Playing with the Clouds:The

Foundations of Taoist Dream

Practices
By Juan Li
The beginnings of dream practices in China are lost in the depths of
antiquity. It is said that the emperors of the Shang Dynasty some 3500
years ago had attached to their court a category of ritual performers
called Zhan Meng in charge of interpreting dreams and facilitating dream
divination. These dream specialists worked together with the shamans
and other ritual specialists interpreting omens which appeared either in
the clouds, natural events or in dreams so as to chart the best human
course of action for the emperor and other government officials.
The interest in the experiences which took place in dream state were not
only confined to the government. There was a group of individuals who in
the inaccessible recesses of the sacred mountains, far removed from
ordinary human interaction, explored the infinite potential of dream state.
These practitioners were those who followed the way of nature back to its
origins living a simple life in accordance with the rhythms of nature. They
were called Taoists, from the word Tao meaning path or natural way of
living.
Like the ancestry of the dream practices, there have been Taoists in China
for over 4000 years of recorded history. Very little is known about these
Taoists, even in China, because they carried out their practices in utmost
secrecy. Not because their practices were dangerous and had to be
hidden, but simply because one very important aspect of their self
cultivation was withdrawal from ordinary society so as to cultivate a point
of view radically different from most people.
Over the centuries the Taoists developed a highly efficient and coherent

system of practices aimed at realizing the full potential of human beings.

The Taoists were not content with having good health, and living a quiet
life. Their practices were aimed at developing not only the physical aspect
of their being but most specially the subtle and invisible aspects called
the energy body.

THE WAY OF ENERGY

A fundamental aspect of Taoist practices is the concept of energy or life
force. Energy was understood as a vital force which is at the foundation of
all phenomena, both physical and subtle. This energy which they chose to
call QI manifests in a wide spectrum of variable intensities or frequencies.
From the most subtle which is invisible to the eyes and can only be
perceived with the most refined sensitivities in states of mental calm and
heightened awareness, to increasingly denser aspects which we begin to
perceive as emotional states to the densest aspects as solid matter. A
modern analogy would be from radiation which we are unable to sense
consciously, through electricity which gives a good shock to a stone
which is easily felt as very hard. The ancient Taoists would sense all these
states not as separate but rather as a spectrum of variable intensities.
Constantly aware of this energy which animates everything the Taoists
went on exploring the non-physical aspects of the life force in their own
bodies. The physical body we all can touch and feel is only the densest
aspect of the life force, the grossest aspect of the energy spectrum.
There are increasingly subtle aspects of the spectrum where the life force
never reaches densification.
Every time a Taoist sits down to calm the mind and meditate something
very peculiar takes place. The focus of the five senses and the mental
attention begins to shift gradually from the dense physical to the more
subtle aspects of the body. The longer the practitioner is able to remain
calm without distracting thoughts arising or getting drowsy the more

refined the sensitivity to the life force becomes. Some ancient Taoists by
remaining focused on the subtle energy for hours day after day were able
to sense the life force circulating through their bodies. After years of
practice they were able to chart the flows of the life force in their subtle
bodies with precision through what is called the energy meridians.
The discovery of the energy meridians brought a level of refinement to the
Taoists practices where soon it began to have a profound effect on
healing the body. Illness was understood as arising when the circulation of
the energy was blocked from reaching organs and glands. It was
observed that from the blockages at the subtle level of circulation, in time
a physical malady would appear precisely in those areas affected by poor
circulation.
In order to keep energy circulation at an optimum level the Taoists created
a large variety of exercises, dietary practices and meditations. However,
good circulation is not enough to maintain good health. The Taoists
noticed that our emotional states have a profound effect on the quality of
the life force circulating through the meridians. If a person is very angry
there is an increase in the heart beat and the circulation of the blood. The
rate of breathing changes, often accelerating. Body temperature and
muscle tone also increases accordingly. The body is literally boiling over
with energy. However the quality of the energy boiling over is very poor
due to the negative effect of anger.
It was noticed in antiquity that if a person goes to sleep with a tremendous
amount of unresolved anger, first of all falling sleep becomes extremely
difficult. There is mental agitation and the person is talking internally for
hours. Then when eventually fatigue overcomes the body and the person
falls asleep, there is invariably a succession of dreams where anger
predominates.
In their refined exploring of the subtle energies the Taoists were able to
feel where the emotions, both positive and negative, arise in the body. In

the case of anger it was noticed that profound changes took place in the
liver. This organ not only became more hot, but it could also become
constricted and blocked so much that the circulation of the life force
required so much effort that pain was felt on the side of the liver.
With the discovery of the profound effect that emotions have upon the
quality and circulation of the life force the Taoists created an entire branch
of practices to refine the emotions. One of the simplest practices
discovered was that of the Inner Softening Smile, whereby the practitioner
sends a smile of appreciation to any part of the body along with a
continuous wave of positive feelings. Another very powerful practice
which developed was that of the Six Healing Sounds, where certain
sounds are made which induce the vital organs to vibrate more
harmoniously thus releasing tensions and blocked emotions in the organs.

