Thread: Age and Lucidity

Originally Posted by lenscaper

I wake up smiling every morning now. It was as if a switch was thrown four years ago in that first lucid dream and there was no going back to non-lucidity.

I realize now, though, that it is actually relatively easy to become lucid in the dream state. I say "relatively" because the real trick is becoming lucid here in this waking state dream. In the dream state all is pretty obviously illusory, even though we definitely have to break through the reification. But we are there in an "illusory body". Once we realize that.....it's game on in the dream state!

But now after establishing that unbroken continuity of consciousness between states, and having been given very real glimpses into the illusory nature of the waking state.....I am truly waking up.

Always love to read your updates! As for "easy" (hah!): years and years of incredible dedication, consistency, willpower, WBTBs, recording dreams. Daily meditation (so important). Super strong intent, and incredibly deep immersion into ancient writings, decades of energy work, and never giving up. Sleep and diet and daily life schedule like clockwork, iron-rigid bed and wake times....."easy!" Everything is required. Waking lucidity without intent doesn't do it alone. Meditation doesn't do it alone. It's the combination of extremely high intent, super regular schedule, all day lucidity, and the brain transformations that occur with daily meditation that takes effect over years.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

As for "easy" (hah!)

Thought I might get your attention with that.

I did say relatively easy compared to the challenge of getting lucid in the waking state. I'm thinking that dream lucidity may be a prerequisite for true lucidity in the waking state where everything seems so much more "real".

In fact, it feels as though with classic "recreational" lucid dreaming we may be fooling ourselves a bit. Are we really just bringing our waking state awareness into the dream state? That waking state turns out to also be a dream. I have had glimpses of a deeper reality.

Once we learn how to bring our waking state awareness into our dreams....to "wake up" in that sense, we can then take that ability back into the waking state and wake up even more. When we then take that somewhat transcendent awakening back into the dream state there are hidden depths to plumb.

Originally Posted by lenscaper

Thought I might get your attention with that.

I did say relatively easy compared to the challenge of getting lucid in the waking state. I'm thinking that dream lucidity may be a prerequisite for true lucidity in the waking state where everything seems so much more "real".

In fact, it feels as though with classic "recreational" lucid dreaming we may be fooling ourselves a bit. Are we really just bringing our waking state awareness into the dream state? That waking state turns out to also be a dream. I have had glimpses of a deeper reality.

Once we learn how to bring our waking state awareness into our dreams....to "wake up" in that sense, we can then take that ability back into the waking state and wake up even more. When we then take that somewhat transcendent awakening back into the dream state there are hidden depths to plumb.

I find waking state lucidity much easier, because in the waking state there is unimpaired access to memory. While perhaps at a deeper level what you write may be true, in the initial effort, it is definitely generating sleeping dream lucidity on a regular, frequent basis, that is the huge challenge.

Originally Posted by lenscaper

I have had glimpses of a deeper reality.

When we get past the recreational aspects of LDing and begin to develop a stable and inherently lucid precence in every dream, the nature of the dream begins to change. I can only speak from my own personal experience, of course, but I have found that with the fantastical imagery long gone, this inherently stable lucid presence has opened up a shared world of real people doing real things as I watch and take occasional part in the unfolding dramas.

Sometimes it feels as though I have become a light source in the dreams of others. I often go into the dream state very early in the night and stay for extended periods, going from dream to dream and.....watching. When I do wake up in the night (hey....I'm an old guy, remember? ) I tend to just go back into another similar dream.

Am I somehow slipping into a shared dream environment? Bernardo Kastrup speaks of the individuated consciousness units that we all are, each with a boundary of individuation that separates us from each other, even as we all overlap. Perhaps, in the dream, these boundaries become more permeable allowing us a bit of contact with each other.

And sometimes there are other, more ethereal and more advanced entities that will look you in the eye until you feel their deep presence.

Yeah, I know, all of this gets into some pretty murky territory. But the dream state is uncharted waters. Get lucid ....and then go beyond.