And incubate. So last month, we talked about incubation and incubating dreams. If you missed that, you can always go back to the recorded sessions there at nightclub and in the nightclub, you can find them pretty easily, and you can get check that out. What was that about? And this month, we got something new for you, something really exciting. So with that, before we do the poll, I'm going to hand it off to to Katie for a moment.
Yeah, thank you all for being here, and we want to apologize. The reminder for today's session was scheduled to go out by the nightclub team at 8am this morning, and for some reason, it didn't. So there was a technological mishap. So if you had trouble getting in today, we apologize, and there might be some more people filtering in later, because we just had to double check that and get it sent out just right before we met today. So apologies, and hopefully that will be resolved in the future. And now Bodhi is going to guide us in the poll that we do every month, and you're still muted,
and there we go. Yeah. Okay, so every month, we do a poll just to kind of check in and see where people are at. So you should see this poll on your screen, just kind of giving some statements. And if you would, we would really appreciate it if you would fill out what is the statement that most resonates for your experience with lucid dreaming this last month, since we met a month ago. So this is where I got to get my glasses on and see how many people? Okay, well,
okay,
we got 100% answered. We might as well just read these scores. What do we got? Chelsea,
yeah, so I think there are a couple people still putting answers in. We are about 17 out of 20. I'm not sure why. It says 100% answered. I see that too. Bodie, yeah, but I am gonna end the poll now, since it's been about a minute, and we'll share the results with everyone. So one out of 1717. People have never had a lucid dream. Three out of 17 are unsure. Possibly have had a lucid dream. So if you're unsure, possibly have had a lucid dream, you're welcome to come into the Q and A if you feel comfortable and sharing, and we can try to see if it is a lucid dream. One out of 17 had their first lucid dream in the past month. Yay, yay. Great job. So if you feel comfortable to come on and share, we'd love to hear about it and celebrate you. And then zero out of 17 are unsure possibly had their first lucid dream in the last month. And then eight out of 17, I always have to click on this one have been lucid dreaming for a while and did not have a lucid dream within the past month. And then four out of 17 have been lucid dreaming for a while and did have a lucid dream in the past month. So Great job everybody. Thank you so much for sharing.
Yeah, those are fantastic numbers. That's great. So we add another person that had their first lucid dream to our overall score, which must put us somewhere around 13 people since we started this group, I think is that right? Katie,
um, at least, yeah, yeah, that sounds about right, yeah.
So. So, just since start starting the group, 13 people have had their their first lucid dream. So the number is climbing. Thanks, everybody. The group experience is working so wonderful. So that's our poll for them for the month. And All right, Elsie, what do we got next?
Yeah, thanks, Bodhi. So this month, we are going to be talking about mantra. So I woo, I just saw my hand go, woo, yeah. So I'm going to give a little bit of an overarching context. First, what mantra is. And. How we can use it. So a mantra is really a word, a phrase or a sound that we can say silently or vocally, and it can be repeated and or sung or chanted to support a state of mind. Mantras can be really simple or they can be really complex, and they're often chosen based off of personal beliefs, cultural traditions or individual preferences. They're often used in meditation, prayer or spiritual practices to really focus the mind and reduce stress and promote inner peace. And what I something I really loved learning about mantras, and that I've experienced myself personally, is that mantras are really known as mind protection. So I just want that to, like, sit with us for a second, for you to, like, really think about that and feel into that. Like, to have a form of mind protection for yourself, so they can really protect our minds from distraction. And are actually a form of consciousness transference. So we're transferring our consciousness from one state to another when we're using a mantra, and it's really an experience of changing, shaping our mind voluntarily, instead of out of habitual patterns. And when we do it, we're invoking that state of mind using a sacred sound, and sound works with vibrations. So we're also working with the vibrations that are within our body, and they invite us into a state of mind that's more in tune with the subtle realms, the subtle dimensions within us. And there's something that Andrew likes to say that I really enjoy, because I can really relate to this, which is we're always reciting mantras, whether we know it or not. And he gives the example of me, me, me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, I and so these mantras are really self serving loops that we constantly have going within us. I mean, I this. I can totally relate to this. And a mantra is changing that pattern, that unconscious pattern, using sound to then reshape our mind, because our mind is always taking rebirth, and mantras are really allowing us to be in more resonance with reality. And in addition to being mind protection, they can be a stability technique. And they can be a stability technique in waking life and also in a lucid dream. So just like in waking life, if we recognize that we are non lucid, we're going through our day, doing our thing, not really like aware. And then all of a sudden we become lucid. Recognition and liberation are simultaneous, and in that moment, we decide to engage the mantra. By engaging the mantra, we can then stabilize the mind in waking life and in the dream, and we invite ourselves into a more stable and lucid experience. So mantras can also be used as an induction technique, and you can, as you're transitioning into sleep, repeat the mantra aloud or silently, and it could induce a lucid dream. So an important aspect of this, as with any kind of induction technique, is, what is our belief? Do? Can we do we believe in this technique, and then what is our intention behind it? And so really, by focusing on a mantra, the mind can be cleared of distractions, brought into a state of calm and brought into concentration. So that's what I have to share about mantra. So I know Katie's going to share a bit more.
