Multi-Layer Consciousness Model LDing device

So I came up with this model type of thing because there were a couple of things that I found to be flawed with the usual RCing.

(1) It suggests that we have a flawless waking consciousness that we just need to "bring over" into our dreams.
(2) It is only punctual and thus very limited in helping us seriously increase our LD count.
(3) LDing is thus much more a matter of probability and chance than it is a matter of really being aware and actually bringing consciousness to dreaming.

This is countered by reorganizing our waking consciousness to easily play a big role in our dreams anyway, as it does then play a bigger role in real life as well. Non-lucid dreams are not purely unconscious, they can have a number of conscious influences and of course we also remember them consciously, so we have conscious access to them. By increasing our conscious participation in real life we increase our conscious participation in dream life.

Please note that employing this model might seem like a lot of work. I say that it's not a walk in the park, but it's also not more than a change of lifestyle. And this means that it's doable if you want to.
Also note that the model is supposed to be flexible and not strict. Do with it as you like and incorporate it into what you are already doing or change it to suit your needs. It's an incentive rather than a wonder pill for LDing. I do encourage using this in combination with autosuggestion, MILD, WBTB and whatever you find usable.

I also encourage NOT using layer 4 (RCs) and using layer 3 only partly (only observation). This method is originally constructed to work very well without having to go through the fuss of RCing at all. High awareness should suffice. Spontaneous lucids should increase from secure knowledge of what is real and what is not.

It does work very good for me but I have no idea if others find it either working for them or even enjoyable. I just got back into LDing a week ago and already had 3 lucid moments and a couple of SP occurences. When I used a similar method before, it also worked very well.

Who should use this method?
- Anyone who is interested in increasing their LD count.
- Anyone who is not afraid of being self-aware and responsible for his own actions.
- Anyone who also wants to use LDing to learn about themselves and develop.

Who should not use this method?
- Anyone who wants to use LDing as an alternate reality (escapy from reality).
- Anyone who primarily wants to use LDing to satisfy their needs (sex, food etc.) virtually.


Layer Properties:
- Permanent: Kept upright during the whole of the day.
- Temporary: Kept upright for longer phases.
- Punctual: Active only for short periods of times.

-- Part A: Increase level of consciousness –


Layer 1: View on the world
At best permanent.
At minimum temporary.

Be aware of the fact that reality is not much unlike a dream. This is not only real knowledge but something that can be practically felt, as is the case in a lucid dream. Bring this feeling into waking consciousness. (Easiest if you had at least one LD)
In a dream, you are aware that your body is asleep in bed. In waking life, you should be aware that what you experience as your perception and your thought is (for all we know) not located in the physical universe in that we can say where it is. Use this knowledge to realize that your experience of the world and yourself in this world is a mere projection of neuronal information and that what you experience is a creation of yourself (your brain). In sleep, you know of the stage (sleep) above your current one (doing something in dream). When awake, you also know of such a stage, but you don't know what or where it is. This is not a mere trick but what you should feel as real.

Layer 2: Awareness, perception and thought in the world
At best permanent.
At minimum temporary.

Be intensly and consciously aware of you thoughts, your actions, your surroundings. Establish a critical distance to everything that you perceive or think. Minimize the filtering done by your subconscious. This filtering is primarily old structures of thinking and unreflected bias. Intensly experience the shades of the world. Try to let every piece of information enter your consciousness and not just the prefiltered ones. Use this information in the following layers.
This critical distance is crucial for achieving lucidity in dreams. Get rid of bias like "Cars have 5 wheels" and rethink them.
This awareness should be used on as many aspects as possible. Be consciously aware of what you do, what others do and which are the defining factors of your life and your situation in life. Don't just accept everything for what you think it is when you first look at it.
In the same way that while lucid you occasionally do somethinng to stay conscious, you should always try to have the highest possible level of consciousness when waking.

This kind of talk might seem unfamiliar. What I'm heading for is that unconscious moments arise when you're bored, when you do something that doesn't need logical powers or consciousness at all (sex), physically exhausting activity etc. The maximum possible level of unconsciousness while still partly conscious can be achieved by ingesting alcohol.


