The Spirituality of Dreaming - by Kelly Bulkeley (Hardcover)

About the Book

What if our dreams could offer spiritual insight for personal growth and social transformation? Leading dream expert Kelly Bulkeley brings us time-honored methods to stimulate our innate dreaming capacity, including the latest research on dreaming and strategies from seasoned, vivid dreamers.

Book Synopsis

Enhance your dreaming with groundbreaking research and wisdom from vivid dreamers throughout history, sacred texts, and the present day.

We're asleep almost a third of our lives. What if those sleeping hours hold wisdom, creativity, and even connection with the divine? What if our dreams offer spiritual insight and guidance-not just for ourselves, but for our communities?

In The Spirituality of Dreaming, leading dream scholar and expert Dr. Kelly Bulkeley brings us a set of time-honored methods to stimulate innate dreaming capacities and amplify their impact in our waking lives. Dreams have been a perennial source of spiritual insight and guidance across all cultures and religions throughout history, he asserts, but the sacred energy of our dreams has often remained untapped. Relying on years of research, data analysis, and interviews, Bulkeley offers wisdom and strategies from ""big dreamers""--people who have vivid, intense dreams and remember them. He also distills the latest findings on dreams: the impact of digital technologies on our dreams, the phenomena of lucid dreaming and dreaming incubation, practices of dream-sharing, the creative role of dreams in cultural innovation, and the growing evidence that animals dream too.

In conversation with people who care about dreams and spirituality, Bulkeley makes a case for taking ourselves seriously as dreaming visionaries. By drawing on classic and contemporary works of theology, anthropology, and psychology, along with the latest dream research, Bulkeley maps the spiritual power of dreaming and argues that our dreams matter in ways we do not yet fully realize, both individually and collectively. Together we can learn how to unlock the sacred truths revealed within our sleeping selves.

Review Quotes

"Bulkeley's scientific research, bolstered by stories of religious, spiritual, and historical practices from cultures around the world, has felt mind-shifting. Dreaming as a tool for social transformation: who knew? This eye-opening book feels deeply hopeful, and I may never sleep the same way again." --Karen Walrond, author of The Lightmaker's Manifesto and Radiant Rebellion

"A pulsating, personal, playful invitation to delve into rich spiritual possibilities generated by our dreams. This is a brave and beautiful book." ----Robert C. Dykstra, author and Charlotte W. Newcombe Professor of Pastoral Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

"Bulkeley reminds us that dreaming is fundamentally a spiritual practice for 'a culture that has fallen dangerously out of touch with its own dreaming resources.'" ----Kirk A. Bingaman, author and professor of pastoral mental health counseling, Fordham University

"If we want lives that are Spirit-led, we must listen closely to the language of our dreams. This book has offered me deeper understanding and a renewed commitment to take my dreams seriously!" ----Kate H. Rademacher, author of Reclaiming Rest: The Promise of Sabbath, Solitude, and Stillness in a Restless World

"The Spirituality of Dreaming leads us inside of the world of dreams and illustrates how our dreams serve as a portal to and from the Divine and provide another opening for the Spirit to lead us home." ----Lerita Coleman Brown, spiritual director and author of What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman

"The Spirituality of Dreaming offers clear guidance to connecting with the creative and deeply personal power of the dreaming mind, through the well-presented methods of science, culture, and tradition. Kelly Bulkeley reminds us that sleep is an absolute essential, and he invites us to become more active players in the meaningful drama of our dreaming lives. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey." ----Michelle Carr, assistant research professor, University of Montreal