There's something I don't understand

Hi Fonzie,

At the moment someone becomes aware that they are dreaming (like you did), we speak of a lucid experience. There are however grades of lucidity and what a person is able to see depends on how much awakened consciousness such a person has.

The more awakend consciousness we have, the greater our ability to see the reality of things (including the astral plane).

Normally when we go to sleep the mind projects all it's desires and fears onto the astral plane and form dreams. Even when we wake up from a dream, much we see can still be a projection of our own mind or could even form part of a symbolic teaching.

We cannot force lucid dreams, but the more aware we are during the day and the less we chase our own desires and impulses, the greater the chance of lucid experiences.

Although we can manipulate things we see once we become lucid, it is better to just observe the things we see at that moment, because the astral plane is actually a place of learning and valuable information is given to us, so we can gain a better understanding about ourselves and even discover hidden knowledge about life and death.

I think the previous post covered most things well, I just thought I'd clarify and expand a couple of things, if noone minds...

To have a lucid dream is defined by the fact you have consciousnes. This in essence means you know you are dreaming when you have it. There are a couple of things that might be worth keeping in mind though. For instance it is possible to dream that you know you are dreaming, but not really have consciousnes and knowing it. To have consciousnes involves a realization, and understanding of your conscious self. There can be some cases when you dream you "think" you know you dreaming, but not really know it, then you do not really have consciousnes (but I think such cases are quite rare).

I talked a bit about this in another post too, and don't think it is needed to repeat all of it. But will state a few things...

As the previous post has already indicates, and which I also wrote about in another post... The level of consciousnes is what plays the greatest role here... The level of consciousnes (or lucidiy as the previous post called it) is basically the amount of wakefullness, both in this dimension and other dimensions.

The more overall consciousnes you have the higher potential, and the more awake are you in all of dimensions (including this one). Now there are times when you are utilizing more of this available consciousnes in experiences and times when you are utilizing less... the fact you have consciousnes however, means being awake to some degree or another.

When it comes to lucid dreams people often tend to have less consciousnes, and therefor less wakefulness than when for instance having a full out of body experience or what they have when physically awake. This I would claim has to do with they just being submerged totally in the subconscious, now consciousnes activates and they wake up... However subconscious still is having a hold on some of the consciousnes. If the subconscious dominates too much, and level of consciousnes is not high enough it can appear "dreamy".

By having more lucid dreams you kind of get used to being awake in deeper states. So you manage to maximize more the amount of consciousnes used in the experience, relative to the total amount of available consciousnes you have. So this means with more experience you tend to be more awake when having lucid dreams... With time and practise the difference between an OBE and a lucid dream become less and they basically become the same thing... So how clear the experience is, and how awake you are in them, depends on how much of the available consciousnes you are using (hopefully same or similar as when awake).

Then of course, the more overall consciousnes gained, the more awake are you in physical dimension, and in other dimensions... So both wakefullness in this world and in other worlds, can always become better and higher.

Then there are of course things which can be done to maximize the amount of consciousnes used when having lucid dreams, so to utilize more of your available consciousnes. Such things include awareness practises etc as the previous post suggested.

Got the impression I didn't explain myself too well though... So if it sounds confusing perhaps look at the other post I made, think I explained it better and more detailed there...

There is one more thing worth mentioning too... and that is the dimensional location. There appear to be dimensional locations which are quite fluid and messed up "by design"... As well as realities which are more objective and solid by design. If you for instance visit some spirit worlds you might find them clearer and more objective than if you are in a much lower dimensional location where dreamers roaming around. So it can also be a good idea to travel to some other location, this might not only help you to a more objective reality, but also get you away from your subconscious manipulations, which in itself also increases clarity.

I suggest if you visit a more concrete and objective reality where there are spirits or other beings living and having their homes... Do now go changing things around and manipulating reality, you might not be able to, but just a note...

Patrik

Hi Fonzie,

One thing that I learned in the course here that really helped boost my lucid experiences is to do reality checks often. Basically, you keep asking yourself whether you are awake or dreaming throughout the day. There are also little tests you can do, such as jumping in the air to see if you float up, to accompany the questioning. This helps with the quality of lucid experiences as well because the goal is that you become aware of your surroundings each time you do a reality check. With practice, you can find yourself doing the same checks when dreaming and hopefully realize you are not in the physical plane.

This is a good area to work on, in my opinion, because you can definitely see results after putting in the efforts.

Thanks everyone, you really helped explain some things. I'll admit I'm still confused about some things, but for the most part I think I understand. Hopefully I'll be as educated about all this as the rest of you once the courses are underway.

Hi!
I would like to add something here that helped me alot. Basically it all comes down to how aware you can be, especially during the day - when you are not dreaming.

Stopping the mind from wandering into fantasy and daydreams in the day will help you get used to doing it at night. For me it's basically the same thing only the body falls asleep at night when you go to bed as opposed to just the mind wandering into a daydream during the day.

You expressed a small amount of confusion in your post which is understandable.
What really helped me was realising that you can't tackle the concept of awareness with the usual intellectual center of the confused mind, it's goes beyond that. It exists in experiencing it, not thinking about it.

If you haven't taken the courses yet, the first one is the OBE/Dreams course and there is good awareness excersizes in them to try out.

!

Thanks Apakhana.

Actually I'm going to be taking that course. I signed up for it last summer though, but I think that gave me time to really prepare and be ready for it.

Yesterday I was trying to be aware as much as I could and live in the now as some put it. Focusing on each of my senses without thinking and such. It's a pretty good exercise but I still got to work at it.