*waves hand*

[yoriyona]

hello,
glad to be here. i only have one castaneda book to refer as "experience": the art of dreaming. i've yet to finish the book, but i wanted to understand this path further because as i read about the first gate of dreaming, i went through a lucid moment and followed the same advice givin to castaneda by don juan: glance at the hands, glance at four objects in the room at most, and come back to to the hands. seems like beginner's luck, as i haven't been able to come back to another lucid moment of that extent since (that was like two, maybe three weeks ago). yet so many things in my dreams come up that i question if it's the same phenomena as mentioned in the art of dreaming. i see myself aware of the sleep, even damn near close to lucidty but somehow interrupted with doubt or something. even earlier today, i took two brief naps, and in those two brief naps, i appeared in the apartment i used to live in. did i witness my inner world? and within one dream, i take a nap believing i'm aware of myself sleeping, and though i fail at achieving some sort of lucidity, i see a white ball centered right in the middle of my closed eyes; was that an assemblage point? another entity/force/uhh thing? or just some not-pertinent image?

since i've been stalking (literally, not dreamily) for like two, three days this forum, more questions came up that i think i get the gist of...but damn, i just need clearance cause it's so overwhelming and i suppose i feel a little too impatient to attempt this tradition that's been cultivated through millenia.

how do i know i've engaged the energy body? is it necessary to be aware of it daily in a wakeful state?
is it possible that i've skipped gates of dreaming? am i still at the first gate of dreaming given the story above? in anyone's experience, does the lucidity become easier from here? 
can inorganic beings contribute to nightmares? what if i'm like screwed and i don't know how to shake them off? is it really like, they just make you think too much about something, ot the point of obsession?
and what's with the sheer complexity of the "double?" it seems as though "doubles" get regarded as "past life", but from what i understood under someone else's  words, they're not past selves, but they kinda are, except the double is the eternal self and it's like weaving seamlessly in portals that orbit into others' lives that are doing something at the same time, doing something at the same time with respect to the eternal self...i hope i'm not disconnected from the actuall dialogue here lol.
and is all of this connected with respect to just dreaming? or is there more than just dreaming? cause it sems like someone elses waking reality could see what the past self sees in a wakeful state. i thought about lucidity at first, but suddenly there's this whole new world that seems hard to put down...

so yes, there's that. and hello again.

[Mornings Son]

Greetings yoriyana

welcome and great that you are inspired to be here and by what you read. Please feel free to post questions and comments on what you find!!

As for all the questions about Dreaming, please state them again in the 'Art of Dreaming' forum here.

My take is of where you are. Keep on knocking the first gate. Persistence will build your focus, recall and personal power. Eventually you will master entering lucid more often. How long does that take? That is sooooo different from person to person, depending on talent, yet impeccable intending of lucid dreaming, and doing related stuff, like dreaming diary and other things will produce results! I took very long time (years) for me, but one day BAAAAMM my Dreaming leveled up radically

[yoriyona]

thank you.

[watergaze]

Hello

(sorry for the late response, you will notice sometimes things do not move too fast around here, though at othertimes they do, one needs to be a bit fluid/flexible)

One Castaneda book is a good start, hope you get to read all of them . What you say about how you immediately did what you read - that is very cool, right? I have the same experience . The first time I read about looking at my hands in dreams I did it just a few hours later .
It is not unusual that after this amazing feat you have a quiet moment in terms of lucidity. The important thing is: now you know it's possible.
To do things like that one needs resources-energy. You just used some of yours to do what you did and now it's recharging . 2-3 weeks is a very short time too, so just keep at it and it will happen again.

It is natural that you question things. It is good that you have an inquisitive mind and that you are curious. This curiosity will serve you well on your travels . Don't even lose it. Concerning the mind, it takes a bit of time (do not be surprised if it is years) for the mind to realize that it cannot really crack some mysteries, but that it does not matter because you have other parts that are equipped to deal with those things. Once this happens something will shift and you/your mind will start functioning in a different way.

The assemblage point is a bit over and between the shoulder blades. What is between your eyes is the third eye.

It is not necessary for you to be aware of your double or your energy body in a wakeful state for you at this point (thankfully it can be around even if you are not aware of it). You are just starting. The best for you I would say is to focus a few simple things to practice. Try to focus on your dreams: make a dream journal and try to become more lucid. Pick an exercise to do during the waking part of your life, for example a gazing exercise (you can gaze at whatever you feel close to: water, fire, stars, shadows, trees, etc). An exercise like seeing links to dreaming too . But it has many other benefits.

There is no need to speculate about you skipping or not skipping the gates of dreaming. Lucidity does become easier with time and good warrior practice. A good warrior shifts their habits and recaps their life (or in other way's heals hurts of the past), which helps with many warrior practices.

Inorganic beings can contribute to nightmares, or other very emotional dreams. However, these dreams are also very helpful to you on your path because they show you your weak spots. For example if you are angry at your friend and you yell at them in dreams, this shows you you need to work on that aspect of your life. Once you recap it and look at why this happens and see the patterns of it in your life, then you slowly start changing and then even if the exact same thing happens that got you angry before, you will not need to yell at your friend (you can still decide to do it if that is the best option that you see to achieve whatever outcome you want to achieve, but it will be in your control to yell or not to yell).
Nightmares are powerful dreams. Florinda, one of the warriors in Castaneda's party had many many nightmares. She was a powerful dreamer.
The interesting thing about nightmares is they can have different purposes. Also, whith the way I dream now, I have dreams that many would consider nightmares if I told them what the dream was about, but my state in the dream is not scared or afraid or in panic etc, I am very focused and these dreams are among the most beneficial to me. Usually I am in a very warrior-like state. I have to be very attentive and focused, and there is no time for nonsense in these dreams. Emotions like fear or anger would be considered nonsense in such dreams too. You have to get your act together or perish, so to speak . A great state to be in .

Inorganic beings will follow you around if they so want, at this point there is not much to do about it. They probably were around before too you just did not know they existed .
All spirits are inorganic beings (inroganic means they do not have a physical body/organs). Many helpful and beneficial spirits are inroganic.

It really does not help anything if you become scared of them or angry at them etc. - some might be attracted to emotions even, so you will just attract them if you do that . Try to be neutral.

Some of these beings might even help you when you get into a pinch . If they do be grateful and thank them. Be respectful with everything and everyone you meet.

The double... you will have to leave that for another day/year lol . First read all of Castaneda's books, there is a lot more said on the subject.
The double is not the past life. In Castaneda they do not believe in reincarnation. Warrior has just this one life. Therefore there are no overdos. He/she needs to get his act together now - and fast .
Double is the part that will survive, even if you do not. But it is not the best case scenario by far.

You can dream in other worlds and have a different life there than you do here. Some people can be aware of more of these dreams simultaneously. Others just dream one at a time. The world here, our waking world, is just another dream.
As your awareness expands and your dreaming abilities become more stable and reliable, you will be able to visit these other realms and see the life you lead there.

In some sense, everything is dreaming . if you are alive you are dreaming . It is therefore not too helpful to ask certain questions at certain points.
I do not know if there is something more than dreaming in this sense. But in another sense there is stalking (you might notice we have a whole section on the site devoted to it) - you will read about it in Castaneda's books.

yes, there is a whole new world to discover . Is it not exciting! You are suddenly on a threshold and it seems the world you have been living in is totally different than you thought. Much more wondrous and magical. How amazingly wonderful. Are you gonna dip your feet in? Are you going to walk through the door? Or just stare at this universe from further off and thinking about all the things it could mean? hehe.

Yes, hello, again, welcome

[Guest]