Thank you, Chelsea, that was beautiful. So our focus for today is going to be on a particular mantra. Which is the Dream Yoga mantra, Om ah, nu Ta ra. And this Dream Yoga mantra comes from the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which is actually the Dalai Lama's lineage. It's the only Dream Yoga mantra that we are aware of from the Tibetan wisdom traditions. If you know of any others from the Tibetan wisdom traditions, if you ever have heard of any, let us know this is the one that we know about and that we use frequently as a way of both inducing and stabilizing lucid dreams. So in this mantra, we're working with five seed syllables, Om, ah, nu, Ta ra, and each seed syllable represents a primordial sound. So the ancient Tibetan masters, Thank you, Barry, that's great. I knew it was you without even saying your name, Barry. Barry put up a nice diagram of the Lotus with some of mantra words from the syllables. So yes, these primordial sounds were sounds that were actually listened for by the ancient Tibetan masters. So they would become very, very quiet, still silent and spacious inside and deeply, deeply listen to these most subtle primordial sounds, and the first forms to emerge from the void of no thingness are sound and light. Those are the most subtle forms, and these primordial sounds are the most subtle sounds. So using mantra is really our way of bridging back to source, bridging back to the source of everything. So it's really, really powerful work to work with mantra, and because this is a tantric practice, as we are reciting the mantra, which we're going to do together shortly as we're reciting it, it's really important that we're actually feeling it in our bodies. We're really feeling the vibrations, and we're really being with the experience that we're having internally. And that could be different for each of us. So there are in different traditions, different installations of these sounds in different parts of the body. But for the purposes of today, we're going to focus on what do you feel? How do you feel that sound inside of you, so that you can really approach it from an experiential place first, rather than a conceptual place. So I'm going to share a slide.
So the mantra is om, ah, nu, ta, ra, and each of these syllables has an elemental correlation to it as well. So OM is corresponding with the space element and the color white. So you could feel, I'm going to give kind of like a feeling sense for each of each of these elemental correlations with the seed syllable. So with the space element, you can imagine a clear open sky. So if you gaze at a clear open sky, maybe it's a blue sky. With a soft gaze, you might notice that you're more easily able to connect with the element of space. And you might notice also that you start to see white between the particles of blue, there's white as well. So this is the first syllable om, as if you are gazing at a clear, open sky. The second syllable is ah. This is connected with the water element. So you might imagine crystalline blue water, like in the photo here, and that feeling of fluidity and flow when you're in the water, you feel yourself relaxing into a warm bath or into a lake or a river or an ocean, feeling that
the third syllable is nu, which is connected with. The earth element. And so for this, you might imagine Earth itself. It could be dirt or sand. Maybe it's golden colored, or has a yellowish hue to it. I was looking up photos of sand dunes in Tibet, and a lot of the sand dunes there have a very golden quality to them. So the place where this this mantra originated, connected the color yellow gold with Earth, and in feeling that connection with Earth, feeling the grounding, stabilizing qualities of the earth element. No, I the fourth syllable is Ta. Ta is connected with the fire element. So with this primordial sound, you might imagine you're in front of a fire. Could be a campfire, or a fireplace or a forest fire could be the warmth of the sun and feel that warmth, that radiance, that energizing, enlivenment of the fire element TA, And the fifth seed syllable is raw. This is connected with the air element. The color is green. And this green color comes from the Association of the air element with life energy. So the air is the breath. It is the source of life energy. So it's given the color green. And I also, I depicted the green air as the green air mixed with the solar wind that arises in the Northern Lights. It sort of gives a visual to the air, to that quality of air. So with the raw syllable, feel that cleansing, clearing energy of the air moving through you, and feel that connection with life force. So as we are singing the syllables, which we're going to do first one at a time, so that we can really feel each one, and then later we'll do Chelsea will guide us in a more rhythmic version of the mantra, where we're doing it all together. But while you're singing the syllables one at a time, a few things to think about. One is you can play with different speeds. So you might go slow or fast or somewhere in the middle, different tones. You can go higher or lower, different volumes. You might go loud or quiet, whisper, and also how you are breathing between the syllables. So maybe you're just taking small sips of air in between each syllable, or maybe you're wanting to leave more space to take deeper, fuller breaths. But the suggestion is to really pay attention to your body. Don't have it feel effortful or forced. You want it to feel good and to let the mantra really work with you like it's a co creation between your own creation of it and what it wants to do as it moves through you.
Great.
So I am going to invite you, if you have a journal nearby and you like journaling your experiences, bring that forth so that you can write down after each syllable that we practice. I'm going to give a brief moment for reflection, and this reflection could be internal, where you're just kind of noticing and thinking and contemplating, or it could be something that you write down, and then afterwards, there will be an opportunity where we can share that in the chat and share that in the Q, A, but we're going to do one syllable at a time, starting with om, and I'm going to be I'm going to have my microphone on initially, just as we get rolling, and then I'll turn my microphone off briefly, so that you can really just feel it in your own experience, only using your own voice. And we'll keep the mantra up here so that you can see it, and then, yeah, you'll be able to hear it as well. So I'm going to play with each one at, you know, maybe a couple different pacings, and then I'll turn off my microphone, and you can do it independently in your own space. All right. So we'll begin with om. Connected with the color white and the clear open sky. Oh,
oh. Really notice where you feel it in Your Body.
Om,
good and now take a moment to either simply reflect internally or to write down what did you experience? Where did you feel that? What did it feel Like? I
Okay, so now We'll move On to Ah.
Good And
now, once again, take a moment to reflect, where did you feel that? What did it feel like in your body? I
Now we'll move on to new. New is connected with the earth element. It is gold in color.
