am i nuts ?

[Fakiha]

So my family is religious. I was talking about LDs with my sister and she said am nuts *blah blah blah*.Is lucid dreaming is aginst religious laws ? I mean i dont think lucidity has to do anything with religion. any thoughts ?

[Vortaix]

I am not religious but I can enlighten you with my great Google skills "اللَّـهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا ۖ فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَىٰ عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الْأُخْرَىٰ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect. [39:42]" --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Lucid dreams are nothing more than being aware in a regular dream. Awareness is the key word, nothing more, nothing less. so in short, according to your religion "Allah is only borrowing your soul when you sleep, so now, you only get to be aware of it and enjoy the experience by being aware in the dream world" Also, people who never had a lucid dream and never bothered to google for scientific proof wont really accept it well when you tell them "I CAN FLY, AND SHOOT LASERS, AND RUN THROUGH WALLS, AND ALL THE MAGI..." ahah Good night and do your thing !

[JPDreeamnz]

Hey, don't let yourself down with this kind of thing.. One day i was on the way to my job and my mother was with me, so on the conversation i've mentioned my LD experiences and then she said that i should stop playing video games (i play a lot!) because it was driving me mad... Well, people always fear/reject something that they don't understand, like, "doubt first-understanding last". Always when i've started a talk about LD with someone i ask first "Have you ever heard about Lucid Dream?", if they say yes then brainstorm of ideas, if not i'll measure if it worth the explanation and i'll keep the talk. Try hard and remember that LD is a journey of self knowledge.

[Sageous]

I think that when people do not understand something, or perhaps discover their ignorance of something in the presence of someone who understands it, they tend to invoke religion or accusations of insanity as a sort of defense mechanism. Since there is likely nothing specific in the major Western religious tenets that even mentions lucid dreaming in a negative way, much less dictates laws about it, you are likely seeing this defense mechanism in action. ...of course, you still could be nuts, but that's got nothing to do with LD'ing anyway!

[Fakiha]

I am not religious but I can enlighten you with my great Google skills "اللَّـهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا ۖ فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَىٰ عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الْأُخْرَىٰ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect. [39:42]" --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Lucid dreams are nothing more than being aware in a regular dream. Awareness is the key word, nothing more, nothing less. so in short, according to your religion "Allah is only borrowing your soul when you sleep, so now, you only get to be aware of it and enjoy the experience by being aware in the dream world" Also, people who never had a lucid dream and never bothered to google for scientific proof wont really accept it well when you tell them "I CAN FLY, AND SHOOT LASERS, AND RUN THROUGH WALLS, AND ALL THE MAGI..." ahah Good night and do your thing ! Thanks! hepled me alot I really appreciate the reference

[Fakiha]

Thanks everyone

[GeneralDaedalus]

Yes, some religions disagree quite strongly with lucid dreaming. Astral projection is generally known to be a Satanic practice. Don't buy into any of it. It's exactly the same as a bloody dream, you just know that you're dreaming. Which means that the religious people need to take a long hard look at themselves, as I'm sure all of them have had a dream. But this is beside the point- religions were all made up as a way to take money from gullible people, and as excuses to start wars for money and land. Don't ever let religious people try to tell you right from wrong. EDIT: I am a theoretical physicist, though, which explains my cynical outlook on religion.

[insideout]

For fundamentalist Christians (such as my family) lucid dreams might be seen as potentially dangerous because they can be used to live out activities they consider to be sinful. Although lucid and non-lucid dreams can also be quite spiritual for some people. This too can be thought to be bad or dangerous for people who believe the Bible should be the only source of spiritual knowledge.

[Infinityjester]

No. You are not breaking any of religions laws by having a lucid dream. In fact I've never once heard anyone in any sort of mainstream religious talk about controlling your own dreams. If you find out you are breaking a law I suggest you branch off and form your own denomination that allows lucid dreaming. Can you imagine the money everyone will be putting in your offering plate because you have shown them the way to their own paradise! Forget the 72 virgins! You can have 50,000!

[AchTea]

Your not nuts for lucid dreaming. They are, for believing that any one religion is THE TRUTH and that THE TRUTH can be contained in a book and conveniently put in your pocket. Don't get me wrong, there is truth in religion, but no one religion is the truth. Lucid dreaming and the persute of LD is an investigation into the nature of reality and that cannot be done when truth has been assumed and monopolised by any one person or organisation.

[spellbee2]

Let me advise all past and future posters in this thread that this is not the place to bash any one religion or religion as a whole. We have the Religion & Spirituality forum for discussion like that. There is a fine line between providing a helpful answer for this question (a few of which we've already seen) and using this thread as your own personal soapbox. This thread itself is teetering on the edge of being thrown into the R&S forum, which would be a shame since this is a common question for new lucid dreamers with religious backgrounds. You have now been warned. Future posts that "answer" the question by pushing a particular religious agenda will be deleted.

[AchTea]

Sorry, I've never posted anything on a forum before. I didn't mean to cause anyone offence. I will try to be more mindfull in future. Again, apologies.

[Goldenspark]

Any suggestion that Lucid dreaming is " the work of the devil" is just nonsense. LDs can be thought of as a microcosm of real life. If you have religious convictions in RL, I suggest you can and should live by them in your LDs. If you engage in sinful activities in your LDs, and you believe in judgement for those actions, expect the same judgement as in real life. the only difference is that what you are doing is not real, even if it feels real. On a slightly different tack, how many people have had sinful thoughts, but not carried them out in RL? You could be said to be doing the same thing in a sinful LD.