--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shukra69" <shukr...@...> wrote: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dOyVZR8s6w&feature=related
Inadvertently (since no one replied to my question about references to lucid dreaming or "waking up in the dream") from "Vedic" sources, this post from shukra probably answers the question. There probably are none. And the reasons are 1) dreams are viewed as something that are "given" to us by imaginary gods, and 2) praying to these imag- inary gods and asking them for favors is viewed as the only way to achieve what one wants. In particular, the invocation of 'shrim' or 'shreem' seems to indicate that the believers in the efficacy of this mantra are praying to imaginary Lakshmi or, if hoping that they will be granted pleasant dreams of *money* that will come true, imaginary Kubera. Call me crazy, but practicing techniques that allow me some measure of control over my own dreams -- and under my direction, not some imaginary god or goddess' direction -- are preferable to repeating the same prayer to imaginary beings 1008 times, and then 108 times each night before you go to sleep, then just hoping for the best. The "bottom line" that keeps coming up for me in TM beliefs as they express themselves here is that most of them are *passive*. They involve paying your money to something or praying to something and then hoping for the best. Almost none involve actual work on the part of the seeker, or taking credit for that work when it actually accomplishes something. Just look at the speeches by Hagelin in the recent video -- everything good that he praises is "by the grace of" someone or something. I guess this is OK if your spiritual path leads you to believe that your interface with the universe or with "Nature" is passive, and the only influence you can have on what happens to you is to praise imaginary aspects of Nature and hope that they'll be pleased enough with your chanting or your gifts or how much you paid for your yagya to "deliver." Me, I'm gonna go for hard work and seeing it pay off over time.