Nu,
No continue on your own and
and now take a moment to reflect, either writing down or simply internally. What did you feel there? What happened for you? What was your experience of New in your body? I
and now TA, red in color connected with the Fire Element, Ta.
Ta.
Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta,
ah, continue on Your own hearing only your own voice. Ah,
and now take a moment to reflect on your experience in your journal or internally. What did you feel? I.
Final syllable, bra green in color and connected with the Air element. Wrong.
Ra, ra,
wrong. Continue on your own, hearing only your own voice. You
and now reflect what did you feel in your Body? Write it down or make a mental note and
good.
So during the Q A, you will have an opportunity to share some of your experiences, either in the chat or out loud. But for now, we're going to transition into the rhythmic mantra, which Chelsea will guide us in.
Thank you, Katie, that was beautiful. Really loved feeling different spaces in my body where I was feeling the syllables, um, we're going to transition into doing the rhythmic mantra. So it's going to be the mantra, the syllables strung together. So it's going to sound like om, nu, ta, Ra. And I'm going to be guiding us through it. So we're going to start out loud, so a little bit louder than you normally speak, and then we're going to go to normal, or just like how you normally speak, that normal volume, and then we're going to go to a whisper, so it's going to sound maybe a little like this, and then we're going to go into internal so we're going to still be chanting it, but it's not going to be vocalized. And then we're going to go into a silence for a little bit, and I'll keep I'll keep chanting it. And I just want to really encourage you to listen to your own pacing. So if you want to go faster than I'm going, if you want to go slower, do that, and I'll let you know when we're going to be decrescendoing down. So I'll give you a word, maybe I'll say quiet or something like that, and I'll let you know each time. And so what we're going to want to do first is just get into a really comfortable position, and Katie is going to leave the. Entrap on the screen, so we have a reminder of what it is as well. And so just find yourself in a comfortable position. You can have your eyes opened or closed, whatever is going to feel best for you in this moment. You can have your hands on your thighs. You can put your hands over your heart, or one on your heart, one on your belly. Just kind of ask yourself what you need right now and follow that. And then I'll begin chanting. And I invite you to chant with me, starting with loud, Om ah, new Tara,
Om ah,
new Tara,
Om ah
new Tara, Om ah nu Tara, Om ah nu Tara, Om ah nu Tara o manoo Tara o manoo, Tara o manoo Tara, neutral, normal, o manoo Tara,
O manoo,
Tara o manoo, Tara o manoo,
Tara O
Ma new Tara o aura, o manoo Tara, o manoo Tara O Ma, nu Taura O Ma, nu Taura o manoo Tara, o manoo Tara, O manoota, Ra om Tara, O manootara, o Manu Tara,
whisper,
oh, job now internally. I
now, release the mantra and sit in silence. Notice how your body feels, how you feel and
And as we transition out of this conscious rebirthing practice, Inquire within yourself, has your state of mind changed and
however, feels best to you to return to the group, take Your time to adjust and open your eyes,
recollect and
as we move into conversation and Q A,
okay, thank you, Chelsea, that was great, wonderful. So yeah, we'd love to hear some of your comments. What do you guys think about that? What do you think about this mantra? How was it for you? So while we're doing this question and answer, if you want to just write something in the chat let us know how it was for you. That'd be great. So we're now open for questions. And Katie, I think there was a question in the chat while you were talking, maybe take a look at that. And, yeah,
yeah. Was it about revisiting the difference of space and air? Oh, man. Ra, yeah, yeah, yeah, great, yeah, it's a good question. So they're the two most subtle elements. Space is more subtle than air. So if you think about air, it has like think about it as wind. That's the dynamic nature of air moving quality. So air is is flexible, it's fluid, it's flowing. It can be moving or still. It can be strong or soft. It can have moisture in it, or not a little bit more dense than the space element, but definitely the least dense of the other elements that have more form to them, space element is it's more formless, so it's open, it's empty. It is all that is. It pervades all the elements, but also transcends all the elements. So it's like the mother of all the elements. It's really the one that has the most power and the most potentiality to create all the other elements associated with the color white, sometimes associated with the crown. In the in the Gelug lineage, it is associated with the crown. Sometimes in other lineages, it could be associated with the heart as well, but it's also the OM is had this dream? Had this lucid dream years ago where I could hear all of the sounds of the universe, like every tonality of the universe combined, and they were all creating this beautiful, interconnected harmonic and the sound was om. It was the combination of all the sounds, so it really represents everything. All that is great. So yeah, if there's any further clarification or question on that, feel free to raise your hand, but I'll leave it there for now.
Fantastic. That was was really good. That helped me out. If anyone has any questions, you can just like, raise your hand the emoji, use the emoji or something, or just let us know. Know, yeah, and what I haven't checked chat. Maybe, Chelsea, do you see anything in the chat?
I don't see anything in the chat, really, this space is for, you know, community, connection, and so we'd love to hear your experience with the mantra doesn't need to be a question. You could just share kind of what's going on with you. And if any of the people who are questioning if they had a lucid dream, if you want to come on and we can explore that together, things like that. So yeah, we welcome that here.
Oh, hey, Tim. Tim has his hand up. Hey, Tim, what you got for us?
I think Kate was maybe, oh, Kate, excuse
me, Tim. She's waving, waving. You waving.
It's all good, yeah, okay, let's
just go with Tim. Sorry about that.
