R. Hayyim Vital developed a meditative type practice of cultivating dreams and utilizing a semi-sleep state. A main purpose was to facilitate reception of revelatory messages and Divine inspiration. In this booklet we examine several passages from The Book of Visions, his dream diary, and from Gates of Holiness, his ethical manual of how to attain prophecy.
To ensure the success of the meditative practice, R. Hayyim predicated moral, ritual and emotive prerequisites such as creating inner joyfulness. He copied specific instructions from manuscripts of Spanish kabbalists such as R. Abraham Abulafia and recorded a variety of meditative techniques such as how to hold your palms during meditation in order to receive the Divine Influx of Hesed and Gevurah. To facilitate a beneficial direction for the Inspiration received he employed a technique of Yichudim (meditative unification of words and letters) .
In this booklet we adapt some of his ideas into a practice that we have labeled Meditative Lucid Dreaming, i.e. retaining lucidity and subtle awareness during a semi-sleep state. The booklet concludes with a glimpse into the implications of research into the overlap between lucid dreaming and meditative techniques.
