visions of other dreamers?

[otto]

Well, I am a first time poster here, so I don't know if any of this has been covered or what y'all are about here. I have been searching for awhile, off and on, about lucid dreams and oobe's and all I have ever found are "how-to's" or forums full of wanna-be crystal warmers and crackpots who post about how their boyfriend is a werewolf or some such (true!) This board, at first skim, seems more mature than that, so I'll spill my guts here. I don't need a how-to, or feel inclined to give out my credit card # for an online course, nor do I believe in half of the "new-age" psychic power stuff or whatever most of the people selling tarot readings spout. (I have read tarot, I don't see how it is worth $50 a sitting!) I've been to other forums, so I know better than to cross-post. If the local mod thinks this belongs somewhere else, feel free to move it. I won't be offended. Now that I have let go of the negativity, on to the positive. I have been lucid dreaming for as long as I can remember dreaming. I always thought it was like 'some people dream in black and white;' I thought 'some people, like me, are conscious while they dream.' I never made a big deal about it, but also never met anyone who was the same. When I first discovered the concept of 'Lucid Dreaming' I thought that the idea was a little pointless, like learning to see the color blue or taste salt, I could already do it so I paid it no mind. I find that (like meditation or oobe's or precognition) people who are unfamiliar with the practice tend to make a big deal about it, and attach a good deal of superstition and mumbo-jumbo to it. (Much ado about nothing?) Lately, though, I have been experiencing the sort of dream where I have much less control (over the dream environment) than I am accustomed to. I seem to be in an actual 'space.' I return to the 'space' in dream after dream, quite involuntarily. I have been exploring the space when presented. When the space is not a part of my dream experience, I can re-create it consciously, but it is not the same as when it manifests on it's own. (It is made of my own memory of the space, a false image?) There are two things that lead to the 'space.' Early on, I would notice an old man in a white suit (he looks like my Dad with a beard, but not exactly.) The old man would be in a croud of people or in an 'audience.' (I often dream of playing in a theater and I put people I know into different roles on the stage and interact with them. Like roleplay therapy, but solo. The old man first appeared in the audience of one of these dreams.) I have never successfully spoken with the old man, but he leads me to the 'space' which is usually just 'offstage' of my dream. The second lead-in is when I am dreaming of flying or driving (two favorites, saves me from speeding tickets) I will see a large (vastly large) ornate palace on the horizon. If I fly/drive towards the palace, it leads to the 'space.' This has happened more often lately than meeting the old man. The 'space' is a vast garden inside the ornate palace. Great vaulted skylights illuminate the garden from above and the area is large enough to contain several large buildings on the garden grounds as well. There are several other people here as well, though it is not crouded by any means. There are examples of every ethnicity and gender and we are all (myself included) dressed in what I can best describe as nightgowns. Some of the people are wearing crowns (not myself.) I have not spoken to or interacted with any of the people in the 'space,' and I get the feeling that I shouldn't. There are several places in the garden (mats and benches, fountains) for meditation or contemplation, and I have used them. There are also the buildings. I have entered three of them (there are more.) One building (from my first visit to the 'space') is like a library. There is a book on a pedestal in the center of the library. I looked at the writing in the book once. I don't know what other people see in their dreams when they look in a book, but I have never been able to read real words in my dreams (the letters are a jumble,) but I could read this book. The book is not in English (well, not JUST English.) I read only what was lying open and it contained inherent knowledge of what good and evil are and about my specific place in the universe. It was very enlightening, and very creepy, and I still think about it although the information I retain from the experience has not really changed my actions in 'real' life (not yet anyway.) Another building I call the 'coffeehouse,' but more because of the atmosphere than the actuality because there is no coffee there. There are other people from the 'space' here, but instead of the rigid co-existence of the garden, the people are more relaxed and sit together in the building (on benches and mats.) There is still no talking here, but I do see the occasional couple 'making out' or groups sitting closely together in rapt attention. I have yet to feel comfortable enough to join in here and none of the others have approached me. Then there is the third building, the most recent I have visited and the reason that I decided to go online and find a place to bang my monkey digits on a keypad in a futile attempt to communicate the experience with other meat-bags. The 'Hospital.' Until I visited the third building, I was convinced that I was occupying a sort of 'collective astral space' that was accessible to dreamers and transcendentalists (and perhaps even those having a psychedelic experience.) I thought that those with the crowns might be yogis or boddhisatvas or something (I feel compelled not to ask.) In the 'hospital,' I saw people with crowns 'healing' people without crowns (laying on hands), people sharing balls of 'light' and people with and without crowns meditating with glowing chakras visible through their skin (creepy.) Then I saw a group of crowned people bring a person to life out of nothing, and the new person was wearing a crown. When I saw this, I woke up with a start. I have tried to use reason on my experiences and label what I have experienced, but I find that applying my limited human belief system on it causes frustration and I am probably all wrong anyway. Am I just dreaming? Is this what regular dreams are like? I have never had a wet dream, I haven't had a nightmare since early childhood, I have always been in control of my dreams. I can think of no reason that I would be having a dream like this other than to learn something. Religiously, I was raised Catholic, spent several years as an agnostic at best/atheist at worst (or vice versa,) married a Christian (UCC, went to a few services and got married there) and now consider myself more of a Unitarian Universalist in spirit (there is a little truth in everything, but none of the world's religions are the 'one true thing') I have never been religious or really even very concerned about the idea. I am/was favorable to reincarnation and accept the beliefs of just about anybody (who are just as likely to be right as anybody else.) I think anybody who asks for money is a hoax and I was skeptical of faith healers and spoonbenders (though over the last few weeks I have been questioning everything.) Am I nuts? Has anybody else experienced this? Otto