Okay. Can you hear me? Yes,
okay.
This is a this is just remind me of the time we spent at Bayou in June, Chelsea and Katie will remember this. But I love seeing the elements related to this, and it's still very much with what I felt there is it all is the formation of the energy or intention, the seed. And these are all seed syllables, but OM is the beginning of that, and of the the planting of the seed in the the physical, but also of the subtle body. And, ah, yeah, man, that's, that's the universal of rest and relaxation. Ah, so it's the release of the source of energy of that fountain head of OM is released into the physical and subtle body. And we're made of water. This is, you know, this is the water element. So we're made of water. So we're being then permeated with the idea intention that comes from the ether the ALM, that formation of the seed is, now we're being permeated with that. And then new is, is that the earth element, that the rooting and the opening of the seed, and that, ooh, feeling that as that, as if the Earth is being penetrated by the roots that new feeling where we're feeling, that penetration of the roots of this idea, this intention, this seed syllable, opening up within us and the TA is the the rising emergence of fire, That metabolic transformation as the seed begins to open up and and rise with with the with that, that that rising emergence of TA as the the sprout begins to come up through the soil and the raw with the air element, as Katie talked about, air is all about movement. It's the the cheer of our longing, of the unfolding into the atmosphere of open manifestation, like the blossoming of a flower or the opening of a leaf. So this is the cycle of gestation that we've just been through. I felt like I was pregnant and giving birth all through this whole, this whole cycle.
Nice, nice, beautiful. Thank you. Tim, that's awesome. Thank you for sharing that. Kate. Want to get to you what, what? I
should have gone first. I should have gone first. And that was so awesome, too. I as you're saying that I'm looking through my notes and I am realizing that it, each one kind of does relate to the next, it felt like to me. So I had a really cool, interesting experience with that in my own but I do have questions. One was Linda's question in the chat, which is, how should we utilize this mantra? So, like before bed, say, is there a number of times oftentimes there's kind of instruction as far as how many times to say mantra? So just curious about that, I was also one of the three people who is unsure if I had a lucid dream, your share of your dream, Katie was so awesome. I I, I'm not on the paid group, but I, like, really just want to sit and talk and hear about people's dreams. And so that was so juicy to hear your lucid dream. So my question is like, how do you know that that was lucid? Were you aware? That you were dreaming in that moment? Were you trying to do anything, or was it? So I'm curious about that, because I'd like to know I have really active, vivid dream life. I remember, I have really strong dream recall, like I can actually just think about my dream I had last night right now, and I'm just right in it. I know all the details, and it's, it's right there for me, kind of like picking up a book. So I'm just, I had one experience recently that I'm curious about, and so I would just like to hear specifically how to use that mantra, if there's, like, a prescription kind of thing for it, and then also what constitutes as a lucid dream versus Yeah, knowing that you're is it? Is it simply just the fact of knowing that you're dreaming while you're in your dream, just saying, I know I'm dreaming right now and then, is that lucid? Or is there something else seeing? Lots of nods. So those are my questions.
All right. Katie,
sure. Yeah. So I'll answer the part about the lucid dreaming in my lucid dream, and then Chelsea, maybe you want to answer the part about the mantra. Okay, great. So, yeah, so lucid dreaming is simply being aware that you are dreaming while you are dreaming. That's it. If you're doing that, it's a lucid dream. It doesn't matter if it's a good dream or a bad dream, a beautiful dream or a terrible dream, the awareness component is what makes it lucid. There can be varying degrees of lucidity, so sometimes you might be a little bit lucid, like, Oh yeah, and dreaming, and it's maybe it's not that vivid, and you kind of know, but you're not, you don't have the strength of lucidity to engage with the dream more deeply. And then that ranges all the way up to having a hyper lucid dream, where the imagery is incredibly vivid and it feels as real, if not more real, than waking life. So there's a spectrum there as well. And sometimes it might just be a moment of realization, oh, I'm dreaming, and then it might go away, still lucid dream, still a lucid moment. So you really want to be aware of and like track and celebrate any lucid moment, however small or however big.
Yeah. I mean, obviously, when I when I wake up before I've when the winds are starting to move in my body, and when I'm like, my eyes are closed. I still am not Kate, yet. I'm just, I just wake up. My eyes are still closed. I become aware of that. It's a dream, obviously. And I'm like, oh, that dream. And then what was that one earlier in the morning? And like, I'm still just, I'm just kind of like, flipping through the pages of the dreams before I even really stir in the morning. Physically, is that lucid, or is am I awake at that time? It's always in the morning, usually when I'm recognizing that I'm dreaming.
