The Seven Gates of Dreaming.pdf

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. In this state one is left looking at a scene, a tableau of sorts, which is static. One sees a three-dimensional picture, a frozen bit of something - a landscape, a street, a house, a person, a face, anything.” “The third state is passive witnessing. In it the dreamer is no longer viewing a frozen bit of the world but is observing, eye witnessing, an event as it occurs. It is as if the primacy of the visual and auditory senses makes 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. In it one is compelled to enterprise, to take steps, to make the most of one's time. This state is called dynamic initiative.” Quote from “The Eageles Gift” As with all aspects of Don Juan’s teachings “stopping the internal dialogue” through the process of Not-doing is a vital component of dreaming. Dreaming requires then a quickened mind and the energy saved from talking to oneself allows one to dream. Don Juan states also: “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. That energy is the will, or the power to select, to assemble. In a woman both the attention and the energy for dreaming originate from the womb.” What one seeks 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 makes a natural shift into this left side of awareness when one sleeps. The trick being to store attention in dreaming ~ this is to become totally immersed in the dream to the extent that one is totally detached from the waking experience. There are seven gates of dreaming that must be crossed for the dreamer to gain mastery over their dreaming. • 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. • The second gate of dreaming is to learn how to wake up in the dream into yet another dream – enabling the dreamer to change dreaming locations entirely. • 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 gate; the second is to cross it. By 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. • 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 world; two, to travel to concrete places out of this world; and, three, to travel to places that exist only in the intent of others.” • The Fifth gate of dreaming is to be able to bring out the dreaming double in everyday life. • The sixth is to be able to transport the physical body to another location entirely • And the seventh is to be able to transcend the world entirely and to step beyond this world with the totality of oneself. It takes years to master the arts of stalking and dreaming - it requires perseverance and only then comes about by practicing the disciplines that Don Juan prescribed. I have found that remembering direction is a key element. Not only in terms of a long perspective but on the basis of moment to moment orientation (in all planes of being simultaneously). Balancing ourselves and the forces in our world are also of prime importance. Understanding the relativistic and dualistic nature of reality. And coming to an understanding that nothing essentially matters except perhaps the rule. Once we set out on this path there really is little alternative - when one begins to comprehend the knowledge it cannot then be unlearned, only expanded upon. One may run away but this is not the path with heart and ultimately you will pay. Understanding the concepts of control folly and controlled abandonment is important. In regard to stalking controlled folly is our shield. Control abandonment Don Juan describes as being something simple and 'there being nothing to it'. But controlled abandonment is in principle the art of sorcery specifically in the application of dreaming - the ability to acquiesce to the situation - to know how and in what proportion. We require both Controlled abandonment and controlled folly in both waking and dreaming - being able to give ourselves to the moment and in the same instance able to act to produce the best possible outcome. A life lived like a warrior is unsurpassed - one becomes the master of oneself - the ego being defeated along the way. But 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. But in the end reaching the spirit means there are really no devices one can cling to, no object, and no person. We have in the final outcome the say over our lives - it is our decision. I am already given to the power that rules my fate. And I cling to nothing, so I will have nothing to defend.

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