Awareness during sleep and dreaming
For advanced Dzogchen practitioners, awareness is not limited to waking life. Sleep and dreaming become opportunities for continuous recognition of rigpa, extending practice across all states of being.
- Dzogchen Essentials
- 2 min read
Article 3 of 6 in Advanced Integration and Realization/
Why Sleep and Dream Practice Matters:
- One-third of life is spent in sleep—without awareness, this time is lost to unconsciousness.
- Dream and sleep experiences mirror the dissolution process of death.
- Training in awareness during sleep reduces fear of death and deepens realization.
Awareness in Dreams:
- Through dream yoga, practitioners recognize dreams as dreams, dissolving fixation on their apparent solidity.
- Lucid awareness reveals that appearances—whether in dream or waking life—are expressions of rigpa.
- Dreams become a laboratory for working with emotions, karmic patterns, and visionary experiences.
Awareness in Deep Sleep:
- Advanced practice sustains rigpa even in dreamless sleep.
- In this state, awareness recognizes the clear light nature of mind, beyond thought or perception.
- Deep sleep becomes a direct gateway to recognizing the dharmakaya aspect of rigpa.
How to Practice:
- Before sleep, set intention to remain aware.
- Fall asleep while resting in rigpa or visualizing luminous light.
- Upon waking in a dream, remember to recognize it as a dream and rest in awareness.
- On waking in the morning, recall the continuity of awareness across night and day.
Benefits:
- Extends Dzogchen practice beyond daytime sessions.
- Reduces attachment to waking reality by revealing dreamlike nature of all appearances.
- Provides preparation for bardo, the intermediate state after death.
Dzogchen Insight:
- Waking, dreaming, and sleeping are not separate—the same awareness pervades all states.
- Recognizing this continuity confirms that rigpa is unbroken, timeless, and ever-present.
Summary: Awareness during sleep and dreaming is an advanced Dzogchen integration. By sustaining recognition of rigpa in both dreams and deep sleep, practitioners affirm the unbroken continuity of awareness and prepare for realization at death.