It sounds like it could be one of two things. It could be that you're awake and you're just revisiting, remembering,
yeah, but it feels like, okay, yeah. It
could be that the other opportunity is there. There's that liminal space between dreaming and waking. It's called the the hypergogic state after after dreaming before we wake up. So when you're in that liminal state, sometimes you might have be having little dreamlets, like imagery coming the hypergogic is actually as we're going to sleep, and then the hypnopompic is as we're waking up. So in those liminal stages in between, we can have little dreamlets, little lucid, little lucid dreamlets that aren't really like a full lucid dream. That's another option, maybe the first one for you, the strong dream recall, yes,
the one after I'm waking up. But the last thing I'll mention is, since I've been in this group, and since I've been diving into dreams a lot more, since about about June, I I realized where I can have have lucidity. I know I have specific things that happen in my dreams where I'm like, oh, that's all that's always, that always happens when I'm dreaming, and it never happens in waking life. So I'm like, for example, like, if I'm pooping and there's like, someone witnessing me pooping 100% that's got to be a dream, because that never happens in real life. Like, I don't have people just like all like trying to get into the stall or whatever it is, you know. So I should know by now that that means I'm dreaming, um, also like trying to enter my email address, like, if I've tried, like, four times and I just can't enter my phone number or email address correctly, 100% I'm dreaming that never happens in waking life. And also working a car, like the brakes, the steering, if it's not working properly, if the car is, like, sliding sideways and I'm braking or whatever. So now, so, so that's, this is kind of where I'm at. These are, like, my little lenses. I know that that is going to be my access to lucid dreaming, yeah. And only one time in the last four months, I've said in my dream I'm dreaming right now. This is a dream, and that's just as far as I got. But I said in my dream I'm dreaming right now. So that was my first and only time I've ever been lucid. But I'm wondering if those, if that, if the awareness of those moments can help me have access to lucid dreaming. And then the last thing I will say this is, was my point was that I don't struggle with those things as much in my dreams anymore. So I used to sort of struggle. It seemed like for like, 15 minutes or an hour I'd be, like, doing the email address entering thing, and it won't like, I'm like, long periods of that. And now when I have those moments in my dream, I'm not knowing that I'm dreaming, but I just struggle less, like I'm it's less efforting, and it's less fumbling, and it's just kind of happens, and I'm like, I'm not going to mess with the email right now. Then, like, I just kind of don't let myself struggle or stress in my dream where I used to. So I'm wondering if I'm starting to wake up in those access moments.
Absolutely, yeah, you absolutely are. You're tracking your progress really well, and those are all signs of progress towards greater and greater lucidity, those moments you're speaking of. We call them dream signs. So it's a sign, oh, I'm in a dream, and you can actually start to work with those in your waking state as well, like, for example, when you're driving, my brakes are working. Okay, cool. I mean, of course, be careful while you're driving, but you can, you can check these things, or when you're on your computer, oh, look, I can type, okay. And then you can ask yourself the question, Is this a dream? Am I dreaming right now? No, I'm typing in an email, and it's working. Okay, I'm not dreaming. So that then when you're in the dream state, you start asking those questions, and then you can be like, wait, maybe I am. That'd be the next stop with it, but that's but you're doing fantastic and amazing that you had a lucid dream. Awesome. So great. Thank you so much for sharing. Yeah, so I'll turn it to you now, Chelsea to answer on the mantra, which was both Linda and Kate's question.
Yeah. So with the mantra, with this specific one, I'm pretty sure, and Katie correct me if you remember differently. But we didn't get any specific, like prescription around how many times to say it, when to say it, and so for me personally, I've just been creating relationship with it. So that includes just saying it during the day, when it feels like what I especially love to do this when I'm out on a walk, so illusory form. Walk where I'm out in nature and I'm looking around and I'm going, this is a dream. And like seeing everything is dreamlike. And then I'll go into the mantra and start going, oh man. And it can feel very dream like mantra. Mantras can also be really helpful when we're doing things like traveling. For instance, you know, sometimes I'll use this mantra during those moments if I want the moment to seem more dream like my mantra, usually when I'm traveling, is own money, Padme Hum because I noticed that I need more compassion in those moments for myself and others, and then I highly recommend doing it as you're falling asleep. And there's another practice that goes along with this that we'll go into in some months, that has to do with the Lotus that Barry had up for that moment, and it links to saying the mantra as you're falling asleep. So it can work at a as a induction technique, in the sense that as you're saying the mantra as you're falling asleep, it can bring you into a lucid dream, because what is the mantra doing while we're awake? Thanks, Barry, the mantra is stabilizing our mind just as it would in a dream. So if we're thinking about the transition between waking and sleeping, it's bringing that stability with us along the way into the dream state. It's very subtle, but it's very beautiful once we experience it, and so play with it. Have fun with it. See what's true for you.
One thing, one thing I'll add is, I do remember the instruction to do it at least seven times. And so if you're doing the decrescendo. So maybe do seven times at the loud, seven times at the normal, seven times whispering, seven times internally, and then drop into the silence. So any multiple of seven is generally recommended From what I recall from what we were taught by Andrew.
And if you're interested in mantra, there's this really great book. It's called, and I'll put it in the chat, because I know you all want will want to know where to get it. Do this. It's called sacred sounds, discovering the myth and meaning of mantra and Kurt on. There's some really great just instructions about mantra and this book, and Andrew actually recommended it. So, yeah,
thank you, Chelsea and Katie, Kate, I might mention one more thing, because I am fortunate enough to hear all of Katie's dreams first thing in the morning as as we're waking up and doing yoga and stuff, and she gets to hear mine. I think it was this last week Katie said, Oh, wow. I I became lucid, and I noticed I wanted to deepen my lucidity, and so I I did the mantra, I and she said it worked. So we're we're constantly looking for new techniques of how we can really deepen our lucidity, because sometimes, when we first get into a lucid dream, we're not very lucid. It's kind of like things are dull. We're in a story, and we might want to continue the story. But if you can, you know, deepen that lucidity in some way. There's all kinds of techniques. And so I did hear Katie say, hey, that really worked. I you know, things became brighter, I became more lucid. And so the mantra can also be used for that. So just another point for you there. All right, hey, Marion, hi, what you got for us?
