Lucid Dream/OBE Archives - Buddha at the Gas Pump

Andrew Holecek has completed the traditional three-year Buddhist meditation retreat and teaches internationally on meditation, dream yoga, and the art of dying. He is the author of six books, and many articles, including scientific papers on lucid dreaming. Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and a concert pianist, with degrees in music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery. He is the co-founder of Global Dental Relief, which serves impoverished children in six developing countries; the founder of the online platform Night Club, which supports the nocturnal meditations, and the founder of the Preparing to Die Institute, a nine-month spiritual and practical training program to help with the end of life.

Books:

Website: andrewholecek.com

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interview.

Interview recorded March 27, 2022

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Introduction of Andrew Holecek
00:04:45 – The Three-Year Meditation Retreat
00:09:08 – The Difficulties of Retreat and Detox Process
00:13:18 – The Tricky Topic of Crazy Wisdom Lineage
00:17:36 – The Ethics of Enlightenment
00:22:14 – The Importance of Morality and Ethics in Meditation
00:26:43 – The Delicate Dance of Balancing Relative and Absolute Vectors
00:30:51 – Digging deep with multiple tools
00:35:04 – Finding Opportunities in Obstacles
00:39:16 – Finding Teachings in Life’s Challenges
00:43:47 – The Relativity of Reality and the Burden of Compassion
00:48:11 – Working with Complexity and Reductionism in Life
00:52:13 – The Irreducible Principles of Life
00:56:28 – The Utter Immediacy of Enlightenment
01:00:57 – Balancing Both/And Perspective
01:05:01 – Skillful Means for Different Levels of Identity
01:09:26 – Maintaining Lucidity in Sleep and Dreaming
01:13:36 – Lucid dreaming and its transformative power
01:18:08 – Lucidity and the Power of Light
01:22:45 – The Stages of Dream Yoga
01:27:21 – The Fruition of States: Turiya and Beyond
01:31:52 – The Addiction to Transcendent States
01:35:48 – The Integration of Science and Spirituality
01:40:06 – The Balance of Spiritual Experiences
01:45:00 – The Importance of Taking it Slow and Seeking Support
01:49:17 – The Golden Chain of Spirituality
01:53:34 – The Ripple Effect of Thoughts on Reality
01:57:58 – The Presence of Kundun, the Dalai Lama’s name in Tibetan
02:02:30 – The Difference Between a Lucid Dream and the Waking State
02:06:29 – Similarities between Advaita Vedanta and Mahamudra & Dzogchen
02:10:40 – Guest Suggestions and Closing the Topic

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Christina Donnell, Ph.D. is best known as a spiritual teacher, mystic and author. She is the Director of The Winds of Change Association, an educational organization dedicated to offering programs that tend our evolving human consciousness.

In her book, Transcendent Dreaming: Stepping into Our Human Potential, she chronicles quantum states of awareness in which the participatory nature of perception impacts our visible world. It is a deep foray into truths about our human potential—a new distribution of our resources, and a way to know unity consciousness and be its agent in the world. Transcendent Dreaming won multiple awards for its timely and relevant message which urges us all to tap into the hidden potential within us.

Christina conveys a simple yet profound message: Through deepening receptive awareness the participatory nature of perception unfolds and the transfiguration of our consciousness occurs. She is a natural born, pragmatic, mystic and teacher who shares her message worldwide via public lectures, teaching, keynote addresses, and wisdom talks. Many of which benefit independent spiritual centers. The fusion of her unique lyrical prose style with her transmission of the unseen brings a sense of discovery to all audiences.

Christina was initiated as a medicine woman by the Q’ero Indians of the High Andes and has worked closely with them for 25 years. Inspired by the cultural shifts and changing human values on a planetary scale, she is dedicated to cultivating and awakening the potency of the human spirit. Christina maintains a small consultation practice along with her teaching commitments.

Websites: christinadonnell.com

For discussion of this interview, click here.

Transcript of this interview.

Interview recorded August 26, 2017.

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.