Customer Reviews

Tibetan Dream Yoga: A Complete System for Becoming Conscious in Your Dreams

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As noted by the other reviewers, these tapes contain *very* little in the way of actual technique. At least 3/4 of the content is rambling about what is supposedly going to be taught, and the author often repeats himself at that. I found very little insight in said rambling, mostly fluffy and silly reiteration of the purpose of the tapes... a purpose which the tapes never fulfill. In fact, these tapes for a long time made me distrust the value of any of the Tibetan dream techniques which have been collected and shared with the 'west'. These tapes could easily make anyone unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism think that the entire endeavor is a sham... truly a shame.

I found much more insight and technique in LaBerge's work on lucid dreaming, specifically _Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming_ (highly recommended). Fortunately I recently came upon another text that quite effectively brought together the teachings of *Tibetan* dream yoga: _The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep_ by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. I strongly recommend this latter text as *infinitely better* than these tapes.

Having enjoyed Surya Dass' books and having been intrigued by his personal story (imagine going on a 3-year solo silent retreat, and enjoying it so much you go on another one), I had great expectations for this little pair of cassettes. Alas, those expecations were for nought. Or for not very much.

About three quarters of this not-a-book on tape is Dass' personal reflections on dreams and their importance to the spiritual journey. I felt as if he were addressing an unwilling participant who needed convincing. As I was already willing to give it a good try, I found myself wishing he would for crying out loud, please get to the point!

Which he does.

Finally.

On side 2 of the second tape.

I now see why this was never released as an actual book: the substance of Surya Dass' "Tibetan Dream Yoga" could fit on one side of one piece of paper. My advice: save your money. There are better ways to learn about dream yoga than this.

While I have the utmost respect for Lama Surya Das, something went terribly wrong here. The lama talks about what he is going to teach you for the entire first tape and for the first side of the second tape. Finally he gets down to the actual teaching only on the second side of tape two. This is truly too bad. It is very hard to train our minds to get to, and stay on a virtuous point of contemplation and meditation. I respectfully think that the lama wildly strayed from the focal point of his teaching.

A considerable disappointment. A quick look at the encyclopaedia in the local library can tell you more about lucid dreaming, even Tantric dream yogas, than these tapes. Indeed, there may be less than five minutes of useful material in the two cassettes and the rest is mostly this man promoting himself and dropping every New Age buzzword he's been able to get his hands on in the past 30 years. I really do feel [taken advantage of]. Moreover, his breath-taking capacity for mispronouncing words and ungrammatical sentences does not inspire confidence. Look, let the nice Amazon.com people sell you a good book by the Dalai Lama where every page has one or two valuable insights.

Very interesting and informative discussion of lucid dreaming - being conscious during dreams - with a set of exercises based on Tibetan Buddhist practice on how to achieve this state.

Lama Surya Das is an inspired teacher both in terms of content (spiritual insight) as well as his teaching method. One can sense his happy open approach to life and teaching in his excellent books. Here one can hear him speak and capture the full extent of that approach and his personality.

The material in these two cassettes is well worth the listen.

The message of consciousness or awakening is the central message of Buddhism and applies not only to dream states but to what we call our "awake" states.

Like the rest of his works, thought provoking message delivered with love and humor.

This set of two CDs contains over two hours of material. Unfortunately, there is actually very little methodological content here. The entire first CD, and roughly two-thirds of the second one, is merely pontification from the author. There is a lot of talk about how wonderful dream yoga is, and many stories and anecdotes about what it can do, to the extent that there's not much room left for actual techniques. The technical advice that is included seems to advocate sleep habits that are quite unhealthy in a physical sense.

The content itself seems to be rather amateurishly produced, with long pauses and a rather poor organization of topics. The overall sense I got from listening to this is that Lama Surya Das just likes listening to himself talk. If you're interested in lucid dreaming, you'll make more progress with a different primer. This was a waste of my money and time.

This audio book was okay. There is some helpful information, but I found it rather vague. Also the delivery was full of whistled S's which was very distracting.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the dream state is called the "Fourth Time" and is considered to be a malleable realm of existence where the past, present, and future meet and intermingle. It was in this dream state that the first meditation masters of Tibet developed a way to speed their progress, while they were sleeping, through the various stages of enlightenment. In Tibetan Dream Yoga, Lama Surya Das teaches exercises to fully utilize the fabric of our dreams to enhance our journey toward ultimate enlightenment. There are also a wealth of specif yoga dreaming techniques to enhance creativity, overcome fear, and free ourselves from harmful habits embedded in our waking lives. Tibetan Dream Yoga is highly recommended to students of enlightenment in general, and Tibetan Buddhist practices in particular.

I listened to the 2-cassette version of this introduction to Tibetan Dream Yoga. LSD (interesting initials) speaks from the Dzogchen tradition which differs greatly from basic Vajrayana (all 4 Tibetan schools + Japanese Shingon) Buddhism. It's the advanced teaching of the old (Nyingma) school as well as of pre-Buddhist Tibetan Bon. It's approach is more relaxed, aimed at effortless Buddhahood vs. heavy-duty ritual practices, dialectical debate, or philosophical arguments. Thus, those familiar with the other 8 "yanas" or paths of Vajrayana may find this approach unfamiliar & less than appealing. Also, LSD speaks more ABOUT Dream Yoga rather than OF it, requiring a listener's fortitude. Instruction is mostly on the last 1/2 of the last side of the last tape. Also, the chanting seems more American Indian than Tibetan (I've been to monasteries in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, & Sikkim).

However, LSD draws interesting parallels with other dream systems (e.g. Taoist Chuang Tsu's question after his butterfly dream--Am I a man dreaming of a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of a man? & the Hasidic dream of a man searching elsewhere for a treasure buried in his home). I find such stories valuable, entertaining, & sometimes enlightening. Of course, this short work cannot go into the depth of Westerner Stephen LaBerge's Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life or contemporary Bon Dzogchen Master Tenzin Wangyal's fine The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep.

LSD provides the lucid dreaming "reality-testing" method--regularly asking yourself if you are dreaming or awake. I did this decades ago; it works: the habit of asking carries over into your dream--you ask & answer the question in your dream! Then, you know you are dreaming within the dream. I haven't tried a dark retreat, but one could certainly do one. The main thrust, I believe, of these practices is to blend life into one--to see everything similarly: dreaming, awake, daydreaming, death--all the Bardos experienced as "one taste." This prepares one for the "clear light" experience (The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition). LSD also provides rituals & a guided meditation. I don't do them; I believe their value depends upon student needs. Obviously LSD cannot tailor-make the tape for each individual listener.

He does provide some interesting Dzogchen turns of phrase: "timeless time," "the dream-like nature of reality," "the daydream we all live in;" words of instruction: "look behind your eyelids as if sky-gazing," "open our 3rd ear," self-shifting," keeping your "feet on earth & head in clouds" at the same time; & one of my favorite William Blake quotes--"He who binds to himself a joy, doth the winged life destroy. Yet he who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternity's sunrise." This is very Dzogchen. For deeper insight read the works of the great Dzogchen Master Longchenpa The Practice of Dzogchen & Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part One: Mind.