A couple of things. Kate just brought up a gazillion questions while I was listening to her, but the first thing I want to say is the visuals really help me. Katie, in the in the, you know, the thing you put up because I'm, we're hearing aids. So mantras present a particular challenge to me from a vibrational point of view, because the hearing aids, it's hard to explain, but essentially, I have tended to stay away from mantra because it's I vibrate in my head. It's not a pleasant feeling. But when I saw the visuals, no surprise, I'm a very visual person, because my hearing is compromised, and it was like there was a real feeling that went with the color and just, you know, the visual, the clouds, the sea, the fire, and so, yeah, I mean, Suddenly I can do a mantra. It has a pleasant feeling to it. So, yeah. I mean, one of the advantages of having a hearing loss in short child, believe it or not, is you become much more visual. And I think that it has translated into the dream state, because it's the way my brain processes. I don't know, I'm just have a I'm sort of like Kate. I none of this seems difficult to me. And I, you know, there's a part of me that says, Oh, don't say that. They're all going to want to slap you. But the fact is, I've been having lucid dreams for a long time and didn't know what. Which brings me to the other question I have, which is not related to mantras, but. Specifically, but one of the things that I noticed after I took Andrew's course is in and I told Chelsea this, in the the majority 90% of my dreams, I don't have a walker and I'm physical, my mobility is compromised too, and so I have this cool red Walker I love, and it's not in any of my dreams like 99% of the time. So not having a walker is a dream sign for me. Now, having said that, because I have been doing Dream Yoga practice and I'm wanting to use the lucidity to do the Bardo practices, I tend to dismiss some of my lucidity because I'm not able to change the scene immediately, or don't have enough awareness to do, you know, transforming the apple into a giraffe. I mean, I'm I feel like I have to really give myself a break and just say, accept whatever comes up in the dream. And if you have enough awareness to do a particular practice, super and if you don't, then just go with whatever is happening and be thankful. Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude for the fact that you remembering what's happening. But, and lastly, I did, I don't know where I heard about the dream chant, and all I was doing was saying it because I couldn't do the actual chant chant, and I've done it for the last three nights, and the content of my dreams has shifted a little bit in the sense that, and again, it's hard to describe, but I've had some more quote, unquote, serious Dreams. I mean, not that all my dreams are rainbows and unicorns, but they tend to not be. I don't tend to have nightmares or really difficult things come up for me, but the last three nights, after using this mantra, I had some fairly serious sort of subconscious things come up for me. So if any of you want to comment on that now, I will be quiet.
Thank you, Marin, thank you so much that was wonderful and so great that you're you're really looking at your ability disability, but you're turning it into something magical. So that's really inspirational. Thank you. I love that. And Katie. Chelsea,
Hi, Mary. Ann, thank you for sharing. Yeah, so let's see. So you've been having more serious dreams for the last three nights, and they feel like they're kind of more so from your subconscious, in a way. And it's after you've been saying the mantra, yeah. Um, my I'm going to put it back onto you. Why? Why do you think that's happening? Um,
you know, it's hard not to, I don't want to over interpret, but it does feel like, I don't know, it's like a depth that's coming up. I do struggle with trying too hard, which you know how that goes. And you get into a dream, and you get suddenly the this awareness, and it's like an excitement, and you pop out of the dream. So I finally still trying to be very economist, and I think the chant maybe adds to that, in a way, and so I'm able to be with the harder stuff. I.
Yeah. I mean, yeah, that absolutely resonates with me. And when you're saying it, it sounds really true for you as well. And another aspect of that is, you know, when we're using the mantra where you we're connecting with the more subtle dimensions of ourselves, yeah? And so that vibration within you is creating maybe a stability where instead when you're in a dream, instead of popping out, you're able to stay with it. And this is actually really fun to play with during the day, too. If maybe there's something going on that's a bit strange, or maybe you're feeling aversion or attachment or self doubt if you start chanting the mantra in that moment, seeing what will happen to your mind, what will happen to your heart, to your body, and it sounds very similar to what you're experiencing in The Dream, you're able to kind of be with things that are more difficult in that moment, because it is a form of mind protection. Yeah,
right. Interesting. Thank you. Thank you so much, all of you.
Thank you. Thank you for being here and for sharing. Yeah,
thank you so much. All right, we've got, I see two more people for sure, lean. We
have three more. And I just, I just wanted to share. We're getting close to the half hour mark. I'll just saying that because I know we're all in different time zones. So maybe we'll take the next three questions and then we'll connect again on the fourth Saturday of the month.
