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In another of Carlos' lectures, he explained that any state of awareness that involves an unusual position of the assemblage point is technically a dream.
Carlos said that the advantage of dreams over everyday states of attention is that dreams allow us to cover a wider sensory spectrum, and dreams allow us to better synthesize the information we receive.
In other words, we would learn how to live with more intensity, and that results in a greater clarity of our perceptual processes.
Carlos explained, saying, "Above all, dreaming gives us access to critical events in our past such as our birth and early childhood. Dreaming illuminates the traumatic situations and altered states of awareness from our past.
"A sorcerer can not leave aside his most harrowing experiences."
Towards the end of his lecture Carlos gave a definition that I considered very important because he touched on what I felt was a sensitive topic.
He said, "Dreaming is not something impossible. It is just a kind of deep meditation."
For years, I had been doing some spiritual exercises I called 'meditation'. My meditation practices were quite different in both their form and their results from what Carlos was proposing as dreaming.
As soon as I had an opportunity, I asked Carlos to clarify the distinctions between the concept of dreaming, and meditation.
He answered, "What you are asking is difficult because there is no way of meditating without dreaming. Both terms describe the same phenomenon."
I asked, "Then why have my exercises not produced any of the things you talk about?"
Carlos replied, "You had better answer that yourself. In my opinion, what you have practiced up to now has not been meditation as I know it, but rather some kind of auto-suggestion.
"It is common for people to confuse these two things which for a sorcerer are not the same.
"Pacifying the mind is not meditation, but drowsiness.
"On the other hand, dreaming is something dynamic
"Dreaming is the consequence of a process of sustained concentration-- which implies a veritable battle against our lack of attention.
"If it were just the result of a dulling of the senses, dreaming practitioners would not call themselves 'warriors'.
"A dreamer can be the very incarnation of ferocity or seem profoundly calm, but none of that has any real importance because he does not identify himself with his mental states.
"A dreamer knows that any definite sensation is nothing but a fixation of the assemblage point.
"Dreaming happens when we achieve a certain balance in our daily life, and that only happens after silencing the internal dialogue.
"The term 'dreaming' is not the most appropriate to describe an exercise of awareness which has nothing to do with the content of the mind. I use that term out of respect for the tradition of my lineage. The ancient seers called it something else.
"Expert sorcerers dream starting from a state of waking vigil as easily as from sleeping.
"For them, dreaming is not about 'to close the eyes and snore', but 'to witness other worlds and explore'.
"From the point of view of the will, what distinguishes a dream from a sorcerer's daytime vigil is that the energy body obeys other laws while dreaming.
"A dreaming sorcerer can carry out incredible feats like passing through a wall or moving to the ends of the universe in the blink of an eye.
"Such experiences are both complete and accumulative, and only somebody who has not lived them would cling to logical categories to explain them.
"But those kinds of manifestations, however valuable, are not the objective of your dreaming.
"To dream is essential for you because access to a nagual happens almost exclusively in that state."
I asked him why this was so.
Carlos answered, "The reason is evident. People who have a natural tendency to dream and who have a surplus of energy, qualify to find other, more advanced dreamers, either accidentally or because they deliberately look for them.
"Occasionally, these traveling companions accept to take charge of instructing you more deeply in the art.
"Once an apprentice begins to shine, it is inevitable that he will attract the attention of a nagual.
"Naguals are like Eagles constantly stalking.
"As soon as they detect an increment of awareness, they swoop in, because a voluntary dreamer is a rarity.
"For a teacher, it is much easier to stimulate an effort that has already begun, than to create one from nothing."
Carlos told me that he maintained contact with many warriors from various parts of the world through dreaming.
He went on to say that another reason why dreaming is a door to knowledge, is that its practice allows us to resolve a thousand problems typical of learning; like the lack of clarity and attention in a beginner, or a mistrust regarding the instructor's activities, and or the intrinsic danger of some of the techniques.
"The art of dreaming softens the obsessive nature of the emanations of the Eagle which could otherwise destroy the psychological balance and the will of an apprentice."
I asked him, "Then what can those of us who do not dream do in order to gain access to these teachings?"
Carlos seemed bothered by my question.
He grunted, "You have the wrong focus! The true question should be, "What should I do to dream?
"A warrior can not walk around in the world leaving loose ends with every step.
"If you genuinely cannot consider your dreams a part of your life, and if you cannot visualize them as what they are- avenues to power-, and if you do not even understand what they are or what purpose they serve, well,... then you have a lot of work before you."