Labeling a dream : hearing or dreaming ?

[purple planet]

When i get a dream - not a dream dream but more like a day dream - or those "mini" dreams you get vefore you fall asleep - very short segmants

for instances usually someone is talking to me and saying a few sentences - should i label it as "hearing hearing " or should i label it as "dreaming dreaming" or "imagining imagining" (dreaming and imagining means the same to me)

so when day dreaming should i label "imagining imagining" OR "seeing , hearing ect" ....?

and if imagine myself walking to label it as "walking walking " or "imagining imagining" ?

[twelph]

I bet dreaming or thinking would be the best label since it's all happening in the mind. I would reserve other labels for actual physical phenomenon . I believe the Mahasi tradition expects you to keep labeling until you fall asleep, so it might be useful to directly afterwards go back to labeling your breathing and the position of your body.

[DAWN]

I met an neurologist, and he said that dream is some kind of reorganisation of memory, some kind of difragmenation. This activity of optimisation of memory space create an electric activity, this electric activity is "recognised" by consciosness, and this recognition of electric activity show us different mixed images of our live.

I always say that DREAM IS NOT SELF, there is no any message, of mystic, or magir, or god acivity; NO. It's just a dream, absolutely anatta.

That is concerned the question of this topic:

WHO(what) IS HEARING? WHO(what) SEE DREAM?
It's much more important to know...

[mikenz66]

Hi PP,

Sayadaw U Pandita's comments may be useful:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pesala/Pan ... structions

In this meditation it is very important to have both effort and precise aim, so that the mind meets the sensation directly and powerfully. One helpful aid to precision and accuracy is to make a soft mental note of the object of awareness, naming the sensation by saying the word gently and silently in the mind, like “rising, rising...falling, falling.”
...
In making the verbal label, there is no need for complex language. One simple word is best. For the eye, ear, and tongue doors we simply say, “Seeing, seeing... Hearing, hearing... Tasting, tasting.” For sensations in the body we may choose a slightly more descriptive term like warmth, pressure, hardness, or motion. Mental objects appear to present a bewildering diversity, but actually they fall into just a few clear categories such as thinking, imagining, remembering, planning, and visualizing. But remember that in using the labeling technique, your goal is not to gain verbal skills. Labeling technique helps us to perceive clearly the actual qualities of our experience, without getting immersed in the content. It develops mental power and focus. In meditation we seek a deep, clear, precise awareness of the mind and body. This direct awareness shows us the truth about our lives, the actual nature of mental and physical processes.

Note the part in red. Labelling is a technique, a "trick" as Buddhadasa Bhikkhu would call such things:
http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 77#p214405
It has no complicated philosophical or dhammic significance, it's simply a method to aid focus, much as other teachers use counting of breaths. Many of us find that it works really well. Others don't.
Patrick Kearney's comments in this talk: http://www.dharmasalon.net/Audio/Bodhi% ... _2011.html may be helpful.


Mike

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

If you start day-dreaming while walking, stop walking and note the wandering thoughts until they stop, then resume walking.

Since you're not actually hearing anything while day-dreaming, note it as "imagining" or "wandering", or you might note the mental states connected with the thoughts as "lustful", "angry," "worried," etc.

[ralpdempsey]

Until today, I don't quite understand what is a dream. It seems there are some consequences that in real life, I feel like it already happened in my dream but I am not that sure if is it the same thing. If we dream, maybe we can say we have a very vast imagination and a healthy mind.