All right, yeah, let's go with Liam. Hey, what's
up, guys? Yeah, my name is Liam. I just kind of popped into this group because I saw it on some Santa Barbara, like offering page. And I love lucid dreaming. And I have a question. I know that it's like, more like Eastern thought, there's a dream. And I really appreciate that, because I kind of studied it with this the Stephen LaBerge, like exploring the world of lucid dreaming, kind of like Western with little bit of Eastern stuff and and, yeah, I guess it all mixes together. But I don't know if you have any guidance for me with this problem I've been having. I find myself like an accomplished lucid dreamer. But recently I find and maybe this is just something that, like a belief that I created in my subconscious that then, like manifest itself. But I feel like my lucid dreams are almost like trying to keep me out. I feel like every time I'm lucid dreaming, I have a false awakening that throws me into different dream reality and or a lucid dream get thrown into a false reality, continue my lucidity, get thrown into another false reality, and then I'll lose it. And it just feels like my lucid dreams are trying to keep me out. And I'm definitely curious on trying this mantra, but I'm just wondering, or like browning out of lucid dreams like they don't become as memorable, because maybe you have them more often than not. But I just want to, like, reinvigorate my lucid dreaming and also have the ability to stay in it longer, so I could do Dream Yoga. And I was just wondering if anything comes to mind when you hear that
that's awesome. Totally cool. Yes. So definitely your, our egos don't want us to do this. So your, your ego is what's, you know, that's what's trying to this, you know, figure out how to switch it up and get you to become unlucid. And so, yeah, same, that mantra, like continue it as your lucid dreaming is going to help. That's one thing you know. Or or continue to test your lucid dream. Yes, I'm dreaming. Or say I'm dreaming, this is a dream. Just continue to say that even as your ego is trying to, you know, throw you into a different, you know, setting, or whatever. So Katie Chelsea, do you have anything to add to that?
Yeah, I do. Um, yeah, thanks, Bodhi. That was great. And I just want to say, Liam first. We actually alternate between eastern and western approaches in this group. So yeah, we like to do both, and mix it up too, and kind of draw from as wide of a range as we can. But yeah, there's a few layers to what you're saying. I'll continue on the stream of what Bodhi was saying with. Stabilization. So in regards to when you are browning out in in dreams, I would definitely say implements a stabilization technique. And this could be something physical that you do with your physical dream body, such as rubbing your hands together. That's one. Spinning your arms is another one, stomping horns, spinning
your arms forwards.
I like licking the floor.
That one's a good one. All right, okay, great, yeah. So maybe you already have your own stabilization techniques that you use whichever ones work best for you implement those stabilization techniques to really like ground and stabilize the dream. And as Bodhi said, we can use mantra for that as well. Yeah,
it's so weird. It just seems like all my old techniques, it's like my ego has learned, like, I like the the take on, like, the ego trying to keep you out, because I feel like that's how it's been, and I've been confused on like, Okay, did I create this because I decided that lucid dreaming is hard all of a sudden, or is something actually trying to keep me out so I can't, like, do the work, and I kind of am leaning towards the ego thing, like something's trying to keep me out, but it's like all these old things I used to do, like my first reality check was kind of like, when You're on the plane, your ears are all clogged up, and you kind of hold your nose and breathe through it and pop everything in your sinuses. Like, for me, that was my, my my reality check and, like, eventually, my ego, if that's the frame we're going to take, like, made it seem like it was reality in my dream. And it's just so weird. It's like, it's learned my techniques and, like, my stability methods and like I have to, feels like I constantly have to come up with some new way, like, in part, like, implement new techniques. So I'm just kind of, I guess, putting a feeler out there and seeing what comes up.
Yeah, you do? You have to change up the techniques, otherwise your mind adapts to them. I used to use the arm spinning, and then it stopped working for me, and I had to switch to a different one. So you it's like you have to be creative with your own mind, but totally the so I don't know if you've ever read Robert Wagoner's work, but he talks about false awakenings happening when we start to get to deeper levels of lucid dreaming. He calls it like false awakenings happen in stage two. They can happen at other levels too, but they are this way of ego trying to prevent us to go to deeper levels. Because the deeper we go, the less of a place for ego there is, and so ego is really trying to preserve itself not to die. One of the things Andrew says is ego can't attend its own funeral, so it fights, and it tries all these tricksy ways to keep you from becoming more and more lucid. So if you can identify what those Trixie ways are, like, I used to have this thing where my ego would trick me into thinking that there were actually people in the room where I was sleeping that were talking and, like, maybe going to do something to me. And so I needed to wake up so that I could, like, make sure that those people weren't going to do anything to me. And then after that happened several times, I was like, wait a minute, this is an ego trick. This isn't actually real. So then the next time that happened in a lucid dream, I was like, nope. I don't believe that, even though it felt super real. So if you can identify those things like, what are those ways that ego is trying to prevent you from going deeper, and then work with those directly, that can be one way of moving through this.
Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you.
All right, thank you. Liam Awesome. Hey, Rob, what do you got?
Hi, you guys. Well, thank you for this so much. And I just, I think when I put my hand up, this was especially stronger, but this, the mantra, did a lot of stuff to me. And it, it, it, put me in a dream. It, I left it into a dream, and I was just a little discombobulating at first, you know, and I looked for my shadow, I found my shadow, but it didn't seem less like a dream and and it's kind of temporizing as I go. And Chelsea touched on it in her experience, I think doing this in the daytime, but, you know, I guess I put up my hand because I I feel like I scare easy. I see a lot of courage in this, you know, I kind of scare easy, and I just the habit of clinging to. Familiarity. You know, it's hard to break, and I can't think of anything objectionable about having this feel just like a dream. You know what I mean, except that I mean, I guess, such as scary. I don't know if you have any tips, I guess, appreciate it, and thanks so much for all this.
