## Carlos Castaneda Interviews and Articles

### Quotes From CC Books on Dreaming - 1995

Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 20:13:10 EST
From: scwdye@sunbelt.net (Scott Dye)
Subject: Quotes From CC's Books on Dreaming
Hey everyone,
Here's More Notes on CC's Books, on Dreaming.
I Hope someone will find them usefull.
My notation is as follows
A = The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
B = A Separate Reality
C = Journey to Ixtlan
D = Tales of Power
E = The Second Ring of Power
F = The Eagle's Gift
G = The Fire From Within
H = The Power of Silence
I = The Art of Dreaming
[ Example: H-120 = The Power of Silence, Page 120 ]
>>Dreaming
~ Dreaming is in essence the transformation of ordinary dreams into affairs involving will.
Dreamers, by engaging their attention of the nagual and focusing it on the items and events of their ordinary dreams, change those dreams into dreaming. E-278
~ Dreaming is the not-doing of sleep. Dreaming affords practitioners the use of that portion of their lives spent in slumber. It is as if the dreamers no longer sleep. Yet no illness results from it. They do not lack sleep, but the effect of dreaming seems to be an increase of waking time, owing to the use of the dreaming body. F-23
~ A good rule of thumb is to pay extraordinary attention to dreams that occur 3 or more times. F-50
~ A dreamer should avoid sudden surprises or jolts, and take everything with a grain of salt. F-50
Dreaming is the not-doing of dreams, as you progress in not-doing you will also progress in dreaming. If you tackle not-doing directly, you will know what to do in dreaming. C-198
Each warrior has his own way of dreaming. Each way is different. The only thing which we all have in common is that we play tricks in order to force ourselves to abandon the quest. The counter-measure is to persist in spite of all the barriers and disappointments. D-11
Three techniques that help dreaming: disrupting the routines of life, the gait of power, and not-doing.
These are avenues for learning new ways of perceiving the world. D-249
Dreaming is a practical aid devised by sorcerers, dreaming is training yourself to let go without losing your marbles. D-250
~ In dreaming we pay attention with the belly button; therefore it has to be protected. We need a little warmth or a feeling that something is pressing the belly button in order to hold the images in our dreams. In your dreams you can find a brace for you belly button. I found a pebble in my dreams that fit my belly button, and Don Juan made me look for it day after day in water holes and canyons, until I found it. I made a belt for it and I still wear it day and night.
~ Dreaming tightens the layers of the luminous shell, or ties together their two attentions, so there is no need for the center (attention of the nagual) to push out. So sorcerers like Genaro and Juan might not ever die, because their two attentions are so tightly together.
~ As soon as one learns to do dreaming, any dream that one can remember is no longer a dream, it's dreaming. F-140
~ Dreaming is naturally a way of storing the second attention. F-141
~ One strives to immobilize the second attention only in the learning period. After that, one has to fight the almost invincible pull of the second attention and give only cursory glances at everything.
In dreaming one has to be satisfied with the briefest possible views of everything. As soon as one focuses on anything, one loses control. F-142
~ What takes place in dreaming is the right and left side awareness are wrapped up together. Both of them come together in a single bundle in the dent, the depressed center of the second attention.
To do dreaming one needs to manipulate both the luminous body and the physical body.
First, the center of assembling for the second attention has to be made accessible by being pushed in from the outside by someone else, or sucked in from within by the dreamer. Second, in order to dislodge the first attention, the centers of the physical body located in the midsection and the calves, especially the right one, have to be stimulated and placed as close to one another as possible until they seem to join. Then the sensation of being bundled takes place and automatically the second attention takes over. F-259
The right side, the rational awareness, is wrapped up inside the left side in order to give the dreamer a sense of sobriety and rationality. It is an inhibiting mechanism to protect the dreamer from excesses and bizarre undertakings. F-261
~ At first the new seers were hesitant to use dreaming. It was their belief that dreaming, instead of fortifying, made warriors weak, compulsive, capricious. The old seers were all like that. In order to offset the unwanted effects of dreaming, the new seers developed a complex and rich system of behavior called the warriors' way. With that system, the new seers fortified themselves and acquired the internal strength they needed to guide the shift of the assemblage point in dreams.
