Thread: Christian lucid dreamers?

Lol "Devil Worship"...that's funny to me that anyone would actually believe that.

And as for lucidboy's post: I don't mean to say "not real" implying that dreams aren't a form of reality. My term "not real" just implies a simple truth that actions in dreams do not pose any consequences as doing the same things in waking life would. I too, believe dreams are just another type of reality, and yes, sometimes even more "real" than waking life. I just meant that why should someone feel bad for doing something in a dream when no wrong has been done. Everyone has had sexual thoughts at one point or another, even if for only a split second. And I correlate dreams with thoughts. You wouldn't call a person that had a sexual thought an adulterer. Just like you shouldn't think having a sexual dreams is adulteress. That's all I meant

Although I am athiest, I can safely say that religion is a personal thing. Although you share your ideas with other christian's what you believe is ultimately up to you, with that in mind the real question is do you think that god would let you do anything in a dream?. If you are a devote follower of christianity you should know the closest you can get to god is through yourself, so instead of asking other's make up your own mind .

On a side note, If you disagree with the above statement and abide to a set of rules then no you cannot do anything you want in a dream becuase it is a sin to think false thaughts about someone.

There is nothing wrong with dreaming (even lucid ones) but GOD is watching you. So think about what GOD would want you to do and TRY to do what GOD wants. Also, if you do end up sinning remember to repent and ask for forgiveness.

Christian Catholic and I don't see any problems with LD.
However, what you do in your dreams is not just something that can't influence your life. It's still you and your subconscious. My opinion is that dream is an amazing opportunity to learn how to control your mind so I would say as a Christian that it's not really good to forget about moral code in dreams etc.

A very interesting topic. I would like to split it into 2 parts:

Murder: From a Christian perspective murder is a sin. However, killing someone in self-defense, the defense of others, or because your government ordered to kill during war is not a sin. In the sermon on the mount Jesus states, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” So, it is your mindset that determines the sin.

As far as I’m concerned killing a dream character is no different than killing digital images of people in a video game, or writing a fiction book where a character is murdered. Dream characters are not real therefore are not subject to murder. But, if a person enjoys inflicting pain and killing and takes great pleasure in lucid dreaming just to go on killing sprees, there may be some issues for which they should talk to a counselor.

Lust: This one gets tricky. From a Christian perspective adultery and premarital sex is considered a sin (per the bible). In the sermon on the mount Jesus states, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

I struggle with this because I typically don’t tell my wife about my lucid dreams which involve sex because I worry she will be offended (which clearly shows I have a guilty conscience). If you follow my logic regarding murder I stated above, than I have no choice but to admit that sex in lucid dreams is the equivalent of viewing pornography (videos, pictures, or graphic reading materials) which, based on the new testament, would be considered a sin.

Originally Posted by Hwen

my assumption is that i am not the only Christian who has dabbled in lucid dreaming, and probably not the only one on this site. i was just wondering how others out there deal with both, did you have trouble with it? or did it not bother you?

I love LDing. It is amazing. However, I've had some trouble with controlling sexual urges in my lucid dreams which has lead to some guilt. Also, I would not discuss lucid dreaming with certain members of my family (who are strongly religious) or people at my church. I believe that many Christians can be a bit closed minded when it comes to things that fall outside of their understanding. They have a tendency to immediately categorize these things as "new age" or "occult" activities. I really just don't want to get into a religious debate with them about a personal hobby which I enjoy.

Originally Posted by Hwen

where do you draw the line once inside? sure, everybody knows that anything is possible within a dream, but do you still hold on to your moral code? if so, to what extent?

As I stated in my full post previously on this thread, I don't believe killing a DC is a sin. However, I generally have no urge to kill or commit violence against DCs.

We have a separate forum dedicated to religion and spirituality, although it doesn't pertain to dreams. I would say that posting it here is fine.

According to the Bible, Jesus said that sinning in your heart is the same as sinning outwardly. In this context, dreams and imagination are no different, and using LDs to sin would be a violation of Christian conduct.

