In the last post I wrote about how the mind creates reality. In this post we are going to review a few techniques that can improve outcomes as you lucid dream your life. While the techniques in this article can be used for absolutely anything, I advise that they be used primarily to realize Wisdom.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
Radical Gratitude
In a nutshell, be grateful for everything that happens in your life, especially the things that you don’t want, the things that you label as bad. This practice is worth of doing for its own sake, but it also has many benefits, particularly for your mood and outlook.
Start with the easy stuff. What do you have that you love having? What have you been given in abundance?
“Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.” Matthew 13:12
If there’s something you don’t want, you’re bound to get it, and the more you don’t want of it, the more you’re bound to get it. Your resistance draws it to you.
“What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size.'' - Carl Jung
The most efficient way of short-circuiting this feedback loop is by being grateful for these things that you don’t want. Be grateful for the lessons they teach you. Be grateful that the good in your life couldn’t exist without the bad.
Whenever the thing that bothers you pops up, respond with gratitude, or at a bare minimum, respond differently than you normally would; respond with something other than anger, frustration, and complaint. Laugh, cry, jump up and down. Anything other than your habitual response. When you have emptied yourself of resistance, you will have freed yourself from the cycle.
Intend and Let Go
Have you ever noticed that when you really want something, it’s very hard to get that thing, and then when you give up and stop wanting that thing, it comes to you? That’s because the more you want something, the more resistant the psychic field is to you having it. That’s why it’s best to set an intention, to do, to be, or to have something, and then release all desire, or as it’s been called in Magick, “lust of result.” This dramatically increases your chances of success.
Find Advantage in Everything
I have a little mantra I like to use when I encounter an obstacle or whenever things don’t go my way. “Everything turns to my advantage.” When you say this often enough, it becomes true. When you start to look at setbacks as gifts, they become gifts.
“The obstacle in your way is but a steppingstone on your journey.”
-Marcus Aurelius
These techniques are just a few of countless ways of influencing reality to our advantage and to the advantage of all sentient beings. There will be more of these short, practice-oriented posts coming soon.
Until then, I leave you with another meditation on the Dreamlike Nature of Reality.