The Seven Gates of Dreaming

There are as in all things various stages within dreaming. Don Juan sited these as: Restful vigil is the preliminary state, a state in which the senses become dormant and yet one is aware. The second state is dynamic vigil. n this state one is left loo!ing at a scene, a tableau of sorts, which is static. "ne sees a three#dimensional picture, a fro$en bit of something # a landscape, a street, a house, a person, a face, anything. The third state is passive witnessing. n it the dreamer is no longer viewing a fro$en bit of the world but is observing, eye witnessing, an event as it occurs. t is as if the primacy of the visual and auditory senses ma!es this state of dreaming mainly an affair of the eyes and ears. The fourth state is the one in which you are drawn to act. n it one is compelled to enterprise, to ta!e steps, to ma!e the most of one%s time. This state is called dynamic initiative. &uote from The 'ageles (ift )s with all aspects of Don Juan*s teachings stopping the internal dialogue through the process of +ot#doing is a vital component of dreaming. Dreaming re,uires then a ,uic!ened mind and the energy saved from tal!ing to oneself allows one to dream. Don Juan states also: The best way to enter into dreaming is to concentrate on the area -ust at the tip of the sternum, at the

top of the belly. The attention needed for dreaming stems from that area. The energy needed in order to move and to see! in dreaming stems from the area an inch or two below the belly button. That energy is the will, or the power to select, to assemble. n a woman both the attention and the energy for dreaming originate from the womb. .hat one see!s in dreaming is not what one would pay attention to in everyday life. The shift into dreaming is achieved by anchoring the double to the second attention that being the attention of the nagual, The assemblage point ma!es a natural shift into this left side of awareness when one sleeps. The tric! being to store attention in dreaming / this is to become totally immersed in the dream to the e0tent that one is totally detached from the wa!ing e0perience. There are seven gates of dreaming that must be crossed for the dreamer to gain mastery over their dreaming. 1 The first gate of dreaming is to gain control of ones attention in dreaming. The easiest way of doing this is through finding the hands in dreaming, this anchors the double in the second attention. 1 The second gate of dreaming is to learn how to wa!e up in the dream into yet another dream 2 enabling the dreamer to change dreaming locations entirely. 1 The third gate of dreaming is reached when you find yourself staring at someone in a dream and that someone turns out to be you. There are two stages to this gate. The first stage, is to arrive at the gate3 the second is to cross it. 4y dreaming that you see yourself asleep, you arrive at the third gate. The second phase is to move around once you%ve seen yourself asleep. 1 The fourth gate of dreaming involves learning to use the energy body as a means of travel. This then be used to travel to firstly concrete places in this world3 two, to travel to concrete places out of this world3 and, three, to travel to places that e0ist only in the intent of others. 1 The 5ifth gate of dreaming is to be able to bring out the dreaming double in everyday life. 1 The si0th is to be able to transport the physical body to another location entirely 1 )nd the seventh is to be able to transcend the world entirely and to step beyond this world with the totality of oneself. t ta!es years to master the arts of stal!ing and dreaming # it re,uires perseverance and only then comes about by practicing the disciplines that Don Juan prescribed. have found that remembering direction is a !ey element. +ot only in terms of a long perspective but on the basis of moment to moment orientation 6in all planes of being simultaneously7. 4alancing ourselves and the forces in our world are also of prime importance. 8nderstanding the relativistic and dualistic nature of reality. )nd coming to an understanding that nothing essentially matters e0cept perhaps the rule. "nce we set out on this path there really is little alternative # when one begins to comprehend the !nowledge it cannot then be unlearned, only e0panded upon. "ne may run away but this is not the path with heart and ultimately you will pay. 8nderstanding the concepts of control folly and controlled abandonment is important. n regard to stal!ing controlled folly is our shield. 9ontrol abandonment Don Juan describes as being something simple and %there being nothing to it%. 4ut controlled abandonment is in principle the art of sorcery specifically in the application of dreaming # the ability to ac,uiesce to the situation # to !now how and in what proportion. .e re,uire both 9ontrolled abandonment and controlled folly in both wa!ing and dreaming # being able to give ourselves to the moment and in the same instance able to act to produce the best possible outcome. ) life lived li!e a warrior is unsurpassed # one becomes the master of oneself # the ego being defeated along the way. 4ut as Don Juan says this can only be achieved without either rushing or faltering. The abstract will be achieved in time if one holds firm to the path with heart. 4ut in the end reaching the spirit means there are really no devices one can cling to, no ob-ect, and no person. .e have in the final outcome the say over our lives # it is our decision. am already given to the power that rules my fate. )nd cling to nothing, so will have nothing to defend.

have no thoughts, so will see. fear nothing, so will remember myself. Detached and at ease, will dart past the 'agle To be free