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BOOK TWO: chapter nine: the nature and meaning of dreams and visions (part 7)

January 21, 2012 § 4 Comments

PART SEVEN: Those Dreams You Don’t Talk About

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[From Buddhas Manjushri, Heruka and Naropa]

There’s one kind of dream that We haven’t mentioned yet, but We can’t ignore it, because it’s probably everyone’s favorite type of dream.

Yes, We’re talking about Sex Dreams, and yes, We’re going to offer some explanations and information for your consideration.

First, let’s get the technical part out of the way: Sex Dreams are usually Non-Lucid Action-Making dreams, but you’d probably already figured that out.

What do Sex Dreams have to do with Dharma?

Well just like sex itself, they can have everything to do with Dharma, but it all depends on one’s point of view and attitude. We’ll go into Pure View in more detail in a moment; for now, let’s just say that there’s no action more virtuous than engaging in union with an Enlightened Being. If you truly engage in union with an Enlightened Being, your mind is mixing completely with the mind of the Union of Bliss and Emptiness, and if you can manage to sustain that Union permanently, then you’ve attained Enlightenment.

Please note that we said permanently.

That means never pausing, never ceasing, never taking a break. We think it’s safe to say that most sex is not like that.

Just the same, sometimes the experience of sex can give you glimpses of what the experience of Union is like. So, in that respect, it can be a very worthwhile endeavor.

We’d like to pause here and make a clarification. Many Buddhist stories make vague references to something called ‘meditation’ when they describe practices that involve ‘consorts’.

In almost all of these instances, ‘meditation’ refers to what might ordinarily be called ‘sex’.

The word ‘ordinary’ is key to understanding why sometimes it’s more fitting to use the word ‘meditation’.

A chapter on Dreams (and Sex) seems to be just as good a place as any to address the differences between ordinary view and Pure View.

Simply out, Pure View is an Enlightened Being’s point of view.

Practitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism make their best effort to engage in Pure View, and this means their goal is to constantly do a number of things. We might call it Supreme Multi-Tasking, but Pure View is much easier to say.

And it’s much easier to say than to do, so an intent Vajrayana practitioner continues to make effort to improve their multi-tasking ability until it finally becomes their very nature, and they’ve therefore attained Enlightenment.

Since We’ve begun a digression, let’s take it a little further and explain a little bit about the Vajrayana Path and Empowerments. We predict that the following explanations will likely receive criticism from traditional Vajrayana Buddhist circles; We’re treading on very sacred ground.

So We’re saying to you that since you’re reading these words, you have the very special karma to be receiving this transmission of an explanation.

What you choose to do with it’s entirely up to you. This advice resembles the advice given to anyone receiving an ‘actual’ Empowerment directly from a Vajra Master appearing in human form before them.

Vajra Masters may appear in any form they choose. The advice is the same: If you believe you’ve received an Empowerment from a Fully Enlightened Being, then that’s exactly what’s happened. If you don’t truly view the Vajra Master as an Enlightened Being, then you might as well just have gone to dinner with him or her, because that’s about how “empowered” you’ll get.

So if you believe that Enlightened Beings can give you a transmission through words that appears to be written by a human being, and from that transmission you may attain Enlightenment, then you have a tremendous amount of faith and will probably attain Enlightenment very easily.

If you think that idea is preposterous, then you might as well skip ahead to the next section, or put the book down altogether, because the explanation about sex won’t do you any good either.

If you fall anywhere in between, then you still have enough faith, so please read on and enjoy.

Now let’s get back to sex, and eventually we’ll get back to dreams about sex.

If you’ve ever had sex of any kind, then you’ve probably got a pretty good idea of how it affects the physical body. There are some wonderful explanations available about how it also affects the energy body: what precisely happens with the channels, winds and drops when one is aroused, and when two people enter into union.

Rather than repeating what’s already been skillfully said, We’ll simply summarize:

When the physical and energy bodies are aroused, one enters into a sort of altered state of awareness.

Then it’s possible that the perceptions of one’s energy body may begin to dominate over the familiar physical perceptions.

This may in turn lead to a transcendental experience, and We’re not talking about physical orgasm. We’re talking about a state of mind with very dreamlike qualities, that’s very subtle and fluid. This state mimics the experiences of highly-realized meditators when they’re approaching Enlightenment.

So, if you enter such a state of arousal, that arousal may act as a stepping stone for making spiritual progress.

We don’t guarantee this will happen for you, so by telling you this We’re not encouraging you to go out and have sex with wild abandon – that’s more likely to produce the opposite of the desired effect. But if the opportunity arises, We’re encouraging you to use your sexual practice as spiritual practice.

The more you meditate, the more you’ll gain control over your mind as well as your subtle channels, winds and drops, and this will positively impact your sexual experience.

Now We can get back to the main subject at hand: Sexual Dreams.

Really, all that’s left to say is that Sexual Dreams may serve the same purpose as the actual sex act when it comes to spiritual progress, and the more mindful you are during your dreams (of using them for spiritual progress), the more progress you’ll make.

It’s also worth telling you a little about the origin of these types of dreams.

Enlightened Beings help manifest your powerful sexual dreams. Spirits, gods and demons aren’t spiritually powerful enough to affect your mind and subtle energy body enough to produce strong sexual arousal when you sleep.

We make a distinction between powerful sexual dreams and simple fantasy dreams. The latter aren’t any more influenced by Enlightened Beings than your other ‘normal’ dreams. But you’ll know the difference if you have a powerful sexual dream, because you’ll remember it and understand naturally that it was a special dream.

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