jasonresno
Dream Architect

I realized I did this in the wrong forum so I'm reposting it here. The other thread is in "Lucid Dreaming Discussion" I believe. It can be deleted.

So I've been trying since I joined this forum to attain my first LD. I stuck to the regiment most people put on here for learning how to DILD. I bought LaBerges book and read it and did everything by the book. I kept a DJ as religiously as I do anything.

And I gave up and for the last four months I've spared little to no thoughts for LDing. I kind of pushed it out of my head. Until this morning.

I was dreaming I was walking down a hallway in school with a friend of mine that had passed away. I must have realized that's impossible and I yelled out, volunteerily (I remember thinking to say it), "I'm dreaming!" and immediately I did a nose pinch reality check. It was the weirdest feeling I've ever had. I could breathe through my pinched nose and closed mouth. That feeling alone, something impossible to replicate in waking life, was worth all of the work and desire.

But I wanted more and I knew I was getting ridiculously excited. There was this weird duality where I could feel my real life hands and body and I felt that it was numb but I was literally shaking in my dream body with excitement. I decided that I needed to stabilize the dream so I tried to rub my hands (And I'm amazed I even remembered to to do this) but everything seemed like it was moving in slow motion. So I gave up on that and tried to fly and that too felt like I was swimming against the current and under water. Everything was so slow. And then I must have fallen back into the dream because that's all I remember.

And the craziest thing of this all? I didn't even REMEMBER I had a lucid dream until I was halfway to school. I almost swerved on the road with the sudden complete vivid memory and it totally changed my mood and my day. I feel better than I have in a long time.

It's unreal. It really is. I used to always ask questions on this forum like: "How does it feel? Do you remember it in real time?" And that's really hard to answer because I now know how it feels. It's just an otherworldly ethereal feeling.

So I'm really excited. I'm hoping this opens the floodgates and makes it easy for me. But the only thing I'm worried about is that this was a random DILD. I did no exercises for it. I haven't even been doing reality checks. Should I get back on a regiment?

Or You Could do it the Easy Way...

Okay, here's my biggest secret. You really don't need any techniques at all to have a lot of DILDs! (I bet some people who read all that stuff are gonna be mad now. Haha. Sorry you guys.)

Even if you're not a natural, you can teach yourself to think like one. If you can do that, you'll have LDs all the time without really trying.

The thing that works best is simply awareness. And I really mean awareness.

Most people go through their days thinking about where they need to be going next, and what they need to be doing, and wondering where they should be eating. They spend very little time being truly aware of their surroundings.

This is where that meditation stuff really helps, by the way! Meditation teaches the kind of awareness I'm talking about.

The easy way to LD is a state of constant awareness. Make your day one big long reality check. Only instead of a specific RC, begin to question everything around you at once. Quiet your mind, and simply be aware of your state of consciousness. Be aware of the FEELING of LIVING and being AWAKE. It's a much different feeling than being asleep or even astral projecting.

I believe that many natural LDers do this unconsciously. They just "know" when they are dreaming because they know it feels different. This also may explain why naturals have a hard time explaining exactly how they get lucid. They don't really GET lucid...they ARE lucid every moment of the day and night.

Also, during the day, remember that reality, too, is subjective. In a way we human beings are always dreaming, because our minds are always interpreting what our senses are gathering, trying to make sense of what's around us. Is reality objective, or is reality simply the interpretation we get in the end? Human beings are truly unable to examine the objective world completely.

By the way, if you already have problems distinguishing reality from a dream, or have schizophrenia, or any other serious mental conditions I DO NOT advise you do this, because if your mind is unstable the last thing you should be doing is questioning reality or considering reality a dream.

The best way to learn about awareness is to pick up a book on meditation, Buddhism, or Taoism. Meditation is a tool that can teach you what true mindfulness feels like. The real trick to getting lucid is to keep that feeling of awareness going on all the time, even if it's not always completely conscious.


Awareness Addendum:

The key to constant awareness comes from the fundamental idea that all reality is another facet of a dream. Time is illusionary. Today will soon fade and cease to exist. Everything you know in this world can be changed in an instant, at any time, for any reason. This is just the same way your dreams are. This is what Dream Yoga teaches. All things are illusionary, all things change, and all things fade. This is the reality of existence.

