Being aware of every part of the dream?

[JoannaB]

So since our dreams are the creation of our mind, and in a dream not only the persona we consciously identify with but every DC and everything is a part of oneself, could it be possible to achieve complete awareness of every part of the dream or at least more parts of the dream? Could a dreamer be aware of being his or her DCs? Could awareness extend beyond the conscious single individual? And if so would one have only one awareness or several? Would they be aware of eachother and interconnected into a web of awareness, beyond the individual awareness, a more complex awareness of parts of oneself that were not conscious before?

[Zoth]

Can't help to think about brain-split patients when we talk about this subject Regarding normal people, it's a tricky question. For one, if the dream is a mental projections, can we still guarantee that what lies beyond our awareness exists? If you think about 2 doors, then think about only 1, does the door which you have no awareness about exist? I'd say not: there's no object conservation in dreams. I could be wrong though. Could awareness extend beyond the conscious single individual? In a dream? How? Even if you cloned yourself like this: All you would have was a single individual consciousness spread out around several bodies. It's an interesting issue the one you mention ^^

[JoannaB]

Ok, I thought about it some more, and here is my thinking: There are dreams in which we dream that a dream character is aware but the conscious persona we identify with in the dream is oblivious. Unless we assume that this is shared dreaming, which I think is one possible explanation, and in that case it is not that a part of oneself is aware but rather that someone else is contacting us who is aware, but if we do not make that assumption, could it be that a part of ourselves can be aware which is not where our conscious identity resides? Can awareness and consciousness be separated in one's mind? Also in waking life, we at times realize something, and realize that a part of our mind had realized it a long time ago but we were unwilling to acknowledge it. I think that it may be oversimplifying that I am just one identity, just one consciousness, capable of awareness. I may be much more complex than that. However, as awareness grows, as we become more self aware and / or closer to enlightened, the parts that were separate before may well connect into one awareness, which may be greater than the sum of its parts.

[Zoth]

Unless we assume that this is shared dreaming, which I think is one possible explanation How is the state of a dream character any "possible" explanation for shared dreaming 0o? Can awareness and consciousness be separated in one's mind? Could you develop this one further? For many people, awareness and consciousness are the exact same thing, for others, awareness is a level of consciousness. What's your definition? Just to make sure we're in the same page. Also in waking life, we at times realize something, and realize that a part of our mind had realized it a long time ago but we were unwilling to acknowledge it. That's simply unconscious processing. Look at this analogy: This doesn't mean there's more than one consciousness. For example, when you're trying to make a decision, there's the side of emotion and there's the side of reason. They both "talk", but that doesn't mean there's more than one identity. It's just that our brain has many levels of processing, and many of them aren't in the conscious sphere. Another example is that in some exercises, even before a person makes the choice, the correspondent neural action is already displayed in one's brain a few seconds before the person takes the action or even acknowledges his/her choice. Once again, nothing in here points out to something more. I think you're oversimplifying the concept of consciousness or brain processes. It's not that you are more than one identity, it's just your identity is something that arises from many factors.

[JoannaB]

That could be. I have not yet thought about this enough to elaborate on it. Plus now I have a headache and trying to elaborate would give me even more of a headache. I am pretty sure my ideas on this are not yet developed enough and most likely wrong.