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.

I've had spontaneous lucid dreams all of my life OP. I'm over 70 and they still happen a half a dozen time a year or so.

However, regarding training yourself to become lucid? My primary issue is - remembering. Short term memory is an issue. However, the activities to practice that lead to lucid dreaming I feel should actually help develop better memory. "Use it or lose it" applies here I believe.

Originally Posted by SimulateReality

I've had spontaneous lucid dreams all of my life OP. I'm over 70 and they still happen a half a dozen time a year or so.

However, regarding training yourself to become lucid? My primary issue is - remembering. Short term memory is an issue. However, the activities to practice that lead to lucid dreaming I feel should actually help develop better memory. "Use it or lose it" applies here I believe.

Lenscaper is a very good practitioner to follow, his progress and achievements are nothing short of amazing! It shows the heights that even us old guys can reach if we're dedicated and consistent!

Originally Posted by SimulateReality

........regarding training yourself to become lucid? My primary issue is - remembering.

Journaling, of course, right? I just counted my 9x12 note pads of dream journals over the last 4+ years....37.

I appreciate those kind words FryingMan.

My practice has taken an incredibly powerful turn of late. After three years or so of working diligently with the specific breathing protocols that allow for the dissolution of the connection to the coarse physical body, particularly and most powerfully during WBTB, it is as if a last piece has clicked into place. I dream all night now conscious and aware and in the morning it is as if I am just walking into another dream when I open my eyes.

The practice of Dream Yoga is a slightly deeper dive into Lucid Dreaming, right? Dream Yoga will inevitably lead one to the conclusion that, since the waking state is just as illusory as the dream state, and we can change the dream state through Dream Yoga practice.......we can also change the waking state. This is where we start to use these practices to change our lives.

If you are interested in working on that realization that the waking state and the dream state are equally illusory, here is something that has helped me.

When I get up in the night to journal a particularly clear dream I first reach for the a moment of clarity that I had during the day. In that WBTB mindset, that waking state moment becomes very dreamlike.......so I journal that first. Entries in my dream journal these days come from both states.

I am realizing more and more that what we experience as the waking state can be seen and experienced as the dream of a Universal Mind which we are, of course, an integral part.

Within that perspective lucid dreaming is just a start............an excellent practice for training our minds. Lucidity in that waking dream state becomes a truly worthy next stage goal. That is when the real cool stuff begins to happen.

Hi!
It has been a while since I don’t join the forum.

Well, I’m getting closer to my 50’s (Just a couple of years), started to get induced lucids during my 30’s together with the birth of my first kid. It was then when I got most of my experiences. Before that time, I sporadically had non-induced lucids and some other amazing dream experiences. When I was getting into my 40’s, I had to break my sleep pattern because of work, even then I was able to have some lucids, but it turned to be a very stressful activity because of my daily routine that finally ended when I had to forget about my dream world for a while. After that, things changed in a way that I was able to get back from time to time into my dreams but lacking lucidity. My kids on the other hand, are a blast of lucid dreams, but their puberty doesn’t allow us to exchange much experiences, almost null.
It has been a while since I’m trying to get back into lucidity with no success. There’s something missing but I don’t know what is it. I just don’t want it to become a stressful activity again. Thought about yoga but I’m not that ritualized. My dream journal get entries from very long time to very long time, when I have time to write or dictate to my phone.
I get to remember some dreams but because of my time for sleep is too short and my waking up routine doesn’t include any possibility for a DJ entry, all mind blowing experiences will be kept for my self to enjoy them remembering them for a while, unless I find a spot for a DJ entry. Sometimes I read some entries from my early youth and still want to get back there but don’t know how without stressing my life again.

In other words, I may have been losing my lucidity with the years. Or simply I lost the connection of both worlds.

Originally Posted by Box77

Sometimes I read some entries from my early youth and still want to get back there but don’t know how without stressing my life again.

In other words, I may have been losing my lucidity with the years. Or simply I lost the connection of both worlds.

When it comes to lucid dream practice you have to be careful sometimes to not push the river.

This hit me very hard in my late 60's and I was able to immerse myself into it completely. If it had come to me 20 years previous to that it would have been very difficult for me to fully immerse myself into it.

Keep it on the back burner but keep your dream journal handy. You never know....sometimes when we let things go a little they come back even stronger in their own time and of their own accord.