THE EMOTIONS AND DREAMING

One of the great insights of ancient practitioners was the fact that if a
daily regimen of energy practices is maintained - specially refining the
emotions -, the quality and quantity of dreams changes. If a person goes
to bed after having cleared the vital organs from unresolved emotions the
amount of emotional dreams and nightmares dramatically decreases,
sometimes to the point that they disappear completely. This does not
mean that the person ceases to have dreams, but rather that the quality
of the dream shifts from restless to harmonious and pleasant.
One of the greatest insights gained exploring the connection between
dreams and energy practices was that dreams are experiences taking
place at the level of the subtle bodies. In other words, as a person begins
to fall asleep and the senses gradually disconnect from the physical
world, they turn inward. A process akin to having a good meditation. As
the senses turn inward, the consciousness which was focused on the
physical world through the senses also turns inward, in the direction of

the subtle energy body.

The Taoists consider falling asleep as a process not different from
entering into a meditative state. Just as in deep states of meditation if the
body is fatigued the practitioner may fall asleep and go unconscious, so
going to sleep has to take place, paradoxically, when one is not fatigued.
For the Taoists falling asleep is an open door for playing fully conscious
with the subtle energy body and carrying out energy practices without the
limitations of the physical body.
Every time we let go into sleep our consciousness shifts its focus from the
physical dense body to the subtle energy body at the other end of the
spectrum. If we speak of sleep then it is of the physical body, since the
subtle aspects never fall asleep. The subtle energy aspect operates 24
hours through our lives. We may not be consciously aware when we shift
our conscious focus to the subtle body; however we all do that many
times during our waking hours. For example we all had the experience
when we were children in school of sitting bored through an uninteresting
class. Then as the teacher continued talking we gradually began to go
with our minds somewhere else. We began to dream with the eyes open
about doing something far more enjoyable at that moment. Our conscious
focus was far away from the classroom and the teacher. If that day
dreaming went on for a long time, and all of a sudden the teacher asked
us a question, we had to forcefully bring back our mental focus to the
teacher, with predictable inability to answer the question properly.
Ordinarily we say we were fantasizing at that moment, doing something
which was not real in a physical sense. The Taoist would not call it
fantasizing but rather shifting attention from the physical to the subtle,
just as when we are dreaming in bed.
Dreaming is not an action which is confined to falling asleep. We dream
24 hours a day. A part of our consciousness which is not fully engaged in
the physical plane dealing with day to day problems is focused on the
subtle aspects of the body. Many times a day we shift our conscious

focus from physical reality to subtle reality. Our awareness at that moment
may be focused on a friend that is at the other side of the planet.
Sometimes if our focusing is intense enough something unexpected may
happen: the phone rings! It is our friend calling from the other side of the
planet to tell us they were thinking of us just at that moment. Has this
happened to you? Ordinarily we call these happenings coincidence. A
word for labeling the unexplainable. For the Taoists familiar with the full
spectrum of the life force this is not something unexplainable. When we
shift our mental focus onto someone far away at that instant we are in
direct contact with the subtle body of that person. The geographical
distance is irrelevant.
One of the insights which opens as one begins to consciously shift mental
focus from the physical to the subtle is that the life force is not limited by
physical reality. It could not be because the physical is just one aspect of
the energy spectrum. There is the rest of the spectrum operating
simultaneously beyond the physical. So energy is not limited by space,
nor time which is also a function of space.
Every time we place the head on the pillow and fall asleep our
consciousness focuses its gaze upon a dimension which is not limited by
time or space. A dimension which is extremely fluid and efficient because
it is not limited by time or the constraints of distance. In dream we have all
experienced how in the fraction of an instant we can change from walking
to flying across the landscape or being here and then on the other side of
the moon.
The practices developed by the ancient Taoists around dream state were
designed to tap into the inexhaustible reservoir of possibilities that
transcending time and space offers. One essential notion they got rid of
was the ordinary belief that dreams are fantasies with no basis on reality.
A dream may not have any basis on physical reality, but then physical
existence is not the only realm of experience there is. What we ordinarily
call reality is limited to physical experience and is just a fragment of the

totality of being. Dreams, intuitions, feelings, we dismiss into the dust bin
of the not-real. The Taoists would call that a fragmented vision.