Thank you, Rob, yeah, this is deep work totally, and it can be really scary times, and sometimes it can be really joyous, and there's there's just so much depth. So thank you for feeling so deeply into this and realizing just how powerful this dream space is. Yeah,
thank you. Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you Rob. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for being here. And I'm hearing like, what's going on is as you're going into the mantra, and then it's feeling like a dream When you come out of it, and it's kind of feeling like discombobulating and making you feel a little Spacey. And so when we notice that, when that's happening because we're not our striving is not to get to a place of space Enos and discombobulation, it's to find the middle path. And so when we notice we're getting like a little spacey or discombobulated, we can do things that bring us into more of a grounded state, like the putting our hand on our heart, or even, like this stable it's interesting because some of the stabilization techniques that Katie mentioned like they're also somatic techniques as well. So stomping your feet on the ground, if you notice you're feeling spacey, that can make us feel more grounded, more connected to the earth, and so we want to find that space between
om
and RA, right between, between, you know, The the the solid, or, you know, the low and the high. We want to find the middle, the middle ground.
Thank you.
Yeah, yeah, some great things to that we are challenged with. And the dream space gives us that space to achieve wonderful things or overcome things. And fear is a big one. It was a big one. Oh, thanks, Rob.
There is the fair.
Here is the fair. Yeah, yeah, wow. You hear that so much in mythology, then we get to feel it in our dreams. Alexis,
hi, I hope you can hear me. Okay. I know we're short on time. I just wanted to introduce myself for some accountability. I've been really into dreaming my whole life. I have been writing them down for over 20 years. I've managed to wake up in a dream two times, and then just got really excited and then woke up. It was maybe about four months ago this year, I decided to really to commit to doing, you know, reality checks during the day, and nothing happened, and I got, you know, a little depressed about it, even though, in the past, when I had success. It was kind of after I'd given up, and then I just seemed to spontaneously just realize, Oh my gosh, I'm dreaming, but nothing like that has happened, and it's a little frustrating. I do feel that there's some belief in me, like it would just be too good to be true. I There's I just can't have something. I just can't do that because it's so amazing. But it was really interesting doing the mantra, how palpable I really felt each seed syllable, and except for the last one with raw I actually didn't really feel anything or comprehended at all, which I thought might have to do with some kind of like deficiency in myself, but in hearing other people talk about it, it kind of seems like maybe that's normal, considering the what it is. I don't know, but I. Just excited and really grateful for this group, because I don't know many people who are interested in in dreams or talking about them at all, and so I just appreciate the space to share and and for this technique, and if you have any words of advice, I appreciate it, but mostly just thank you.
Thank you, Alex, thank you for coming. And four months is, you know, it seems like a long time, but still it, it, it's you got to keep going. So I encourage you, just keep, keep it up. And then you, you know, you hear something like, Oh, I haven't tried mantra, do it then. And just, it might be the the thing that that clicks for you, you're, you know, it's your technique or your something that you can use that resonates for you. And so, yeah, just continue. Don't give up on those state checks. Keep doing it. Keep going. Four months is enough, and you gotta, you gotta, you're gonna have to keep going, and it's gonna be worth it. You can do it, yeah,
yeah, and I would also add, it's like you said, when you became when you have become lucid, it's when you let go, so playing with this not too tight, not too loose mentality around it, and noticing where you are on that scale, like, am I? Am I, like, really trying and really wanting this and putting a lot of energy around that, or am I too relaxed and not doing anything and trying to find that middle path between the two? And then, just to add on what Bodhi was saying, it's like, it's like a large, vast pot of boiling water, where it takes a really long time to heat up, because these practices are so subtle. So even though you might not have the bubble coming to the surface, which is representative of the lucid dream, that pot is warming slowly, slowly over time, and little by little, more and more starts happening. So I think even having had a few lucid experiences is amazing at this point in your practice. That's incredible. So to really focus on that and the celebratory aspect of that, and and also to examine the doubt you have of like, oh, it would be too good to be true, kind of the self doubt that's arising in that we did a group on this practice called Nine breathings of purification, which we'll put a link to in the chat, which it is all about clearing out what we're grasping on to, what we're averting and our self doubt. Because we all have the self doubt, right? But the more that we can consciously recognize it and clear it, clear it, clear it, the less that it subconsciously controls us and prevents our lucidity from expanding. So yeah, beautiful, beautiful work, and thank you so much for being here. So nice to have you.
All right, thank you so Katie, all right, and that concludes our question answers. So we'll go on to just the final part of our gathering. Katie, you Ah,
here's my microphone. So Chelsea just put a link to the recordings of the previous lucidity induction groups. You just scroll to the bottom of that link in order to access them. And then the one I was just referring to Alexis is called the nine breathings of purification. There's two parts to it. And I will also put a couple more links in the chat. One I wanted to just, I'm going to link to the meditation group, which is actually part of the it's part of the paid nightclub offering for those of you have that. But Andrew goes deeper on mantra in three of those sessions, session number 126, number 134, and number 136, so I'm just going to put a link to that with those sessions in the chat. And then I'm also going to put a link to our contact form. Bodie, Chelsea's in my contact form so that you can give us feedback on this group, if you wish. We love to receive feedback so that we can continue to tailor the group to really serve the constituents that are showing up here. So thank you all, and I will put those links in the chat as we go on to. Chelsea giving the blessing and Bodhi giving the dedication.
All right, thank you so much for being here. Maybe I'll connect to our lucidity in the daytime and the nighttime. May we have the ability to recognize and reshape our minds in the moment with the practices we have been gifted. May we be a wellspring of love, joy and peace for ourselves and others? I
and we'd like to dedicate the time that we've spent together, the teaching and the sharing to the benefit of all sentient beings. May it be so. Thank you. Everyone look forward to seeing you again. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. See y'all next time.
