Thread: Should we be controlling dreams?

This is a question i thought of early on, given most dreams (for me anyway) i start to remember them and become lucid near the end, which makes me feel a little bit better about this. So iv been wondering with sleep be'ing so important and unknown, and there is usually a storyline of some sort in our dream, and to become lucid and just walk away from that storyline to do "fun" things. that storyline or dream in general could potentionally be important to whatever is going on and turning that into "fun" might not be the best idea. i feel better about exploring, learning, and having fun at the end of the dream. usually somewhere after the 7-10hr mark dreaming becomes more apparent and sometimes you happen to wake up and get to do a WBTB. which brings me to my secondary question, we have "stages" with sleep cycles. were are sorta interrupting those cycles by going from REM, to waking up, to falling back into REM (or prb near it). when we usually take over an hour to come back and forth. All in all i feel WBTB after a 7-10hr point could be healthy by staying in or near REM for longer period, for just because our body does it does not necessarily mean it could be the best, just how its been done and worked for us. Im sure this has been talked about at some point but as you can prb see i am relatively new

Dreams aren't really "messages", but rather the result of your brain trying to make sense of inner thoughts and feelings.
So in one way you could say that the "stories" in dreams are relevant to your waking life concerns, but they aren't essential.
In fact, you can probably learn more about yourself by becoming lucid and asking the dream itself what you need to know, essentially talking to your own subconscious self.
This might sound like a weird and trippy idea to some people, but it makes a lot of sense, because in your dreams you have better access to your own subconscious thoughts.

Actually, when you have a lucid dream where you are in the action of practicing for a sport or mental activity, you can train yourself to get accustomed to it. I just recently finished the book ETWOLD by Stephen Laberge and there was a very interesting chapter on how neural transmissions during dreams resemble those of waking life. So let's say I just learned a new move in free running/parkour (maybe a new flip). I can practice this in a lucid dream and try to get my neural impulses to get me accustomed to this new move. Really fascinating to see how it relates to waking life! So yes, this all the more reason to control our dreams

wow, yeah both of your points are totally awesome. really reminds me we seem to be in a seat of power.. based on my timeframe of dreaming made me wonder, but this makes me feel whole all over again. perhaps i dream more-so at the end of a cycle at the moment because i used the WBTB a lot to learn at first. thanks guys ^.^

Yes! All the dreams and entire waking life, because control is advantage.

So iv been wondering with sleep be'ing so important and unknown, and there is usually a storyline of some sort in our dream, and to become lucid and just walk away from that storyline to do "fun" things. that storyline or dream in general could potentionally be important to whatever is going on and turning that into "fun" might not be the best idea.

You disrupt the storyline just with the simple realization that you're dreaming. Too late to regret it by then ^^

Perhaps a good analogy is active versus passive learning in the classroom. The student who actively participates in the discussion and asks lots of questions is typically going to get more out of the class than a student who sits quietly in the back and lets others control the flow of information, no matter how detailed the notes they take. At its best, learning is a process of active inquiry, and knowledge isn't just something "out there" to tap into but something that we ourselves, individually and collectively, participate in shaping and constructing.

I think dreaming is much the same way. I feel like I've learned so much more about myself, my mind, and my strengths and weaknesses through lucid dreaming than I ever could have learned from the passive way I dreamed before, because now I'm actively asking the questions. And when you ask the question yourself, you pay a lot more attention to the answer!

I don't think control is something to worry about, because it's not that straightforward. Even after lots of LDs and several years of experience, I never have absolute control over what I dream -- nor would I want to. The most productive way to learn from lucids, I think, comes from creating opportunities for dialogue or play between the conscious and unconscious mind. Ask the dream a question or pose it a scenario and see how it responds. The results can be fascinating and suprising! Moreover, because you actually know what the question is, you're in a much better position to try to interpret the answer that the dream gives, as opposed to trying to interpret random non-lucid dreams that could have been shaped by any number of possible influences or conditions.

hm control does give power.. & like verre said that control can really allow us to put our best foot forward. You never do have an absolute control anyway, im very happy to have you guys so i dont end up chaining myself down! zoth that was sweet.

As Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche says in the Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, "We want to influence our dreams. We want them to be clearer and more integrated with our practice, just as we should want these qualities for every moment of our life. There is no danger in this of disrupting something important. All we disrupt is our ignorance. "
and "Most importantly, in dream the mind's limitations can be challenged and overcome. As they are, we develop fiexibility of mind, and this is most important."
I tend to agree with that