THE PRACTICE OF DYNAMIC SLEEP

A fundamental goal of Taoist dream practices is the ability to enter dream
state deliberately, as an act of will, fully conscious. Ordinarily as we begin
to fall asleep and relax, our senses disconnect one by one, we become
progressively unconscious, entering a twilight zone which rapidly eclipses
into total darkness. From that moment on until we finally awaken several
hours later we lose awareness of where we are or that we are asleep.
In Taoist dream practice one of the first things the practitioner does is
taking a firm decision to remain conscious as one enters dream state. This
initial step is done by voicing a mental command of what one intends to
practice or experience during that sleep session.
The sleep command is a powerful expression of willpower which is usually
voiced over and over as the practitioner prepares to sleep. This repetition
of the sleep command, like all energy practices is to be done with
complete awareness and mindfulness, rather than mechanically or
unconscious. As one begins to enter the twilight state of drowsiness the
sleep command begins to function like a beacon guiding the
consciousness across the threshold of the unconscious.

OPENING CIRCULATION
The sleep command however is not the initial step in dream practice.
Dream practices are not isolated from other modalities of Taoist exercises.
Usually a novice in the Taoist system will begin by learning to open
communication with the life force through a series of exercises designed
to open the flow of the energy meridians. Only when the meridian system

is circulating properly and a degree of physical and emotional balance has

been attained does one begins dream exercises.
It has been discovered since ancient times that if the circulation of the life
force is not balanced, the resulting imbalance manifests very clearly in the
quality of one's dreams. Generally as the meridians are opened and one
learns to regulate the emotions through specific energy practices, there is
a reduction of ordinary dreams. One begins to have less and less of
turbulent emotional dreams which originate from congested organs and in
its place the luminous dreams of profound experiences begin to manifest
from time to time. Practitioners, who for example have been keeping
dream journals for several years, after months of intense meridian
exercises and meditations usually report very infrequent dreams that are
very widely spaced apart. After some time they also begin to experience
greater clarity in dream state. Dreams are more vivid, the images more
powerful carrying a sense of transcendence.
In Taoist practice it is said that as we improve energy circulation and begin
to harmonize the emotions in the organs there is a change in the quality of
one's energy from a gross state to a refined one. This is reflected as
better health both physically and mentally. As the quality changes one can
also say that the potential of the individual changes. The nervous system,
the brain, the glands, the vital organs are all able to function at a greater
degree of harmony. Instead of investing a great part of their vitality
fighting illness and trying to maintain balance in the midst of fatigue and
emotional upheavals, the organism is operating in an energy surplus
mode.
The state of energy abundance is fundamental for the unfolding of dream
practices. A Taoist invests years of constant effort bringing about such
state. If dream practices are attempted otherwise when the body is tired
and fighting imbalances, then one discovers that nothing happens,
because the body needs the sleep for the basic function of resting the
nervous system and the brain and repairing damaged tissues.

THE FOUNDATION OF CALMING THE MIND

Preliminary to dream practices are also the states of mental calmness
brought about by long meditations. When the senses turn inward in deep
practice, the brain changes waves from active Beta to Alpha, deep Alpha
and in experienced meditators to Theta and even Delta. This sequence of
changes is very similar to that taking place as we fall asleep. The brain
moves from polarization in Beta to greater integration in Alpha, Theta and
Delta. This means that a regular meditator has learned to fall asleep
consciously seated quietly in a cushion.
We need to sleep in order to integrate the hemispheres of the brain and
allow the nervous system to rest and repair itself. This essential step is
accomplished in the hours of the night when we cease activities and turn
the senses inward like a meditator. So if a person is meditating daily and
able to integrate the hemispheres of the brain to some degree there is a
resulting change in sleep patterns. Most experienced meditators need
less sleep than people who do not practice. As their practice progresses
is not unusual to begin sleeping an hour less after a few months. Some
advanced practitioners get by with only three to four hours and in the Tao
system there have been many great sages who eventually transcended
the need to sleep at all. A sign of such people would be the absence of a
bed in their house!

THE SHARPING OF MENTAL FOCUS

If a practitioner has reached the level where the sleep pattern is changing
through practices of concentration and circulation of energy then there is
also an increase in the ability to focus the intention for long periods of
time.

