Lucid Dreaming
What is Lucid Dreaming? It is to be consciously aware of the dream state as it is occuring. It means to be experiencing a dream at night, while being fully aware of it. To do so means to be able to take control of the dream, rather than to follow a pre-determined, neatly arranged storyline. It also opens the possibility for having dream adventures which would otherwise not be possible. The intention behind these could be both for philosophical explorations and for sheer enjoyment.
When you are aware that you are dreaming, then you can fly or even materialize an entire scenery of your choice. The possibilitties are simply fantastic. What makes it really amazing is that lucid dreams can be just as vivid as the 'life' we experience on a daily basis. Please note that I'm not advocating escapism from our daily lives here, but rather spiritual exploration which may be fuelled by lucid dreaming. This exploration may take the form of posing specific questions, the answers to which are seeked out in dreams. In such a manner, dreams could possibly provide guidance. Via lucid dreaming, we can ask these questions in the middle of dreams, rather than to work towards inducing a specific dream experience before going to sleep.
The very nature of lucid dreaming can make you ask some serious questions about the nature of reality. As you will likely discover when you have lucid dreams yourself, they can be just as vivid as our daily experiences. What does that tell you about the nature of reality? As always, it's up to you what to make of it, but it does certainly carry a strong philosophical implication for me. Whatever may be the case, dreams can be used for pure enjoyment, rather than philosophical inquiry too.
Dreams, of course are a perfect playing ground, because the consequences of the dream appea to be are gone as soon as you wake up. If you've ever had phantasies of flying around like Superman, or lying on an uninhabited island of your own in the Pacific, then lucid dreams are the perfect place for these. Because of that, they can be enormously conducive towards overall well-being, as people can experience whatever they wish whenever they have a lucid dream. I'm not sure what others may experience, but I've certainly started to feel better sicne I began lucid dreaming.
The possibilities are endless, and literally just limited by your imagination. Maybe it's time to explore them?
- Thomas
Back to the main Nature of Reality section.