Whenever something hints that you are in a dream, proceed to punctual testing in layer 3. This might be:
- Something is unusual or surprising, odd or changed.
- Major change happened without you noticing.
- You are reminded of a dream, you experience dream signs.
- Add as needed

Layer 3: Situation awareness and observation (permanent/temporary); Situation testing (punctual)

Observe the different aspects of 'situations'. Dreams are about situations and life mostly is.
Observe:
Where are you? How did you get there? (place/surroundings)
Who is there? Do you know them, what is your relation to them?
What are you doing? What are you thinking?
What are others doing? What is the information transmitted between the situation and its participants?

Contrast and compare this information to the image you have of yourself, others, and your life and its defining aspects. Observe differences, observe things that are ok. Use this to increase your knowledge of what is real.

Observe consistency of situations, that is: Look for change whenever possible. Changed objects, persons, places, topics etc.


-- Part B: Testing reality through consciousness –


Punctually test the situations for these aspects and see if the number of differences is too high. (Reality check). Form a conclusion from only this information. Are you dreaming?

Layer 4: Punctual reality check

Do standard reality-checks as a means of security after having tested the situation. Honestly expect all of them to fail, refer to Layer 1: you can realistically expect them to fail. Only if you establish this state of thinking, you have developed real critical distance.
Advised RCs:
- See you hands, body, nose (one-eyed look); look for abnormalities
- Breathe through a closed nose or mouth (advanced: breathe through your ears or head)
- Rapidly interact with your environment and look for extraordinary change (classic: look for text/number/clock changes)

Layer 5: If you conclude that you're awake, keep up the feeling of being in dream. Imagine dream actions. Use autosuggestion. If you're not awake, enjoy.



Needs improvement, post here.

Excellent post! Although, this could also be called 'Lucid Living'. :wink:

Keeping concious of your breathing could also help 'hold' your lucidity (read about this somewhere..)

I think your way of making RCs the last resort to check if you're dreaming, to verify your suspicions that you're dreaming is great.

There are two different approaches to RCs:
1) used as a technique to become lucid
2) used to switch from pre-lucid to lucid.

I analyzed 20 lucid dreamers who had at least 10 dreams. Two of them specifically mentioned that they used RCs througout the day and became lucid by doing an RC at random in a ND. For these two who practiced RCs regularly only 60% of their lucid dreams involved RCs.

For the other 18 LDers less than 20% of their LDs involved a RC.

An alternative to using RCs to switch from pre-lucid to lucid is to understand that if you are questioning if you are in a dream, then YOU ARE DREAMING. This approach was suggested by Charles McCreery back in 1973.

However many of us still get fooled by the 'realism' of our dreams and need to use an RC to hammer through to ourselves that we are in fact awake in a dream. :)

very good post but i have to ask.... how is this any different from the aquired mindset that will be obtained through lucid dreaming practice anyway. The only thing really significant is that you are telling in detail how you will see the world, and how to think about it after having a lucid dream. It all seems inevitable. I have yet to have a lucid dream, but i have always done this.

In some non-lucid dreams i have had, it seems that dreams are predetermained and one has little control outside of being lucid. You sort of have to beleive that you will, without a doubt, perform a reality check, or question the reality around you before you actually do it. People do this all the time, so why hasnt this carried over into my dreams?

I had the same issue with RCs. I use reality checks, but it's not as if I do it, check as pass or fail, then leave it at that. I realize that the checks could fail regardless whether or not I'm dreaming. Usually while I'm thinking of my level of conciousness, I get less certain about the "realness" of my perception as I become more aware that it's in my head anyway.

I must say that RCs are quite useful during dreams with minimum awareness. Such tiny speck of awareness will grant you at most one single action. What will you do? Think about the scenery around you? Try to analyze the behavior of people around you? There's simply not enough awareness to do that! And if you try, you are very likely to be carried away thinking about "fake" relationships, events and other aspects of the dream you are experiencing. Really, analyzing the dream without first being lucid is not the best idea, as dreams are very tricky. Back to the question: what do you do with that tiny speck of awareness? You look at a digital clock, read a single word over or check that number plate on a car in front of you. Something looks funky? Bam! You are lucid. This is how a simple RC makes you lucid.

I'm not speaking against your model, as you are on the right track. Such thinking indeed produces really cool results. I dont know if it had any effect on my LDs, as I wasnt having many LDs when I was trying something like what you are suggesting. However I had a lot of very cool trippy experiences on the borderline between waking and dreaming. I must say that only increased awareness allowed me to experience them.