In meditation when the senses are turned inward the attention is focused
on something such as the breath, an energy center or the circulation of
life force in a meridian. As the years go by the practitioner automatically
develops greater capacity to remain focused without distractions when
the attention is placed on something. This is an increase in mental power
and also an intensification of the will or intention.
In dream practice the intention which has been strengthened in sitting
practice is then developed further in dream state. The Taoist aims at
entering the normally unconscious states of sleep fully conscious,
carrying forth the awareness and the intention like a candle in the wind.
The sleep command being voiced as one falls asleep is the first stage in
training the intention to remain sharply focused through the ocean of the
unconscious. This simple gesture opens the possibility of extending
consciousness into areas where normally we go blank. The Taoists view
dream practice as an opportunity to train the intention and the will in
conjunction with the subtle aspects of the body. In other words
consciousness which is used to being active only when awake in the
physical learns to be awake in the subtle also. This is the subtle dimension
which is operating 24 hours of the day.

THE BREATH AND CALMNESS

Ancient Taoists discovered that as the mind becomes calm during
meditation a similar process of calmness takes place in the way we
breathe. The breath and consciousness are intimately connected and the
change in brain waves that accompany a good meditation are in fact
facilitated by a corresponding change in the gross breath passing through
the nostrils.
Agitated states of mind are generated when the left hemisphere of the
brain is most active. This is when we generate Beta waves. At the same

time that the left hemisphere activates there is a predominance of

breathing through the right nostril.
Our breathing alternates from nostril to nostril throughout the day.
Generally we breathe through the right nostril from 45 to 90 minutes and
activate the left hemisphere of the brain becoming more active. Then for a
brief period of 3 to 5 minutes we breathe through both nostrils as the left
nostril eventually takes over activating the right hemisphere of the brain.
When the right hemisphere of the brain is active we enter into a more
relaxed mental state with less activity and less agitation.
In meditation in order to enter into a state of calmness a change in the
breathing pattern has to take place. If the practitioner is activating the left
hemisphere through the right nostril breath then the first change will be to
switch it to the left nostril, inducing calmer states to manifest. Eventually
as the practice deepens and the brain becomes more integrated the
breath takes place through both nostrils at the same time. This is the
state where Alpha, Theta and Delta waves begin to manifest.

THE SLEEPING TIGER

In dream practice the practitioner aims at entering calm states of mind as
quickly as possible. Taoists have traditionally brought about such changes
by adopting the position known as The Sleeping Tiger.
In the Sleeping Tiger position one lays on the right side of the body. The
right hand may be cupped around the right ear or under the pillow. The
left arm is extended resting on the left side. The right leg is slightly bent at
the knees, supporting the body, and the left leg is extended without
making it totally straight. The purpose of this posture is to press on the
right side of the ribs upon certain acupuncture points which induce a
rapid change of the breath from the right nostril to the left. In this posture
the road is open to enter the calmer states of mind and eventually induce

simultaneous nostril breathing.

The posture of the Sleeping Tiger was not confined to practitioners in
China only. The same posture is adopted by dream practitioners in Tibet
and India. The same posture has been found in a sculpture of the sleeping
priestess or goddess in the Hypogeum in the island of Malta dating from
3800-3600 BC. The Hypogeum is believed to have been used for
receiving prophetic healing dreams by practitioners who spend the night
within its precincts.
The Sleeping Tiger posture is not only used for entering dream practice it
is also the ideal posture for entering death. In Asian art the Buddha at the
moment of death is always shown lying on the right side with the right
hand cupped around the right ear.

THE PRACTICE OF DELIBERATENESS

A novice after adopting the Sleeping Tiger posture and voicing the dream
command will then have a long and rocky road still ahead. At the
beginning usually nothing happens. One goes unconscious as usual or, if
too anxious to accomplish the goal of the practice, has difficulty falling
asleep. Worse yet some practitioners keep waking up over and over
without having a restful night of sleep. What is lacking is a key ingredient
of the practice which is going to sleep with deliberateness.
Normally we go to sleep without clarity of purpose, we simply cannot go
on from fatigue and exhaustion so we lay down and close the eyes.
Whatever happens next is beyond our conscious control. In dream
practice the scenario is totally different. The practitioner has a clear goal
and is carefully creating the right conditions to fulfill it. But not everything
is tight control, there is also the conscious ability to let go into the
unknown with the same deliberateness of a swimmer who jumps from a
diving board.

