“Dreams are a transpersonal tool for evolution”
I have a way to organize the dreaming experience in stages of complexity in order to simplify the learning process. Of course this method of teaching to dream is arbitrary; one could go from not even remembering their dreams one day, to having an out-of-body experience the next day.
But for study’s sake, I have organized the dreaming experience in five stages:
1. Dream recall. This stage entails the acknowledgment of dreams as a tool for evolution and self-expression; as well as the learning of techniques to remember one’s dreams, enhance the dreaming content and the incubation dreams that would give insight into one’s own personal issues.
2. Dreamwork. This stage requires the understanding of one’s dreams in the multiple schools of thought that could enhance the dream content. Examples of these methods are Active Dream Work, Jungian dreamwork, Gestalt techniques, Freudian psychoanalysis, etc. The dreamer assimilates the experience of acquiring insight from a multitude of dream approaches, and choses the ones that resonate the most.
3. Shamanic dreaming. The dreamer becomes knowledgeable of the ancient traditions of dreaming and dream interpretation, and practices the techniques described by the shamans. These techniques include connecting with animal spirits, journeying to the upper and lower worlds, shape-shifting, guided dreaming, etc.
4. Lucid dreaming and out-of-body experiences. This stage requires the dreamer to learn to “be awake” inside the dream, and to realize that they are dreaming. There are multiple techniques that a dreamer can make use of to learn to transfer their consciousness to the dreamtime. This allows the dreamer to be more aware of their environment and to make conscious decisions about how they want to act in the dream scenario. An out-of-body experience happens when the dreamer is dreaming in the environment they really are at the time, but their body is asleep. Some times the dreamer sees their own body sleeping, and experiences a dual consciousness at the same time: that of the observer, and that of the sleeper.
5. Life becomes a dream. The dreamer learns to read reality with the language of dreams, and to talk to reality in the same language. In this stage, the dreamer creates a state of constant dreaming, in which their actions are design to talk to their unconscious by replicating the reality of the dream. The dreamer can design “actions” or “performances” with the intent and purpose of manifesting the experiences they want.
I intend to write a series of ebooks crafting a method of dreaming that follows these five stages. Please stay tuned.