Abstracts of 2000 Award Winners' Papers:

An Exploratory Study of the Practice of the Tibetan Dream Yoga Four Foundations on Waking Life Awareness and Dreams

Presented by: Barbara Viglizzo
Affiliation: Institute of Transpersonal Psychology

Spiritual practices of Eastern traditions are reported to have life changing effects, increasing awareness and equanimity. Can these effects be quantitatively and qualitatively measured? Can they enhance life in the rhythms of Western living? This dissertation studies the Tibetan dream yoga practices of the indigenous Bon religion. It concentrates on the four foundations of Tibetan dream yoga, traditionally used in monastic life. These practices are about integrating lucidity and flexibility into life and letting go of heavily-conditioned patterns (karmic traces). In the first foundation, "Changing the karmic traces," practitioners view their experiences as dream-like. In the second foundation, "Removing, -grasping, and aversion," practitioners recognize their emotionally-charged reactions such as anger or jealousy as dreams. In the third foundation, "Strengthening intention," practitioners review memories of the day and notice them as dreams. The fourth foundation is 'Cultivating joyful effort" for the practice. This study involved 10 women and 2 men, ranging in age from 26 to 65 years with a variety of spiritual orientations. Their ethnicity included 10 Europeans, 1 Native American. and 1 Eastern Indian. The study has two parts: developing a training and evaluating the effects of the practice. The training was developed under the guidance of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a lama in the Bon tradition. Weekly instruction was given for 2 1/2 hours over8 weeks. Participants clicked digital counters when they noticed the dream-like quality of life, and recorded their clicks per day over the 8 weeks. Participants completed daily practice logs with 6 Likert scales, 5 qualitative questions, and descriptions of 3 events of grasping or aversion. Participants completed 3 dream recording reports per week with 3 Likert scales, 7 qualitative questions and descriptions of grasping and aversion in their dreams. After the course, participants completed questionnaires and were interviewed. The study yielded a range of quantitative and qualitative results. Quantitative results were assessed using statistical cross tabulations producing chi square results. Results showed a statistically significant increase in participants' understanding of their karmic traces, (p(=.019) <.05, with df=l), and statistical significance for less identification with thoughts and emotions as a result of the practice (p(=.020) <.05, df=l). There was a statistically significant correlation between the amount of practice and participants' level of present centeredness (p(=.003) <.05), df=72). Other significant results showed that participants recognized grasping and aversion (P(=.000) <.05, df=10), developed a sense of joy and curiosity in their practice (p(=.012) <.05, df=2), and saw life as a teacher towards greater awareness (p(=.002) <.05, df=2). Qualitative results were informed by grounded theory analysis methods of participants' daily log sheets and dream recording reports. The qualitative results are consistent with and support the quantitative results. This dissertation extends our understanding of the effectiveness and benefits of Eastern spiritual practices in Western settings. It brings a psycho-spiritual perspective to assessing a practice done throughout the day. These practices show promise in providing a method for awareness training effective for the hurried lifestyle that many Westerners maintain.