Internal strength meant a sense of composure, almost of indifference, a feeling of being at ease, but above all, it meant a natural and profound bent for examination, for understanding. These traits of character were called sobriety.
A life of Impeccability by itself leads unavoidably to a sense of sobriety, and this in turn leads to the movement of the assemblage point. G-175-6
>> Dreaming Body & Dreaming Position
~ Wherever the assemblage point moves in dreams is called the dreaming position. The old seers became so good at keeping their dreaming position that they were even able to wake up while their assemblage points were anchored there. They call that state the Dreaming Body. G-175
>> Procedure for getting to the dreaming body
~ It starts with an initial act, which by the fact of being sustained breeds unbending intent.
Unbending intent leads to internal silence, which leads to inner strength needed to make the assemblage point shift in dreams to suitable positions.
This sequence is the groundwork. The development of control comes as one is able to maintain the dreaming position by doggedly holding on to the vision of the dream. Thus inner strength gets fortified, which makes the assemblage point shift into dreaming positions, which are more and more suitable to fostering sobriety; in other words, dreams by themselves become more and more manageable, even orderly. So, all in all, the procedure to get to the dreaming body is Impeccability in our daily life. G-180-1
>> Ghost Dreaming
~ Whoever does ghost dreaming is marked by fate to have ghost helpers and allies. Those who are violent or destructive sometimes do it. (Carlos did it because he dreamed of a saber toothed tiger, which doesn't exist anymore) F-54
>> Steps to help dreaming
~ The best way to enter into dreaming is to concentrate on the area just 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 seek in dreaming stems from the area an inch or two below the belly button, this energy is called will. In women both come from the womb. F-136
~ The Best position to start dreaming is to sit up on a soft mat with the soles of your feet together, and your thighs flat on the mat. F-138
~ The best time for dreaming is the late night or early morning hours. The first attention of our fellow man around us causes interference, except when they are asleep, when their first attention if dormant. F-138
>> Selecting a Topic in Dreaming
Choose a topic by deliberately holding an image in mind while shutting off the internal dialogue. We have all done this whether we know it or not D-12
>> Set Up dreaming
This means to have a concise and pragmatic control over the general situation of a dream.
1~ Decide to look at your hands in your dreams. The Trick is not just to look at things but to sustain the sight of them. When they begin to change shape you must look as something else, and then look at your hands again. If you only glance briefly the images do not shift. Every time you look at your hands you renew the power needed for dreaming, so in the beginning don't look at too many different things. Four items will suffice every time. Later on, you may enlarge the scope until you can cover all you want. But as soon as the images begin to shift go back to your hands. It takes a long time to perfect this technique. When you feel you can gaze at things indefinitely you will be ready for a new technique. C-112
2~ Next find object, look for specific features, such as building, streets and so on. E-278
3~ Learn to travel. First establish a place you want to go to. Pick a well-know spot, then will yourself to go there. When you have mastered that technique you have to learn to control the exact time of your traveling. C-113
4~ As a final stage, draw the attention of the nagual to focus on the total self. It's usually ushered in by a dream that many of us have had at one time or another in which one is looking at oneself sleeping in bed. A sorcer because his attention has developed enough to allow him to turn around and engage himself in activity, as if in the world of everyday life. From that moment on there is a breakage, a division of sorts in the otherwise unified personality. The result of engaging the attention of the nagual and developing it to the height and sophistication of our daily attention of the world is how one teaches the double. E-278
Dreaming is Real when one has succeeded in bringing everything into focus. Then there is no difference between what you do when you sleep and what out do when you are not sleeping.
>> Stages of falling asleep F-129
1~ Restful vigil is the preliminary state, a state in which the senses become dormant and yet one is aware. In my case, I had always perceived in this state a flood of reddish light, a light exactly like what one sees facing the sun with the eyes closed.
2~ Dynamic vigil is second. The reddish light dissipates, and one is left looking at a scene which is static.
3~ Third is Passive witnessing. In it the dreamer is no longer viewing a frozen bit of the world but observing and event as it occurs. This state is mostly audio and visual.
4~ Dynamic initiative is when you have control over you dream and what you do.
End

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