Spiritual Growth through Lucid Dreaming

I would like to start a discussion about Spiritual Growth through Lucid Dreaming experiences. The Last few weeks I had some Lucid Dreams I had to think about a lot afterwards. There is an interesting interview with the author of: "Lucid Dreaming - Gateway to the Inner Self" Robert Waggoner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf0g1YZa8co

Here are some of my Experiences:
The first one I found to be very strange. Normally in Lucid Dreams I am in pretty good control about what I do or see. I can for example open my eyes more if it is dark. In this particular dream I was lucid but couldn't change the fact that it was very dark and only a dim light was shining from above. A voice started talking that I was able to hear so clearly I got really excited. He told me he was god and what life is about. The voice said life is about learning and struggling but also about having fun. I thought that dream was strange, I never had a voice just talking to me that was not coming from a dream character. I am not at all religious and god was never a part of my life...

I started meditating in Lucid Dreams. For me this is the most amazing thing to do in a Lucid Dream lately besides looking into the mirror, which also seems to be pretty challenging for the dreaming brain.
But whenever I start to meditate in a dream strange things happen very quickly. What are your experiences with this?
For example I closed my eyes and concentrated just on being aware. Everything started vibrating and there was this very clear voice again. I asked: "What am I?" Immediately I saw the whole Universe in it's Super Structure. Thats not to strange as I have seen pictures of this before. But this voice answering my questions out of nowhere I find very interesting.

Did you have similar experiences?

I like to think there is more to dreaming than just your brain processing daytime experiences. I find the fact interesting that during dreaming a Substance called DMT is released that is also released in large amount the moment someone dies. And remember having read that this happens in every animal. Something not explainable by evolution!? What would the advantage to survival releasing such a chemical at death?

Interesting experiences. Here's a somewhat similar thread of a member that heard a voice talking to him. Heard voice

I guess everybody is different with regards to how they can reach certain levels of their subconsciousness. I have tried to meditate in the dream, but most of the time I just end up in the void and I either wake up or another dream forms. Could you share with us how you keep your concentration, since when meditating in dream everything usually disappears? Thanks! :)

I think what really helps with awareness is practicing All Day Awareness. When I meditate in Dreams I either concentrate on my lips or on the whole body. Through ADA this has become an unconscious task. I am doing it as I am writing this. ADA had such a positive impact on everything in my life that I can't stop doing it. From being able to recognize dreams nearly every night (I started out with no Lucid Dreams at all) to being in control of my own emotions when talking to people. You see the feelings coming up without having to react according to them. It's really helpful. But there are other threads for that ;)

I hope there is much more to explore :) It would be interesting to ask questions even your unconscious does not know the answer to. Questions with which one could test if it is possible to acquire new knowledge out of dreams or wherever those answers come form.

Some Ideas for those questions? I guess it must be something you haven't even thought about before. Like seeing a new color!?

I'm also very curious about what our subconscious tells us. I never had just a voice telling me stuff or answering questions. It was always a dream character. But i had some pretty interesting conversations that made me think more about certain subjects.
And i also want to medidate in the dream. But first i have to learn how to properly meditate in waking life.

Loooo, that is very inspiring. I've heard some people use ADA throughout the day as their only induction tech and it works pretty well. I guess if you keep practicing it consistently then it may transfer to dreams as well. I usually practice ADA sporadically, more like SAT. I love to do it when I am walking outside or going somewhere, but rarely do it indoors. Being able to control your emotions (and I guess not just on the outside but on the inside) when interacting with people sounds like a big bonus of being mindful. I must practice this more often!

Yeah, there are never ending things that call to be discovered in dreams and the world around us, the hard part is to learn how to make these mysteries reveal themselves. I liked you asking "what am I" and the result you got. You are giving me a lot to think about! :dreaming:

Sweet dreams and thanks for sharing!

I have meditated in a couple of LDs. The first time i did it the dream got really stable and realistic, perhaps my most lucid LD.

Another time, i remember a very blissfull feeling and i woke up. Or, i should say better, the dream collapsed and i decided to wake up.

I have read somewhere, i think it was Charlie Morley, that to meditate in LDs is much more beneficial or insightful than in WL..Definitely, some interesting things can happen while you meditate there.

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

Interesting experiences. Here's a somewhat similar thread of a member that heard a voice talking to him. Heard voice

I guess everybody is different with regards to how they can reach certain levels of their subconsciousness. I have tried to meditate in the dream, but most of the time I just end up in the void and I either wake up or another dream forms. Could you share with us how you keep your concentration, since when meditating in dream everything usually disappears? Thanks! :)

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Do you close your eyes NyxCC haha ?

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I have meditated in a couple of LDs. The first time i did it the dream got really stable and realistic, perhaps my most lucid LD.

Another time, i remember a very blissfull feeling and i woke up. Or, i should say better, the dream collapsed and i decided to wake up.

I have read somewhere, i think it was Charlie Morley, that to meditate in LDs is much more beneficial or insightful than in WL..Definitely, some interesting things can happen while you meditate there.

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It's great that you have done ld meditation, VagalTone. It must be an awesome feeling. I've had some profound lds and dreams as well, but those were not related to my dream meditation attempts. I guess I need more practice with it. In my meditation attempts, I clear my mind (keep the eyes open), but then my mind goes so blank that I end up in the void. :)

By the way, I had a non-ld once where a DC encouraged me to meditate in dreams and said something similar to your quote above.

