Thread: ADA: Right or Wrong for Lucidity?

Originally Posted by lenscaper

I address this in my mind by thinking about how each of us is constantly creating our perception of that reality through our own personal cognitive reality. I think we all see things from a very personal perspective. I mean, if you and I, Sageous, were standing here in my office I think our perception of the surroundings would be different in subtle (or even not so subtle) ways. Its a bit like how two people standing and looking at a rainbow are each seeing a different rainbow due to the physics of the whole thing.

And speaking of physics, I also sometimes try to correlate this concept with the fact that in quantum physics it has been proven that measurement determines reality. That is, a particle does not exist in a certain state until it is observed in that state. Yeah....I guess that may be kind of a stretch, but its another interesting way to make sense of this question. Either way, I don't take the whole "everything is a dream" thing too literally. It really does help me, though, in my quest to establish that unbroken continuity of consciousness between awake and a'dream.

And yet, in both cases, reality is still reality, regardless of how differently two people may (and do) perceive it. And don't get me started on my opinion of translating logistical quirks in quantum physics experiments into observations done in full-scale waking-life reality. Yes, a subatomic particle's/wave's state is defined when it is observed, but to me that does not -- and should not -- translate to larger objects because, well, it doesn't.

Also:

What is helping me of late is to equate self awareness to "body awareness". I feel as though when I am completely concentrating on my body; folding all of my senses inward if you will, I am tuning everything else completely out....so I am completely in that moment only. I do this during the day a lot and then at night as I prepare for sleep. Once again, if I can take the unbroken continuity of that awareness into the dream it helps me separate myself from the reality of the dream.

You might consider being wary of doing this, with regard to LD'ing, especially as your skills improve. Creating a system of duality in a dream (which is basically what it seems you are doing) may prevent you from fully realizing that the entire dream is you, with no separations, and not realizing that might prevent you from fully exploring the nature and potentials of your dreams. I recommend that you pay attention to your mantra, and allow that non-dual awareness to develop and blossom in your dreams.

Also, and very much my own opinion, I've found that the "inward gazing" of many meditational practices tends to run anathema to successful LD'ing. It might work great in waking-life, but in a dream, separating your self, especially in the form of your DC-self, from the greater whole of your dream, seems to not be a great idea. After all, the dream is you, why make all that wonder something other than you? This, BTW, is the part that was nearly on-topic, because that separation is one of the problems I have with ADA.

My dreams tend to be incredibly real. Sometimes when I am verging on true lucidity I stop and and gaze around in amazement at the reality of the scene and lucidity is left hanging out there in the balance. At times like these, my awareness of self connects me back to my body and lucidity once again blooms.

Except that there is no body in dreams, only a DC body that you may or may not be occupying at the time. Connecting with that, and coming to use it as a primary tool, could lead you to a place where lucidity depends on a separation of your self from the dream, which might hold back your growth and lead, possibly, to false lucids about regrouping in your DC body. This same warning holds if it is your physical body you are connecting to, BTW (just remembering your sleeping body is enough, I think; no need to retreat to it).

Also, as an aside: There is a reason dreams tend to seem incredibly real which has nothing to do with lucidity: the imagery you are seeing in a dream is created without having to move first through the filters of your physical perception, so they have an opportunity to be quite pure. The imagery is probably just as clear in NLD's, but the reason they seem so much more clear during LD's is because in NLD's, you really don't care because that's the way it's supposed to be, but when lucid you're consciously witnessing the precision. Instead of separating, why not be amazed that such imagery exists in your imagination, and that this beauty is a part of you?