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Lucid dreaming means being aware that you are dreaming while you are still asleep. A dream that is only clear or real-seeming doesn't qualify. It's the degree of recognition of your state of consciousness that is the deciding factor. You can become aware that you dream in a brightly-lit scene or you can be awake in the dark. Or anything in between. Much of the confusion about lucid dreaming comes from reading or hearing about the experiences of a few dreamers and presuming that they apply to every lucid dreamer. They don't. Each dreamer has his own strengths and weaknesses, personality traits and set of goals and motivations. Each dreamer selects his own attitudes and activities. The idea that lucid dreaming equals dream control is incorrect. You do not have to manipulate, force or man-handle a lucid dream if you don't want to. If you prefer a passive approach, then once you become lucid, you can simply observe or go along with the story in progress. If you wish to become active, then you can choose to act as a well-mannered guest, not a jerk. Ask the dream and your dream characters for permission. Thank them for their assistance. Offer to help them. Create an approach that fits you and your values. Most of your initial in-dream time will be spent learning to manage yourself. You need self-discipline so you can stabilize and maintain the dream, rather than wake up, drop into non-lucidity or have the dream collapse into nothingness. The opportunity to learn self-control, rather than control over others, is built into the very fabric of lucid dreaming. It's your choice to take advantage of this natural potential or not. Being a lucid dreamer does not mean you stop having non-lucid dreams. Because the induction of lucidity is an invitation for the dream to become more active and available in general, induction is likely to produce more non-lucid dream recall than ever before. You can still have non-lucid dreams and glean their benefits, if you so choose. Awareness means you are given a choice. Choose wisely. |
1. Being deliberately active in and controlling dreams interrupts their natural function. What is their natural function? There's no agreement among professionals. You need to define that purpose in order to determine whether a dream fulfills it or not. 2. A dream that arises spontaneously has a "density of meaning" and should be left alone so that this meaning is not damaged. Then don't try to interpret the dream. Symbolic interpretation modifies the initial dream report. It changes the dream so that it is no longer to be taken literally, as is. You are actually closer to the original meaning in a lucid dream because you are there, observing and participating in its emergence first-hand. If you wish, you can interpret the dream as it happens. Even better, you have an unparalleled opportunity to ask the dream if you interpreted it correctly, and get on-the-spot feedback. 3. Asking questions while you are lucid is not a valid way to interpret your dream because you are controlling both the question and the response. You don't have control over everything in a lucid dream. You can find this out rather quickly by trying to do something that isn't simple and easy. Sooner or later, your will power will hit the limits of dream tolerance. For instance, telling characters that they are "just a dream" can produce some very independent responses, including arguments! If you aren't being surprised by the lucid dream, you're probably in the mind equivalent of a hermit's cave. You just need to get out more. 4. You lose the "Aha!" or "Eureka!" experience that can occur when an interpretation suddenly makes sense in waking life. Or, you lose the sense of energy and aliveness that happens when you feel a solution to a problem. The same can occur in a lucid dream. In fact, an in-dream interpretation even less likely to be a dull thinking exercise because of the reliancy and responsiveness of the dream in progress. 5. Non-lucid dreams are a readout from the unconscious. The unconscious is a storehouse of valuable information; it has a broader perspective and knows more than the conscious mind knows. This characterizes the unconscious as an omniscient deity and turns the dream into a message from the perfect voice of god. However, laboratory and field research confirm that dreams can contain information from many sources, not just the superconscious. On the personal front, the dream can provide subconscious, subliminal and conscious information. And, when it provides information related to the waking state, a dream can be just plain wrong. 6. A lucid dream is another chance for the ego to stifle the creative subconscious. It can be an excellent opportunity to get to know the subconscious first-hand. Your choice. 7. A non-lucid dream provides psychological development and healing. Nightmares or unresolved anxiety dreams fail to meet this criteria, so healing and development can only come by using therapeutic means after waking. In contrast, researcher Paul Tholey has shown that awareness in dreaming gives you the opportunity to fully experience and potentially resolve long-standing psychological problems while they are being presented. For this purpose, the lucid dream becomes a virtual simulation or practice arena for improved waking thought and behavior. 8. Lucid dreaming is a way to run away from problems. Avoiding fears and difficult situations means that fear goes underground and undermines our sense of self. It is only by going into our fear that we can get through it. Sometimes running away is the wisest choice! Distancing yourself from personal involvement in drama and trauma can give you a chance to catch your breath, think clearly about your problem and plan ways to resolve it. Then you can come back to face your fears with a greater sense of strength and clarity. But you do not have to do violence to the dream scene or your dream characters. You can develop a healthy relationship instead. Decent behavior, like communication, cooperation and collaboration is the key. Perhaps you might work out the problem together. 9. If the dreamer uses lucidity to find magical solutions to her problems, there is little motivation for real change. Soul work is suffering through the painful process of self examination, for working through and dismantling the defenses that have been erected to distance us from our wounds and from our true selves. There's a continual fight between the forces of evil and good, destruction and salvation, dark and light. Resolution and healing require transformation that comes from legitimately suffering the conflicts and paradoxes in our lives. From a medical standpoint, continual suffering, on purpose, is the sort of stress that can produce mental and physical illness. From a psychological standpoint, it is taking on the role of victim and masochist. From a theological standpoint, it is the sin of sloth. However you perceive it, joy and happiness have a legitimate right to be included in the definition of "true" self. All work and no play is not an effective recipe for a healthy mind, body or soul. 10. The emphasis on flying in lucid dreaming is misplaced. Humans can not fly, are not meant to fly. Metaphorically, to fly is to be ungrounded, to be high, to escape from the reality and complexity of life, to flee from others, the environment, and one's deepest self. The person who made this statement was presenting a paper on the West Coast. She lives on the East Coast. She didn't travel across the North American continent by hitchhiking. |
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