Thread: a BIG problem...

Well, everybody has some problems incorporating RC's into dreams.

The only answer--do more reality checks in real life. The only way to be sure that you'll do an RC in a dream is to do so many in waking life that it becomes second nature and you do it in a dream.

k thx i was working on that, but sometimes i forget things don't work after just 2 days or so

Yeah i have that problem too. But after a fair while of doing the abovesaid, my RCs are making their way into the conscious habits of my dreams. So, it might just take you a little while of practicing RCs in wl, but you'll get there - keep it up!

i will np this is something i really want to learn

Hey Dday, don't worry too much if you can't get into the habit of RCs -- I'm not saying you should give up on it already, but I've tried to use them for months and I still never remember to do an RC in a non-lucid dream. Whenever I LD, I always just suddenly realize that I'm dreaming -- just kind of a feeling I get. Sometimes it's triggered by something I see in the dream, but more often it just suddenly hits me for whatever reason. Only then do I do a RC to make absolutely sure that I'm dreaming -- but really, I'm already lucid at that point.

I guess my point here is that RCs are not the only way to become lucid. If, after trying for a while, you find that they don't work for you, don't sweat it -- you'll find another way.

yeah but i'm a really impatient guy i'm just training on this for 2 days but this is something i kinda understand it takes time, but hawk, are you saying you get LD only by coinsidence?

Well, not entirely. For a lot of people, most of their LD's are just by chance. But anybody can acheive a regular LD through hard work and diligence, as cheesy as that sounds. If you work on RC's on a regular basis, keep a dream journal, and work on your WBTB and WILD skills, after a while you'll be able to successfully LD more often, and intentionally rather than by chance. I'm not saying you'll LD every night, but one a month is a good goal for starters. Maybe once a week before long.

Originally posted by Ddayman
i've seem to have a little problem,when i start to fal asleep i say to myself, i wanna do the reality checks and such. but in my dreams i can't even seem to get control of myself its like you say to yourself i'll do the reality checks then POOF your asleep you awake again, but i do start to remember my dreams better with my journal. are their people thad had the same problem and how they solved them?

Dream Work is to be accomplished in stages. First, it is essential to remember one's Dreams. Then one is to reflect upon them and to try to influence one's Dream Self toward more appropriate behaviors and actions. You see, it is perhaps not so important that one understand the 'meaning' and symbols in dreams, though that is important, but I think one's priority in dreaming to learn to behave well in dreams and to respond correctly to the choices and tests that are presented within Dreams.

Yes, at the beginning of Dream Work our Dream Selves do seem to be somewhat out of control. We need to acknowledge that our Dream Selves are not entirely the same as our Waking Selves. As you gain experience as both your Waking Self and as your Dream Self you will discern that each separate Self has distinct personality traits, different skills, different knowledge and different memories. But there is some common ground between the two Selves. When the Waking Self seriously considers and reflects upon the actions of the Dream Self, I believe that it exercises an influence. In the same way that the Subconscious Mind can influence our Waking actions and decisions, so it may be that our Waking Thoughts influences the Judgment of our Dream Self.

I once had a series of Dreams on this issue. My uncontrolled and amoral Dream Self was represented by a somewhat wild stallion. The Wise Old Man came to me and told me that the Secret of the Horse is that it is really a Pig. The job of the Dreamer is to discipline the Horse and make it tenable.

After a few years my Wild Stallion became a trained quarter horse with whom I could do figure-8 around the barrels at a nice even trot.

The next stage of dreaming was to confront Fear -- the paralyzing fear in which one's legs seem to be made of lead (that is actually an experience of time in higher resolution -- one actually is moving very quickly but one is experiencing many more instances of perception per ordinary units of time, so it only seems that things are slowed down. It is like 'slow motion' filming which is accomplished by shooting many times the ordinary exposures per second, and then running it back at the same speed -- we get slow motion by getting more information. Thus this seeming paralysis gives us an advantage, as everything is seeming to happen so slowly, it gives us a great deal of 'time' to think about our every action, our every move). What we learn from facing our Fear is what we learn from being Defeated in Battle -- even Killed -- we learn that nothing in a Dream can kill us. We literally rise from Dead after we are killed. And so, after several dreams in that order, we become Fearless.

Leo, you seem to have a lot of knowledge on the topic of the subconscious and dreams. I am just wondering where you have learned all of this and if you could point me towards some resources that I might find interesting. I find what your talking about to be fascinating.

As for the problem in the topic, I have the same problem! I tell myself to become lucid before I sleep, I do reality checks, I keep a dream journal, etc... But when I go to sleep its like what the topic starter says...-boom im asleep- boom im back awake.

it's really a pain in the ass bu i won't quit!!!

Originally posted by Ddayman
but hawk, are you saying you get LD only by coinsidence?

I wouldn't say coincidence exactly. My frequency of LDs definitely is higher when I sm conscientious about journaling my dreams and practicing some of the techniques like MILD and WBTB. But OTOH it doesn't seem like there's any particular dream sign or reality check that makes me realize I'm dreaming. Either it hits me, or it doesn't.