ON MEDITATION

Meditation can be described as an experience of being in a state of mind that does not require any thinking to be aware of the experience. In most cases, if you think that you are meditating, by default, you are not meditating, because your mind is busy thinking. On the other hand, meditation is quite distinct from a deep sleep where you are completely unconscious of your experience. To the contrary, when meditating, you may experience much greater degrees of consciousness than the habitual level of awareness in your daily life. This is not unlike becoming lucid in a night-dream and realizing that you have never been so awake… even in your daily life.

Think about it: whatever you know about your live is based on your recollection of the facts and events of your life. Your knowledge about life in general is based on the same mechanism of memory that allows you to remember your dreams; that is why the line between the dreaming and waking states of consciousness quickly disappears under scrutiny. Moreover, few people would doubt nowadays that everything in this world is made of energy, just like everything in your dreams is made of nothing else than the energy of consciousness. The true nature of reality is one and the same in both of these worlds - the dream world and the world of daily life - suggesting that they actually are not two separate realities but one mystical universe, however strange or even weird things may appear in different parts of it. You might even say that the only distinction between the daily world and your dream world is in being able to tell that you were dreaming once you wake up, but you may not have such a wherewithal in your daily life… perhaps, until the dream called life is over and you wake up from it.

By following my teachings of Dream Yoga and regularly practicing these Qi Dao meditations, you will learn to recognize that you are dreaming during your dreams, which is called lucidity or lucid dreaming. Being lucid literally means knowing that you are dreaming while having a dream (it applies to both day- and night-dreams). It has many profound implications that directly link it to enlightenment. Indeed, being awake in the dream allows you to:

• Recognize that each and every one of the dream characters, objects and experiences in your dreams are products of your own dreaming consciousness
• Realize that all the qualities of your dream characters and the whole dream world reflect back to you those aspects of your consciousness that you don’t identify with
• Learn to identify not only with your own persona, but also with any other dream characters, since they are all the parts of the same Dream Being, which will lead you to a deep understanding of everything and everyone, as well as developing compassion
• Heal whatever ails you as well as any ailments of your dream characters by connecting to the unmanifest dreams hidden beneath the ailments and enabling those dormant aspects of your dreaming to manifest in the most harmonious fashion
• Demonstrate that your physical abilities, mental capacities and creativity are limited only by your own inhibitions, ignorance or self-limiting beliefs
• Know that fighting against the flow of dreaming is a sure way to transform any dream into a nightmare and promote further suffering
• Comprehend that being creative does not need to translate into manipulating anything in your dream, but rather into finding more creative ways to be in the flow of your dreaming
• Trust that the flow of your dreaming, however mysterious and unpredictable, comes from the source within you - the dreamer
• Expand your sense of identity from merely one of the dream characters to identifying with the dreamer, also referred to as Dream Being; on the grand scale, the creator and the creation are one - the entire universe is dreaming itself into existence.

Imagine now that you can translate all these qualities of consciousness into your daily life. That would be bona-fide enlightenment, wouldn’t it? As I wrote in my recently published book entitled Qi Dao - Tibetan Shamanic Qigong: The Art of Being in the Flow, ‘What I call enlightenment is being completely lucid and awake to the reality of the dream called life… realizing that the source of your individual dreams is the same as the mystical source of the big dream called life.’ This source is what I refer to as Dream Being, which is also the totality of this existence.

Discover the magic of Shamanic meditation as taught by Lama Somananda Tantrapa. This extraordinary audio CD will take you on a mystical journey of discovering your inner world, the world of lucid dreaming and spiritual adventure. In addition to the foundational methods in Dream Yoga and Bön – Tibetan Shamanism, this unique CD also includes the special meditation serving as a preparation for the Qi Dao Initiation into the practice of Empowerment.

A bonus feature, the self-healing practice from the first book in the Qi Dao trilogy, will help you transcend your own patterns of holding tension and become centered. You may enjoy this practice on your own although it is easier to learn and master with a practice partner or a Certified Qi Dao coach. Being centered is essential for developing greater sensitivity of subtle flows of Qi, which will enable you to be in the flow. Learning to be consistently centered may even lead you to receiving an Initiation into the Qi Dao tribe of spiritual adventurers.

Regularly practicing these meditations, you are destined to experience:

· Being accepting of and attentive to your life’s lessons

· Being present and never stuck in the head

· Being grounded, rooted and centered

· Being relaxed, natural and spontaneous

· Being awake in the dream called your daily life

· Being in the flow, in the right place and at the right time.

About the author

Lama Somananda Tantrapa is the holder of the lineage of Qi Dao that has been fostered in his clan for 27 generations since 1224 AD. He has over 30 years of experience in Qi Dao and other internal martial arts. After pioneering Qi Dao Coaching in 2000, he has provided wellness, peak performance and life coaching to hundreds of clients from all walks of life. His coaching has inspired many professional athletes, speakers, dancers, singers, writers and actors to open up to the infinite source of power that exists within everyone.

Lama Tantrapa authored the book and DVD entitled “Qi Dao – Tibetan Shamanic Qigong.” Being an avid speaker and presenter, he appeared on many radio and TV programs in the US, Guam and abroad. He currently serves on the NQA Board of Directors. For more information about Qi Dao Coaching, workshops, retreats, and long-distance learning opportunities, visit www.qidao.org.