[dreamlyn]

Wow I joined this forum to see how my dreams fit into other dreamers state. I have been lucid dreaming since a kid and didn't think much of it. I had a near death experience when I was nine and was too preoccupied with not having this experience as a kid. I thought Lucid dream and all the strange dream I have had was how the everyone dreamt. When I got old in my teens I spoke like crazy to all my friends and anyone who would listen about my dreams. I have dream with this incredible place. A palace like you said in your dream. I has a magnificent couryard yard in the middle of it and has styles and decorations of all anciet arts. I know when I am there this place is a gateway. No one in the dream tells me this I just sense it. I has many buildings around it. One build holds all arts and music. It seem almost impossible to go through it but somehow I make it through. There is another building or should I say room, it's connect but not that has many of thousands of books. The style is English (1800's) crossed with Middle EAstern (ancient) It's totally beautiful, I see lights on people and around them. The lights form distant patterns. It's like the glowing light come from the people. I get eye contact from the people but nothing is never said. I am in too much amazement at the place. It is so large and complex and beautiful. Your dream reminds me so much of this. What almost amazed me is you mention a hospital. I too lucid dream with a hospital. Unlike yours it is not good. I am always lucid in this hospital. This hospital is a place of control. A gate way where people are controled into terrible situations. For instant the first time I had a lucid dream of this hospital a was a teenager at the time and we were going to a room in the hospital to hear music. When I entered the room I found the it ws a trap to see how we will react to pain in our ears in a dream state. It was here in the dream I became lucid. I couldn't get up from the dream because I was expericence sleep paralysis. I hate when that happened to me in a lucid state that scares me. I have had so many lucid dreams that when I hurt my hands and could follow one of many ventures as a pianist I chose art as one of my careers just so then I could draw scenes from my dreams. I taught art so far to about 5000 people and of course I have lessons on drawing dreams. What got me so perplexed was that not one of these people ever had a lucid dream. :-( More than half of them never remember their dreams. So of course this made me feel terrible not being to share my experiences. Thank you for sharing your dream. It was so close to what I have experience in my lucid states. The dream with hospital is so lucid and real that I tell people in the dream my name and I recite my phone number. Still waiting for a call for someone to say my name. LOL :-) It really feels too real :-) Peace. :-)