-Everyone has some ideas as to what they want to do in their lucid dreams. So think of a lucid dream that you want to have tonight.


Got an idea? Now that you've thought of a good dream, try visualizing it. It helps to use real memories....for example, imagine that you're tasting the chocolate, and at the same time remember how chocolate tasted the last time you had some. Decide what the buildings look like, who will be there, what you will do, and make it all as detailed as possible. Basically, daydream.

-Remember that every moment today passes, becoming nothing but memory, as a dream. All things are illusionary, and all things in constant flux.

Keep in mind that right now, this reality, is only another form of dream. Keep this in mind as often and as long as possible. So when you do reality checks (hopefully frequently, since RCing a lot during the day can help ease you into a constant state of awareness), try to think about some of these things.

The day before yesterday I had zero recall/too lazy to remember to write it. Last night however I did remember a dream:

I'm in some sort of church with my buddy Phil. It's very empty and there's only a few of us per pew sitting around. We're all kids. A man is walking up and down the aisles telling us to perform some sort of psychic test. Our first test is to lay back and go to sleep while staying conscious (Ie: lucid dreaming! I don't know why this didn't kickstart me to being lucid.) and in my dream I do it and I get super excited.

Flash forward to Leah and I walking down these steps into a sort of greasy basement/kitchen. We walk around and as we are doing so I'm trying to put the moves on her. Needless to say: I am rebuffed.

I've been scrapping around for ideas to begin some creative writing and I had this dream last night and it was awesome and actually gave me some ammo to start writing again.

My dream opens up with me playing football in my living room. I keep going out for passes but dropping them. Finally I demand one grown to me and I go up for it and get destroyed but almost catch it.

I dreamt that Leah and i were hanging out in our house when Caleb and Sasha came over. For some reason when they knocked Marc answered and told them I busy. I ran past him and let them in.

Immediately i could tell something was wrong. Caleb looked agitated. He asked me immediately why I hadn't been taking his companies phone calls or emails or paying my bill on the new grill I bought. I told him I hadn't bought one and that I don't know what he's talking about. He seems reluctant to believe me but he eventually seems to. Sasha leaves and I head back to the bedroom to explain to Leah what happened. Caleb says he is going to use our restroom but I don't hear or I ignore him.

So then for some reason I start explaining to Leah the issue and that something is very wrong. I'm suspicious of Caleb and I tell her so, loudly. I hear the bathroom toilet flush and curse at myself thinking he may have heard me. So I walk out to the living room with a small bat in my hands and nonchalantly confront him. He ends up leaving but I know it isn't for good.

And then I know that I have to do something. Some sort of test or the consequences will be terrible. Leah walks into the dining room and sits on the floor only to cut herself on a toothpick. She insists it's no big deal.

There's a dream time jump and suddenly I'm with a group of people but I know we are in the alternate world. I know that while here we have to perform a certain number of tasks before we head back. If we head back without finishing them then people will die. One of these tasks is for a man to slowly flip cards on a wall. I watch as he does it and I'm struck by a flash of images. In an other world every time a cars flips this demon gets stronger. I demand he flip them back. As he flips them back the images flash again but it's of the demon turning less and less dangerous.

I then turn around to keep track of the other people with me and it's then that I realize the double edge sword of having more allies with me. With more people there's a better chance of failure. While I'm looking around I'm trying to keep track of where Caleb is. I'm sure he has something to do with everything going on.

For some reason I'm holding a saber and I realize that it truly isn't real so I set it aside. I see a scimitar hanging in the air and I snag it. It feels pleasantly heavy. Real. I put it through my belt loop and continue my rounds. I return back to this big conference room and ask of everyone if they are ready and absolutely positive they finished their tasks. I'm sweating and freaking out but everyone says yes.


And then Mike and I are pulling up to Kyles house. He is the drummer for SIB. I pull into a gravel road that splits the collection of houses down the middle. It's dark out. The lights are on in the house but something feels off so Mike agrees to go check it out while I wait in the car. He does. I wake up.

I've pretty much figured out that I'm able to have my most clear dreams within my last two hours or so of sleep. So perhaps I should WBTB then...

Went to a big music festival Saturday night and I ended up staying out until 3:30 and not falling asleep until past 4am. I got up at 9:30 and couldn't remember anything but I'm not too surprised or disheartened. I feel like any given night could be the night