Arquivos dreaming attention

Silent Knowledge – Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Silent Knowledge, Uncategorized / By Carlos Castaneda / 4 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Castaneda explores the “art of dreaming,” which he defines as the sorcerers’ technique for breaking the parameters of normal perception to travel into the unknown. Don Juan explains that sorcerers’ dreaming (*ensoñar*) is different from ordinary dreaming (*soñar*) and is based on the deliberate displacement of the “assemblage point” from its usual position. This practice originated from the ancient sorcerers’ observation that the assemblage point moves naturally during sleep. The key to this art is the development of “dreaming attention,” a focused awareness that allows the practitioner to control the dream state and enter other real, energy-generating worlds. The art of dreaming is complemented by the “art of stalking,” which is the ability to hold the assemblage point fixed in its new position, allowing for a full exploration of these other realms.

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The World of Inorganic Beings

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming, Uncategorized / By Carlos Castaneda / 36 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Castaneda begins his objective inquiry into the existence of inorganic beings. During his dreaming practices, he learn to isolate “scouts,” or bursts of foreign energy, which appear as incongruous items in my dreams. His first successful identification was an iridium monkey handle that transformed into a walking stick before dissolving. Don Juan explained that these scouts are reconnoiterers from the inorganic realm. Acting on his instructions, Castaneda finally voiced his intent to follow a scout—disguised as a fish-bird—and was pulled through a tunnel into a strange world that appeared as a gigantic, porous, spongy mass.

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The Third Gate of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming, Uncategorized / By Carlos Castaneda / 38 minutes of reading

Don Juan introduces Castaneda to the third gate of dreaming, which is reached when one finds oneself in a dream staring at one’s own sleeping body. The task of this gate is to move the energy body, an act which deliberately merges the dreaming and daily realities and helps to complete or consolidate the energy body. Castaneda finds himself stuck in his initial attempts, either waking up screaming or being paralyzed in the dream. Don Juan explains this is due to remaining emotional debris and prescribes another, more fluid round of recapitulation. After this, Castaneda is still unable to “walk” in his dreams until don Juan reveals the riddle: the energy body does not walk, it moves like energy itself—by being willed to soar or glide. Upon learning this, Castaneda finds his energy body is complete. Don Juan then reveals the true task of the third gate: to deliberately see energy in dreaming. This ability becomes the ultimate validation, allowing a dreamer to distinguish between a real, energy-generating world and a phantom dream.

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The First Gate of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming, Uncategorized / By Carlos Castaneda / 22 minutes of reading

Don Juan began Castaneda’s formal instruction in the art of dreaming by teaching him about the first of seven gates. He told him he had to learn to “set up dreaming,” which meant taking control of a dream and not letting it shift. The first task was to look at his hands in his dreams. After months of failure, don Juan explained that Castaneda had encountered the first gate of dreaming, which is crossed by becoming aware of the sensation of falling asleep. To do this, one must *intend* it, a concept he explained was understood not by the rational mind but by the “energy body.”

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The Second Gate of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming, Uncategorized / By Carlos Castaneda / 33 minutes of reading

After mastering the first gate of dreaming, Castaneda began to hear a nagging voice in his dreams, which don Juan identified as an entity from another world. Don Juan instructed him to command it to stop, which he did successfully. This marked my readiness for the second gate: waking up from a dream into another dream. This task proved difficult, but eventually, he found himself being pulled from one dream scene to another, and then another, a process he confirmed was the correct way to cross the second gate. He then introduced Castaneda to the concept of inorganic beings—conscious, energy-based life forms that are long, opaque, and candle-like. Don Juan explained that by crossing the first two gates, he had set bait for them and that the jolts of fear he was experiencing were their way of making contact.

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