Dr. Michael Sheehy, a leading researcher in tantric yogas at the University of Virginia, joins Dr. Tawni Tidwell, a biocultural anthropologist, and Dr. Julian Schott, a Tibetologist. They delve into the intersection of neuroscience and Tibetan dream yoga, exploring how ancient practices can inform contemporary consciousness studies. The trio discusses the decline of spiritual masters, the impact of modernity on traditional practices, and the complexities of translating Tibetan wisdom into scientific discourse. They emphasize the potential of dream yoga to enhance self-awareness and navigate spiritual paths in today's world.
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insights INSIGHT
Lucid Dreaming in Tibetan Yoga
Tibetan dream yoga involves lucid dreaming where one recognizes the dream as a dream while dreaming.
This practice includes a two-way communication protocol between dreamers and scientists during sleep lab studies.
insights INSIGHT
Core Skills in Dream Yoga
Lucidity means sustained awareness of being aware in any state, including dreams.
Dream yoga cultivates psychological flexibility, imaginal simulation, and somatic awareness, changing perception of body and mind.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Daytime and Nighttime Practices
Dream yoga teachers instruct observing fleeting patterns at dawn, questioning their reality as a dream.
Practices combine daytime lucid waking and nighttime dream techniques to deepen understanding of reality's illusion-like nature.
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This trialogue is the first in a series exploring the latest interdisciplinary research into tantric completion stage practices such as yogas of dream, sleep, and death.
Dr Michael Sheehy is the Director of Research at the Contemplative Sciences Center in the Department of Religious Studies in the University of Virginia.
Dr Tawni Tidwell is a biocultural anthropologist and doctor of traditional Tibetan medicine.
Dr Julian Schott is an Indologist, Tibetologist, and assistant professor at the University of Vienna.
Dr Sheehy shares his cutting edge research into the tantric completion stage yogas of dream and sleep, reveals the implication of new directions in neuroscience and micro-phenomenology, and warns of the danger of esoteric practices becoming extinct.
Dr Sheehy proposes a two-way split in the future of religious practice, Dr Tidwell reflects on the decline in the number of spiritual masters, and Dr Schott considers the real meaning of secrecy in Tibetan tantra.
Video version: www.guruviking.com
Topics include:
00:00 - Intro
01:22 - Current research about yogic practices of dream and sleep
02:46 - Overview of Tibet and Indian dream and sleep practices
04:15 - Michael’s scientific studies of yogic lucid dreaming practice
07:53 - Opening a 2-way channel of communication between dreamer and scientist
08:46 - Rigorous micro-phenomenology
10:04 - Comparisons with classic descriptions and prescriptions found in Tibetan dream manuals
11:34 - Dreams are unpredictable spaces
13:53 - Understanding lucidity
16:27 - Psychological flexibility, imaginal simulation, and somatic awareness
22:28 - The impact of dream yoga on daily life
23:59 - 6 similes of reality and dream yoga
26:26 - Lucid waking practices & the illusory body
29:45 - 2-fold practice curriculum of day and night
31:16 - A devastating pitfall
32:07 - New ways to amplify practice
35:38 - Designing virtual reality simulations for dream yoga exercises
39:49 - Intersections with psychedelic research
42:16 - 2 ways to approach contemplative practice
47:05 - Generating interdisciplinary hypotheses
48:14 - Utilising VR meditations as practice supports
52:37 - Drawing on traditional expertise
53:27 - Bringing traditional practice categories into neuroscience research
55:27 - Neuroscience as the next level of translation
59:40 - Michael challenges ahistorical perspectives; Tibetan tradition has been highly experimental
01:02:32 - Community-based partnerships
01:05:02 - What does it mean that a practice is “secret”?
01:07:01 - The body in tantric traditions and secularising tantra
01:09:33 - A 2-way split in the global culture of religious practice
01:12:10 - Esoteric traditions are in danger
01:16:56 - Bold experimentation is historically consonant with the tradition
01:18:23 - Great masters are decreasing in number
01:23:17 - Esoteric practices have a coherent logic
01:26:22 - Traditional practices have undergone evolution and change
01:28:36 - Ethics of scholar-practitioners
To find our more about the panel, visit:
- https://michaelrsheehy.com/
- https://centerhealthyminds.org/about/people/tawni-tidwell
- https://stb.univie.ac.at/en/about-us/team/julian-schott/user/schottj85/inum/1083/backpid/198178/
For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James