taken place in the energy meridians and the organs that the
entries in his dream diaries became very few and widely spaced
apart. Ordinary dreams were reduced to a minimum and instead
conscious dreaming began to take place with regularity. In 1988
Chia asked Juan Li to begin assisting in teaching the
Taoist system in Europe. From that time on he spends the greater
part of the year conducting classes in several countries of
western Europe. Among his classes one is dedicated to the dream
practices. Juan Li and his wife Renu Li reside now in Santa Fe in
the Southwestern United States.
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