The Toltec call the automatic synthesis and repackaging of an individual's collective dreams (aka experiences) the parasite (yet they also say it is meant to act as an ally), something western science believes of implicit memory as it researches its role in a number of mental conditions. All these systems agree no matter what they call the implicit memory, it is the foundation of the world appearance which they say is a dream or illusory.
The ancients believed that to wake up or become aware in this dream is the foundation of liberation from latent tendencies and mitote at which time one who does, may masterfully utilize it as a tool, or ally. The Yoga Vashistha quotes the Sage, "They who realize this are free from delusion, from attachment, and from mental distress, while continuing to perform appropriate actions spontaneously (aka implicitly) in situations which the stream of life bears along."
"Lucid dreaming" describes waking up in your dreams at night at which point you can choose your activities which can be quite fantastic much as Vashistha describes can happen in the waking life. To learn how to be lucid in nighttime dreams people establish signals to help them recognize that they are dreaming. An example would be to become lucid when a blue rabbit appears.
In your waking dreams seeing a blue bunny might not be likely, so pick something like pulling up to a stop light, or opening a bottled water. Make an affirmation that when these things occur you will ask what you have been dreaming. As you do, notice the present thoughts and follow how they have been strung together through related links. For example, next time you see any bunny you may think of a blue bunny and also about being lucid in your dream of life.
This new habit is not meant to replace dreaming, but to add being aware of the dreaming to it. With such lucidity, choice happens, and lasting change begins to develop. What is your sign? Look for it, and Be Lucid!
Blue Bunny courtesy of Carly & Art via creative commons search
