Hey IMJ,
You posted this message a long time ago but I recently rejoined DVs (after revamp) and you were in the chat room so I decided to check out the topics you started. You asked quite a lot of questions about Reality Checking so I thought I'd reply to this one with the wisdom of your own dream...
"In the one I had this morning...I was doing some lighting stuff as I always do in reality but it was a lamp I did not have in RL. And upon realising that I asked am I dreaming?...Unfortunately I ignored the question because I was to engrossed in my lighting stuff..."
I read about your lighting technique for Lucid Dreaming and I see your logic but it may be you are overlooking what is important and most helpful for you to obtain lucidity. If this were my dream I would deduce that it is not the technique or process that I use (lighting, nose pinching, clock reading, whatever) that is important but the attention to reality as a whole. As a way of being.
I think Reality Checking is great but it is only a small lick or riff taken from the grand symphony that is Meditation. In a similar way that "The Secret" focuses on one law of the Universe (that of Attraction) and makes it out to be the all iimportant and governing factor, so too do many Lucid Dreamers and 'experts' alike consider RCing to be the short cut key to accessing this phenomina, which is so closely linked with attention and awareness.
If Reality Checking is simply a means to an end then you will may very well achieve that end on more than one occasion, but it will most likely be slow going because while you think you're doing really well, remebering to RC everyday, you may be missing the opportunity to be constantly checking reality.
Meditiation is just like asking your self, "Am I dreaming" because by sitting down and attempting to drop yours and everyone elses story in exchange for the wisdom and awareness to be found in the Stillness, you are basically asking the One, "what's really going on?" Do you see the difference between that and asking if you are dreaming? If "dreaming" is part of what is going on in the moment when you have brought your consiousness to a state of asking "who am I?" then you will know.
However, if you ask the popular alternative (pop-spirituality version), "Am I dreaming" so very, very often the answer will be "no." Period. The infrequency of the answer "yes" is not my beef. Rather, it is that the answer to The Question could be a "yes" or a "no" at all- or even vocalised if it could be known, that makes this "practical" question or technique pale into insignificance compared to mindfulness meditation... watch that crazy mind and how it tries to convince you that it is you. Don't just do it in the lotus position either; do it standing, walking, conversing, doggy style... make it habitual to detatch from your mind, emotions and assumptions and you will create a meditation of your waking life.
You see, Lucid Dreaming is the blooming of consciousness. You can put the seed in decent soil by doing reality checks but to really foster the plants growth, meditation is key.
Also, if you practise before and after bed time, your dreams will often turn to a meditative theme, giving you wonderful opportunities for lucidity (if your meditation practise is strong enough). Not to mention that if you meditate whilst in a lucid Dream you can expect some significant, instant results.
And don't forget, being able to dream lucidly is no end in itself, rather a manifestation of your level of consiousness at any moment, awake and asleep. The quality of your consiousness (and the potentials presented therein) will determine everything about your lucid dream; length, intensity, theme, action, characters, clarity and even your ability to remember that it even happened at all.
Finally, surrender to Life (God) and Trust in the Love that makes up the entirity of every thing. Develope, encourage and re-enforce that Love with direct experience of it by dropping your awareness into your Heart Centre and residing there, allowing all the thoughts and other ego-activity to simply fly over, up there, in your head, and slow down. Know that you are only ever having the experience of something, and that you are not that.
Eg. you have the experience of being sad, but you are not sad. To affirm that "I am sad" has obvious results. By realising that you are the awareness of the percieved sadness, the experiencer, and deepening into each and every feeling, positive and negetive, from that heart-informed perspective, so much of the Illusion that we have designed for ourselves personally and collectively will dissolve like darkness in the face of the light.
So yeah, work on checking out this Big Dream we're having RIGHT NOW, as it is the ultimate Illusion. If you ever ask yourself, "Am I dreaming?" and get the reply, "no" you may want to revise your answer. =)
Peace out,
Daen.
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