One lets go into the unknown voicing the command ready to accept
whatever happens.

THE STAGES OF DREAM PRACTICE

If the desire to succeed in the practice is excessively strong then, the
ancient Taoists warn, one is headed for trouble. First because frustration
and impatience is going to develop as we fail to reach our goal. Second
because excessive force is a quality which has to be balance with yielding
in order to develop the energy practices to their highest potential.
It is suggested in dream practice that we begin with the simple command
to have a restful sleep regardless of how many hours we sleep. From that
one follows with the command to remember dreams or simply to awaken
at a certain time without alarm clocks. From those simple commands then
one can eventually build up to the monumental task of becoming
conscious within the dream that one is asleep.
The ability to become conscious that one is asleep in the middle of a
dream requires that the awareness focuses with such intensity that it is
not only possible to maintain the thread of the dream but also at the same
time step back to realize that one is dreaming. This is made possibly
because there is a surplus of energy and sleep is not being used primarily
to rest and repair the body.
The body has to be rested and balanced for dream practice to unfold. If
one is fatigued or carrying a heavy burden of unfinished emotional
situations then progress will be very very slow. The body will be mainly
occupied with maintenance without a surplus to play in the clouds as
the Taoists would say.

POWER NAPS OF THE SLEEPING TIGER

It is generally assumed that dream practice is best done at night time
when the day is done. Taoists dream practitioners are not content to have
only one opportunity per day at entering dream state consciously so the
practice of power naps was developed early on.
Power naps consist in taking short naps several times a day, lasting
anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. The frequency of power naps
allows the practitioner to develop the necessary skills at entering dream
practice very rapidly. A by product of power naps is that the body is truly
rested so sleep is truly deliberate and not out of fatigue.
One of the greatest Taoist dream practitioner of the past was Master
Chen Tuan of Henan province in China. He lived during the 10th century
and practiced power naps in a cave at the sacred mountain of Hua Shan in
west China. It is said that visitors had often to wait while the master
completed power naps. Chen Tuan is said to have realized the highest
levels of Taoist practices in dream state, spending months at a time in
deep conscious sleep. Beyond the constraints of time and space in a
dimension that is extremely fluid.

THE REALM OF FLUIDITY

The physical dimension is the portion of the energy spectrum most
affected by time and space. It is a dimension where there is a tremendous
gap between wish and fulfillment of the wish, or between imagination and
realization. It is a dimension where anything we do is limited by time and
at the same time takes time to accomplish. One of the direct experiences
which arises out of consistent dream practice is that time and space have
no influence whatsoever in the subtle energy dimensions. Time and space
are not a limiting factor and play no role whatsoever in phenomena. It is
extremely hard for physical beings to imagine the state beyond time and

space, specially if we have no direct experiences of subtle energy in our

bodies or consciousness.
We all have experienced in our sleep the extremely fluid nature of dreams.
We are able to fly, move great distances, transform ourselves into
something else, become objects or simply turn into pure consciousness
without a body. These are all random experiences of transcending
physical corporeality.
As mentioned before dream practices are not truly aimed at working with
ordinary dreams arising from unresolved emotional states or poor energy
circulation. And Taoist dream practices have nothing to do with dream
interpretation. The ability to remain conscious in dream state is for
learning to play in the dimensions without time and space. Dimension
where imagination and reality are one and there are no limits.
Master Chen Tuan during his long naps learned to transcend the mental
limitations of time and space. One very common problem practitioners
have to overcome is the unconscious projection of physicality into the
non-physical dimensions.
When describing dreams or talking to ourselves in dreams we are limited
by the language of time and space. We speak of going somewhere,
hurrying up and coming back tomorrow and so on. One of the habits
the dream practitioner learns is to be present all the times speaking the
language of the instant that has no past or future, just eternal now.
In conscious dream state anything that is imagined is experienced
simultaneously as dream reality. If one thinks of a house, there is a house
instantly. This is totally different from the dense physical dimension where
the thought of a house, and the mental image of a house does not
manifest a physical house right away. As we all know the thought of a
house might take years of effort to manifest. This is why Taoist say that
the physical dimension is very dense and very inefficient when it comes to