This question might not be directly about the topic, sorry, but because you are talking about meditation, i want to ask you guys how do you meditate in real life and in the dream. A couple of quick tips will do. I want to meditate properly and expand my knowledge about that but i don't know how to start.

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

It's great that you have done ld meditation, VagalTone. It must be an awesome feeling. I've had some profound lds and dreams as well, but those were not related to my dream meditation attempts. I guess I need more practice with it. In my meditation attempts, I clear my mind (keep the eyes open), but then my mind goes so blank that I end up in the void. :)

By the way, I had a non-ld once where a DC encouraged me to meditate in dreams and said something similar to your quote above.

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I think that DC must be right then :)

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Originally Posted by DreamHighlander

This question might not be directly about the topic, sorry, but because you are talking about meditation, i want to ask you guys how do you meditate in real life and in the dream. A couple of quick tips will do. I want to meditate properly and expand my knowledge about that but i don't know how to start.

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Meditation is such a broad term..it just means « cultivation»

I think there is no right way to meditate, but only different ways according to the system you subscribe. Of course you can also create your own, why not ?

In the end, it only matters if it is beneficial and not just a waste of time.

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This question might not be directly about the topic, sorry, but because you are talking about meditation, i want to ask you guys how do you meditate in real life and in the dream. A couple of quick tips will do. I want to meditate properly and expand my knowledge about that but i don't know how to start.

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VagalTone made a good point here:

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I think there is no right way to meditate, but only different ways according to the system you subscribe. Of course you can also create your own, why not ?

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A quick tip from me: if you are totally new to meditation, I think you should start with the basics. Find a place when you won't be too disturbed, sit in a comfortable position. I think a very good aproach is to look at this as a relaxation exercise, that way you won't put too much stress on yourself when trying to quiet your thoughts. You may focus on your breathing and the feel of your body. Depending on how long you do this your thoughts will reduce in frequency.

For an expanded discussion, I encourage you to either start a new thread or PM any of us here. Some other dreamers that frequently practice meditation include sivason and SuperOhm, to name a few on top of my head.

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Originally Posted by VagalTone

I think there is no right way to meditate, but only different ways according to the system you subscribe. Of course you can also create your own, why not ?

In the end, it only matters if it is beneficial and not just a waste of time.

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I guess you are right here. But I think want you want to say with your last sentence is that as long as your way of meditating keeps you in the moment it is no waste of time. Meditation is all about staying in the moment. In the long run it's also about getting better at this. But at first meditation will lead you nowhere. Don't expect something special to happen. I think I have not meditated for long enough to really say no special things will ever happen with practice, but what I noticed until now is that it actually takes some time, in every sitting and also over a few month until you come to a point where you start to have the impression of really arriving at the present moment. Before your brain just pretends that it is concentrated on the present moment.
You count breath or pay attention to it. That is something in the present moment but not the moment itself. I can feel the present moment and still hear thoughts coming up in my mind. For me the trick is to be seperate from my thoughts. Your are not your thoughts, they just come up in the mind. Thats a state in meditation I have come to reach lately.

That something so special happens during dream meditation is exciting but maybe just a result of how dreams work. They express your expectations about what should happen. So maybe expect the wildest thing to happen during "meditation" and they will.

What might be most interesting about lucid dreaming is the insight you get about waking reality. I have walked around in lucid dreams in sheer amazement about the fact that I can have a real experience without being a real person in a real world. A paradoxon? Everything in a dream feels real! Those are experiences just as your senses produce them in your brain. I can eat a dream cake and it tastes and feels like the real one.

That made me think about waking life in different and new ways. Everything in the world comes down to what experience it produces. For me this made a great difference in how I perceive the world. I have a hard time even describing this change. But one thing that is clear for me and that is lucid dreaming opened me up to seek for spiritual growth and so far it has greatly improved how I feel.

What impact did lucid dreaming have on your life?

For me, it made a big impact. That's why i asked about meditation. Since i started reading more and having more vivid lucid dreams, i've been interested in such themes as dreams in general, the power of the mind, the brain, the universe, aliens, paralell universes, past lifes, spirits, healings and much more.

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Originally Posted by Loooo

That made me think about waking life in different and new ways. Everything in the world comes down to what experience it produces. For me this made a great difference in how I perceive the world. I have a hard time even describing this change. But one thing that is clear for me and that is lucid dreaming opened me up to seek for spiritual growth and so far it has greatly improved how I feel.

What impact did lucid dreaming have on your life?

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To sum it up, there are three major areas where lucid dreams have influenced my daily life: confidence, expectations, and attention to detail. After dealing with some challenging situations in dreams, I get occasional surges in confidence that I can deal with certain issues better irl and have more positive attitude overall. I am also beginning to realize that expectations also play a greater than we usually think role irl, similarly to dreams. Therefore, I try to be on the lookout for thought patterns and expectations. It's also quite interesting to look around and see people from this perspective. Finally, I've come to appreciate small details that I haven't been paying attention to before. There are patterns and movement everywhere and it's awesome to simply observe and absorb the environment. :)

The deeper aspects of spiritual development are also something to consider, but the effects take much longer to take hold and are harder to describe. At any rate, these are just the first steps of an infinite stairway and there's so much to learn...

I find many of my own thoughts in what you said. Especially the appreciation of "small" things in life. I think that comes naturally and the joy and wonder about life and existence itself grows with time.