When I am in dreams I want to stay centered in Christ, like I am in the waking
world, and explore my psyche, changing the setting through God and NOT magic. For example, I dreamed I was in a lecture hall and they were teaching Islam, so I became lucid and made the lecture hall go away. Don't know if I did it or if God did it. I was in a grassy field and was running from someone. I don't know if it is a sin to try to control my lucid dreams or if I should just sit back and explore my psyche and let the dream be the dream and ask dream characters what part of me they represent and what message they have for me. I believe things that are evil when you are awake are still evil when you are asleep (like having lusty sex outside of marriage instead of chaste, beautiful marriage sex). I also like the idea of having shared dreams with my partner, somehow we both know that we are having the same dream as we are dreaming it. Christians on here, let me know what you think about this. How to obey God in lucid dreams, out of love for God and not just out of "obligation" or "force"

Originally Posted by Tygar

A very interesting topic. I would like to split it into 2 parts:

Murder: From a Christian perspective murder is a sin. However, killing someone in self-defense, the defense of others, or because your government ordered to kill during war is not a sin. In the sermon on the mount Jesus states, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” So, it is your mindset that determines the sin.

As far as I’m concerned killing a dream character is no different than killing digital images of people in a video game, or writing a fiction book where a character is murdered. Dream characters are not real therefore are not subject to murder. But, if a person enjoys inflicting pain and killing and takes great pleasure in lucid dreaming just to go on killing sprees, there may be some issues for which they should talk to a counselor.

Lust: This one gets tricky. From a Christian perspective adultery and premarital sex is considered a sin (per the bible). In the sermon on the mount Jesus states, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

I struggle with this because I typically don’t tell my wife about my lucid dreams which involve sex because I worry she will be offended (which clearly shows I have a guilty conscience). If you follow my logic regarding murder I stated above, than I have no choice but to admit that sex in lucid dreams is the equivalent of viewing pornography (videos, pictures, or graphic reading materials) which, based on the new testament, would be considered a sin.

You don't always have to literalize your dream. Sex in a dream, even a lucid one, can be a symbol for something else, I don't know what. But an example for me pregnancy dreams are symbols for me having a novel in my heart to "give birth to".

I think we are very lucky to live in a time where Christianity, at least generally in the West, is now a relatively "benign" religion, and is much more free and open. It wasn't always like that, and I wonder how the Church from times gone by would have viewed the ordinary person doing lucid dreaming. I'm sure there were times where it would have been seen as witchcraft and the work of the devil. Certainly promoting it would have been seen as very subversive, because of the freedom it offers (e.g. to sin).

The moral dilemma is an interesting one. If you consider it a sin to transgress one of the commandments in real life, say, does that mean imagining what it would be like to make that same transgression is also a sin? Some might say that the act of committing the sin in your mind as a thought experiment is a way to show just how abhorrent it really is. Maybe you need to consider the contradictions that can arise under certain conditions, for example a christian soldier having to face killing an enemy combatant. The thought experiment could prepare that soldier, or even maybe convince him that he could not in fact go through with it.
A lucid dream could be seen as an extension of that process.

In the end what you decide to do in your dreams is an intensely private matter (for now..). I suspect that if you really felt extreme guilt at the prospect of doing something in a dream, you would in any case find it difficult to carry through, just because of the nature of expectation in LDs.

I'm not sure that being a saint in your dreams is necessarily a good thing. Being a bit naughty in your LDs might keep you on the straight and narrow in RL

Originally Posted by Goldenspark

The moral dilemma is an interesting one. If you consider it a sin to transgress one of the commandments in real life, say, does that mean imagining what it would be like to make that same transgression is also a sin? Some might say that the act of committing the sin in your mind as a thought experiment is a way to show just how abhorrent it really is. Maybe you need to consider the contradictions that can arise under certain conditions, for example a christian soldier having to face killing an enemy combatant. The thought experiment could prepare that soldier, or even maybe convince him that he could not in fact go through with it.
A lucid dream could be seen as an extension of that process.

I'm aware that I'm continuing a necro-thread post (sorry about that), but I did happen to catch the tail end of this and thought along similar lines. I think that dreams could be considered something more along the lines of harmless story-telling than a representation of an act one is actually, seriously considering (because dreams really do seem to have narrative-like aspects to them at their core); from the point of view that no one in the dream is real, there would be no sin committed. And let's not forget that, as a primarily unconscious process, most of us regularly things happen in our dreams that are totally outside our own conscious control; should we be held accountable for dreams we didn't necessarily mean to have? That doesn't seem fair to me.

I think it ultimately comes down to one's intentions. I feel it's whether or not someone really, sincerely means to do harm to someone else that counts.

Feel free to start a new thread on this topic.