manifesting reality. There is a tremendous gap between imagination and

manifestation.
In the fluid state of conscious dreaming it is possible to have direct
experiences in an instant. Experiences which are as real and powerful as
physical reality. If in a dream we have a very strong experience of loving
someone, as we awaken into the physical dimension we still carry the
emotional impressions of that love experience throughout the day. If
dream state was pure fantasy there would be no powerful impressions to
carry during the day and no emotional residue to recall.
SUSTAINING FOCUS
The ability to remain focused in conscious dreaming is made possible by
the cultivation of mental power and increased vitality. Beginners who are
able to awaken within the dream do so for very brief instants before either
awakening fully into the physical or going unconscious into deeper sleep.
Sustaining focus is very much like learning to ride a bicycle. One has to
maintain a crucial balance for indefinite time, which in this case is not
awakening into the physical or going unconscious, and at the same time
carry out the numerous exercises for developing the use of the will and
the intention.
As we grew up we learned to focus our attention in the physical world
through all of the physical tasks such as learning to walk, talk and
memorize in school. As babies our attention span for concentrating on
anything was very limited and could not be sustained for more than a few
seconds. As we entered school we learned more and more to use our
mental focus for longer and longer uninterrupted periods. Usually the best
students are those who from very early learned to focus their attention
with intensity for long periods of time. A great teacher would be one who
is able to keep the attention of the students fully engaged for long periods
of time also. So in the physical dimension we become skillful at sustaining
focus of the consciousness for long periods of time.

In dream practice the ability to sustain focus is a skill that develops

gradually with much difficulty and many set backs. This is so because
sustaining focus in the physical dimension requires only a fraction of the
energy it takes for doing so in the fluid dimensions beyond time and
space. A good analogy would be the difference between trying to run
underwater and on the ground.
SURPLUS ENERGY
The fuel for dream practice is surplus energy. Not only abundance of
vitality but specifically a surplus of vitality to be invested in learning to
sustain conscious focus in dream state. The preliminary energy practices
mentioned before lay the foundation for starting dream work but they are
not enough. At some point the practitioner has to dig deeper into the
available resources and learn to utilize them more and more efficiently.
The obstacles and lack of progress encountered in dream practice serve
as a mirror revealing where the weak points and blockages are in one's
overall energy structure. There is usually a deepening work in the area of
the emotions, which is where a large portion of the available vitality is
trapped in unresolved issues. There is also a process of harnessing the
energy outwardly spent through the senses. Fluidity in both the physical
and mental state is cultivated through movement exercises such as Tai
Chi and Qi Gong. So there is a progressive movement towards excellence
and efficiency that gradually transforms the individual into a new being.

THE MASTERY OF TIMING

One of the crowning insights of the ancient Taoists is the awareness that
we are at the most fluid and efficient when we are operating at the right
moment. If we carry out some action during the wrong timing then a
monumental amount of energy is required to produce results and

sometimes even that is not enough. In contrast when the action is riding
the river of the right timing there is a minimum of effort needed to
accomplish extraordinary things.
One of the deciding factors in all energy practices is the recognition of the
right timing. In dream practice it means that one learns to listen to the
body and the life force. Listening for that moment when the totality of
one's being points in one direction with uncompromising power.
Listening to the right timing means that the Taoist is totally committed and
available to the practice whenever it calls. This is the result of a decision
taken fully conscious at some point in the past. Without a strong decision
and a definite commitment there is no way to begin directing the life force
in the direction we want to go.

ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF DREAM PRACTICE

The development of the intention and the will, the ability to sustain focus
through the subtle dimensions, the harnessing of one's vitality and the
ability to become fluid and abandoned at the right timing are all directed
at one important experience. That is the transition of consciousness at the
moment of death from the physical to the subtle body.
Dream practice is the training ground for learning to utilize the intention,
the will and consciousness in conjunction with the subtle energy body. At
the moment of death there is a separation of the consciousness from the
physical body into the subtle energy body. A crossing from time and
space into the ocean of infinity.
The dream practitioner is someone who through sustained effort has
learned to swim in the ocean of infinity without tiring or becoming scared.
Someone who is consciously at home in the complete energy spectrum of
the life force. Someone who is no longer fixed on the physical dimension

as the sole reality worth exploring.

For the Taoists the ability to embrace the full spectrum of the life force is
the most important task a human being can accomplish in this lifetime. It
is said that if one realizes the Way in the morning one can die at peace in
the evening.
The great insight of the ancient Taoists went even beyond life and death.
So detaching the consciousness from the physical into the subtle
dimensions is not an end in itself. It is simply a beginning of another cycle
of being. A new cycle which continues under different conditions from the
physical and yet carries a precious gift from the world. The gift is the
luminous pearl of indestructible insight condensed through the alchemy
of refining the intention and the will. The traveler takes only that from the
crossing through this world.